Looking back on our talk with Lainey Wilson at Faster Horses 2024, as we celebrate the GRAMMY winner's new album, 'Whirlwind.'

Looking back on our talk with Lainey Wilson at Faster Horses 2024, as we celebrate the GRAMMY winner's new album, 'Whirlwind.'

Rob Stone and Holly Hutton give you the VIP treatment as ACM Award-winning personalities, connecting you with your favorite Country artists every weeknight on Audacy radio stations nationwide. Join the high-energy duo as they keep your nights interesting with one-of-a-kind artist interviews, the latest Country news and real-life anecdotes from their own eventful lives. When not on your airwaves, you can catch Rob Stone on-stage as a singer-songwriter and Holly Hutton on her farm, rescuing horses. What are you waiting for? Listen now!

Rob Stone and Holly Hutton give you the VIP treatment as ACM Award-winning personalities, connecting you with your favorite Country artists every weeknight on Audacy radio stations nationwide. Join the high-energy duo as they keep your nights interesting with one-of-a-kind artist interviews, the latest Country news and real-life anecdotes from their own eventful lives. When not on your airwaves, you can catch Rob Stone on-stage as a singer-songwriter and Holly Hutton on her farm, rescuing horses. What are you waiting for? Listen now!

Rob Stone and Holly Hutton give you the VIP treatment as ACM Award-winning personalities, connecting you with your favorite Country artists every weeknight on Audacy radio stations nationwide.

Rob + Holly

Lainey Wilson at Faster Horses 2024

ThomasRhett and his wife, Lauren, are #couplegoals for so many who see the fun-loving couple tackle life together with their four daughters and lots of laughs on social media. While the childhood friends have a dreamy love story now, TR says it’s all thanks to being best friends for so many years.

“We did everything together,” Thomas said after sharing he and Lauren initially met in first grade but didn’t have a “real conversation” until around 5th grade. “We were in the same classes, we walked the same hallways, we went to Sonic together after school — we did all the things.”

Despite all the time they spent together — including going on double dates while seeing other people — Rhett says he was “definitely just a friend” to Lauren, although as time went on, he hoped for more.

“Even though I loved her, the feeling was not mutual in return in high school,” he stated boldly. While we all know how the story ends with true love displayed in many of Rhett’s biggest hits including, “Die A Happy Man,” “Look What God Gave Her” and “Unforgettable,” there’s one song on his new album that tells the story of exactly how he escaped the friend zone.

“The song, ‘What Could Go Right,’ that is the story, verbatim, of the night I literally was just like, ‘Hey, we either kiss and date, or I gotta like, not see you for five years,’” Thomas shared. The song, which Rhett says is his favorite on the album, is one the 34-year-old says he’s tried to write for some time now, but didn’t see success with the concept until recently.

“I’ve tried to write that song in many different ways and it wasn’t until last year when I got together with a few guys - I was word vomiting the story and how this happened - and my buddy JohnByron was like… ‘Check out this verse and chorus,’ and I was like [claps his hands]  ‘Bravo!’”

The song sits at number 11 on the track list of his brand new album, About a Woman, which also features 13 other songs about the past, present, and future of he and Lauren’s love story.

“A lot of these songs are definitely geared towards love… they are geared towards love in all different phases,” he explained. “A high school flame and then there’s like a young love flame and there’s growing old together. [I’m] just a big proponent of love and wanted to write about all the different variations that I’ve experienced and hopefully will experience as my life goes [on].”

With a relationship so many are invested in, Rhett made clear he and Lauren’s marriage isn’t always a picture-perfect Country love song, and shared the effort they both put forth to keep their love alive.

“Today, it’s making sure that obviously the love and the flame is alive, but also just remembering how to have fun with each other,” he said. “At the end of the day, if you and your wife are not healthy, then the whole system kind of fails. We really make sure date night is a big priority, we work out together now, we just recently started playing pickleball together. I think anything that we can do together that unites us, just ends up making us better parents.”

Hear more about Thomas and Lauren’s love story as well as the new album, About a Woman, by checking out Thomas Rhett’s full conversation with Audacy’s Rob + Holly above.

Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Rob + Holly

Thomas Rhett and his wife, Lauren, are #couplegoals for so many who see the fun-loving couple tackle life together with their four daughters and lots of laughs on social media. While the childhood friends have a dreamy love story now, TR says it’s all thanks to being best friends for so many years.
“We did everything together,” Thomas said after sharing he and Lauren initially met in first grade but didn’t have a “real conversation” until around 5th grade. “We were in the same classes, we walked the same hallways, we went to Sonic together after school — we did all the things.”
Despite all the time they spent together — including going on double dates while seeing other people — Rhett says he was “definitely just a friend” to Lauren, although as time went on, he hoped for more.
“Even though I loved her, the feeling was not mutual in return in high school,” he stated boldly. While we all know how the story ends with true love displayed in many of Rhett’s biggest hits including, “Die A Happy Man,” “Look What God Gave Her” and “Unforgettable,” there’s one song on his new album that tells the story of exactly how he escaped the friend zone.
“The song, ‘What Could Go Right,’ that is the story, verbatim, of the night I literally was just like, ‘Hey, we either kiss and date, or I gotta like, not see you for five years,’” Thomas shared. The song, which Rhett says is his favorite on the album, is one the 34-year-old says he’s tried to write for some time now, but didn’t see success with the concept until recently.
“I’ve tried to write that song in many different ways and it wasn’t until last year when I got together with a few guys - I was word vomiting the story and how this happened - and my buddy John Byron was like… ‘Check out this verse and chorus,’ and I was like [claps his hands]  ‘Bravo!’”
The song sits at number 11 on the track list of his brand new album, About a Woman, which also features 13 other songs about the past, present, and future of he and Lauren’s love story.
“A lot of these songs are definitely geared towards love… they are geared towards love in all different phases,” he explained. “A high school flame and then there’s like a young love flame and there’s growing old together. [I’m] just a big proponent of love and wanted to write about all the different variations that I’ve experienced and hopefully will experience as my life goes [on].”
With a relationship so many are invested in, Rhett made clear he and Lauren’s marriage isn’t always a picture-perfect Country love song, and shared the effort they both put forth to keep their love alive.
“Today, it’s making sure that obviously the love and the flame is alive, but also just remembering how to have fun with each other,” he said. “At the end of the day, if you and your wife are not healthy, then the whole system kind of fails. We really make sure date night is a big priority, we work out together now, we just recently started playing pickleball together. I think anything that we can do together that unites us, just ends up making us better parents.”
Hear more about Thomas and Lauren’s love story as well as the new album, About a Woman, by checking out Thomas Rhett’s full conversation with Audacy’s Rob + Holly above.
Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Rob + Holly

Thomas Rhett | Friday Night Takeover

HARDY went hard for his first official Rock album, QUIT!!, which released last month, and now, the Philadelphia, MS native is taking time to reflect on how it all panned out.

With features including Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, and Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, the record definitely fits the Rock category, but also invites HARDY’s established Country fan base in as the lyrics lean towards the redneck side.

“I will never, ever be able to escape the Country lyrics because it’s really the only thing I know how to do and whatever kind of music is behind that,” the 33-year-old told Audacy’s Rob + Holly during the Friday Night Takeover. Moving forward, the singer-songwriter says he’ll be making more of an effort not to label his music with a genre when possible and just focus on continuing to stay true to his unique style.

“For the sake of charts and stuff you have to put a genre behind it, but I’m going to try and do a better job or just sayin’, ‘It’s just me, it’s just my music,'” he shared. Whatever genre you want to call it, QUIT!! includes 13 tracks that each stand-out in their own way, with one in particular that has captured the emotions, attention, and love of fans everywhere titled, “Six Feet Under (Caleigh’s Song).”

The reflective, deeply personal tune closes out the album as track 13 and is dedicated to HARDY’s wife, Caleigh, who is well-known by his fans for her support, love, and good time personality.

“I’m not usually a method writer where I feel like everything I go through I have to write, but I just needed to get that emotion out,” HARDY shared of the song that details the highest and lowest moments of his life. “Basically… the month of October in 2023 started off as the worst month of my life and ended as the best,” he shared of the inspiration behind the song. “It started off with the bus accident, which was the first, second maybe third of October… and the 29th was the day I got married. That was such a difficult emotional roller coaster because all the stuff goin’ on.”

He continued, “The best moment of my life — and I can still say that to this day — was Caleigh and I did private vows and hearing her give those vows and I’m sitting there listening to them, and I’m like, ‘I thought I was going to f**king die three weeks ago, I thought I was dead,” he shared. “I owed her that song, I owed her that emotion because sometimes it’s hard for me to put into words all of that.”

The song shows a new side of the couple’s deeply rooted relationship which brings a smile to so many fans as HARDY and Caleigh are well known to be the life of any party. Their own wedding had beer burros, a tattoo parlor, and a 90s Country cover band.

“When I met my wife, I was afraid of her,” HARDY said of his wife’s love for a good time. “She was an animal, dude. She went to Ole Miss [University of Mississippi], which is very — especially in the South — it’s a huge party school and dude, that girl was like, scary.”

He continued, “The first few times I would go down and hang out with her, I would be like, ‘Don’t kill me tonight,’ she was a pretty animal and she could go forever... she’s got that killer instinct in her and I love that about her.”

