This past week, our team sat down with dozens of country music artists ahead of the 59th annual CMA awards. and accumulated a plethora of commentary, quips, and of course, hot takes. From Ella Langley to Zach Top, and so many more in between, we’ve compiled the very best and spiciest quotes from our time in country music’s nexus here!
Zach Top
(On the song “Guitar”)
“It’s a good little introduction to me. The song’s almost kind of biographical, which I think is fun. It’s my first CMA performance. If there’s folks — and I’m sure there are plenty — who haven’t seen me or know what I do or whatever, I think it’ll be a good introduction. It’s a bunch of guitar pickin’ and some hillbilly singin,’ and if you don’t like that, I ain’t for you.”
“I think one of the funniest things now is I’ve gotta pick and choose what I’m gonna play in my shows. I’ve gotta leave songs out — I can’t play all the songs on both records. I’m constantly swapping stuff out in the setlist. I give my production guys nightmares because I’ll say, 30 seconds before we go on, ‘Let’s play “Splitsville” tonight. Take “Cowboys Like Me” out,’ or something. It’s funny — but it’s also a great thing. You can pick and choose which ones are the most popular, and what I’m feeling.”
“I don’t know — this is just all I know how to make. It wasn’t any calculated decision, that’s for dang sure. This is just what comes out of me when I write and sing and play. I’m thankful and fortunate I came along at the right time, when people were hungry for my sound.”
“I hate to say it, but I don’t listen to much new stuff. I’ve been on a huge Ray Charles kick lately — everything he ever did was pretty much solid gold. I’ve been listening to a ton of Merle Haggard stuff. I’ve been digging through a lot of old autobiographies of old artists — not just country, but a lot of country. It’s been fun, kind of reinvigorating my interest in old artists. I know a bunch of their songs, but then I go back and find deep cuts I missed earlier on.”
“I’ve gotta give Tucker Wetmore some crap — we’re almost cousins. Tucker Wetmore lip-syncs his piano when he plays ‘Don’t Give Me No Lines and Keep Your Hands to Yourself.’ Called out, Tucker! Not actually.”
Luke Combs
“Next year, there will be three first-time nominees for Entertainer of the Year.”
“I mean, I wouldn’t say they’re new now — I feel like I fall behind a little bit. I love the new Joshua Sloan album. It’s a lot — I think that’s a very, very good record. I like Red Clay — I mean, I feel like they’re almost mainstream at this point. Not in a bad way, but everybody knows who they are, which is a great thing.”
“There’s a lot of great action right now. Country music is in a really good spot. There’s a lot of traditionalism coming back, which is really cool. You’ve got Zach Top, Jake Worthington — I’m a huge Jake Worthington guy. I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. The new Muscadine Bloodline record is pretty gasoline — I’ve been listening to that a lot.”
“I’ve known those guys forever — we came up together, playing in vans — so I’m just glad for everybody’s success. It’s cool to see people listening to all kinds of stuff. People listen to country, man. They keep doing it.”
Graham Barham
“I’ll give Country Central a 10 for continuing to put out whatever they feel like is necessary to put out, and I appreciate them for continuing to put eyes on me.”
Avery Anna
“[Sam Barber] seems like a shy guy, but he’s the funniest person I’ve ever met. He’s my best friend. We write together all the time. I am able to really open up to him about my life, and same goes for him, so we’ve been able to get a lot of super good songs. He’s just a joy to be around. He’s really quiet and shy at first, but no one knows that he’s the funniest person ever.”
Blake Pendergrass
“[Morgan Wallen] writes all over. We’ve done trips in town, we’ve done trips on farms, we’re about to do international kinds of stuff. Charlie Handsome is a guy we work with in town — he’s got a studio there — but kind of everywhere and anywhere the inspiration strikes.”
Kameron Marlowe
“It’s gonna be the best I’ve ever done. I’m fired up. I’m leaning more into that rock sound that I love so much.”
Ashley Cooke
“Yes, inspiration’s inspiration. I think that in Nashville, we are used to doing things a certain way with certain people in certain studios, aend Joshua [Slone] went to L.A. to record with Benny Blanco and them and then just surprise-dropped it. I think we’re all inspired by it. If the music sucked, we’d all be like, ‘Whatever,’ but because it’s so good, we’ve gotta be like, ‘All right, we’ve gotta love it.’”
Bailey Zimmerman
“You know, blending the lines — they’re blurring the genres. That’s why it’s so big right now: because everybody’s so welcoming. We’re so into, ‘Let’s make something weird and let’s make it awesome, and then what if people love it?’ You know? So I think there’s just less hate and more love and appreciation. I grew up on rock and rap and R&B, so I’m all about anything. Dude, let’s do anything. Whatever — let’s go.”
“If artists would hit more artists up in Nashville, we’d probably have cooler songs and more collaborations and more success. But for some reason, it doesn’t feel like anybody’s hitting anybody up anymore. So I think artists should start hitting me up — let’s get in the studio. I’m saying it right now: DM me right now. Let’s go. I’m down to make music right now.”
Cody Johnson
“I’ve always paid attention to the fans. We put out a record and we’ve got a single, and I always pay attention to what we’re playing live that makes people pay attention. ‘Travelin’ Soldier’ was one of those things that became such a fan favorite that we actually moved it to our encore. We said, ‘What if we just don’t play it?’ And we noticed — when you’re in an 18,000-seat arena getting amped up — after the show we had to play it. We did a world tour this year, and people all across the globe were begging for ‘Travelin’ Soldier.’ I thought it was just a viral thing — you never know how these things go. No, it was real. So I said, ‘We need to put this out.’ Me and my band went and recorded it.”
