Jay Franze: 0:45

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

Tiffany Mason: 0:55

Uh good evening, Jay.

Jay Franze: 0:58

If you are new to the show, this is your source for the latest news, reviews, and interviews. And if you would like to join in, comment, or fire off any questions, please head over to jfranzie.com. All right, my friend. As always, before we get started, let me tell you about the question of the day.

Tiffany Mason: 1:14

Please.

Jay Franze: 1:15

The question of the day. What track do you blast as soon as you hear the opening note? Do not answer now. Wait till a little later in the show. And if you would like to participate in our reindeer games, go ahead and please put your comments in the comment section.

Tiffany Mason: 1:31

I'm very excited. Tonight I only have one answer.

Jay Franze: 1:36

That is a plus.

Tiffany Mason: 1:38

Unless I hear somebody else's and it sparks something more.

Jay Franze: 1:41

Yeah, not like it. We have a jam-packed show for everybody tonight. So if there was ever a night for you to stick through till the end, this would be it. If you have not been part of the show in the past, we do this thing here we call Artist Spotlight, where we go ahead and spotlight an artist, a song, or even a website. Tonight we're going to put a little bit of a spin on that based off of last week's episode. It is a must, must, must listen. So you must hang around.

Tiffany Mason: 2:08

Must.

Jay Franze: 2:08

Must. Did we get that across yet? Must. All right. But we're going to start off with this article I found. It is 60 surprising artists that are not in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Tiffany Mason: 2:22

How could there be 60?

Jay Franze: 2:23

60 surprising artists that are not in the Country Music Hall of Fame. We are not going to go through all 60. We are not going to go through all 60, but we are going to go ahead and just hit some of the highlights. For example, Alison Crouse.

Tiffany Mason: 2:41

Yeah, that is surprising. She did make the list of the 20 most influential influential peoples in country music.

Jay Franze: 2:49

Yeah, she was on that list. I think, and she sat exactly where we expected her to be, kind of mid-range on the list.

Tiffany Mason: 2:56

Agreed.

Jay Franze: 2:57

So yeah. It's kind of surprising. I mean, granted, she's not 100% country music. She kind of falls under the bluegrass category, but there is bluegrass music in the country music hall of fame.

Tiffany Mason: 3:07

Right. Right.

Jay Franze: 3:08

Now here's one that should be in there. The question is: do we think it should be now or later?

Tiffany Mason: 3:13

Okay.

Jay Franze: 3:14

Blake Shelton.

Tiffany Mason: 3:17

No.

Jay Franze: 3:18

You think so?

Tiffany Mason: 3:20

What are the requirements to get into the Country Music Hall of Fame?

Jay Franze: 3:24

I hate you. I had the requirements. Where are they? Welcome to my world, folks. I say this is a show you want to stick around for. When I said it, I meant it. This is the show you want to be around for. Here it is. Sorry. Counter music qualifications. Categories. You have to be a modern era artist. Blake Shelton. Yeah. Could also be a veteran era artist. Blake Shelton. That's where I don't know if he's a veteran yet. I mean, how many years do we consider being part of it? Oh, I don't have to guess. It says right here. 40.

Tiffany Mason: 4:01

Oh.

Jay Franze: 4:01

So he's not a veteran level. But he is a modern era, which is 20 years. So 20-year qualification. So he meets that qualification. Could be a songwriter who's written a significant body of work.

Tiffany Mason: 4:16

Oh.

Jay Franze: 4:18

You can be a recording or touring musician.

Tiffany Mason: 4:21

Okay.

Jay Franze: 4:22

So, but if you're a session player, an instrumentalist, or a touring musician, you must have made a lasting impact.

Tiffany Mason: 4:28

I thought you were going to say you must have made a specific amount of money.

Jay Franze: 4:32

You must be loaded. We know that wouldn't work. Nobody makes money in the music industry. Very few people, anyway. As far as a non-performer, you can be a producer, a manager, a promoter. However, you must have influenced country music in some way.

Tiffany Mason: 4:53

Interesting. Okay.

Jay Franze: 4:55

I could see that.

Tiffany Mason: 4:56

Okay.

Jay Franze: 4:57

General expectations. You have made some sort of a significant impact in country music, meaning major contributions in the growth of the music industry.

Tiffany Mason: 5:09

Okay. I mean, Blake Shelton had some drama with Miranda. Yes. And then he has the first time. I don't think that's on here for a qualified speech.

Jay Franze: 5:19

Do you have any drama in your life? Yeah. Oh, silly me. That's bullet point number four. Bullet point number four. Do you have any drama?

Tiffany Mason: 5:28

Yes.

Jay Franze: 5:29

No. Body of work. Your body of work should be lasting. You should have a lasting catalog with more than two hits.

Tiffany Mason: 5:36

I think Blake has that.

Jay Franze: 5:37

Yeah, he definitely has that for sure. You have to have a cultural influence. Well, there's your bar. Bar on Broadway's culture. You can be a voting member of the CMA.

Tiffany Mason: 5:49

I thought you said boating.

Jay Franze: 5:51

Yes, boating. You must have a good boat.

Tiffany Mason: 5:54

Do you have a yacht?

Jay Franze: 5:55

Can you get on the water? Can you take the golf cart to the yacht for the weekend? Typically have three new members per year. One in each rotating category. Modern veteran and one of the other three. Okay. I'm gonna write that down. Again, just to remind everybody modern and veteran, and then the other three are songwriter, recording or touring musician, and then the non-performer. Now that we know the stipulations, we can go back.

Tiffany Mason: 6:24

Now I can give my educated opinion.

Jay Franze: 6:27

Okay, so we started with Alison Krause. Allison Krause has had a lengthy career, even though most people wouldn't think of her career as being lengthy. I don't think it's 40 years, but she's definitely 20 plus years. She's made an impact, she's won Grammys, she's highly respected. I would say definitely belongs in the Hall of Fame. I would also say Blake Shelton, I think he will belong in the Hall of Fame. I think it's like anything else. I don't think it's past his time. I don't think anybody should be screaming yet. He's playing a Paul Reed Smith in this picture. It's a guitar, it's a very nice guitar. Probably my favorite electric guitar. Ooh, here's a surprising one too. Brad Paisley.

Tiffany Mason: 7:09

Oh, yeah.

Jay Franze: 7:11

Again, not 50 years, but the modern era, he should be in there for sure. Plus, he's an amazing guitar player. He fits multiple categories. But he is obviously known as an entertainer. Um no. Every time it gets me every time. The chicks.

Tiffany Mason: 7:31

I should have remembered. I mean a strong visceral reaction every time.

Jay Franze: 7:37

I think they're talented, and you know, I give them respect for their talent and their songwriting abilities, and even their performing, they they were good. I don't think they're Hall of Fame good.

Tiffany Mason: 7:47

I would agree. And I think that they cheapened themselves with all the political crap that went on.

Jay Franze: 7:54

I think it was uh a black eye, in my opinion. You can get past the black eye, but they didn't seem to put too much effort to get past the black eye either. They just were like, whatever, we'll we'll wait 20 years and people forget about it. Yeah. Here's a surprising one, and this could be our first one that could potentially be close to the 50-year mark. Clint Black. Oh. Close to the 50. I don't think he's there yet, but close for sure. He definitely has had a number of hits. He's been an amazing touring artist for a long time. We mentioned last week he's one of the first artists to ever write all of the songs that were on their album.

Tiffany Mason: 8:33

Yeah, I was trying to recall what we had said last week, but yes, that's what it was.

Jay Franze: 8:36

I like him a lot. Now, here's one that meets the 50-year mark. Crystal Gale.

Tiffany Mason: 8:43

Oh man. But I don't think I know enough of her music to say that.

Jay Franze: 8:53

I don't know. I think she should be there. It says, unlike her sister Loretta Lynn and Gil embraced pop country scoring 20 number one hits. 20 number one hits and CMA and ACM awards, and still doesn't get in the Hall of Fame.

Tiffany Mason: 9:10

Yeah.

Jay Franze: 9:11

Come on.

Tiffany Mason: 9:13

Diamond Rio Credentials like those.

Jay Franze: 9:15

Right. Diamond Rio's another one. How long have they been? Uh let's see. It says they've been eligible for the Hall of Fame since 2011. So that must be the 20-year mark.

Tiffany Mason: 9:28

Yeah, because I was gonna say I don't think that they're 50, but oh no, definitely not.

Jay Franze: 9:33

They were big in the 90s.

Tiffany Mason: 9:36

Yeah.

Jay Franze: 9:36

Dirk Spentley's on the list. Dirk Spentley is another one like Blake Shelton. Even if he does qualify, I think it's too soon. I mean, granted, he's just made it over his 20-year mark.

Tiffany Mason: 9:47

I mean, they say they need a modern, but yeah, but I mean he's just there.

Jay Franze: 9:51

I mean, that's what I'm saying. I don't say he doesn't necessarily qualify, but I don't think it's too late. I think I think we have time.

