Artists Ready For The Super Bowl Halftime, Replacement Singers, and Country Music News

What makes a halftime show unforgettable: fireworks or feeling? We put country’s biggest names under the stadium lights and ask who can truly command 12 minutes seen by the world. From Carrie Underwood’s precision to Garth Brooks’s jet-fueled stagecraft, Dolly Parton’s sparkle to Taylor Swift’s era-spanning spectacle, we break down who has the catalog, pacing, and production sense to turn a giant field into a living music video without losing the heartbeat of live performance.

We also dig into a wild Super Bowl weekend of music: Brandi Carlile’s goosebump take on America the Beautiful, the All-American alternative halftime stacked with country heavyweights, and the ongoing tug-of-war between lip sync polish and live grit. Then there’s Kid Rock hinting at a “Robert Ritchie” narrative pivot and a cross-genre tour that could pull fresh ears into country’s orbit. Add festival news, a wave of new releases from Eric Church, Carter Faith, and Koe Wetzel, and Cody Johnson teasing collaborations with Luke Combs and Brothers Osborne, and you’ve got a snapshot of where country is leaning next.

Our listener question spins into a masterclass on reinvention: Bruce Dickinson, Brian Johnson, and Sammy Hagar all lifted their bands by changing the center of gravity. The takeaway for artists is simple and hard—evolve without losing soul. We cap it off with chart rundowns, indie gems, and real talk on artist development, time triage, and why most “opportunities” only matter if they move the craft forward.

Hit play, argue with our halftime picks, and tell us who you’d book for the big game. If this episode got you thinking, follow, share with a friend, and leave a quick review—your note helps more music lovers find the show.

Episode Links

• Bob Bullock: https://jayfranze.com/episode28/
• Dave Jackson: https://jayfranze.com/episode53/
• Kate Stanton: https://jayfranze.com/episode83/
• Dalila Mya: https://jayfranze.com/episode102/
• John Mason: https://jayfranze.com/episode191/

Transcript

Jay Franze 0:32

And we are coming at you live. I am Jay Franzi, and uh with me tonight, uh Penny to my Leonard, my beautiful co-host, Miss Tiffany Mason.

SPEAKER_03 0:44

Good evening, Jay. Good evening, crew members.

Super Bowl Halftime Artists

Jay Franze 0:47

If you are new to the show, this is your source for the latest news, reviews, and interviews. And if you would like to chime in, comment, or fire off any questions, please head over to jfranzie.com. All right, my friend, before we get started, let me go ahead and tell you about this question of the day. This question of the day has come from Joe. And if you would like to submit a question of the day, you can do that by sending it to feedback at jfranzi.com. Question of the day. Name a lead singer that actually improved a band when they replaced the original singer. Name a lead singer that actually improved a band when they replaced the original singer. Do not give me your answer now. Wait until a little later in the show, and if you would like to join our shenanigans, go ahead and put your comment in the comment section, and we will read that a little later in the show as well. Alright, let's go ahead and get the party started.

SPEAKER_03 1:45

Get the party started.

Jay Franze 1:47

I was gonna sing, but nobody wants to hear that. Alright, in honor of Super Bowl weekend, and that's all we're gonna say about that.

SPEAKER_03 1:57

Why? Are you a sore loser?

Jay Franze 2:01

Don't push your buttons. The buttons are already lined up and ready to go. Let's discuss potential country artists that could take care of the Super Bowl halftime.

SPEAKER_03 2:17

Okay.

Jay Franze 2:17

So potential country artists, 15 of them to be exact, that are lined up, ready to go to take over Super Bowl halftime if given the opportunity.

SPEAKER_03 2:28

Okay.

Jay Franze 2:29

Alright. Figure that'd be fun. Let's go ahead and start off with Lainey Wilson.

SPEAKER_03 2:38

Oh, well, come on, that's a gimme.

Jay Franze 2:41

She would do an awesome job.

SPEAKER_03 2:44

Well, she did the halftime show at the Vikings game. She did a fantastic job. And she's just one of those people that, you know, commands the stage. So she's got it.

Jay Franze 2:54

That's the one where she came out in the Ring of Fire.

SPEAKER_03 2:57

No, that is where she came out on the sled on her boyfriend Duck's lap with Snoop Dogg.

Jay Franze 3:03

Okay, stop. Stop right there. This is a family-friendly show. Almost went off the rails there. Let's move on to the next one before we get ourselves in trouble. Your favorite? Blake Shelton.

SPEAKER_03 3:19

Oh okay. I know that I have said that I'm not the biggest fan of him, but I did not realize he sings the song Austin.

Jay Franze 3:28

He also sings the one about the dog?

SPEAKER_03 3:31

Old Red. It is good.

Jay Franze 3:33

It is good.

SPEAKER_03 3:34

I like that song. I do like that song. But I love Austin. Do you know the premise of the song? Calls. It's the voicemail. P.S. This is Austin. I still love you. Oh, I love that song.

Jay Franze 3:48

He is an amazing singer.

SPEAKER_03 3:50

He is.

Jay Franze 3:51

I mean, I I love the guy, but he's got a little bit of an attitude. Yeah. But he is um an amazing singer and he's got like perfect pitch. I mean, if there's anybody that deserves to be a superstar in the country industry, it's him.

SPEAKER_03 4:06

Although, if he does have perfect pitch, it would be wasted on a halftime show. Because the acoustics just aren't that great.

Jay Franze 4:15

Yeah, they usually make everybody lip sync. I get that.

SPEAKER_03 4:18

Yeah. Oh. Yeah.

Jay Franze 4:20

All right. Next on the list, Luke Combs.

SPEAKER_03 4:25

Hmm. Yeah, I agree with that.

Jay Franze 4:28

I like Luke Combs. I'm getting the more I get to know him, no, not personally. I don't know him personally. But the more I get to know of him, the more I like him.

SPEAKER_04 4:38

Yeah.

Jay Franze 4:39

I don't mind knowing him personally. Luke, if you want to come on the show, jfranzy.com. You can join us now, or you know what? Set up a time where we spend the whole hour on you. It's all right. But yes, he'd be great to have on the halftime show for sure.

SPEAKER_03 4:54

Yeah. Although, is he much of an entertainer? I don't know. I don't I have not heard anything from his.

Jay Franze 5:02

Back to back.

SPEAKER_03 5:03

So yes, he is. So yes, he is. The answer would be yes, Tiffany. Got it. I just forget things really easy.

Jay Franze 5:12

Well, I can't argue with that. I have a memory of an ant.

SPEAKER_03 5:18

I'm focused on this week's news. Once I say it, it's like it chewed up and thrown away. I do that often.

Jay Franze 5:27

All right. Next on the list. Shania Twain.

SPEAKER_03 5:32

Yep. Another good, another good contender.

Jay Franze 5:36

We mentioned Martina McBride last week being short. Shania Twain's short. She's like four foot nothing.

SPEAKER_03 5:42

Oh wow. Yeah, she's a tiny little thing. Yeah.

Jay Franze 5:46

Very disappointed in Mr. Bullock. Mr. Bullock hired me right after working on Shania Twain's records.

SPEAKER_03 5:52

Oh man.

Jay Franze 5:53

I missed it by a hair. And they worked on him in the Bahamas. How nice would that be?

SPEAKER_03 5:58

Oh my goodness. That would have been awesome.

Jay Franze 6:01

We need to get Mr. Bullock on here because he has an amazing story about the recording sessions in the Bahamas. He tells a great story when it comes to that. I'll give him a call. We'll get him back on just for that story alone, if nothing else. But Mutt Lang produced that record. Mutt Lang, her ex-husband.

SPEAKER_04 6:20

Yeah.

Jay Franze 6:20

But he produced that record, and he's, in my opinion, probably the best producer in the world. Yeah. That would be cool. Next. Say it with me now. Luke Bryan.

SPEAKER_03 6:33

Luke Brian.

Jay Franze 6:38

I like Luke Bryan. I've got nothing bad to say about him. I don't know if he'd be the best halftime performance.

