The Jay Franze Show: Country Music - News | Reviews | Interviews

Darkest Country Songs, Best Album of All Time, and Country Music News

• Jay Franze / Tiffany Mason • Episode 177

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Ever wondered why the “darkest” country songs linger long after the last note fades? We crack open that list and find more than shock value—there’s craft, confession, and a lineage of storytelling that made the genre brave. From murder ballads to Whiskey Lullaby, we unpack what makes a song haunt you and why those narratives still matter.

Then we sprint through the modern pulse: Jelly Roll’s global moment and community work, stacked festival lineups, Abbey Road sessions, and the not-so-silent rise of subtitles in streaming. Captions might sound boring, but they’re changing how fans absorb lyrics and stories, especially in a word-first genre like country. We also talk about videos that miss the mark and why listeners instantly sense when visuals don’t serve the song.

The centerpiece is a rowdy, smart bracket to crown the best album of all time. You sent your picks—Rumours, Abbey Road, Pet Sounds, Tapestry, Van Halen I, The Wall, George Strait, Shania, Garth—and we fought it out. Journey’s Escape made a bold run, but Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon took the crown for cohesion, sequencing, and sheer sonic gravity. Along the way, we teased apart “favorite” versus “best,” and what a truly great album must do from first second to last.

We close with charts and indie highlights, then an ear-opening A/B test: a studio cut vs an AI-recreated version of the same song. 

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Jay Franze:

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

Tiffany Mason:

I'll take it. I'll take it.

Jay Franze:

If you are new to the show, this is your source for the latest news, reviews, and interviews. So if you would like to join in, comment, or fire off any questions, please head over to jforenzy.com. Alright, my friend, as always, before we get started, let me tell you about the question of the day. The question of the day. What is the best album of all time? What is the best album of all time? This is coming from Holly. And she says it is the best album of all time. That way, you guys can turn it into a competition.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay, well, now we know what the rules are. I'll get my pen and paper ready.

Jay Franze:

So there you go. I appreciate that, Holly. Thank you very much. Now that we have that out of the way, do not give me your answers yet. Wait till a little later in the show when we get responses from everybody else. We will go ahead and review them. We will read them off. We will make fun of each other. It'll be a grand old time. But for right now, we're going to go ahead and get started with an article. An article that I found in my perusing that says the 30 darkest songs in country music history. I don't quite know what that means, but coming off the heels of Halloween, I figured why not? So the 30 darkest songs in country music history.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay.

Jay Franze:

True to form. I did not review, did not look. I like to be surprised. At the same time, it means I have to read. So but I'm going to start off by looking at the pretty picture. It includes a picture. So there you go. It's a picture of Thomas Rhett playing an acoustic guitar. It looks like it could possibly be a Martin.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh.

Jay Franze:

It says Thomas Rhett, featuring Tyler Hubbard and good old Russ.

Tiffany Mason:

Good old Russ.

Jay Franze:

Russell Dickerson.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay, I missed the name of the song.

Jay Franze:

We didn't get there yet. We're too busy making fun of names and stuff. The song is Death Row.

Tiffany Mason:

I do not know this song.

Jay Franze:

It's inspired by a real life experience.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh.

Jay Franze:

Yes.

Tiffany Mason:

That takes up the ante a little bit.

Jay Franze:

It does. It says it was released in 2022. It's a ballad that faces difficult realities. Difficult realities about the justice system.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh.

Jay Franze:

Number 29. I'll go through these quicker. I won't read every one of them because there's 30. Anyways. 29. Garth Brooks. Papa loved mama.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh yeah. Mm-hmm.

Jay Franze:

So you're familiar.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh yeah.

Jay Franze:

Why is it dark?

Tiffany Mason:

Um, because he comes home and mama's sleeping around and he loses his business. Mama's a hoe. She's a butana.

Jay Franze:

She's a button. All right. Does that we should it's a little late on that anyway, but you know, hey, I don't know if that's one that gets bleeped or not.

Tiffany Mason:

Y'all, that's a word I learned from Jay. Jay taught me that.

Jay Franze:

That's nice. Italian roots. Number 28, Lyle Love It. LA County. Number 27, Morgan Wallen. Living the dream. Number 26. The most influential man in country music, according to us.