Tiffany Mason: 9:58

Okay. They shouldn't be crying in their Cheerios yet.

Jay Franze: 10:01

And he's good, but is he Hall of Fame good? I mean, we can't say everybody is Hall of Fame good. Oh, here's what Dwight Yoakum. He meets the 50 year mark.

Tiffany Mason: 10:14

And he's been on the charts, on the indie charts. He's yeah. Yeah, I mean, he's yeah.

Jay Franze: 10:21

He's definitely a staple. I would say Dwight Yochum belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Tiffany Mason: 10:26

I think so.

Jay Franze: 10:27

Faith Hill. Faith Hill.

Tiffany Mason: 10:29

Oh, I think she should be on there.

Jay Franze: 10:32

Oh, she's good. I don't know. Is she Hall of Fame good? Jason Aldean. Oh again, good, but is he hall of fame good? He's one of my favorites. But is he hall of fame good?

Tiffany Mason: 10:45

Yes, yes.

Jay Franze: 10:47

Okay. Is it too soon?

Tiffany Mason: 10:50

Yes.

Jay Franze: 10:51

He just became eligible this year.

Tiffany Mason: 10:54

Yeah.

Jay Franze: 10:55

So why why is it surprising that he's not in there yet? Again, when you're making these lists, people, let's be a little bit better at it. Oh, here's a good one. Jody Messina. And she's playing a Paul Reed Smith as well. Oh PRS.

Tiffany Mason: 11:13

This girl, Jodi Messina, she's making some funny TikToks. Oh, reels. They're reels. Same thing. Some on Instagram. They are funny though. You should follow her. She did that song, Cause I Love You. Oh, you know, and I something, something. Oh. Anyways, those are kids. And so every time it would go, oh, her kid would she pull a kid up and then she'd push him back down. She got some funny reels out there. Yeah.

Jay Franze: 11:44

She's a Bostonian. Makes sense.

Tiffany Mason: 11:46

She's entertaining.

Jay Franze: 11:47

Oh, John Denver. Now again, he's one I always thought of as folk. Yeah. But still country-ish. Even says on here pop folk. However, I think he's Hall of Fame worthy only because of the impact he made.

Tiffany Mason: 12:05

That's what I think. Yeah.

Jay Franze: 12:07

John Michael Montgomery.

Tiffany Mason: 12:11

I don't know if I think that he's Hall of Fame worthy, but I think that he is good. I mean, if they said he was being inducted, I wouldn't be surprised.

Jay Franze: 12:23

I think he's great. I don't know if I would have. Again, only because you can't list everybody. Right. Unless it's just, hey, you met the bar. Yeah. If we're just talking about meeting the bar, he definitely meets the bar. But if we're if we're saying, you know, hey, we can only take three people this year, are you going to be one of those three?

Tiffany Mason: 12:44

Let's keep looking.

Jay Franze: 12:47

No, he's playing a Takamini, and you would like it. It's got a flag on it.

Tiffany Mason: 12:51

Oh.

Jay Franze: 12:52

It's a beautiful looking guitar. And it's a Takamini. We discussed it the other day. Keith Urban. Yes. But too soon. He is five years into his eligibility.

Tiffany Mason: 13:06

Still too soon.

Jay Franze: 13:08

I would agree with that.

Tiffany Mason: 13:09

I almost don't even like the modern category. Like I feel like it should just be veterans.

Jay Franze: 13:14

Well, I think if you're in the Hall of Fame, you're in the Hall of Fame.

Tiffany Mason: 13:17

Yeah, I agree with that.

Jay Franze: 13:19

Alright. Leigh Ann Rhymes. She's been on the list. She was on the 20 most influential women. I think she deserves to be on the list.

Tiffany Mason: 13:28

I do too, because it says the impact on country music. Was she 14, I think, when she was discovered and she was doing the Yodelin thing?

Jay Franze: 13:36

And she's been eligible since 2016. She's a teen star that became a vocal powerhouse. I agree with those statements.

Tiffany Mason: 13:48

Yep. I also think How Do I Live Without You was by her. And I think that that was a big wedding song. I mean, my sister had it at her wedding, but I think I just remember, you know, like that was one of the most popular songs to have at your wedding for three or four years or whatever.

Jay Franze: 14:04

All right, next, Leanne Womack.

Tiffany Mason: 14:07

Mm-mm. Oh man, you're hard.

Jay Franze: 14:10

She's been eligible since 2017. I hope you dance. That is one of the best songs ever.

Tiffany Mason: 14:16

It is a really good song. But is that all we have?

Jay Franze: 14:19

But Tiffany says, no, you out. She says, do something else you want to be in the Hall of Fame. Earn it, girl. Earn it. So Tiffany also said no to this next one. This next one has been eligible since 1990. Lee Greenwood.

Tiffany Mason: 14:37

Oh, and never say no to Lee Greenwood.

Jay Franze: 14:39

I didn't know. If you think of Lee Greenwood, you think of God bless the USA.

Tiffany Mason: 14:46

Amen.

Jay Franze: 14:47

However, you'd be missing a lot of good popular country music.

Tiffany Mason: 14:52

Yes. When I got that record, there were so many that came up Fool's Gold. That's such a good song.

Jay Franze: 14:59

He's a two-time CMA male vocalist of the year nominee. 20 top 10 records.

Tiffany Mason: 15:05

I believe it.

Jay Franze: 15:07

You know what's funny? I had never known who he was.

Tiffany Mason: 15:11

Until me.

Jay Franze: 15:12

Well, no, not so probably Andy and other people. Right around that time when Andy started working for him.

Tiffany Mason: 15:22

Now Clint Black.

Jay Franze: 15:23

Now Clint Black. Nice. Look at you. You can be learned. Martina McBride. Not my favorite, but absolutely belongs in the Hall of Fame. I say not my favorite. I respect the hell out of her, and she's as talented as can be. She just doesn't sing songs that I particularly connect with.

Tiffany Mason: 15:47

There's not enough screaming aggression.

Jay Franze: 15:52

You know me so well. Oh, Montgomery Gentry. Both brothers Montgomery. If not for Brooks and Dunn, Montgomery Gentry would be in the Country Music Hall of Fame already.

Tiffany Mason: 16:04

Were they kind of rivals or something? I feel like.

Jay Franze: 16:06

Don't tell me that because if they were rivals, I'd have to side with Burks and Dunn. Oh. Pam Tillis. Oh, Pam Tillis. Andy Hull, Jeff King, Scottie Simpson, a lot of the people who have been on our show have played in her band.

Tiffany Mason: 16:21

Which means her music is awesome.

Jay Franze: 16:23

Oh, there you go. Yeah, she belongs in there for sure. Uh-huh. Rascal Flats, Tucson.

Tiffany Mason: 16:29

Too soon. I don't know. I I feel like they're on the border.

Jay Franze: 16:32

Yes. I mean, I think Joe Don Rooney, great guitar player, I say that a lot. He's a great guy. I personally I just I can't get into their music. Now, what's funny is Dan and Shay sound just like Rascal Flats.

Tiffany Mason: 16:47

Yep.

Jay Franze: 16:47

I don't know why I like what I like.

Tiffany Mason: 16:50

Well, I think Rascal Flats is a little bit more cheesy or tenderhearted or yeah.

Jay Franze: 16:57

Which you would think I would like, right? All the sappy love songs I wrote through the 80s.

Tiffany Mason: 17:02

Whereas like Dan and Shay have the same sound, but I think that their topics are a little bit more direct, mature, yes.

Jay Franze: 17:11

Roseanne Cash. Roseanne Cash is a good one to stop on, don't you think? Oh no, we can't. Damn. Sarah Evans is next.

Tiffany Mason: 17:19

Oh.

Jay Franze: 17:20

I think both of those should be in the Hall of Fame. Sarah Evans. Yeah. Yes, absolutely. I love her to death. I'm not even going to look at the next one. We're going to call it there. We're going to move on to the news. I lied. I moved on. Shania Twain.

Tiffany Mason: 17:34

Oh.

Jay Franze: 17:35

Come on.

Tiffany Mason: 17:36

She's got to be on there.

Jay Franze: 17:37

That woman is.

Tiffany Mason: 17:39

She could be on there now.

Jay Franze: 17:40

She should be on there already. She, hands down, her and Garth Brooks are the two artists that brought eyes back to country music in general. If for nothing else, they should be on the list. Shannon Doe, Steve Warner, Terry Clark, Tim McGraw, Grace Atkins, Tracy Lawrence, Travis Dritt, Tristy Yearwood. I can't stop. It's like an addiction. Please move on to the news.

Tiffany Mason: 18:09

Kenny Chesney, Kenny Chesney. Hopefully he's not on the list.

Jay Franze: 18:12

I'm sure he is. You want me to go on that list? If Tim McGraw, Trisha Yearwood are on the list. Yeah. You know Kenny Chesney's coming up. Oh no, that can't be right. Oh no, thank God. We came to the end of the list. Why Nona John was the last one. But the next person I saw was George Strait. I'm like, no way in L, but that's a different article.