SPEAKER_03 6:44

I don't think so. I'm trying to think of when we saw him. I don't think he did any like pyrotectonics. Technics. Pyrotechnics. I don't think he did any of that. He's an okay dancer, but he doesn't do like any costume changes. He doesn't have a backup dancer.

Jay Franze 7:04

To be fair, I know he's liked by the ladies.

SPEAKER_03 7:08

He is. He's a good dude. I think chicken's a big one. Oh, he is. I could see that. Yeah.

Jay Franze 7:17

But he won't be up there telling jokes.

SPEAKER_03 7:20

So not if he keeps falling.

Jay Franze 7:24

Okay, moving on. Next, Darius Rucker.

SPEAKER_03 7:30

Ooh. Okay. Good songs. Again, I think he just kind of stands in one place. I don't I don't know if he's much of an entertainer. So reputation, fun music, but you know, I feel like there's a lot of theatrics that go into like the halftime show. So could they bring the theatrics? I don't know.

Jay Franze 7:53

Darius Rucker, I've seen him perform. We mentioned Bob. Bob and I were at the Grammy party several years back at this point. And Darius Rucker was the performer. And I mean, it was like outside on music row in Nashville. I mean, it was pretty cool. But it was not a full-on performance.

SPEAKER_03 8:13

Right, right. We saw him in Hawaii, I think, actually.

Jay Franze 8:16

And again. Okay, here we go with trips to Hawaii. Now, did you take the yacht? I mean, golf cart to the yacht to Hawaii. I get it. I I get it. I am not living in the same class. I got it. Let's move on. Okay, this one I could see 100%. This is my vote. If we're gonna do a who is it at the end.

SPEAKER_03 8:38

I haven't even seen the other ones, huh?

Jay Franze 8:40

I know, but I'm telling you, this is my vote. Ready?

SPEAKER_03 8:44

I think so.

Jay Franze 8:45

Carrie Underwood.

SPEAKER_03 8:47

Oh yes. Hasn't she done it before?

Jay Franze 8:51

Well, let's do this. Alexa, has Carrie Underwood performed in the Super Bowl halftime show?

SPEAKER_03 8:58

From facts.net. She has performed at the Super Bowl halftime show.

Jay Franze 9:04

That would be a yes.

SPEAKER_03 9:07

Man, she's not giving any extra information though.

unknown 9:11

No.

Jay Franze 9:12

She's not like your typical AI.

SPEAKER_02 9:15

She's very short. To the point.

Jay Franze 9:19

I saw a thing today talking about AI, how it always gives you more information than what you ask for.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

Yeah.

Jay Franze 9:25

Not her. Nope. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 9:30

You ask a yes no question, you're no answer. Dang.

Jay Franze 9:35

All right. Another one that would be good, not my favorite artist, but would be a good halftime show for sure. Kenny Chesney.

SPEAKER_03 9:44

Mm-hmm. He's a performer. He's a performer. Yeah. Yeah. He'd bring some entertainment for sure.

Jay Franze 9:51

I like him. I like his music, but I have to be in the mood for his music.

SPEAKER_03 9:54

I agree. I agree. Yep.

Jay Franze 9:58

Oh, here's a good one. It's getting tougher. Reba McIntyre. Reba. She would put on a great show.

SPEAKER_03 10:09

She would put on a great show, but I don't want to say what I'm saying. Don't say it. Don't say it.

Jay Franze 10:18

We can all hear your thinking.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

I'm not going to say it.

Jay Franze 10:23

It's too late. It's out there.

SPEAKER_02 10:25

She would do, she would do a good job. Yeah.

Jay Franze 10:30

Okay. I would love to see Jeff King on the halftime stage. That would be awesome. Jeff King being her guitar player. That would be awesome for sure.

SPEAKER_04 10:41

Yeah.

Jay Franze 10:42

We didn't get to talk to John Mason about Jeff King.

SPEAKER_02 10:47

Oh.

Jay Franze 10:48

John Mason, the interview that went out today, it's live today. John Mason. We had a discussion with entertainment attorney John Mason. We talked to him about Mr. Bullock, and I had an opportunity yesterday to talk to Bob about John.

SPEAKER_03 11:02

Oh, for funny.

Jay Franze 11:05

So he he knew him. He remembered him.

SPEAKER_03 11:07

What a coinky dink.

Jay Franze 11:09

It was a coinky dink. Moving on. Tim McGraw.

SPEAKER_03 11:15

Is he gonna bring his wife or his daughter with him?

Jay Franze 11:18

It says Tim McGraw. That's me.

SPEAKER_03 11:21

I gotta go no.

Jay Franze 11:22

I know he's big buddies with Kenny Chesney and all. I think Kenny Chesney would be the better performer.

SPEAKER_03 11:29

Yeah. I agree with that.

Jay Franze 11:31

Morgan Wallen.

SPEAKER_03 11:33

Yes. Yes.

Jay Franze 11:36

I would like to see Morgan Wallen do that.

SPEAKER_03 11:38

Hannah recorded where he did like this whole thing where it looked like he was driving on a motorcycle up to the stage. I really wanted to come through like a back entrance on the bike, but he didn't. Or maybe it was a race car, regardless, it was a vehicle, and he was racing towards the stage. So that makes me think that he's theatrical or you know, would put some thought into it to drive some excitement, adrenaline, plus his songs, all 37. Well, he's got more than 37, but from the latest.

Jay Franze 12:08

On the one album.

SPEAKER_03 12:09

On the one album, the three albums. The three one albums. Fox seven.

Jay Franze 12:16

All right, yeah, Morgan Wall. I would definitely like to see that. Best male country artist ever.

SPEAKER_03 12:27

Garth Brooks.

Jay Franze 12:29

Oh, so close.

SPEAKER_03 12:31

George Strait. George Strait. George Strait.

Jay Franze 12:36

We'll fix that in editing. I love George Strait. I know everybody wanted him to do the halftime this year, but I can't imagine it being a big show.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

Yeah.

Jay Franze 12:49

I picture it being just a performance.

SPEAKER_03 12:53

Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think it'd be too boring, too plain. It's too much field for him to not be taken up.

Jay Franze 13:00

Yeah, he'd be on a stage. I don't think he'd be moving. Either that or float or something.

SPEAKER_03 13:04

Mm-hmm. Yeah. No.

Jay Franze 13:07

Alright, so if we had the best male country vocalist of all time, how about the best female?

SPEAKER_03 13:14

Dolly Parton?

Jay Franze 13:15

There you go.

SPEAKER_03 13:17

I think that'd be a fun show.

Jay Franze 13:19

Great show.

SPEAKER_03 13:20

Mm-hmm. Lots of sparkle, shine, backup dancers for sure. But I don't know if there would be like people parachuting down or you know, those kind of things.

Jay Franze 13:30

It could be, just probably wouldn't be her.

SPEAKER_03 13:33

Right. I think it would be more than George Strait would bring, though.

Jay Franze 13:36

Oh yeah, hands down.

SPEAKER_03 13:38

Yeah, yeah.

Jay Franze 13:39

She'd be more of a performer for sure.

SPEAKER_03 13:41

Yeah.

Jay Franze 13:42

Two more. Second best male vocalist.

SPEAKER_03 13:47

Garth Brooks. There you go.

Jay Franze 13:51

Now to be fair, I think they're neck and neck. George Strait's just the king. But Garth Brooks, he single-handedly brought country music back back into popularity.

SPEAKER_03 14:03

Okay, so I feel like he can work a stage, but can he work a halftime?

Jay Franze 14:08

Oh, hands down. That man be running around smashing guitars, swinging on ropes.

SPEAKER_03 14:14

Okay, true.

Jay Franze 14:15

That's what he's known for. He he would be he would be Yeah, I think he got entertainer of the year a couple times, so yeah. Yeah, I'd like to see him do it for sure. And then last on the list, arguably the top of the list. Any guesses? No. Okay. Miss Taylor Swift.