Tiffany Mason:

George Straight.

Jay Franze:

He sings I hate everything. The title sounds pretty bad. This is the tale of falling into petty disagreements with your spouse.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh. I never have petty arguments with my spouse, do you? Never.

Jay Franze:

Those are called conversations in my house. No petty arguments, just everyday conversations. I gotta be careful, she's still awake. Babe, I'm just joking. All a joke. All right, number 25, Webb Pierce. I don't know who Webb Pierce is. He's an old timey. Looks like he's well before my time, which is a long time ago. Oh, 1953.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay, well.

Jay Franze:

There stands the glass. Simple and chilling. It's an ode to alcohol. I don't know what they mean by that. Number 24, Carrie Underwood. Church bells.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, I could hear those church bells.

Jay Franze:

Speaking of alcohol not going out of style, number 23, George Jones. That's so wrong. I'm sorry, George. You're not even here to defend yourself. George Jones has been in trouble quite a few times for drinking and driving and other alcohol-related issues. Oh his song, These Days. Let's move on to number 22. Brandy Clark. Since you've gone to heaven. I don't know who Brandy Clark is.

Tiffany Mason:

I don't either.

Jay Franze:

Twenty-one. Justin Townsend. Nope, sorry. Justin Towns Earl.

Tiffany Mason:

Justin Towns Earl.

Jay Franze:

Towns T-O-W-N-E-S.

Tiffany Mason:

Towns.

Jay Franze:

Justin Towns Earl. Song. Yuma? Yuma? Y-U-M-A.

Tiffany Mason:

It's probably like Yuma, Arizona, like Yuma.

Jay Franze:

Okay, let's go with that. 20, Ashley McBride. Martha Divine.

Tiffany Mason:

I don't know the song.

Jay Franze:

I do not know the song either. Alright, 19, Willie Nelson. Redheaded Stranger. Number 18, Ian No. Methhead. I think it's all in the title. Number 17, Bobby Gentry. Ode to Billy Joe. And it's spelt like Billy Joe Joe. No, I take that back. Billy is. Joe is not. Joe has an E on it.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah, not our Billy Joe.

Jay Franze:

Our Billy Joe does not have the E.

Tiffany Mason:

Right. But our our Billy Joe doesn't have an E.

Jay Franze:

That's correct. I feel like I just said that. I feel like he did. Somehow there's an echo. Number 16, Wayland Jennings. Cedartown, Georgia. 70s murder ballad.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh wow.

Jay Franze:

Huh. It's a bluesy groove, but it's dark in story.

Tiffany Mason:

People just blowing on their big old gallon jugs. Oh, whoa. Talking about.

Jay Franze:

Whoa, whoa. This is a family show.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh I was thinking of like the pottery jugs.

Jay Franze:

Oh, sure. Yeah, that. For sure, yeah. Let's move on to number 15. Number 15, Tanya Tucker. Tanya, if you prefer. Blood red and going down.

Tiffany Mason:

I do not know it.

Jay Franze:

Number 14, Johnny Paycheck. Pardon me, I've got some killing to do. I've got someone to kill is the true title.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay.

Jay Franze:

This looks like it's it's supposed to be the Lovin Brothers, but it's L-O-U-V-I-N.

Tiffany Mason:

Louvin?

Jay Franze:

Louvin Brothers?

Tiffany Mason:

Louvin?

Jay Franze:

Satan is real.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh well.

Jay Franze:

Okay. This iconic bluegrass duo sings a song about Satan. About the joy and faith of the uncertainty of God's love. Ooh. Satan is real. Number 12. Chris Stapleton. Watch you burn.

Tiffany Mason:

Ooh. Wow.

Jay Franze:

Alright, number 11. Angelina Presley. Angelina Presley's entire American middle class album is grim.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, the whole album.

Jay Franze:

It's a compelling look at the plight of families caught in the economic middle of America.

Tiffany Mason:

Sounds depressing.

Jay Franze:

It's darkest track is pain pills.

Tiffany Mason:

Ooh, that sounds pretty dark. Take it easy, Angelina.