Tiffany Mason: 18:32

Well, for now, we're gonna talk about Kenny Chesney. He's gonna be back at the high-tech sphere in Vegas, promising an even more immersive experience for his shows next year, with production levels rising and fan demands still high. This is shaping up to be one of the country's biggest arena spectacles.

Jay Franze: 18:52

I mean, I like his music when it's on, but I wouldn't choose to put it on.

Tiffany Mason: 18:57

Yeah, I agree with you. It's um it's two like beachy vibes, which even down in Florida, right? Like I still got like daily life going on. If I'm going on vacation, I will put some Kenny Chesney on.

Jay Franze: 19:08

Bob's worked with him, Bob Bullock. I've never had the opportunity to work with him. I have met him on occasion, he was a nice guy. But one thing that I think is funny, he has never worn the same cowboy hat on stage twice.

Tiffany Mason: 19:22

Well, I mean, kind of good. Those boys sweat a lot.

Jay Franze: 19:26

Well, do you think he's throwing them in the crowd, or do you think he's just got a room full of you know 5,000 cowboy hats?

Tiffany Mason: 19:33

I think he has a room of 5,000 cowboy hats.

Jay Franze: 19:35

I hope he's throwing them in the crowd. I hope you're wrong.

Tiffany Mason: 19:38

Well, the only reason why I say that maybe he's not is because, or he does it at the last song. Otherwise, you got your sweaty head exposed for the rest of the show. Why don't you give your hat away?

Jay Franze: 19:48

He's bald too. He's not throwing, I mean, maybe he puts his baseball hat on or something. Maybe because he also he wears a baseball hat a lot outside of the performances. I don't know.

Tiffany Mason: 19:59

Yeah, that's funny. I was making some artwork today and I was trying to find a cowboy singer, like I was in Canva, you know, and I'm like cowboy singer, male country music artist, like all these things, trying to get a male, you know, because there's tons of chick silhouettes or whatever.

Jay Franze: 20:11

Of course there are.

Tiffany Mason: 20:12

Yeah. And uh there was one with a baseball hat on, and I was like, no, country singers wear cowboy hats. And then I was like, well, let me go check out his Instagram. So I'm buzzing through his Instagram. Sure enough, he's got a ball cap on and all of his performances. And I thought, all right, ball cap it is bald cap. Bald cap. Bald cap. This guy's young, so baseball hat. Baseball hat. All right. Well, the next thing I want to tell you about is Mr. Chris Young. He is unveiling his 10th album, I didn't come here to leave, signals a fresh chapter in his career with a new project under the label Black River Entertainment, pointing to deeper songs with renewed energy. He says this record isn't just another release, it's a statement with emotional tracks and a new creative direction. And we actually had Chris Young come up when we were talking to Robbie Johnson. And since then, you know, it's your reticular activating system. He must just be like on my radar because all of a sudden I'm hearing Chris Young, Chris Young, Chris Young, Chris Young. I'm like, wait, oh, maybe because he has a new album coming out. I'm like, what is the deal with his name resurfacing? Because I feel like he's kind of gone away a little bit or like in the background a little bit. Yeah, and so it was interesting.

Jay Franze: 21:31

And he's good. I I like him. I like him a lot. He's uh another one. I know we talk about American Idol, we talk about the voice and now the road, but before that, there was also a show called National Star. Yes, he was on that. He actually won it.

Tiffany Mason: 21:49

I think one of my favorite songs of my life is from that show. Really? What if it all goes right? Good song. Okay, well, speaking of George Strait, he is the king of country, and he is returning to Clemson's famed memorial stadium for a special in-the-round event on May 2nd, 2026, alongside Cody Johnson and special guest Wyatt Flores. Have you heard of Wyatt Flores?

Jay Franze: 22:15

I have not.

Tiffany Mason: 22:16

I have not either. So I guess he's out of Oklahoma and uh he kind of just always loved country music. And when he turned 18 or 19, he moved to Nashville and made great connections. So he's off and running.

Jay Franze: 22:31

I know we were talking about the Nashville producers. We were talking about Bob Bullock and Dan Huff and those. But if we go back, even Bob Bullock days, there was Tony Brown, and Tony Brown produced a lot of the George Strait records, and he produced them in Soundstage, which is the studio next to the school. We've discussed that on a number of occasions, right there on music row.

Tiffany Mason: 22:56

Cool.

Jay Franze: 22:56

So it's pretty cool. Tony Brown was still an amazing producer.

Tiffany Mason: 23:01

Um, it's actually the first concert at the venue in over 25 years. It's a big moment for fans of traditional country music for live experience. I felt like there was like some, you know, under rumbles about Bad Bunny being the halftime show performance for the Super Bowl.

Jay Franze: 23:21

Right.

Tiffany Mason: 23:22

And people are saying, you know, we'd love to have George Strait replace him, and there's been a petition, I guess. I'm sure that they have already paid too much money and signed contracts and all that good stuff. But nothing would be better than having George Strait come out and not Bad Bunny.

Jay Franze: 23:40

Nice. Hate mail goes to Tiffany at GFriendy.com. I'm I'm good yet. I mean, it's it's a halftime show. Would I prefer George Strait? Absolutely. But you know, hey.

Tiffany Mason: 23:53

Also, though, if you put an artist like Bad Bunny, I can't remember who it was last year, and I should remember because there was all the ruckus, but that's the point. It's gonna cause drama and it's gonna cause buzz and posts and tweets and TikToks and all the things that they want to come from it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they're playing their cards right, they're playing the marketing game. Nice. They're not playing the crowd-pleasing game. Well, Gretchen Wilson is opening up about her early days with Cody Johnson. I guess they had a little squabble. They were doing some show together and they were squabbling over who was gonna get to take over the stage during their performance. Regardless, it didn't begin smooth, but she and he now are fans of each other, actually. She's saying that he's one of the hottest shows right now, and it reminds us that even country music stars have rocky starts before harmony kicks in. I guess that kind of stuff is kind of interesting because you got to think some egos possibly get in the way. And I'm sure. Yeah, oh yeah.

Jay Franze: 24:57

Especially if somebody gets picked for a tour over you, or you know, you start battling, or why'd they win the award first, or well, how come they're in the hall of fame now and I'm not?

Tiffany Mason: 25:06

Yeah.

Jay Franze: 25:07

I'm sure all those I've heard those conversations, I know they exist. And there's a lot of behind the scenes beefs and stuff, but I like to I like to think that it's all in competitive spirit. I don't think anybody does it maliciously.

Tiffany Mason: 25:21

No, I agree. I agree. It's just egos and I mean also like think if you're coming up and you're in your 20s or your 30s, usually 20s, you have a lot to prove to the world. By the time you get to be old fogies like us, you're like whatever. Think whatever you want to think. But you know, when you're trying to make it and you're trying to make an image for yourself and all those things, your ego is not your amigo, and it really works against you when you're fighting for the stage, I guess. Uh, speaking of Gretchen Wilson, though.

Jay Franze: 25:52

Speak of her.

Tiffany Mason: 25:53

Yeah, I'm gonna speak of her.

Jay Franze: 25:54

Go ahead. Let's discuss.

Tiffany Mason: 25:58

I got to watch uh The Road. I was so excited to watch it. Like I couldn't even, like just even watching the opening segments or whatever. I had just the biggest smile on my face. Why did we watch it?

Jay Franze: 26:09

Why did we watch it?

Tiffany Mason: 26:11

I watched it because Billy Joe Jones is on there, and I am gonna cheer her all the way to victory. I cannot wait. Also, just excited to see a different side of Keith Urban and Blake Shelton and see them as people. And there were some pretty candid moments that I was like, ah, okay, I see you. I see you being kind of funny and like a little bit of your personality coming through. Because in their music, we just hear the lyrics and the performance, and and that's it.

Jay Franze: 26:36

They're both nice guys, but Blake Shelton, holy cow! I mean, he's pretty forward in front of the camera. He is balls out behind the camera.

Tiffany Mason: 26:48

So I'm talking about balls out. Okay.

Jay Franze: 26:52

All right, moving on.

Tiffany Mason: 26:54

Left turn. Okay, uh, but yeah, Gretchen Wilson is the like stagehand or whatever, so she's like really encouraging them and walking them. What stage hand?

Jay Franze: 27:05

She's the manager, but someone made a comment for a woman who just got her GED a few years ago. How does she qualify as being the manager? I'm like, really? It's a first of all, it's a TV show, people, but second of all, why would you bring up somebody's education like that?

Tiffany Mason: 27:24

Well, it's not even relevant though, because like it's one of those things where it's experience over education. It has nothing to do with the education. She's got plenty of experience.

Jay Franze: 27:32

She does have experience.

Tiffany Mason: 27:34

Yeah, yeah. So it was interesting to see her in that role and just really encouraging them. And actually, I don't know if you got to see the episode, but Billy Joe gets sick, and so she's really frustrated that you know her voice is not cooperating. So it's nice to see Gretchen coach her through that.