Hear more about Caleigh’s song, the QUIT!! album and exactly when HARDY plans on attending a Limp Bizkit show by checking out his entire conversation with Audacy’s Rob + Holly for the Friday Night Takeover above.

Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Rob + Holly

HARDY went hard for his first official Rock album, QUIT!!, which released last month, and now, the Philadelphia, MS native is taking time to reflect on how it all panned out.
With features including Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, and Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, the record definitely fits the Rock category, but also invites HARDY’s established Country fan base in as the lyrics lean towards the redneck side.
“I will never, ever be able to escape the Country lyrics because it’s really the only thing I know how to do and whatever kind of music is behind that,” the 33-year-old told Audacy’s Rob + Holly during the Friday Night Takeover. Moving forward, the singer-songwriter says he’ll be making more of an effort not to label his music with a genre when possible and just focus on continuing to stay true to his unique style.
“For the sake of charts and stuff you have to put a genre behind it, but I’m going to try and do a better job or just sayin’, ‘It’s just me, it’s just my music,'” he shared. Whatever genre you want to call it, QUIT!! includes 13 tracks that each stand-out in their own way, with one in particular that has captured the emotions, attention, and love of fans everywhere titled, “Six Feet Under (Caleigh’s Song).”
The reflective, deeply personal tune closes out the album as track 13 and is dedicated to HARDY’s wife, Caleigh, who is well-known by his fans for her support, love, and good time personality.
“I’m not usually a method writer where I feel like everything I go through I have to write, but I just needed to get that emotion out,” HARDY shared of the song that details the highest and lowest moments of his life. “Basically… the month of October in 2023 started off as the worst month of my life and ended as the best,” he shared of the inspiration behind the song. “It started off with the bus accident, which was the first, second maybe third of October… and the 29th was the day I got married. That was such a difficult emotional roller coaster because all the stuff goin’ on.”
He continued, “The best moment of my life — and I can still say that to this day — was Caleigh and I did private vows and hearing her give those vows and I’m sitting there listening to them, and I’m like, ‘I thought I was going to f**king die three weeks ago, I thought I was dead,” he shared. “I owed her that song, I owed her that emotion because sometimes it’s hard for me to put into words all of that.”
The song shows a new side of the couple’s deeply rooted relationship which brings a smile to so many fans as HARDY and Caleigh are well known to be the life of any party. Their own wedding had beer burros, a tattoo parlor, and a 90s Country cover band.
“When I met my wife, I was afraid of her,” HARDY said of his wife’s love for a good time. “She was an animal, dude. She went to Ole Miss [University of Mississippi], which is very — especially in the South — it’s a huge party school and dude, that girl was like, scary.”
He continued, “The first few times I would go down and hang out with her, I would be like, ‘Don’t kill me tonight,’ she was a pretty animal and she could go forever... she’s got that killer instinct in her and I love that about her.”
Hear more about Caleigh’s song, the QUIT!! album and exactly when HARDY plans on attending a Limp Bizkit show by checking out his entire conversation with Audacy’s Rob + Holly for the Friday Night Takeover above.
Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Rob + Holly

HARDY | Friday Night Takeover

Being in the spotlight himself, MichaelRay has a lot of famous friends, but there’s one in particular that really drops jaws when they hang out together.

During his recent appearance on Audacy’s Friday Night Takeover with Rob + Holly, Ray shared his unlikely friendship with legendary Rocker, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Ray shared the two spend quite a bit of time together as they both hang out with mutual friend, singer-songwriter TimMontana. They even all released a song together in 2021 titled, “Higher Education,” featuring the three of them in addition to LeeBrice and Kid Rock. 

“I met Billy through Tim Montana and they’re like, father-son. I’m pretty sure Billy might’ve adopted him,” he laughed. “I always tell everyone, If I have a friend who wants to meet somebody famous and you never have to worry about them getting let down… he’s the guy that you want to introduce them to.”

Ray went on to detail Gibbons’ down-to-earth, personable ways that many find surprising given his iconic status. “Just put it this way,” Michael said. “If you’re flying coach in an airport… and you’re going to Vegas or somewhere else, there’s a high chance that Billy Gibbons might be just sitting right next to you in coach hangin’ out, dressed just like he looks on stage.”

Flying coach on your next flight isn’t the only less-than-glamorous place you might find Gibbons. Ray also shared a story about him sitting shotgun in the school pick-up line. “We were at Tim’s house and he had to pick his kids up from school and so I was gonna just chill at the house and Billy was like, ‘I wanna go pick them kids up with ya.’” Ray recalled. “So here we are at the pick-up line at Tim’s kid’s elementary school. We’re pullin’ up and Billy’s just in the passenger seat like a cool grandpa pickin’ up his grandkids.”