“I’ve been very, very proud of Ella Langley — watching her success and how she’s handled it. It’s not easy when it happens really fast. I had a little bit of an advantage because I was in the business for so long, and I kind of credit Chris Stapleton with that too, because he was in the business for so long before he really blew up. The luster was gone, and it didn’t frazzle you so bad.”
Dan + Shay
Q: “Who are you excited about right now?”
A: “Stephen Wilson Jr. — his artistry. I feel like everyone talks about his songwriting; it’s obviously prolific and brilliant. His artistry is amazing. You can just hear the sound of his guitar and you’re like, ‘Stephen Wilson Jr.’ It’s like a nylon-string guitar plugged into an amp — it’s really, really cool.”
“There’s a lot of girls killing it right now. Obviously Meg and Ella are going crazy. I’ve been a fan of Kaitlin Butts for a long time — her stuff’s unbelievable. Jackson, maybe a few albums or EPs ago, I went crazy for. Carter Faith is doing it right right now. The new class is unreal.”
Dustin Lynch
“Luke Bryan should let everybody know that he only fishes in stocked ponds.”
Ella Langley
“Laci Kaye Booth — I love. Gabriella Rose — I love. Caitlin Butts, Mae Estes — yeah. And then I listen to things that are ’80s and older.”
Gavin Adcock
“It’s not necessarily being outlaw — it’s just who you are. Doubling down on everything that you say and saying what you mean, and not really worrying about the consequences. I feel like most of the time when I’m saying something, it’s for the good, not bad.”
“Country music is headed in the best direction it’s been in in the past 30 years. There’s a bunch of independent people coming up, making their splash. There’s an opportunity to be heard all around the world, and you don’t have to be in the clique to make your name. It’s a great feeling and a great opportunity for artists around the world.”
“I downloaded Vincent Mason’s album. I listened to that. I listened to a handful of new Waylon songs, Zach Top’s record, some Frank Sinatra, some Fox N’ Vead. I listened to a couple Jason Isbell songs.”
Hudson Westbrook
Q: “What was it like having that out in the world?”
A: “I think it was one of the most special things I’ve ever worked on. It’s like your little timeline piece. I feel like every moment that you’re putting out music — and I drop music frequently — the reason I do that is we just dropped the album, just announced the EP, and I feel like every moment I’m living and going through, I should share as it’s happening. If I’m writing music right now that’s coming out next November, it doesn’t make sense to me. I’ve only been going for a year and a half, so just to put that whole thing together and work on it with my producer and then give it to the world — the world loves it. I’m glad they love it. I love it.”
“So we’re doing the EP, and I feel like, looking at other artists and the way people have done it before, you do a different sound every time. I went to a new studio — East Iris — versus going to Ryan Youmans’, which is the first place I recorded all my music. We’re taking it into more of an electric vibe, more songwriter vibe for the EP — songwriting I never thought I would do, but I personally love it.”
“For the second album, you’re expecting it — it’s going back to Texas. We’re going back to the OG studio, and then we’ll probably try out six different ones. But you know, I just gotta listen to what everyone says — listen to what the fans say. If they don’t like it, we can go back to the OG.”
“My hot take would have to be that Solon Holt and Benny G are the two most underrated artists right now.”
Jon Pardi
“A hot take? I don’t know. Hey, listen — I play country music. Hot takes were never something I wanted to grow up and do one day.”
Jordan Davis
“Lane Kiffin is going to be the next head coach of Louisiana State University. Come on, Lane. Please, please!”
Riley Green
(On his mom’s reaction to the “Worst Way” video)
“She lives in my house rent-free, so I don’t know if she can complain too much. But I don’t think she was a fan of it.”
“Zach Top’s mustache is a stick.”
Tucker Wetmore
“Oh gosh, I don’t know. I’m too nice for hot takes. Zach Top uses AI to write all of his songs… just kidding. He doesn’t. He’s a phenomenal songwriter. Zach, I love you.”
Vincent Mason
“Out of all the great songs Morgan Wallen has, I’m gonna say ‘I’m a Little Crazy’ is his best song in the entire discography.”
Marty Raybon (Shenandoah)
“This is a really good industry to be in. The great thing about it is country fans don’t forget you. Charts may forget you, record labels may forget you, but fans — they don’t forget you. A song can bring you back. We’ve been fortunate enough to have about seven or eight of them — ‘Moon Over Georgia,’ ‘Two Dozen Roses,’ ‘Church on Cumberland Road,’ songs like that. We were able to have songs that have transcended all the way back into what they’re calling this ’90s turn.”
“I don’t think anybody ever starts out thinking, ‘In 40 years, this is where we’re gonna be.’ Nobody does that. It goes back to the tunes. The artists that really like Shenandoah — it’s because of the tunes they liked. As far as being a singer, that’s a preference. Somebody can say George Jones is the greatest; some think Merle Haggard. It’s all preference. As long as they can remember our body of work and what we’ve done, and be a fan of that — that works well for us.”
“You find that a lot of people are loving what they’re doing, and they’re taking what we did in the ’90s and putting an edge to it, bringing it up a notch or two. Then you get introduced to their fans, and their fans go, ‘Man, I like that one they did too. Have you heard Shenandoah do this one?’ Before it’s over, you’re introduced to a completely different audience.”
“Because of social media — TikTok, Facebook — we’re literally bigger today than we ever were. Some people never had that chance, even though they started their career strong. And here we are with two of them, and we feel blessed. We thank the Lord for that. The Zach Tops, the Luke Combses, the Luke Bryans, the Jason Aldeans — they go, ‘Right on.’ That’s a pretty amazing feeling.”