Jay Franze: 27:49

Yeah. All right, coming up next is Billy Joe Jones, Billy Joe Jones, previous guest on the show, three-time guest on the show, I think, at this point, three or four. Let's say three. Yeah, I think she's amazing, and that is the girl we're pulling for.

Tiffany Mason: 28:05

So that means all the crew members are too, just so you guys know. Wink wink. Yeah.

Jay Franze: 28:10

Start voting.

Tiffany Mason: 28:11

It's also your pick. All right, now Carrie Underwood, you know, she has the song Before He Cheats, and on the voice, two different contestants actually delivered a standout rendition of Before He Cheats, earning standing ovations from Coach Snoop Dogg and a serious buzz.

Jay Franze: 28:29

Who are the two artists?

Tiffany Mason: 28:33

Jay? I was gonna look it up, and then I was like, well, that's not really what the story is, it's about the shows keeping the music relevant.

Jay Franze: 28:41

Previous guest of the show, McKenzie Phipps. Oh McKenzie Phipps is the family on that show.

Tiffany Mason: 28:48

Well, it's funny because after we said that story initially, I went and watched a couple of episodes, but I didn't get to see that one yet. So I'll have to go ahead and haven't seen any. Well, I just went into like on demand, but anyway.

Jay Franze: 29:00

Sorry, we don't all have on demand.

Tiffany Mason: 29:03

Yes, you do. All right. Well, next we talked about Keith Urban being on his high in alive tour. Well, we were talking about how he was kind of sticking it to Nicole or not anymore. No, not anymore. Okay, no, okay. Anyways, so uh Urban paused mid-song this time, knelt down, daring somebody like you, giving fans a rare, raw moment. Moments like that on the show, even major shows can yield to vulnerable, unforgettable live performance breaks. I think that's what we kind of saw too with the Laney Wilson story last week, where she was like singing and realized like this person has been here every show. You know, she's not missed anything, and acknowledged her fan.

Jay Franze: 29:53

He recorded over at Blackbird. I know we talk about the studios in Asheville, so I like to try to tie them together, but he did a lot of recording over at Blackbird, specifically his banjo playing and the electronics that he adds into the songs, like the loops and stuff. So they do a lot of that work over at Blackbird Studios, Blackbird Studios. Studios over in Berry Hill, the Berry Hill section of Nashville, which is becoming the new music row. But that studio is Martina McBride's husband's studio.

Tiffany Mason: 30:21

Yeah.

Jay Franze: 30:22

John McBride.

Tiffany Mason: 30:23

I can't ever hear it without Blackbird singing in the dead of night. Every time. That's what he means. Every time. I was editing something and somebody has a new product and it's called Blackbird, and I was Blackbird singing in the dead of night. Always makes me think of that. Okay. Well, Mr. Brian Fuller, if you guys are looking for somebody who's up and coming, get your eyes on this kid. Fuller, a rising performer, featured by Country Now, is being spotlighted as one of the genre's biggest up and comers with a buzz building. This could be the year the new Country Star breaks through in a big way.

Jay Franze: 31:01

Could be the year he's off the farm. He's off the farm, y'all. He's a farm boy. Farm boy. I I give all the credit in the world to farm boys because, man, those those guys work.

Tiffany Mason: 31:16

Yeah, I can only imagine like being on the farm with them and they're busting out some tunes. I feel like all those farm boys they show up and they're like, uh, yes, sir. Uh yes, that's true.

Jay Franze: 31:31

APL goes to Tiffany at gymsy.com.

Tiffany Mason: 31:36

But then they open their mouth to sing, and it's like the best sound. You're like, whoa, I was not expecting that. Yeah. You know, if someone says they've never performed in front of anybody, always expecting something unpolished, I guess. Okay. Well, this is one I'm very excited to talk about. Are you guys ready?

Jay Franze: 31:54

Ready.

Tiffany Mason: 31:55

Okay.

Jay Franze: 31:56

The 2020. Jake Jergenmeyer.

Tiffany Mason: 31:58

No.

Jay Franze: 32:01

Is it Jake?

Tiffany Mason: 32:02

No, it's Jet.

Jay Franze: 32:03

Jet Jergensmeyer. Jet Jergensmeyer.

Tiffany Mason: 32:05

Juergensmeier, yeah.

Jay Franze: 32:07

Jergensmeier.

Tiffany Mason: 32:09

No. It's too soon for that segment.

Jay Franze: 32:11

Number six.

Tiffany Mason: 32:12

No. Numero 8.

Jay Franze: 32:15

Numerous.

Tiffany Mason: 32:19

Okay. Well, the Country Music Hall of Fame. We were just talking about this. They actually welcomed three new members at a star-studded ceremony. That's a lot of S's. June Carter, who is our Cash. Oh, sorry. Yes. Who is our veteran artist? Kenny Chesney. Holy smokes, there he is. Must be our current era. And our non-performer is Powerhouse producer Tony Brown, who you were just chatting up.

Jay Franze: 32:51

I think he's amazingly Tony Brown. I think Tony Brown is an amazingly talented producer. It's just not the style of music I typically would go for. He's a super talented musician, piano player, producer. Him and Bob Bullock has done a lot of the projects with him. Bob Bullock did 11 of the George Strait records. So I mean, those two have worked together quite a bit. And you know, I I love Bob. I love George Strait, but a lot of the stuff that that he does is more of the traditional sound stuff. Where you get somebody like Dan Huff, who does more of the modern, like the Carrie Underwood stuff.

Tiffany Mason: 33:34

Yeah. I'd probably like more modern. I'm leaning towards Huff. Huff.

Jay Franze: 33:40

Dan Huff, also an amazing guitar player, played in the band Giant, which was a rock band in the 80s. I mean, he is just absolutely absolutely amazing, one of the best ever.

Tiffany Mason: 33:50

Okay, well, the next news story, a recent list, shows a growing number of country tracks where artists critiquing police, ICE, and other institutions, and one viral song in particular was making waves up. It reflects how country music is stretching into more socially conscious territory beyond the traditional themes.

Jay Franze: 34:12

Musicians have done that a lot in the past, but now that it's a political thing right now, to me, it's probably poor taste.

Tiffany Mason: 34:20

Mm-hmm. I agree. And wrapping up all of our news. It's about Cole Swindell, so it's good. Uh, he has an upcoming tour and it is promising both high-energy party anthems and confessional ballads. He says fans should expect equal parts of celebration and vulnerability. It is interesting framing a tour called Happy Hour Sad that recognizes tears and tequila can sometimes go together.

Jay Franze: 34:48

All right, question of the day. This is your moment. Put your responses in the chat. What track do you blast as soon as you hear the opening note? What track do you blast as soon as you hear the opening note? What song? When we say track, we mean song. Keep up with the lingo, folks.

Tiffany Mason: 35:04

Yeah.

Jay Franze: 35:05

Track, song, I don't know. Yeah. That's what I heard the kids say. All right. So let's go ahead and no, no, Travis right out of the gate. Miss Tiffany, as always, I'll give you the opportunity to go first.

Tiffany Mason: 35:19

Well, let's have me go first so I don't get inspired by others.

Jay Franze: 35:22

Let's do that, please.

Tiffany Mason: 35:24

So as soon as I saw it, I was like, oh, hands down. Shook me all night long, ACDC. It was funny because we had just talked about last time.

Jay Franze: 35:32

Robbie Johnson.

Tiffany Mason: 35:33

Maybe. I mean, I'll take any version. I'll take any version, but I think ACDC's version has the best. Oh, hell yeah. Turn that right up.

Jay Franze: 35:49

All right. Well, Travis. I'm gonna read it anyway, Travis. He says Cotton Eye Joe. Oh didn't somebody last week say that that was a song that they hated to love. And this was another one, Brent. Brent says Toby Keith read solo cup. Well, I think we found the frat boys. I think that's what it is. Colts Wendell fans. Josh says Big and Rich, Beer for My Horses. No, he's that's not the same song, Josh. They've got Ride a Horse, Ride a Horse, Save a Cowboy. Yes. He says, Beer for my horses, save a horse. Man, you're all over the place, Josh. I think you're hanging out at the fret a little too much. Too much about solo cup. Maybe he's listening two songs. Maybe he's just drunk. I don't know, Josh. Let us know, buddy. Heather says Blake Shelton. Oh Billy Bone. I hate that song. Robbie says kid rock.

Tiffany Mason: 36:54

Any specific song? Just any kid rock?

Jay Franze: 36:56

I'm assuming he means all summer long because he says, you know, the sweet home Alabama rip-off. Oh, yeah. Okay, fine. Courtney says Luke Bryan, Country Girl. Yeah, I like that. You know, I like Luke Bryan. Yeah. He's got songs that just they feel like they should be turned up. Yeah. James, James says Shania Twain, man, I feel like a woman.

Tiffany Mason: 37:20

Okay.

Jay Franze: 37:20

He says it's not the song I promise. It's the opening riff that makes me crank it up. James, come on, buddy. It's okay.