He continued, “He loves Tim’s kids like they’re his grandkids so he’s playing with them and I’m sitting here like… ‘This is the most Nashville moment.’ These kids, it’s just Billy to them…. And I’m sitting there watching like, ‘this is my dad’s favorite band of all time and I’m watching them in pajamas, so silly grandpa jokes with Tim’s kids.’”

Switching gears, Ray shared he’s currently working on new music that he plans on releasing over the next several months. “I’ve been writing a lot,” he said before also sharing that he is never afraid to take outside cuts for his projects.

“I love writing songs, but I also love that process of listening to songs that people wrote for you,” he explained. “We tour all the time, so these writers are writing a couple times a day — sometimes even more than that — and that whole process of it, it inspires me as a writer listening to a lot of these songs.”

He concluded, “I think as an artist, you do yourself a disservice by not listening to outside songs and at least hearing what people are doing.”

Listening to all options is exactly what Ray is doing in preparation for his next project. Currently in the studio recording, Ray says he’s more focused on releasing one or two songs every 30 days for the next several months as opposed to focusing on an album release date.

“It’s not the album days anymore, which is kind of sad to see” Ray said of his singles strategy. “We’ll release music, maybe a song a month through the next 4, 5, 6 months or whatever. It’ll probably be more on a singles-driven thing than [as opposed to] a full album release type of thing.”

Hear more about the new music in the works, his friendship with Billy Gibbons and so much more including his after-hours visit to an old insane asylum by checking out Michael Ray’s full conversation with Audacy’s Rob + Holly above.

Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Rob + Holly

Being in the spotlight himself, Michael Ray has a lot of famous friends, but there’s one in particular that really drops jaws when they hang out together.
During his recent appearance on Audacy’s Friday Night Takeover with Rob + Holly, Ray shared his unlikely friendship with legendary Rocker, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Ray shared the two spend quite a bit of time together as they both hang out with mutual friend, singer-songwriter Tim Montana. They even all released a song together in 2021 titled, “Higher Education,” featuring the three of them in addition to Lee Brice and Kid Rock. 
“I met Billy through Tim Montana and they’re like, father-son. I’m pretty sure Billy might’ve adopted him,” he laughed. “I always tell everyone, If I have a friend who wants to meet somebody famous and you never have to worry about them getting let down… he’s the guy that you want to introduce them to.”
Ray went on to detail Gibbons’ down-to-earth, personable ways that many find surprising given his iconic status. “Just put it this way,” Michael said. “If you’re flying coach in an airport… and you’re going to Vegas or somewhere else, there’s a high chance that Billy Gibbons might be just sitting right next to you in coach hangin’ out, dressed just like he looks on stage.”
Flying coach on your next flight isn’t the only less-than-glamorous place you might find Gibbons. Ray also shared a story about him sitting shotgun in the school pick-up line. “We were at Tim’s house and he had to pick his kids up from school and so I was gonna just chill at the house and Billy was like, ‘I wanna go pick them kids up with ya.’” Ray recalled. “So here we are at the pick-up line at Tim’s kid’s elementary school. We’re pullin’ up and Billy’s just in the passenger seat like a cool grandpa pickin’ up his grandkids.”
He continued, “He loves Tim’s kids like they’re his grandkids so he’s playing with them and I’m sitting here like… ‘This is the most Nashville moment.’ These kids, it’s just Billy to them…. And I’m sitting there watching like, ‘this is my dad’s favorite band of all time and I’m watching them in pajamas, so silly grandpa jokes with Tim’s kids.’”
Switching gears, Ray shared he’s currently working on new music that he plans on releasing over the next several months. “I’ve been writing a lot,” he said before also sharing that he is never afraid to take outside cuts for his projects.
“I love writing songs, but I also love that process of listening to songs that people wrote for you,” he explained. “We tour all the time, so these writers are writing a couple times a day — sometimes even more than that — and that whole process of it, it inspires me as a writer listening to a lot of these songs.”
He concluded, “I think as an artist, you do yourself a disservice by not listening to outside songs and at least hearing what people are doing.”
Listening to all options is exactly what Ray is doing in preparation for his next project. Currently in the studio recording, Ray says he’s more focused on releasing one or two songs every 30 days for the next several months as opposed to focusing on an album release date.
“It’s not the album days anymore, which is kind of sad to see” Ray said of his singles strategy. “We’ll release music, maybe a song a month through the next 4, 5, 6 months or whatever. It’ll probably be more on a singles-driven thing than [as opposed to] a full album release type of thing.”
Hear more about the new music in the works, his friendship with Billy Gibbons and so much more including his after-hours visit to an old insane asylum by checking out Michael Ray’s full conversation with Audacy’s Rob + Holly above.
Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Rob + Holly

Lainey Wilson at Faster Horses 2024

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