Jay Franze:

Number 10, John Prime.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh.

Jay Franze:

Song, Sam Stone. Oh. Alright. Number nine, Reba McIntyre. She thinks his name was John. That to me sounds like a ho. Oh, I love that song. I don't know much about the song.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, it's very haunting. She thinks his name was John.

Jay Franze:

You know, sadly, just from that little bit, I think I know it.

Tiffany Mason:

It wasn't even that good. It wasn't. It wasn't at all.

Jay Franze:

This one has a date, 1994.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah, that's a good song.

Jay Franze:

Numero Ocho. Jay's favorite number.

Tiffany Mason:

It was Jay.

Jay Franze:

Kenny Rogers, Ruby, don't take your love to town. The song was written by Mel Tillis. Oh. Number seven, Hank Williams. The original senior. Senior, as we call him. Hank Williams Sr. The Angel of Death.

Tiffany Mason:

Hmm.

Jay Franze:

Took a twist there, didn't it?

Tiffany Mason:

Is real.

Jay Franze:

I know um Blake Shelton's new song talks about death, and he says he's not afraid. I don't know if afraid is the word I would choose, but I don't like thinking about it.

Tiffany Mason:

I don't mind thinking about it, because I mean I'm just gonna go to heaven.

Jay Franze:

But are you sure you're gonna go to heaven?

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah, yeah. Have you met me? See my halo? Yes, that's the problem. So that part's not so scary, but I just don't I don't want to leave people behind.

Jay Franze:

Maybe we give them a break. Give them a break before they hit the eternity. Just trying to think of the bright side. I don't know. Take a few years off. That's all. Number six, Johnny Cash. I hung my head. Number five. Towns with an E. Towns Van Zant. Waiting round to die. Holy cow, these people are hurting me this morning. We're starting off this morning. This morning.

Tiffany Mason:

This morning. What time is that?

Jay Franze:

I don't know what time it is. This morning. Holy, how long have we been going? Yeah. Sorry. Slip of the tongue. Slip of the tongue. Slip of all right. Number five. Oh, wait a minute. Oh, this is one I would not expect. Number four. You expect anything like this from Brad Paisley? No. That man's just nothing but a jokester. But he did a song with Allison Krause. The song is Whiskey Lullaby.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh yes.

Jay Franze:

2003. A ballad that depicts a relationship's dark and painful ending. Number three, Tom T. Hall. Turn it on. Turn it on. Turn it on.

Tiffany Mason:

Three times?

Jay Franze:

Three times. Now to be fair, turn it on, comma. Turn it on, comma. Turn it on.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, now it makes sense. Makes more sense now. Yes. Thank you for clarifying.

Jay Franze:

Alright. Number two.

Tiffany Mason:

Numero dos.

Jay Franze:

The most influential woman in country music.

Tiffany Mason:

Mmm, Dolly.

Jay Franze:

Dolly.

Tiffany Mason:

What's she singing about?

Jay Franze:

Her and Porter Wagner.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, hey Porter.

Jay Franze:

Porter, her mentor, we'll say.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay.

Jay Franze:

They sing a song called The Party.

Tiffany Mason:

Mmm. What's the party about, Jay?

Jay Franze:

Told from the perspective of parents who lost their children. Oh, see. I don't like that. Killing me. 1968. Yeah, move it on.

Tiffany Mason:

Yep. I don't like that. Number one.

Jay Franze:

Number one, Eddie Nowak, psycho. Eddie looks psycho.

Tiffany Mason:

Wow. Well, thank you for enlightening us, Jay.

Jay Franze:

I know I didn't like this article at all.

Tiffany Mason:

Well, are you ready to hop into some of the things?

Jay Franze:

Yes, dear God, please take us into the headlines, please.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay, well, this one is not, I mean, it's gonna be kind of on par with your list. Dear God. So, Mr. Todd Snyder, he is canceling his tour after a violent assault and arrest. The high, lonesome, and then some trek is on hold after Snyder was apparently assaulted outside his Salt Lake City hotel and then briefly arrested following a hospital disturbance. He's not very happy about being attacked. There's a lot of moving pieces there. The tour is on cancel. The tour's on cancel.