SPEAKER_03 14:40

Oh man. Yeah.

Jay Franze 14:43

Yeah, it's hard to say that she wouldn't be the best performance. It's hard to say that.

SPEAKER_03 14:48

Yeah. I think she'd get a lot of jeers going into it, but I think she might be able to prove them wrong.

Jay Franze 14:55

Out of that list, do you want to pick who you think you would like to see the most?

SPEAKER_03 15:02

I mean, I've seen Carrie Underwood, but I'd see her again. I'd see her again and again and again and again. I'd probably see Carrie Underwood.

Jay Franze 15:11

I thought Carrie Underwood was the artist of choice until I saw some of these others. It'd be tough. I'd love to see Dolly one more time in a situation like that. I'd love to see Garth Brooks, George Strait, but Taylor Swift. If you want just a show, that would be a show.

SPEAKER_03 15:30

Mm-hmm.

Jay Franze 15:31

Yeah. Tough call. Tough call.

SPEAKER_03 15:33

Yeah, I think she can bring theatrics.

Jay Franze 15:36

Alright. Well.

SPEAKER_03 15:38

Keep us entertained.

Jay Franze 15:39

That wasn't a bad list. I think those are all deserving.

SPEAKER_03 15:43

I would agree with you.

Jay Franze 15:44

Not bad, not bad. Redeem themselves a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 15:50

After the last couple of lists, sheepers. Alright, my friend.

Jay Franze 15:55

Let's move on to the news.

SPEAKER_03 15:58

Okay, well, speaking of halftime, our first couple of topics, they're going to be about the Super Bowl. So Brandy Carlisle stuns fans with America the Beautiful, the country leaning star, delivers heartfelt performance to kick off Super Bowl 60, earning widespread praise on social media. I feel like she's been getting a lot of attention lately. I said to Sean when we were watching it, I was like, I wonder if she has an album that's coming out or that she's working on or something, because it feels like people surface when they've got new music coming.

Jay Franze 16:32

Of course, yeah. She's got all the talent in the world. She produces and co-produces her own music.

SPEAKER_03 16:39

Oh wow.

Jay Franze 16:39

I mean, she's truly a talented woman.

unknown 16:42

Yeah.

Jay Franze 16:42

She's not one of those artists that you gotta put a lot of work behind.

SPEAKER_03 16:50

Turning Point USA rolls out the All-American Halftime Show with Country Heavyweights, the alternative all-American Halftime Show featured performances by Kid Rock, Lee Bryce, Brantley Gilbert, Gabby Barrett, in a family-oriented production designed as a patriotic entertainment option during the Super Bowl weekend. And I just personally felt like I don't know Bad Bunny music. So I was happy to have an alternative with country music that I knew, and I wasn't trying to be political, I just was happy for an alternative.

Jay Franze 17:27

Let's not even worry about the political side of it. It's the performances. I watched both. So I think Bad Bunny's performance, we say performance, it's lip synced, and the show was was fine. I mean, I didn't understand a word of it.

SPEAKER_03 17:46

Yeah.

Jay Franze 17:46

But it was fine.

SPEAKER_03 17:47

I have a friend who works for Duolingo, and he commented saying that Duolingo missed a huge opportunity by not buying airtime after that performance.

SPEAKER_04 17:59

That would have been fun.

SPEAKER_03 18:01

I thought that was clever.

Jay Franze 18:03

But I did watch the other as well, and I will say the first thing I noticed was specifically Lee Bryce, but others were not lip syncing.

SPEAKER_03 18:12

Yeah.

Jay Franze 18:13

So I thought that was very cool. It was more of a true performance. But just as I said that, Kid Rock hit the stage and was lip syncing like nobody's business.

SPEAKER_03 18:24

Yeah.

Jay Franze 18:24

With the microphone down at his waist when he was singing.

SPEAKER_03 18:28

Well, I didn't realize they made a good point. I didn't put this connection together, but I was perusing through everybody's comments on everything today. They were saying that it was trying to show like his redemption story, I guess, kind of where like he started out, I guess, rock rap kind of. I don't know what you would really call it, but rock rap, maybe. And then they said that the violins coming in and being the instrumentation was kind of like this transformation time. And then he came and he was singing if you've got a dream, chase it. And then just trying to kind of show like the transformation he's been through, where he knows God now and has a relationship with God. So I thought that was kind of interesting. I didn't really pick up on the storytelling portion of that, but I was like, okay, that's interesting.

Jay Franze 19:14

I didn't catch that when I watched the performance. Yeah. I did notice the lip singing part, you know, because he clearly put the microphone down at his waist.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

And he was still singing.

Jay Franze 19:26

Right. He's just got a very powerful vocal. Overall, I thought it was a very good, good show. To me, I would have rather seen that one. If I was gonna pick one that one had to be the Super Bowl show, I would have picked that one. But that's just my musical taste. I prefer the country and the rock versus Bad Bunny style, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 19:48

Yeah. Well, it was funny, we were watching it, and I think that, you know, sometimes you know a song, but you don't realize who sings it actually. And Hannah, our daughter, was like, Oh my gosh, Gabby Barrett is so pretty. And I was like, Yeah, I guess I didn't realize how pretty she actually was. So I thought she looked different. So I was like, Oh, okay, maybe I had the wrong person in mind. So it was nice just to put a a face to the name, and I know you've mentioned Lee Bryce a ton. And so, you know, I think when you're really paying attention, then you kind of commit that more to memory. So I feel like I could pick him off the street now or before I couldn't, or I could pick Gabby Barrett off the street before where now I couldn't. So or I couldn't do it before, but now I could. So I appreciated that.

Jay Franze 20:32

I don't know. To me, I feel like Lee Bryce should be more famous than he is.

SPEAKER_03 20:36

Yeah.

Jay Franze 20:36

More popular than he is.

SPEAKER_03 20:38

Yeah, I agree.

Jay Franze 20:40

I just don't think he had that massive spike that a lot of the others have. He's had some great songs. That's too bad. He's got some great songs.

SPEAKER_03 20:50

Okay, well, keeping with the theme, Kid Rock. Or is it Robert Ritchie announcing Massive Freedom 250 spring tour? Uh, rock and country hybrid artist, Kid Rock, reveals his 2026 tour featuring several big country names on selected dates. The itinerary promises a cross-genre lineup that could bring fresh ears into country music. So I said, or Robert Ritchie, because again, in that performance, they were putting people's name on the stage, like it was like imposed, kind of like they do the I don't know what it's called, the 10-yard down line on the football field.

SPEAKER_04 21:32

First down.

SPEAKER_03 21:34

Yes. So they were putting the names on the stage. So in that transformation, he comes out, he does kid rock, and it says kid rock on the the catwalk or whatever the stage. Then those two musicians come out, play the song. Then they say Robert Richie, and I'm like, Robert Richie. And Kid Rock had taken off his cowboy hat and he'd put on a baseball cap. And his hair looked shorter, although obviously he didn't get a haircut in 30 seconds. But his hair seemed shorter, probably because he was just pushed down and wasn't flying everywhere. Like, who is Robert Ritchie? So I look it up. I'm sure a million people did the same thing, literally, probably a million people. And I Google it and it's like also known as Kid Rock. And I was like, wait, what? So I'm interested to see with that little announcement, is he trying to forge a path forward as Robert Ritchie? Or is he going to keep with Kid Rock?

Jay Franze 22:28

You would think with that that he's going to go ahead and move on with Robert, but we'll find out.

SPEAKER_03 22:33

Mm-hmm. So that'll be interesting. You know, they always say the country stars are hinting or they're teasing about this, that, and the other. That felt like a hint or a tease to me. All right. Rascal Flats. They brought 26 years of hits to the Chicago United Center, the Country Trio. I'm going to screw these names up. So Gary, Jay, and Joe. As part of Life is a Highway Tour, with special guests Lauren Elena and Chris Lane performing fan favorites, reminded longtime listeners why their catalog has stood the test of time.

Jay Franze 23:15

Gary Laveau or Lavox, depending on how you want to pronounce it. Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus.