Tiffany Mason: 37:27

Yeah, I think there is a pretty good opening riff to that song, actually. There we go. Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, that one's got a great one.

Jay Franze: 37:37

Yeah, but it's also a great song, and she's Shania Twain. Yeah. Not to mention hot. And hot. Lisa, thank you again, Lisa, for being here. Brooks and Dunn, Boot Scootin' Boogie. David says Johnny Cash, Folsom Prison Blues. Emily says Dolly Parton 9 to 5. Chris, Alan Jackson, Chattahoochee. Hannah with an H says Reba McIntyre. Fancy. And you know what, Hannah? That is my favorite Reba McIntyre song.

Tiffany Mason: 38:12

I love that Reba McIntyre song.

Jay Franze: 38:14

Joe. Joe, my friend, thank you for joining. I appreciate it. But he's got four responses.

Tiffany Mason: 38:21

Okay. He's pulling a Tiffany. It's fine.

Jay Franze: 38:25

As long as Tiffany's not pulling Joe. Speaking of which, he starts off with Metallica. Enter Sandman. Then he's got Nazareth, hair of the dog. And then Mountain, Mississippi Queen, and ACDC Thunderstruck. Ah. Kathy. The Kathy. She says, Laney Wilson, four by four by you. Ooh. And true to the bloodline, she's got two responses. She says, Chris Young, I'm coming over.

Tiffany Mason: 39:05

Oh, yeah. See, I saw her response when I was talking about the Chris Young stuff coming up, and I was like, man, this guy's popping up everywhere. Even on mom's radar.

Jay Franze: 39:17

Chris Young, I'm telling you. My best friend, Keith. Keith sensing. Keith Sensing, 243 Main Street. Yes, he is a great guy, friend of mine. Friends with Chris Young. Frank. I like it. Frank just says all of it.

Alex: 39:37

All of it.

Jay Franze: 39:38

All of it. I turned it up over all of it.

Alex: 39:41

I like it.

Tiffany Mason: 39:42

Oh dear God.

Jay Franze: 39:44

Brynn, as much as I appreciate you being here, my friend. There's like 56 choices here. No, there's a few though. She says Billy Idol. And she's got multiple songs. Money Money, Dancing with Myself, and Rebel Yell. She's got Meat Loaf, Bad Out of Hell. That's a great song. Ozzy Osbourne, Crazy Train. Bryn, I like your variety here. Annie Lennox, Sweet Dreams.

Tiffany Mason: 40:12

Oh yeah.

Jay Franze: 40:12

The Who, You Better, You Bet. Neil Diamond, Sweet Caroline, theme song of the Boston Red Sox. Thank you. And just about any Def Leopard song.

Tiffany Mason: 40:25

Oh, amen. A couple of those came to my mind.

Jay Franze: 40:28

Bruce Tarletsky. Let me say his full name because he's a previous guest of the show and he is the founding member of High Mountain Breezes.

Tiffany Mason: 40:39

Thank you.

Jay Franze: 40:39

High Mountain Breezes. He says, old time rock and roll. He doesn't have the artist, but it is Bob Seeger. Michael. Michael, the same one who said last week that it is not good to hate any song. If you like a song, like it.

Tiffany Mason: 40:54

Yep.

Jay Franze: 40:55

So he says, there are so, so many. But the first ones that come to mind are Edge of the Blade by Journey. Wash It All Away by Five Finger Death Punch. Missing You by H S A S. Oh, yes. No, H S A S. That's the guitar player from Journey.

Tiffany Mason: 41:17

Oh.

Jay Franze: 41:19

Falling in Between, Todo. And I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up Kiss. Broken Heart, Ace Freely. Ace Freely, if you didn't know, just passed away last week.

Tiffany Mason: 41:32

Yes.

Jay Franze: 41:33

Anthony. Anthony's here on a regular basis. He says, Cadillac Blood by Volbeat. I saw Volbeat with Hailstorm. I've never heard of that. Olivia, and I love you for it. Carry underwood before each eats. Oh. Kathy. Kathy's here. Oh. Bring that guest on, Jay, please. I don't know which guest. Kathy, you're gonna have to tell me.

Tiffany Mason: 41:56

That dude knows Chris Young.

Jay Franze: 42:00

Yeah. Sounds like you're asking for Keith. Please clarify if you want him. We'll get him on the show. All right, Kim. Kim says, jump around by House of Pain.

Tiffany Mason: 42:14

Jump around.

Jay Franze: 42:15

Jump around. Kelly says Miranda Lambert, gumpowder, and lead. That is a great song. I like that. Look at that. I like this. I like it. And then of course, I don't know how it happens, but Zach right behind Kelly says Blake Shelton. Old red. All red. Phil just says Seven Dust. Cindy. Cindy, my friend, thank you for joining. She says, I agree with Kim. Jump around. House of Pain. And then she says, I also like Africa's Toto. Any Fleetwood Mac song, Queen, Credence, Jethro Tull, Cracker, Nirvana, Sound Guard, and Arosmith, Guns and Roses, Temple of the Dog.

Tiffany Mason: 42:59

Oh my god, I want to hang out with her.

Jay Franze: 43:00

Really anything in the 70s through 90s. Holy cow. 70s. That's a wide span, my friend.

Tiffany Mason: 43:07

I I like her. Who is it?

Jay Franze: 43:10

Cindy.

Tiffany Mason: 43:10

Cindy. We're BFF. She's here. Cindy. Yeah, and Emily. Yep. Okay.

Jay Franze: 43:15

She's here all the time.

Tiffany Mason: 43:16

Cindy, I like your style.

Jay Franze: 43:19

Christine says the story, Brandy Carlisle. She says, Mama said, huck you out. L L Hol Gou Jay. That's a funny song. Oh, James. James, James, James, James. We always bring up James because he's typically the one that feeds us the questions of the day. Not this one, but he does feed us the questions of the day. He says, It's a long way to the top, if you want to rock and roll. By ACDC. Oh, JM Ford66. JM Ford66 says the theme from Rocky.

Tiffany Mason: 43:56

General Motor?

Jay Franze: 43:57

JM, not GM.

Tiffany Mason: 43:59

J so close. So close.

Jay Franze: 44:05

Anyways, JM Ford66 says the theme from Rocky. I agree. Not only the original, which you're referring to here, but also Eye of the Tiger.

Tiffany Mason: 44:17

I agree a thousand percent.

Jay Franze: 44:19

Maya Project Music, previous guest of the show, here every week, love you for it. Says, like a stone, audio slave, Chris Cornell deserves all the volume, all the way up.

Tiffany Mason: 44:32

Whoa.

Jay Franze: 44:33

Chris Cornell is another amazing singer, was an amazing singer, but it just the voice is too low for me. Too low. Dave says, You know it, jump by Van Halen. Brandon says, Toby Keith should have been a cowboy.

Tiffany Mason: 44:57

That was a good song.

Jay Franze: 44:59

Good. No, I'm skipping because I want to end on a good one. This is wrong. I'm skipping everybody. Oh, that's a good one. Not good enough though.

Tiffany Mason: 45:09

Jay the cherry picker.

Jay Franze: 45:10

Um cherry picking. Um cherry picking. Oh, there's the one I'm gonna pick unless I can see one better. I don't. Oh damn. Oh jinx yourself. I'm gonna do two. Not better. Well, I don't think it's better, but it's a previous guest of the show, so I'm gonna go with two. Grant says Clint Black Like the Rain. One of my favorite songs. To me, still to this day, that song, if it came out today, I would still think it's a great song.

Tiffany Mason: 45:39

Yeah, I agree with that.

Jay Franze: 45:40

And then Hunter says nitty gritty dirt band fishing in the dark.

Tiffany Mason: 45:44

That was one of my other options because you hear the first couple. You're like, well, turn it up. Fishing in the dark. All right, all right. Let's see what's happening. Okay. Debuting in spot number 10 is Mr. Parker McCollum with what kind of man in spot number nine. Laney Wilson.

Jay Franze: 46:09

Somewhere over Cincinnati.

Tiffany Mason: 46:12

Ah, you stole my thunder. I was gonna say it. Oh, really? Somewhere over Laredo.

Jay Franze: 46:16

Go ahead, say it.

Tiffany Mason: 46:18

Somewhere over Laredo. No, start over. Okay, and spot number nine is Laney Wilson with somewhere over Cincinnati.

Jay Franze: 46:29

Oh no, it's supposed to be Laredo.

Tiffany Mason: 46:34

All right, spot eight. Numero Ocho. Jay's favorite number. Mr. Jackson Dean is there right now with Heavens to Betsy.

Jay Franze: 46:43

Plural.

Tiffany Mason: 46:44

Heavens to Betsy. Oh my gosh. Oh, I can't wait for this one. Okay. Spot number seven.

Jay Franze: 46:51

Good old Russ.

Tiffany Mason: 46:53

Good old Russ. Happened to me. I was charging some guy's credit card and his name was Russell. And I was like, oh my gosh, I have to tell you the funniest thing.