SPEAKER_03 23:23

I'm not going to remember that. But I appreciate you setting the setting the stage straight.

Jay Franze 23:29

Gary, lead vocalist. Jodon, guitar player, and Jay, the bass player.

SPEAKER_03 23:36

Got it. Okay. We can be learned. Maybe I'll remember. We'll see. Yeah.

Jay Franze 23:41

Don't worry about it.

SPEAKER_03 23:42

Nobody put any bets on it. Well, I'm pretty excited about this next piece of news.

Jay Franze 23:50

Tell us then. Tell us.

SPEAKER_03 23:52

Yes. It's not for the reason of the actual story. It's for what I want to share. So Hunter Hayes, he had software that crashed, nearly wiping out his whole new song, Too Late. Country artist revealed his recording software crashed late at night just as he was finishing the track from his upcoming album, Evergreen, forcing him to rebuild the session piece by piece until early morning and rekindled his connection to the song. I cannot imagine that happening. Like back in the day when you'd forget to hit save.

Jay Franze 24:28

Or back in the day when you forget to hit record and you're going to tape. Or worse yet, when you're editing tape and you're doing it with the razor blade and there's no undo. Oh we used to look for pieces of tape on the studio floor and say, You think that's it? And then we'd pick it up and tape it back on and hope that we picked the right piece.

unknown 24:49

Oh God.

Jay Franze 24:50

Because when you make an edit with a razor blade, you are literally taking two pieces of tape and taping them back together. So if you could find the piece that you you lost, you could put it back in. So I've seen That is the undo. I've seen plenty of people crawling around on the studio floor in tears. Well I bet because they cut the wrong part out or something like that.

SPEAKER_03 25:16

No, that does not sound like fun to me.

Jay Franze 25:20

Not when it was my music. It's no fun when you have a steak in the game.

SPEAKER_03 25:27

Well, the reason why I was so excited about this piece of information, just to see Hunter Hayes' name again. My cowboy boots that I have, I had done my job in the it was a contest that we had. You had to make this video. And whoever made the best video or whatever, promoting whatever the product was, they got to pick concert tickets to any show. So I picked concert tickets to Hunter Hayes, and my husband looked at me and he was like, You don't have any cowboy boots. And I was like, No, I know, whatever, you know. And he was like, Well, we gotta fix that. And so on the way to the concert, we stopped by, picked up a pair of boots, and I still love these dang boots. Yeah, that's just good memory, Hunter Hayes. And I actually got to see him at a little festival before he was famous. And I actually have a unusual number of good memories about Hunter Hayes.

Jay Franze 26:17

All right then, huh?

SPEAKER_03 26:18

Yeah. I don't think we want to know anymore. We don't want to know anymore. I'm not gonna share anymore.

SPEAKER_04 26:26

Let's move on.

SPEAKER_03 26:28

Okay, Riley Green ignites Carolina Music Fest. The Country Star leads a fiery Thursday night launch in Myrtle Beach at the Carolina Country Music Fest 2026. It is going to be June 4th to the 7th, so I guess he's not going to be at CMA Fest because those are the dates of CMA Fest. But it should be good, and they've got him scheduled for Thursday night. So if you're gonna be there, make sure you're there Thursday night. See the efforts of sexy Riley Green. Not my opinion, but it's the majority.

Jay Franze 27:01

I like him because he uses traditional instruments. Oh to me, I think that's probably the reason why I like country rock, bluegrass. I think that's why I like those genres the most is because of traditional instruments. I'm not a big fan of programming stuff, even though that's how I have to do music is by programming. I would prefer live instruments, acoustic instruments, that type of stuff.

SPEAKER_03 27:29

Well, I also think that's part of your education, that's how you learned. So the I don't want to say fake, the I don't know, man-made, less man-made. You're such a smart aleck.

Jay Franze 27:46

Who came and made that guitar? I don't know. God must have done it.

SPEAKER_03 27:51

You're lucky this is a family show. That's true. That is true. I am lucky. Okay, well, there is new music out there. Some that you guys need to be checking out is Eric Church, and it is a live recording of his song Johnny. Carter Faith, she's got a new song, Fame is a Gun, Coetzel, Time Goes On, and others making a significant buzz. The tracks are trending on the radio and streaming, and that is a good indicator of the next big hits. We'll search them up and mark your calendars because the festival guides and tours in 2026 are stacking up with major acts and rising stars, including Riley Zimmerman. Nope, Riley Green, Bailey Zimmerman, Laney Wilson, and others.

Jay Franze 28:43

I'm gonna stop editing. I mean, it's all editing is just done. This is it, folks. This is us. This is what we dumped.

SPEAKER_03 28:52

Riley Zimmerman before.

Jay Franze 28:54

He's new artists, he's up and coming. He's hot. He can sing. He's got great songs. No reason he shouldn't make it.

SPEAKER_03 29:05

Well, another person you want to keep an eye on is Cody Johnson. He's teasing, teasing, hinting, star-studded collaborations on his next project with Luke Combs, Brothers Osborne, and more. The Country Star confirmed he and Luke Combs have recorded a duet and that Brother Osborne's will appear on his upcoming album. He hinted now that there are more surprise collaborations still in the works as the project takes shape. That'll be good. I like these people he's collaborating with. Clabin.

Jay Franze 29:38

He's taking a page out of What's His Faces playbook.

SPEAKER_03 29:42

Jelly Roll.

Jay Franze 29:43

Jelly Roll and Post Malone.

SPEAKER_03 29:45

Post Malone.

Jay Franze 29:47

What's His Face in my mind was postmalone.

SPEAKER_03 29:51

I know. I actually figured it was, but I threw Jelly Roll out there trying to throw you a different bone.

Jay Franze 29:58

Not very helpful, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 30:03

Uh well, folks, that is the news you can use from this past week in Country Music.

Question of the Day

Jay Franze 30:11

Question of the day. Name a lead singer that actually improved a band when they replaced the original singer. Name a lead singer that actually improved the band when they replaced the original singer. This question comes to us from Joe. If you would like to be like Joe and you would like to submit a question for us to fumble around with here on the show, please send your questions to feedback at jfranzy.com. All right. And Tarman, otherwise known as Anthony, says Bruce Dickinson, Iron Maiden.

SPEAKER_03 30:49

Ooh. Okay. Is he still the lead singer?

Jay Franze 30:53

He is. Bruce is the pilot.

SPEAKER_03 30:56

Oh, okay.

Jay Franze 30:57

He's the one I worked with. He was very cool. Very nice guy. I was never the biggest maiden fan, but if nothing else, that night with Bruce made me want to be more of a maiden fan.

SPEAKER_03 31:10

Yeah. Well, I tried to surprise you and get you a piece of the plane, a keychain from the Iron Maiden plane for Christmas, but they're all sold out, folks. So if you're trying to get one, can't.

Jay Franze 31:25

Well, thanks for telling me now. I'm disappointed. Maya Project Music. She says Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode. Thank you, Maya Project Music. Being here every week and being a previous guest of the show. If you have not checked out her music, please do so. Marilyn. Marilyn, thank you for joining. I think that's a first time hearing that name on the show.

SPEAKER_03 31:54

Agreed.

Jay Franze 31:55

She says, Jay and the Americans, when Jay Black replaced Jay Trainer.

SPEAKER_03 32:02

How did they find two lead singers named Jay? That's what I'm saying.

Jay Franze 32:07

Marilyn, thank you for joining.

SPEAKER_03 32:09

Y'all are rare.

Jay Franze 32:10

Thank you for bringing up so many Jays. And you know what? Thank you for just spelling it all out so we don't have to wonder.

SPEAKER_03 32:17

Yes.

Jay Franze 32:18

Alright, next, Mark. Mark says, I like Steve Perry, but I also like Sammy Hagar. When he took over for Van Halen, he brought them to new heights. Not this Jay, but that J says Grace Slick. I didn't know she was a replacement singer. Miss Kathy, who did Grace Slick replace? Alright. Tom Harding. He says Jimmy Jameson for the band Survivor. Again, I didn't know Survivor had a replacement singer. And I like Survivor. Survivor was a great band.

SPEAKER_03 32:52

I was just listening to Survivor over the weekend. I can't remember which song, but I remember looking and going, okay, this is by Survivor. So I got the band finally, but now I don't know the name of the song.

Jay Franze 33:04

Jay is chimed back in. He says Stevie Nix. Oh, whoa, whoa. Hold on. Hold the press up.

SPEAKER_03 33:15

Okay, okay.

Jay Franze 33:16

Jay is chimed back in again. Jay, he got nothing better to do tonight, either way. We appreciate you being here yet again. Thank you. Mike says Sammy Hagar.

SPEAKER_03 33:34

A lot of people.

Jay Franze 33:35

Kim. Kim, thank you for being here again, says Steve Perry. The Mike. The Mike D. The Mike D says, well, Steve Perry, of course. And then he says, I know this can be an unpopular opinion, but I would say Sammy Hagar. That's two exacts. Steve Perry and Sammy Hagar.

SPEAKER_04 34:02

Mm-hmm.

Jay Franze 34:03

I think Steve Perry by far is you know the best replacement singer ever. He's the best vocalist ever, so therefore he's the best replacement singer. However, Sammy Hagar replacing David Lee Roth. David Lee Roth was a great front man. Sammy Hagar was a great vocalist. He had the ability to sing, and he also could write some great songs. So, Sammy, if you want to come on here, we'd love to have you. Anthony, Anthony S says journey. I can only assume he means Steve Harry.

SPEAKER_04 34:42

Mm-hmm.

Jay Franze 34:43

Your mother says, agreed. Steve Perry.

SPEAKER_03 34:49

She's just trying to get on your good side.

Jay Franze 34:51

I wish there wasn't a delay. Miss Kathy Clapp.

unknown 34:56

No, alright.

Jay Franze 34:59

Dave Jackson, the Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting, and previous guest of the show, says, for me, John Karabi replacing Vince Neal in Motley Crew. He said it changed their sound yet made them better than the original Motley Crew.

SPEAKER_03 35:18

Well, if you're gonna change your lead singer, at least you're improving.

Jay Franze 35:23

I would like to hear that. I don't know if I've heard the replacement singer for Motley Crew. Motley Crue, I just never thought did much after that whole breakup. Alright, Joe. Joe. Joe.

SPEAKER_03 35:39

Joe?

Jay Franze 35:40

Joe. Joe says Dave Grohl.

SPEAKER_03 35:43

Joe?

Jay Franze 35:44

Joe says Dave Grohl. He was perfect for Foo Fighters after Cobain died. Now, to be fair, he didn't replace Cobain because that was Nirvana. Foo Fighters is a totally different band.

SPEAKER_04 35:58

Yep.

Jay Franze 35:59

But yes, Dave Grohl is awesome. Super, super talented. You can't beat the talent of that man. The only one that I've noticed that comes close to that all-around talent that Dave Grohl has is Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen's son. Oh wow. Both of them played every instrument and sang.

SPEAKER_03 36:20

So it's impressive.

Jay Franze 36:21

They did not need anybody else to perform on the record.

SPEAKER_03 36:26

Well, they saved a little money.

Jay Franze 36:29

Derek. Derek says, Well, Steve Barry. Alright.

SPEAKER_03 36:35

They're just sucking up to you, Jay.

Jay Franze 36:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 36:38

Can't argue. They know if they put your band, then they'll get their name read.

Jay Franze 36:44

To be fair, you know, they were my favorite band growing up, not so much now.

SPEAKER_03 36:49

Yeah.

Jay Franze 36:50

I don't like the drama. Drama kind of ruins the band.

SPEAKER_03 36:54

Well, we've all heard that with Metallica.

Jay Franze 36:56

Oh no, that's a whole different level.

SPEAKER_03 36:58

Yeah.

Jay Franze 36:58

When you bring in a therapist and all that, this kind of takes things downhill pretty quick. Epic Roxy. Thank you for being here again. However, I think you missed the concept of the question. All she did is just list artists. And she didn't just list them, she's tagging them all. I appreciate you doing that for sure. But the one that makes the most sense to me is Foreigner. They did have a replacement singer. Now, I don't think Reba had a replacement singer. I don't think she was a replacement singer. I don't think Winona was a replacement singer. However, could have been. And she does mention Kate Stanton, previous guest of the show.

SPEAKER_02 37:42

Sweet.

Jay Franze 37:43

So I like that. Not bad. Fourna, Winona, Reba, and Kate Stanton. Ratokar. Rat O'Car. Ratokar.

SPEAKER_03 37:55

Rat O'Car.

Jay Franze 37:57

Says Brian Johnson for ACDC. Justin says Bruce Dickinson, Iron Maiden. Garlic Guy 620 says Sam Cook, the soul stirrers.

SPEAKER_03 38:10

I like Sam Cook. I have his record.

Jay Franze 38:14

Garlic Guy 620. Again, says Grayslick.

SPEAKER_03 38:19

Wow.

Jay Franze 38:21

DTJ fan.

SPEAKER_03 38:28

Okay.

Jay Franze 38:29

Fish Ink Tattoo.

SPEAKER_03 38:32

That's the name of the band?

Jay Franze 38:33

Oh. That's the person. Fish Ink Tattoo.

SPEAKER_03 38:37

Okay, okay.

Jay Franze 38:38

Oh, look at that. I hover over it and it comes up with more information. That's pretty slick. If I hover over their comment, it comes up and it tells me it says Fish, aka Levi Ethan. Whoops. Well, it's a tattoo artist. He probably wants the business. Let's go see Levi Ethan, otherwise known as Fish, over at Fish Inc Tattoo. Let's see where does it say where it is? Um Coral Springs, Florida.

SPEAKER_04 39:09

Oh, wow.

Jay Franze 39:10

So if you would like a tattoo and you find yourself in the Coral Springs, Florida area, please go to Fish Inc. and see Levi Ethan, otherwise known as Fish. He says Mike Ho from Metal Church.

SPEAKER_03 39:24

Oh.

Jay Franze 39:25

He also says Joey Belladonna from Anthrax.

SPEAKER_03 39:28

Beta Fuco.

Jay Franze 39:29

You tell me how many more you want.

SPEAKER_02 39:35

Two.

Jay Franze 39:37

Okay, I don't know if Tincho Guitar got the memo. He just says Iron Maiden Faith No More. I understand. I get it. I'm going to heart that one up there, buddy. I'm going to follow you to. There you go. I love it. Thank you. Ricketts for real.

SPEAKER_03 39:58

Okay.

Jay Franze 39:59

Says Phil Collins in Genesis. I'm going to give you one more because I can pronounce it.

SPEAKER_03 40:04

Okay. Feeling pretty pretty good about yourself, huh?

Jay Franze 40:09

Joe. Joe 701485 says Sammy Hagar in Van Halen. Ooh, this person wrote a book. Can we do one more just so I can read the book?

SPEAKER_03 40:24

Of course.

Jay Franze 40:26

M-T-A-R-H-A-N-E-N, otherwise known as Micah. You know what I should do? I should hover over these more often because it comes up and tells me their actual name.

SPEAKER_03 40:45

Not a bad thing to hover.

Jay Franze 40:46

He's a musician. He plays guitar. He's also a lover of vinyl, live music, and motorsports. He also likes to box and do taekwondo.

SPEAKER_03 40:57

He had me until he said motorsports.

Jay Franze 40:59

I'm gonna go ahead and follow him.

SPEAKER_03 41:02

Okay. Seems like a solid choice.

Jay Franze 41:05

I like all those things.

SPEAKER_03 41:07

Okay. Perfect.

Jay Franze 41:09

He says Bruce Dickinson, Iron Maiden, James LeBrie, Dream Theater, Michael Kiskey, K-I-S-K-E. Kiske. Halloween.

SPEAKER_03 41:22

I think the E is probably Sally silent Kisk.