Jay Franze: 47:04

I don't know where I was charging this guy's credit card. We're on the corner of fifth and main. We're in the alley. I just finished.

Tiffany Mason: 47:13

I was no lot lizard. No, I was gonna say that. I was not being a lot lizard, guys. I was running the coffee peddler. Okay. In spot number six is wait, no, no.

Jay Franze: 47:27

Finish your story. What did he say?

Tiffany Mason: 47:29

I did.

Jay Franze: 47:29

You said you were gonna tell him a story. You never told us what the story was.

Tiffany Mason: 47:32

I did, I did, but then you started getting mad at me and said it was out of nowhere. But what I said was we do this country music countdown, and you know the artist Russell Dickerson, he said yes, and I said, We always say, Good old Russ. And so I gave him his coffee and then I said, Thank you for your purchase, good old Russ.

Jay Franze: 47:52

Yeah, no, we shouldn't have finished the story. You're right. Sorry.

Tiffany Mason: 47:55

It was a good story. It was a good story. Everybody liked it. But I'll tell you what is even better story is who's in spot number six. It is Chase Matthews with why's he call you Darling? Why's he call you Daily? Anyways, Darwin. I'm becoming a big fan of this song.

Jay Franze: 48:11

It's a great song.

Tiffany Mason: 48:12

Great song. It does bother me though, the you know, like I yeah. There's a couple times in um some Morgan Wallen songs that it comes out to play, and I'm like, eh.

Jay Franze: 48:26

He's uh he's a fun guy. I mean, he's young, fun, just constantly doing goofy things. Yeah, he's a good one to watch on social media and stuff.

Tiffany Mason: 48:36

Okay, well, I'm gonna pull him up and then I'll see him and Jody Masseno. Okay, spot number five, we're halfway through with Luke Combs back in the saddle. I don't feel like he's been like climbing. I feel like he was off and then he showed back up in spot number five. Oh, but it says six to five, so I guess he's been here. I don't know. Maybe we've been blown past it. We must be blown past it because it's being lost on me a little bit. But I do like that song. Spot number four, holding steady, Jordan Davis, Bar None. There's a couple songs that came up recently, and I was like, I love this song. I was like, ah, Jordan Davis. So the Bar None song put him on my radar per se, but come to find out that he's got great previous songs, yeah. Spot number three, Morgan Wallen. I got better. Love this song, big fan, big fan. It's the one I tried to love to hate, but I actually just love to love it now.

Jay Franze: 49:33

Michael says you should not hate any song. No, or you should not love to hate loving any song.

Tiffany Mason: 49:41

Right. He's right. He's right.

Jay Franze: 49:44

He is right, he's a smart man.

Tiffany Mason: 49:46

Smart man, Michael.

Jay Franze: 49:47

Firefighter and EMT.

Tiffany Mason: 49:49

Oh, he is smart then and brave, brave man for sure.

Jay Franze: 49:54

Comes from a long line of firefighters. I did my research, Michael. I know who you are. Wow. I'm a stalker.

Tiffany Mason: 50:02

I might be scared, Michael. Uh hate Mal can go to Jay.

Jay Franze: 50:08

You can see all of that in his profile picture, just so you know.

Tiffany Mason: 50:11

Ah, gotcha. Okay, spot number two is Scotty McCreary just holding on tight with bottle rockets. I thought he was.

Jay Franze: 50:18

Holding on tight, he dropped. Son of a he's still holding on tight. He's not holding on tight, he fell. Spot number two, Scotty McCreary with bottle rockets. Was spot number one for what, like a week? Didn't he just get there? And we said last week he's gonna drop. Yeah, but we thought he was gonna drop a lot. Yes, that's true. We did say he'll probably drop number five or something.

Tiffany Mason: 50:44

Uh-huh. And he didn't, he's in two, so because it's that good of a sign.

Jay Franze: 50:51

Like go from one to two and then back to one.

Tiffany Mason: 50:54

I don't think that we've ever seen anybody do that.

Jay Franze: 50:58

Maybe. I don't know.

Tiffany Mason: 51:01

Maybe it happens.

Jay Franze: 51:02

It happens.

Tiffany Mason: 51:03

Okay. Okay. And spot number one is jelly roll with heart of stone. Good job.

Jay Franze: 51:17

This whole drum roll on number two and applause after number one. Yeah. It's very cheesy. Very cheesy.

Tiffany Mason: 51:24

It's very fun.

Jay Franze: 51:26

Somebody else has gotta support that because it just doesn't seem right to me. Kathy? Drum roll? Applause. Do we keep it or do we lose it?

Tiffany Mason: 51:38

Keep it. Keep it. Keep it infused with fun, Jay. Shenanigans. Fine.

Jay Franze: 51:45

I don't know why you always want to have fun.

Tiffany Mason: 51:48

Damn it. Anyway.

Jay Franze: 51:50

Indie charts.

Tiffany Mason: 51:51

Okay, spot number 10 is Wish You Wouldn't Go by Ken Domesh. Domesh Domesh. Domash.

Jay Franze: 52:00

Friend of Robbie Johnson.

Tiffany Mason: 52:03

Oh.

Jay Franze: 52:04

Dumbass. Did you just oh, I can't switch back and forth to these sound effects this quickly, but Tiffany.

Tiffany Mason: 52:13

You're fired.

Jay Franze: 52:15

You think Mr. Domash is gonna come on the show if you're calling him dumbass? She doesn't mean that. Hate mail goes to Tiffany at jfranzy.com.

Tiffany Mason: 52:23

I didn't call him anything.

Jay Franze: 52:28

I appreciate you, sir.

Tiffany Mason: 52:30

Spot number nine is You Were There by Thompson Square. What are you looking for, Jay?

Jay Franze: 52:42

Nothing. Nothing at all.

Tiffany Mason: 52:46

Spot number eight is Leaving Louisiana in the broad daylight by a Flat River Band.

Jay Franze: 52:52

My wife left Louisiana in the broad daylight just yesterday.

Tiffany Mason: 52:56

That could have been her anthem yesterday.

Jay Franze: 52:57

She was in Louisiana for a conference.

Tiffany Mason: 53:00

Sounds nice. I've never been to Louisiana. Number seven, don't let the gray hair fool you by Dew West. Number six, I can't wait to check this one out. Miss You More by Hunter Clark. I got a good vibe about it. Just based on nothing. Miss You More. Based on just the title alone.

Jay Franze: 53:18

I wrote a song called I Miss You Already.

Tiffany Mason: 53:22

Oh. See, I miss you already. Like I feel like I say that. I guess people do. I miss you more. Yeah, I guess.

Jay Franze: 53:29

But my daughter says I love you more.

Tiffany Mason: 53:31

That's I say to my daughter, my sons.

Jay Franze: 53:33

I tell my daughter, I said, Oh, I love you. And she goes, I love you more. I'm like, son, you can't say that.

Tiffany Mason: 53:38

And then I just say, I love you more. You'll never understand the love of a parent. That's why when my mom says I love you more, I let her win because I know she loves me more because I love my daughter more than she could love me. So I get it.

Jay Franze: 53:49

Kathy, is that true? All right, what's next?

Tiffany Mason: 53:52

Spot number five, Pontiac. So tell me, Mama, by Aaron Watson. Number four.

Jay Franze: 53:59

Jet Jergensmeyer.

Tiffany Mason: 54:02

Singing the song Red. Nice.

Jay Franze: 54:05

Jergensmeyer.

Tiffany Mason: 54:07

Pitiful. And spot number three, Turn the Night On by Chris Kizia. Nice. I like that song a lot. It's about me, actually. He wrote it about me. Most songs are about you. Not most of them, but that one definitely is. Spot number two, I don't know how to say goodbye. Boom, boom, bang, bang by Dwight Yokum and Post Mullen.

Jay Franze: 54:29

Try again.

Tiffany Mason: 54:31

And spot number two.

Jay Franze: 54:33

Yep, you get oh. I have to try again too, apparently.

Tiffany Mason: 54:39

I don't know how to say goodbye. Bang bang. Boom boom.

Jay Franze: 54:43

There you go.

Tiffany Mason: 54:43

What did I do wrong?

Jay Franze: 54:45

You were boom boom bang bang. Bang, bang, boom, boom. Everybody knows that. I thought it was bada bing, bada bad. Right white. I mean, if you were in the hall of fame, you we will probably know that. But you're not in the hall of fame, so therefore we're boom, boom, bang, bang.

Tiffany Mason: 55:01

We say how the song goes, okay? Okay, and spot number one. Kathy here by Eric Lee Bettingfield.