Jay Franze 41:25

Kisk. I don't know. It's not silent to my name.

SPEAKER_03 41:29

That's true.

unknown 41:31

D.

Jay Franze 41:32

Snyder, Twisted Sister. I didn't realize he was a replacement singer.

SPEAKER_03 41:36

Learning something new.

Jay Franze 41:38

I am. That's kind of depressing. I some of these people I thought were the originals. Dio and Black Sabbath. Ooh. Dio is good, but is he better?

SPEAKER_04 41:50

Is he better than Ozzy?

Jay Franze 41:52

He is. He's better than Ozzy. Sorry, Ozzy. Ozzy, I mean, I don't want to talk bad about you, especially now that you're not here to defend yourself. But Dio is, I don't know, Ozzy's got an extremely unique voice, but Dio is an amazing, like technically correct singer.

SPEAKER_04 42:08

Hmm.

Jay Franze 42:09

I would have to go with Dio for techniques and Ozzy for unique sound. And to be fair. I think it's more important. Ozzy created the genre.

SPEAKER_03 42:20

Right?

Jay Franze 42:21

So he also says Mike Patton, Faith No More, and Bob Rock. I didn't realize Bob Rock was in a band. I know he's been a producer for all the hard rock bands, but I didn't realize he was actually in a band. Who knew?

SPEAKER_03 42:39

Are you gonna be able to sleep tonight with all this new information?

Jay Franze 42:42

No, I'm gonna be Googling the hell out of shit tomorrow.

SPEAKER_03 42:44

I know.

Jay Franze 42:48

All right. Well, let's go ahead and move on to the countdown, my friend.

SPEAKER_03 42:54

All right, let's do it. We're counting down from 10 to 1.

Jay Franze 42:58

Oh, are we doing it that way?

Countdown

SPEAKER_03 42:59

In spot. Yeah. So in spot 10. Miss Megamorone, six months later. Number nine is Justin Moore. Time's ticking. Number eight is Thomas Red. Rhett. Red. Rhett ain't a bad life. I think I was looking at bad and switched up in my brain. Red. Thomas Red. Thomas Red ain't a bad life. Oh the accent. I know you like it.

Jay Franze 43:33

That's what draws me to you.

SPEAKER_03 43:35

Yeah. Okay. Spot number seven is Mr. Hudson Westbrook with House Again. You know what I realized? I like that about that song. I like the guitar in that song.

Jay Franze 43:46

I like the message.

SPEAKER_03 43:48

I like the message too. Okay, spot number six, Shabuzy with Amen. Spot number five is Morgan Wallen with 20 cigarettes. And thank you very much. Every time I hear this freaking song now, I hear, I don't know, I have a problem with his math.

Jay Franze 44:10

I do have a problem with his math. Right out of the gate, he's wrong. He starts off 20 strong and then he goes down. No. 13. Just today, I went over his math again.

SPEAKER_03 44:24

I'm not sure the math would ever bother me enough in a song that I'd actually go through and try to figure it out. Spot number four is George Burge with It Won't Be Long. Love that song. Spot number three, Jason Aldean. How far does a goodbye go?

Jay Franze 44:43

Goes all the way to number three.

SPEAKER_03 44:49

Spot number two is the Ella Langley with Choose in Texas.

Jay Franze 44:54

You didn't even give me time. My fingers on the button. There was no pause. Try it again. Let's see if we can work on this. Let's work on our craft live.

SPEAKER_03 45:07

Okay. Spot number two. The Ella Langley with choosing Texas. The.

Jay Franze 45:16

Make sure it's not important.

SPEAKER_03 45:18

The. I can't say my girl because I got a lot of my girls and my boys, so I can't keep using that.

Jay Franze 45:26

Yeah, please don't.

SPEAKER_03 45:29

And spot number one is Mr. Hardy, your favorite country song.

Jay Franze 45:39

He gets it all because it's my favorite country song.

SPEAKER_03 45:42

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It's just your favorite. All right. Well, you want to talk about the indie charts?

Jay Franze 45:49

Only if we can start at 10.

SPEAKER_03 45:52

Okay. This week we can start at 10. We are going to kick it off with Cowboy Pillows by Lexi Stevenson. Spot number nine is The Church on Cumberland Road by Shenandoah and Nickelback.

unknown 46:07

Nickelback.

SPEAKER_03 46:07

It does sound a little different musically.

Jay Franze 46:10

I like Nickelback. I'm one of the few people in this world that would admit. You know, Nickelback, everybody in the world must like Nickelback because they're so amazingly popular. But nobody will admit it, and everybody likes to rip on them. I admit it. I like Nickelback. I've got nothing against Nickelback.

SPEAKER_03 46:28

Well, I'm I'm in your camp. I like Nickelback.

Jay Franze 46:32

And Mike Shipley was the one who engineered and mixed all their records. He's I mean he was, he passed away, but he was amazing. He passed away early. He was a young guy. But he was one of the best mixed engineers in the world. And those records are just pitcher-perfect sounding records. You can't get any better of a sounding record than those Nickelback records.

SPEAKER_03 46:56

According to your ears.

Jay Franze 46:58

Yes, but to be fair, that's really all that matters.

SPEAKER_03 47:01

Okay.

Jay Franze 47:02

Yes, absolutely. If you are into technically amazing sounding records, go listen to the Nickelback Records. Listen to them, look up Mike Shipley, check out his work, and then you too will agree with me and tell Tiffany to scratch it.

SPEAKER_03 47:22

Scratching makes me think of scratch and sniff, and scratch and sniff makes me think of smelling perfume on my jersey. Which is the song from spot number eight, numero ocho by Caleb Lathrop.

Jay Franze 47:36

You do know how to tie it in, don't you? You can just take anything and twist it around.

SPEAKER_03 47:41

And so my husband tells me. He says I can turn anything around.

Jay Franze 47:46

So I thought you were going to say he could tie anything up.

SPEAKER_03 47:50

No. Okay. Spot number seven, too good, too bad by Jason Scott and the high heat.

Jay Franze 47:58

And the high heat. Don't leave them out.

SPEAKER_03 48:00

I said it. They weren't left out. You know who's not going to be left out? People standing around Alex Miller. Because he's in spot six and he's singing secondhand smoke.

Jay Franze 48:17

Oh, mercy. I see what you did there.

SPEAKER_03 48:23

I am a victim of secondhand smoke. My dad smoked a lot of cigarettes in our day. And a lot of second-hand smoke might be what's wrong with me. That explains a lot. Okay, spot number five smells like whiskey by Jesse G.

Jay Franze 48:42

Secondhand smoke and whiskey. Smells like a honky donk.

SPEAKER_03 48:48

Spot number four is Three Sheets to the Wind by Kelly and Sarah. I looked this song up, and actually, oh shoot, now I'm gonna forget who sings it. There's a popular country artist right now that has a song called Three Sheets to the Wind. And I gotta say their song was a little bit better than Kelly and Sarah's. So not that great. The one by the current popular star is talking about having alcohol and being three shoots to the wind, which is a little more fun. Spot number three is the song Steady by Jenna Paulette. Spot number two.

Jay Franze 49:44

Gotta get in there quick.

SPEAKER_03 49:47

That's it. No.

Jay Franze 49:50

Yeah, go ahead. Finish your thought.

Top Artists of 2025

SPEAKER_03 49:53

I want it all. Yeah, you do. By skip youing. And spot number one, Hell That I Call Home by Porter Martin.

Jay Franze 50:11

All right. Tonight.

SPEAKER_04 50:15

Ooh.

Jay Franze 50:16

In honor of your countdown, I thought it would be nice for us to take a look back at 2025 and discuss the top 10 country artists of 2025.

SPEAKER_03 50:29

I like it.

Jay Franze 50:30

And I would also like to start at number 10.

SPEAKER_03 50:34

I like that it was in honor of me.

Jay Franze 50:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 50:37

You and Jesus. Yep. You say it was me.

Jay Franze 50:42

Yeah. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_03 50:44

He gets a lot of things in his honor.

Jay Franze 50:47

I was about to say something on there. No, it's Jesus. Oh, your mother says, I love her, and yes, you're welcome. Well, somebody has. All right. Number 10 of the most popular country artists of 2025.

SPEAKER_03 51:10

Okay.

Jay Franze 51:11

Rising genre blending artist with notable hits.

SPEAKER_03 51:16

Okay.

Jay Franze 51:18

That's your hint. Nope. You're wrong. It is.

SPEAKER_03 51:26

Every time I actually try to come up with an answer in every time you're talking about it.

Jay Franze 51:31

You're welcome to try.

SPEAKER_03 51:34

No?

Jay Franze 51:34

It's shabozy.

SPEAKER_03 51:37

Shabozy. How fun would it be if he was your friend? Like you're gonna call shaboozy? Shaboozy coming over?

Jay Franze 51:46

You think he goes by shaboozi when he's not, you know, working? I would hope so.

SPEAKER_03 51:54

I think in a I yeah, I think in like a party setting or like a fun upbeat setting, yes. But if something sad happens, then he goes by Michael or whatever his given name is. Right.

Jay Franze 52:08

Emerging crossover appeal and strong radio play.

SPEAKER_03 52:13

Jelly Roll. Jesse Murph. Oh I was close.

Jay Franze 52:19

It was the accent, yes. Airplay and streaming success in modern country. Brings us to number eight and Co Wetzel.

SPEAKER_04 52:33

Oh.

Jay Franze 52:34

Number seven. Veteran chart presence and continued hits. Come on, I gave you the veteran chart presence alone, should at least point you in the right direction.

SPEAKER_03 52:46

I was gonna say Jason Aldean.

Jay Franze 52:47

Yeah, you would have been right.

SPEAKER_03 52:50

Oh my goodness.

Jay Franze 52:52

Too bad you didn't say it.

SPEAKER_03 52:53

I still said it before you told me, so. That's true.

Jay Franze 52:58

All right. Number six major radio presence and new artist recognition.

SPEAKER_03 53:07

Ella Langley. Damn, two in a few. Oh yes.

Jay Franze 53:11

Why'd you keep going?

SPEAKER_03 53:13

Because you didn't tell me soon enough.

Jay Franze 53:17

I was like all proud of you. You get two in a row.

SPEAKER_03 53:20

I still got two in a row.

Jay Franze 53:22

Number five. Big year when it comes to airplay, collaborations, and breakout success.

SPEAKER_03 53:31

Now I want to use my next guest for Laney Wilson.

Jay Franze 53:34

Riley Green.

SPEAKER_03 53:36

Oh, so close. Riley Laney. Yeah, very close. A lot of the same letters.

Jay Franze 53:41

Yeah. I can understand that.

SPEAKER_03 53:43

They both end in Y.

Jay Franze 53:47

Number four. Strong airplay and sharp performance. Jordan Davis.

SPEAKER_03 53:55

Scotty McCurry.

Jay Franze 53:59

Not even close. I started before you. You could have just jumped on board with that one.

SPEAKER_03 54:04

Well, I was trying to think of who's been on our charts, and that bottle rocket song hung on for a while.

Jay Franze 54:09

So I didn't hang on for a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 54:12

Yeah.

Jay Franze 54:13

All right. Number three. Consistent top five presence on country radio airplay charts.

SPEAKER_03 54:22

Megan Moroney.

Jay Franze 54:24

Luke Combs.

SPEAKER_03 54:26

Like I said, Luke Combs.

Jay Franze 54:30

Number two. Major presence on country radio playlists and charts with multiple. Multiple being the key word here. Big hits.

SPEAKER_03 54:42

Morgan Wallen.

Jay Franze 54:45

Jelly roll.

SPEAKER_03 54:47

Dang it.

Jay Franze 54:51

And number one, continued dominance of country charts and radio, cited number one on several top artist lists of 2025.

SPEAKER_03 55:04

Morgan Wallen.

Jay Franze 55:06

Morgan Wallen, it is.

SPEAKER_03 55:12

No.

Jay Franze 55:13

There's a couple on here that like I wonder, like Jesse Murph.

SPEAKER_03 55:17

Yeah. I was kind of surprised by Jordan Davis. I know he's got some hits, but he's pretty half on the list. Yeah, I know.

Jay Franze 55:26

She's up there at number four.

SPEAKER_03 55:28

Mm-hmm.

Jay Franze 55:30

I'm good with Morgan Wallen being on there for sure, being number one for the year. Jelly Roll, right up there for sure. Luke Combs. I think the top three are perfect. I think Ella Langley should be higher. She should probably come in at number four. Jason Aldean should be right up there, four or five with um Ella Langley.

SPEAKER_04 55:52

Mm-hmm.

Jay Franze 55:53

Then the others, I just don't know why. Like, where is um Laney Wilson?

SPEAKER_03 55:59

I don't know.

Jay Franze 56:00

Either way, good list. I'm happy with it.

SPEAKER_03 56:03

I like it.

Jay Franze 56:04

All right, let's move on.

SPEAKER_03 56:05

I like it.

Jay Franze 56:06

Moving on to the mailbag.

SPEAKER_03 56:10

Mailbag.

Mailbag

Jay Franze 56:11

There you go. Look at you. It's like you're back on battery. Mike. Mike from Columbus, Ohio. Every time I think I'm gonna skim an episode, I end up listening to the whole thing.

SPEAKER_03 56:27

Sucker. You know what's funny about that? Sometimes I think I'm gonna listen to our episode like on a faster speed, and I always slow it down.

Jay Franze 56:38

Sarah. With an H. Sarah H.

SPEAKER_03 56:49

No. With an H.

Jay Franze 56:52

Well, her last name's H as well. Sarah with an H H. Your rant about chasing validation instead of their craft hit way too close to home. I felt personally attacked. Which probably means you were right. Don't stop calling it like you see it.

SPEAKER_03 57:15

Hmm. Smart girl.

Jay Franze 57:18

All right. Sarah with an H. Are you an artist?

SPEAKER_03 57:22

She must be.

Jay Franze 57:24

Let us know if you'd like to come on the show. We would love to talk to you, and we would also love to see if you mind us calling you Sarah with an H week after week after week. Love to have you. Tom, Fort Worth, Texas. I'll be in Texas at the end of the month. If anybody would like to buy me a dinner, steak, I like steak. Anyone has any shows you would like to recommend? I would love to check out a show while I'm there. I will be in the Dallas area, but I can move around. Tom says the chemistry you two have is scary. It's definitely scary. You have no idea how scary it is. I'm scary. Every time we go off air, I'm wondering what's gonna happen next. Jenna from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

SPEAKER_03 58:22

Ooh.

Jay Franze 58:25

The industry needs to be effing patient.

SPEAKER_03 58:32

Saying it like it is.

Jay Franze 58:34

Fair enough. Lisa, Lisa from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Uh you celebrate wins, but you also talk honestly about stuff that nobody should post on Instagram. Okay. Thank you, Lisa, and thank you for being here again. We do appreciate it. Carlos, there's a new one. Carlos, San Antonio, Texas.

SPEAKER_03 59:02

Oh, I like San Antonio.

Jay Franze 59:05

Producer brain plus business brain equals brutally honest.

SPEAKER_03 59:10

I'm brutally honest.

Jay Franze 59:14

It's set up like a mathematical equation. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 59:18

I love it.

Jay Franze 59:21

Rick, Rick from Phoenix, Arizona. I'm throwing in the Arizona part. He just put Phoenix. I only know of one Phoenix. If I'm wrong, Rick, let me know. Me too. Rick says most artist development these days is just social media coaching, but it does have a prettier name. Thank you, Rick. You know, artist development used to mean something. And even when I worked in Nashville doing artist development, it just didn't feel the same to me anymore. Artist development started to feel more like a scam. It started to feel like internet coaching at this point, like Rick is saying here. Where everybody just wanted to scam artists that came to town. And they would develop anybody that came to town. It's just brutal. People who had no business being signed to any sort of development deal. And then you just make them pay for everything.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:36

Yeah.