Jay Franze: 55:14

Half the applause. You're only on the indie charts. Oh my gosh. Absolutely pitiful, my friend. Absolutely pitiful. All right. Today we have an artist spotlight. If you would like to be featured in our artist spotlight, or if you would like us to feature an artist in our artist spotlight, please let us know. You could do that through smoke signals, or you can head over to the website and use a pull-down menu, or you could go directly to whatever, send us a message, go down in the link below. That link below, you can send us a text, whatever you choose to do, communicate with us, but tell us that you would like us to spotlight you as an artist or an artist that you would like. Alright. Last week we were talking to Mr. Robbie Johnson. And we got into a discussion about AI as it relates to music. So I decided to do a little bit of an experiment. Miss Tiffany wrote some lyrics. She sent them to me and asked me if I would produce a song for her. I said yes. We were all set to go into the recording studio and record such said song. But I said after our discussion last week, hmm, why don't we try and do it AI before we go into the studio? Sure, we will still go in the studio, we will still record the song. However, let's see what AI can do. First, what I did was go ahead and just tell AI write a song, just to see the quality it could do on its own. Impressive, yes, but quality song, not so much. Which is what Robbie was saying on the show last week, that you cannot replace the human portion of the song. You can replace the technical parts, but you can't replace the human piece of the songwriting. Now, I've written songs since 1980 something. And the approach that I would take back in the day of writing, I would always start with lyrics first. And then I would take those lyrics and I would meet with a session lead. For those who don't know, a session lead is the musician who takes the lead of your recording session. They typically chart out your song and they instruct the musicians how the performance is going to go. They basically interpret what you tell them. And then you go into the studio with the producer and an engineer and you record the song, and the producer typically calls the shots. So when I was doing my songs, I was also producing the project. So I would go in, I would work with a session lead to go ahead and chart out the music. We would hand it out to the musicians, I would tell them what I was looking for, what my vision was. So I thought to myself, let me try and do that with AI. I said, here is a set of lyrics. This is what I would like you to sing. I would like it to be like this. And I described it. I said, I want it to be a modern country song. I want it to be very anthem-like. I want it to be a female singer. I want it to be strong and powerful. And then I went into the actual instrumentation. This is what I want for the drums. This is how I want the drums to feel. I want the chorus coming out of the bridge to be broken down. I want the bridge to be powerful. I want it to have an uplift here. I want the bridge to come down. I want to hear maybe a little bit of a loop playing in the background as we make that transition. Miss Tiffany said, I want, you know, one of her instructions to me was that she liked the way a person would hold the note, the last note of the song. So I went ahead and explained that and how I wanted it to be held out. And then I didn't think that was enough, so I went back and said I would like it also to follow up with this tag vocal. And then I said I wanted to play out with a guitar solo that was powerful guitar solo. So I gave it all the instructions, everything I could think of. I spent a week, one solid week, tweaking and tweaking and tweaking to see if we can get AI to perform something that would be, let's say, competitive to what we would get if we went into a recording studio. And I have to say, I think it nailed it.

Tiffany Mason: 59:47

I do too. I was really ecstatic.

Jay Franze: 59:51

But I will tell you, I mean, it's got a a long way to go. I mean, if you solo instruments, because I did, I paid for the pro version of all this stuff so I could take every individual track and I could go ahead and tweak the individual tracks and manipulate things. And when you solo the instruments, you can hear artifacts. And you can hear that it's not quite there yet. So we're not a hundred percent there yet. But I kid you not, if I play that song for somebody, they don't know it's AI. I played it for my family, they have no idea. No idea. So what do you think of the song? Oh, it sounds great. You don't know. So the fact that it's capable of doing that is very impressive. Anything I could tell a musician to do, I told this thing to do. Anything I could think of, any instruction that I would have given the musicians in the studio, I gave to what I call Alex. Alex is a female AI agent that I talked to.

Tiffany Mason: 1:00:51

Jay's new best friend. Where's Alex now?

Jay Franze: 1:00:54

Alex is over here somewhere.

Tiffany Mason: 1:00:56

Can she host the the Jay Franzi show with you?

Jay Franze: 1:00:59

She could. I don't know. She she could very well. Should we test her?

Tiffany Mason: 1:01:06

No.

Jay Franze: 1:01:07

Let's test her. You won't you questioned her. I don't think she likes that. Let's see. Hey, Alex, how are you?

Alex: 1:01:14

Hey there. I'm doing great. Thanks for asking. Hope you're doing well too. What can I help you out with today?

Jay Franze: 1:01:20

Well, thank you. I'm sitting here hosting the show currently. We're live. I'm talking with Miss Tiffany, and she's wondering if you could host the show, maybe even possibly better than she could.

Alex: 1:01:30

Um putting me on the spot, huh? Well, I'll say this. Tiffany's got the co-hosting charm done pretty well. So I'm not here to emotion in anyone, but I'm always happy to help out and add a little AI flair if you two ever need it. Just let me know.

Jay Franze: 1:01:42

Well, that's fantastic. Thank you. We'll get back to you though.

Alex: 1:01:45

Absolutely. Anytime you both have a great show, and just give me a shout if you need a virtual guest star.

Jay Franze: 1:01:51

Sounds good.

Tiffany Mason: 1:01:52

She's scared.

Jay Franze: 1:01:56

She's a little intimidated. I don't blame her.

Tiffany Mason: 1:01:59

You can't top this.

Jay Franze: 1:02:01

No, we should have asked her to laugh. See if we can get a good laugh out of her. Ha ha ha, Jay. You are so funny.

Tiffany Mason: 1:02:10

Right.

Jay Franze: 1:02:11

I don't know. So as far as the song goes, do I think it came out good? Yes. Would I release it as a record? Probably not yet, no. But I could see it. It's gonna get there. Ton of potential. A ton of potential. And I think it's good when you tweak it. Right out of the gate. Yeah, probably not quite there. Like I said, I spent a week tweaking it. Did I have to? No, it sounded pretty good out of the gate. But it wasn't quite there. Like some of the melody lines, it didn't quite hit. So I had to tweak those. And matter of fact, I took Miss Tiffany sang the vocals into her phone. And I took those.

Tiffany Mason: 1:02:52

They were only for me, you guys. So I trusted Jay.

Jay Franze: 1:02:56

Well, I took them and I put them into that.

Tiffany Mason: 1:02:59

They were pathetic.

Jay Franze: 1:03:00

I shared them with Alex, and Alex went ahead and tweaked it. So that's all right. We got the point across. We knew what the melody was supposed to be, and guess what? Now we have a melody. So it worked out. So we gave it the lyrics, we gave it the melody, and we told it how to how to perform the music right down to every individual instrument and how we wanted those instruments to perform. The only thing I didn't do is give it actual chord changes. I let it pick the chord changes based off of the melody, because that's not my strong point to begin with. I'm not that person. I don't typically write chord changes. If I did, it would be very, very basic. So I allowed it to pull the chord changes it thought was necessary based on the melody that we provided. But if you had that kind of ability, if you're talented in that way, you could have also given it the chord changes. So it does have that ability. Now some key differences maybe between doing AI and doing it in person. Although AI was instantaneous. So if I went into a studio with, say, Jeff King, session lead guitar player, or Chris Losinger, another session lead guitar player, I could have told them what I wanted and they would have said yes, or if they had a quick question to clarify something, they would have asked. You know, they would still have to go into the other room, sit down in front of the microphone, pick up a guitar and perform it. But they would probably nail it pretty quickly. At the very least, I could just hop on the talk back mic and say, Hey, can we tweak this here, tweak this here? And we'd we'd have that recording pretty quickly. AI did it instantly. However, it wasn't what I would have wanted the first time around. I had to tweak it quite a bit to get the changes to be where I wanted them to be. But I was able to get there. I was able to get to the same to the same spot. It just took a little longer, even though it was AI, and even though AI can create it instantly. Does it replace a human? No. Plus, the difference when I'm working with, like, say, Jeff King, I can tell Jeff, hey, this is what I want you to do. And he might be able to provide feedback and say, you know what, that's a great idea, but if we do that, it's going to conflict with this. Or because of the way the melody goes, we shouldn't do it here, we can do it in this spot instead. He makes judgment calls that I, as a producer and not the musician, may not have known. Where in this particular case, where I'm telling AI, I don't know.

Tiffany Mason: 1:05:48

Yeah.

Jay Franze: 1:05:48

So I have to assume, you know, I can hear it when it happens. Oh, that wasn't good. But possibilities that I might not know how to make the change.

Tiffany Mason: 1:06:00

Yeah.

Jay Franze: 1:06:01

Where Jeff would know how to make the change.

Tiffany Mason: 1:06:04

Yeah, pretty valuable.