Jay Franze 1:00:36

But people did they made um they made their living off of it. So sorry.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:42

Sounds like a used car salesman.

Jay Franze 1:00:43

It was very much like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:45

Mm-hmm.

Jay Franze 1:00:46

I've seen some amazing, amazing things that I should share one day. Brooke, Brooke from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Oh. Says, When should an indie artist stop saying yes to opportunities? At what point does exposure turn into distraction? Brooke, that is a very well thought out question or two.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:11

Mm-hmm.

Jay Franze 1:01:12

I think an indie artist should say yes to just about everything. If there's an opportunity that comes your way and you have the ability of making it happen, make it happen. The time that I think could potentially be a distraction is if you let it take your eye off the prize. If you're a songwriter and you stop writing songs because you know you're trying to play another club or go to a different radio station for an interview or do something different, then you might want to back it off a little bit. But I do really do think you should say yes to just about anything that comes your way.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:48

Yeah, I think another lens to look at that through is whatever you're saying yes to, it means you have to say no to something else. So are you saying no to something else that could actually move the needle? You know, let's say there's an opportunity for you to possibly be in the same room with people that you need to connect with, but instead you choose to go play a gig. Could you have spent your time more wisely by attending the event and bumping into the people you needed to meet versus just this fun thing where you get to play your music? Yes, you're still getting your music out there and people are hearing it and everything, but was there a better opportunity that you could have said yes to? So I I agree with what you're saying. I'm just explaining it in another way, too.

Jay Franze 1:02:33

There you go. Explained in two different ways, Brooke.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:39

And next we're gonna draw a picture. Do you have your pen and paper?

Jay Franze 1:02:42

Say yes to just about anything you can, and if two things come up at one time, pick the one that's better for you in the long run.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:49

Yep.

Jay Franze 1:02:49

There we go. We summarized as well.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:52

Good job.

Jay Franze 1:02:53

Kevin. Kevin O from Wisconsin. Do you know Kevin O?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:58

No.

Jay Franze 1:02:59

Just wondering. Top by your old stomping grounds. Mm-hmm. Kevin O, the way you guys structure segments makes it easy to listen to without zoning out.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:11

Thank you.

Jay Franze 1:03:12

Ooh, Kevin U. I am glad, Kevin. Thank you. Thank you a lot, Kevin. Nicole. Nicole F. I thought for a brief moment that could be my niece. But it's not.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:31

Okay.

Jay Franze 1:03:33

Asheville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:35

Oh, wrong town.

Jay Franze 1:03:37

Tiffany is Jay's anchor.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:41

Oh.

Jay Franze 1:03:43

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:44

I think that is a compliment.

Jay Franze 1:03:45

She is like cinder blocks on my ankles as I'm thrown into the river. Two more. Stephen from Idaho.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:00

Oh.

Jay Franze 1:04:00

Where are you from? Iowa.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:02

Iowa.

Jay Franze 1:04:04

So close.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:05

Could have been scary because my first yeah, my first real boyfriend was Stephen.

Jay Franze 1:04:12

Maybe he's keeping tabs on you. Stephen. I was gonna say what was Stephen's last name, but I shouldn't do that. Did his last name begin with G?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:22

No. F. Pretty close. Pretty close to the alphabet.

Jay Franze 1:04:30

F and G. Stephen G from Boise, Idaho says artists blaming Nashville for their lack of success is the new way of complaining that labels shelved my music. At some point, you just gotta own up to it. Alright. So basically what you're saying is current artists are blaming Nashville, and they used to blame the label for shelving their music. Yeah, I mean, I've seen artists complain about their labels shelving their music before. I've seen labels shelve artist music before. So that has happened. Labels in the past used to shelve music for a couple different reasons. One, they would shelve it if they were just trying to get you off the market, which I always thought was wrong. So let's say let's say Garth Brooks came on the market and was just killing it. And another label was going to sign the competitor to Garth.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:31

Mm-hmm.

Jay Franze 1:05:32

That label, the one that Garth would be on, would sign the the other artist and shelve them just so they wouldn't get released and take the momentum away from Garth.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:45

I mean, don't hate the play or hate the game, right?

Jay Franze 1:05:49

It's a strategy. But it it that to me was never a nice thing to do.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:55

It's just not very ethical.

Jay Franze 1:05:57

It's not, you know, no. It's a good business. Move for sure. But it's it's bad to do that to an artist like that. You just completely screwed screwed their career.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:08

Yeah, well, and how disappointing for the artist to be like, oh, I got signed and then got shelved. No muy bueno. J-O. It rhymed.

Jay Franze 1:06:21

It felt Yeah, it rhymed and didn't make any sense whatsoever. Rockalooch. Oh, let's end with Rockalooch.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:29

Let's do it. What she got to say.

Jay Franze 1:06:32

You don't sound like you're trying to impress the industry. You sound like somebody who survived it.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:37

Whoa. How does that feel?

Jay Franze 1:06:40

I don't know. She's talking to you.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:42

No.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:48

I don't think so.

Jay Franze 1:06:49

To be fair, survived it. Am I trying to impress anybody? Nope. Not in the least. Don't care. Definitely not trying to impress anybody. I've never tried to impress anybody.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:02

No, he doesn't try to impress anybody, y'all.

Jay Franze 1:07:05

But I always enjoyed it. I get to work with some great people.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:08

Yeah.

Jay Franze 1:07:09

We get to work on some great projects. Some good times. Alright, my friend, what is going on with you this week?

What's Going On

SPEAKER_03 1:07:19

Oh, Jay, I'm a boring person, but I think what I'm gonna do to spice it up is I have a friend coming into town tomorrow, and I think we are going to hit St. Augustine and catch some live music. There's one girl that I always look for, Jolie. So I hope she's out and about in St. Augustine tomorrow. What are you doing? What's going on at Laurie's Roadhouse? Seems to always have some kind of attraction for you.

Jay Franze 1:07:45

Emma Zinc.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:46

Hmm.

Jay Franze 1:07:47

I don't know who Emma Zinc is. She looks a little rocky.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:52

Oh yeah. Ooh, that looks like your flavor.

Jay Franze 1:07:55

She's playing Friday. Friday the 13th.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:59

Oof.

Jay Franze 1:08:02

So Saturday it is. Saturday is the 14th. It's Valentine's Day. I don't know if I should do that again. Anniversary in Valentine's Day.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:14

Let's learn from our past mistakes. Take it from a woman.

Jay Franze 1:08:20

Lori Morgan.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:23

Ooh. Wow. She's gonna be at Laurie's?

Jay Franze 1:08:27

She is.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:28

Why don't you take your girl on a date?

unknown 1:08:30

No.

Jay Franze 1:08:34

All right. What am I doing this weekend? Lucy, daughter number dos, has got her first dance competition of the season. So much is going on. Three-day long thing. Three days, and she performs in like six different categories. I mean, it's crazy. So nonetheless, I will be going to see little Lulu perform in her competition, and we will see what she can pull out this year. I'm excited. I'm excited to see what her and her team can do. Oh, mercy me. Let's go ahead and crash this thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:15

Let's crash it.

Jay Franze 1:09:16

All right, folks. Well, we have done it. We've reached the top of the hour. We've reached the top of hour number two, which does mean we have reached the end of the show. If you've enjoyed the show, please tell a friend and Miss Tiffany. If you have not, tell two. Tell two. You can reach out to both of us over at jfranzy.com where we will keep this or any other conversation going. Maybe not this one. Oh, mercy me, my friend. Do you have any final words for us?

SPEAKER_03 1:09:45

Just a few. That's a wrap, crew members. We appreciate you being here, and we will see you on Wednesday.

Jay Franze 1:09:52

All right, folks, on that note, have a good night. Thanks for listening to the Jay Franzi Show. Make sure you visit us at JFranzi.com. Follow, connect, and stay hello.