Jay Franze: 1:06:05

Like a point, I was in a session with Jeff a while back, and we were recording a song, and there was a a chord in the song that would have been better as a minor chord. And I would not have made that change. I would have just said, Yeah, no, it's this way the song is, it sounds great. But when Jeff made the change, it's like, oh, yeah, no, I can understand why we made that change. So having that human interaction is still good. Now, if you're not dealing with session players, okay, then yeah, AI would probably be better. If you're dealing with you know five of your buddies in a garage and you're trying to get them to perform something that's out of their reach, okay, then AI is probably gonna be your better option. Yeah. However, if you've got people like Jeff King at your disposal, and don't get me wrong, people like Jeff King are expensive. You gotta get them through the union and you gotta pay the union dues, and you gotta rent a $1,500 to $3,500 studio when you're doing all this stuff, it's expensive. AI, once you pay the fees, yeah, it's not expensive at all. Yeah. But where I think this would be handy is some of the artists that we talk to on the show that are independent artists that might not have the funding to go in and record every single song idea they come up with. But they can go in and sing into AI, and AI will take their melodies and create the song and give them a song back. So they can see, they can see their idea come to fruition, and then they can do that with maybe 20 songs, yeah, and decide which one of those 20 am I going to take into the studio now.

Tiffany Mason: 1:07:52

Yeah.

Jay Franze: 1:07:53

So it gives them an opportunity to test some of their ideas, which I think for that purpose, this is fantastic.

Tiffany Mason: 1:08:01

Yeah.

Jay Franze: 1:08:01

As a lyric writer, I think that's the the best thing ever. You know, I just plug in lyrics and poof, here's your song within seconds. It took me longer to type my lyrics than it did to get the song back.

Tiffany Mason: 1:08:16

That's crazy.

Jay Franze: 1:08:18

So as far as that goes, that's fantastic. Yeah. But if you have a very specific melody in mind, you have to be able to sing it. Because if you can't sing it or play it, then AI doesn't know to use your melody. And then when you have a beautiful voice such as myself, I took that melody, put it in there, and it was able to come up with the melody. I'm proud of it.

Tiffany Mason: 1:08:45

I'm proud of it.

Jay Franze: 1:08:47

Anyways, so there you go. Not bad at all. If you would like to give some feedback, some interaction, some thoughts, questions, comments, or concerns, jfranzi.com slash mailbag, or pull down menu, or smoke signal, or whichever way you would like to get your comment to us, social media, the text below, whatever you want to use. Yeah. Please go ahead and do that. Send us a message. It could just be a quick one-liner or it could be a book. If it's a book, I'm not going to read it. I'll read it. It's fine. I won't like reading it though. I'm just going to tell you that. However, let's go ahead and discuss some of these comments. Casey. Casey says, You always shine a light on the unsung heroes. Award shows should take note and honor more songwriters and session players. Because they are the unsung heroes. Mm-hmm. I like that, Casey. It also shows us that you actually listen to the show. That's fantastic. Diana says, Fans are tired of polished, perfect, and predictable. We need a generation of outlaw artists.

Tiffany Mason: 1:10:02

I think you're getting them.

Jay Franze: 1:10:03

Landon, this show feels like a session where the mics were just left on. Is that good?

Tiffany Mason: 1:10:12

I think so. Like kind of catching your raw opinions. Nice commentary. Off the cuff.

Jay Franze: 1:10:21

Amber, I feel like you're curating a future of country. Not just reporting on it. We're curating the future.

Tiffany Mason: 1:10:32

Just call us puppet masters.

Jay Franze: 1:10:37

Oh Noah says the news is great, but the chemistry is better. Stacy. How do you spell Stacy?

Tiffany Mason: 1:10:46

S-T-A-C-Y?

Jay Franze: 1:10:48

She spells it with an E.

Tiffany Mason: 1:10:51

E. Y?

Jay Franze: 1:10:52

E Y.

Tiffany Mason: 1:10:53

I almost threw out EY, but I tried to go most traditional. Tradition.

Jay Franze: 1:10:59

And this show doesn't just talk about country music, it captures the culture all around it.

Tiffany Mason: 1:11:05

I mean, right there, spot on.

Jay Franze: 1:11:09

Ollie says it's Tiffany that makes the show fun.

Tiffany Mason: 1:11:12

Ah. Jay, you're an integral part as well.

Jay Franze: 1:11:20

Thank you, Ollie. Ollie, Collie. Um, Riley, small venue tours do more to build a real fan base than stadium tours ever could.

Tiffany Mason: 1:11:32

Yep.

Jay Franze: 1:11:33

We were talking about that last week. I'm assuming that's what she's following up on. Thank you, Ryles. Maddie, M-A-N-D-D-I-E. Not to be confused with Matt T. Maddie says country should lean into collaborations with Americana and folk artists. These blends would be more authentic and better than the pop mashups.

Tiffany Mason: 1:11:59

Yeah. Yeah, you know, um, if pop country is gonna get a spot, we should do more like bluegrass or Americana or whatever. You know, like there should be more of a spotlight on those as well.

Jay Franze: 1:12:11

I agree. I think that those are more the essence of country.

Tiffany Mason: 1:12:16

Yeah.

Jay Franze: 1:12:17

I don't necessarily think pop is the I know pop and blues, everything's built off of blues and all that, but I think that uh bluegrass and all that stuff is more of what the essence is. Traditional instruments.

Tiffany Mason: 1:12:29

Yeah, playing on a farm at a campfire. Got the old washboard out. Alright, we take that with a twig. Too far.

Jay Franze: 1:12:38

Too far we did too far. Eight mil goes to both of us. Alright, um, Faith. I think it's Faith Hill.

Tiffany Mason: 1:12:46

Probably.

Jay Franze: 1:12:47

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

Tiffany Mason: 1:12:48

Yeah.

Jay Franze: 1:12:50

Country is at its best when it tells everyday stories. Lately, some of the songs are moving to be more like a commercial than real life.

Tiffany Mason: 1:12:59

Hmm. I gotta dig deep on the the old lyrics bank and mull that one over.

Jay Franze: 1:13:05

Did you say the spank bank?

Tiffany Mason: 1:13:09

No, the lyrics bank.

Jay Franze: 1:13:12

Oh, must have been the accent.

Tiffany Mason: 1:13:14

It's probably the accent, yeah.

Jay Franze: 1:13:16

Colleen says F radio playlists are where it's at.

Tiffany Mason: 1:13:22

And that's a good spot. I mean, a good point that uh the country countdown on the Jay Franzi show on Spotify. You can listen to the country music countdown and the indie artists and some of our guests that have been on the show.

Jay Franze: 1:13:37

All right. I'm gonna take one more from the previously entered mailbags. And if I didn't get to yours today, I will get to them, I promise. I'll read each and every one of them, whether they are good or bad. I don't know. Um, and then I'm gonna go to one that came in live. So Caroline says, Jay, Jay is like an encyclopedia of country music. Yes, I don't know if I believe that, but I take the compliment. Thank you, Caroline. And then Kathy says, on the mailbag, we would like to add that we love the drum roll and the cheering for the number one in the number two spots.

Tiffany Mason: 1:14:17

Yes. See, my family's fun.

Jay Franze: 1:14:22

Are they fun? Is that what it is?

Tiffany Mason: 1:14:24

Yes.

Jay Franze: 1:14:25

Got a random text message from my wife showing me that she's still awake, by the way. All it says is soup.

Tiffany Mason: 1:14:34

Well, don't forget the soup.

Jay Franze: 1:14:36

Don't forget the soup.

Tiffany Mason: 1:14:37

Maybe she's dreaming. It's like I need soup. I need soup. I need soup. There's like sleepwalking, she's sleep texting.

Jay Franze: 1:14:44

She's not listening to the show. If she was listening to the show, she could put it in the chat. I love you, babe. If you are listening to the show, it's just a joke. It's all jokes. All right, my friend, what have you got going on this week?

Tiffany Mason: 1:15:01

Well, finally, the episode is coming out with Steven Quinn, the gentleman that I saw at Boot Scoot and Bourbon. And I am so excited for that episode to come out because he gave me the file for his song, and I was able to weave it through the episode. But yes, oh my gosh, it's such a great song, super patriotic. So you know I'm all about it. Then on Friday, in two short days, I'm gonna fly to Tennessee. I'm gonna hop in the U-Haul and drive it all the way back to Florida because it has all my son's stuff in it because he's moving to Florida.

Jay Franze: 1:15:36

Nice.

Tiffany Mason: 1:15:37

So I'm super excited. He's gonna be about 30 minutes ago. Can't wait. That's what I got going on, and I could not be more excited.

Jay Franze: 1:15:46

I like it. Well, we mentioned the road with Billy Joe Jones. Yeah, it started this past Sunday, 9 p.m. Eastern time on CBS. If you'd like to check it out, please do. Please support Billy Joe Jones. She is family to us. All right, folks. We have done it. We have reached the top of the hour. We have reached the top of our number three, which does mean we have reached the end of the show. If you've enjoyed tonight's show, please tell a friend, Miss Tiffany, if you have not.

Tiffany Mason: 1:16:13

Tell two. Tell two.

Jay Franze: 1:16:15

You can reach out to both of us over at jFrenzy.com. We will be happy to keep this conversation going or any other conversation. Apparently, we do not get to sleep tonight. Miss Tiffany, we would like to leave the final words to you.

Tony Scott: 1:16:28

Crew members, thanks for hanging out with us, and we'll see you on the socials. Don't forget to reach out and let us know what you're thinking. 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.