Jay Franze:

The tour is on cancel. Welcome to the show, folks.

Tiffany Mason:

The tour is canceled. Okay. Well, something that's more exciting is the Cattle Country Festival drops stacked 2026 lineup featuring Cole Wetzel and Treaty Oak Revival. It is set for April 10th through the 12th in Gonzalez, Texas. The 400-acre camping and music festival brings outlaw country, Texas Rock, and full-on festival amenities.

Jay Franze:

Nice.

Tiffany Mason:

I like Cole Wetzel.

Jay Franze:

This is a weird name to me.

Tiffany Mason:

I know I'm on an L in there. Cole.

Jay Franze:

No, I was talking with Wetzel.

Tiffany Mason:

Wetzel's pretzels.

Jay Franze:

Okay. I'm not gonna do it tonight. Nope.

Tiffany Mason:

I will save you from yourself and I will tell you about Mr. Mitch Tenpenny. He dropped a new video. It's called Therapy, and it stakes a claim for Top Country Video of the Week with a fresh visual out and a push for votes in the weekly countdown. Tenpenny is digging into deeper emotional territory. This video is very cute. I like it. And it makes me think of And then I hope she cheats. So she's saying, I hope you fall in love with this chick. I hope you have the best night. I hope you know she's the one at the end of the night. And then I hope she cheats like you did on me. And that's very much the same feeling of this song therapy. Anyway, I'm excited to see more of his stuff come out of Tim Pennies dig a little deeper. I feel like he's got like a um funny spin on the T, you know, kind of funny. Okay, Mr. Jelly Roll. He is down on the mic. And the Global Star is set to take stage in Townsville at the Sunburn Country Festival, marking a significant international country music moment. And you know, we've reported before that Australia is having this, like, you know, country music flare-up. So I guess it's on par with that. Mr. Jelly Roll's gonna be there.

Jay Franze:

Like herpes.

Tiffany Mason:

Yikes. Please strike that from the final cut.

Jay Franze:

Jelly roll. He um he helped open a recording studio in a juvenile detention center.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, cool.

Jay Franze:

Yeah, I thought it was very nice.

Tiffany Mason:

I also caught a headline that said in Australia, they treated him like a criminal in the Louis Vuitton store. Which, if they know who he is, he's got plenty of money, so probably just let him in. I I know there's tattoos on his face, but can't reach a book by its cover.

Jay Franze:

Yes, you can.

Tiffany Mason:

Well, they did.

Jay Franze:

You might not be right, but you can.

Tiffany Mason:

Well, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw's daughters are very talented. And back in April, the couple's oldest, Gracie, performed as part of American Heart in World War One, a Carnegie Hall tribute. They said, dang, she can sing. It was a musical theater event, and it tells the story of America in World War One through music. An archival footage and narrative accounts will air on PBS this Veterans Day.

Jay Franze:

But is it dark?

Tiffany Mason:

No, Jay. We've moved on from the dark article. This is just news headlines in general. But it was World War One, so maybe a little darker. That's what I'm saying. That's all. Yeah.

Jay Franze:

Just want a little bit of credit.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah. Probably not uplifting. So streaming platforms are reshaping country music's next chapter according to a new feature. How fans consume country and how artists are discovered is undergoing a big transformation behind the scenes. What do you think it is? No guess? Okay, I will tell you.

Jay Franze:

Were you asking me or were you asking the crew?

Tiffany Mason:

I was asking the crew members, but they can't reply.

Jay Franze:

So they can reply. It'd just take a long time to get your answer.

Tiffany Mason:

It would take a long time to get the answer. So I'm gonna cut to the chase. I'm not gonna make everybody wait.

Jay Franze:

I mean, if they call in, I mean jforenzi.com, you can come on live, you can answer the question right now.

Tiffany Mason:

Anybody? anybody? Well, I will tell you, and I was very surprised by this, but also guilty, guilty as charged. Subtitles, subtitles. So 70% of people admit using subtitles when they are streaming, and I definitely love the captions feature. And honestly, what I really love too with subtitles, even just streaming TV or a movie, my husband likes to bang around in the kitchen with all the pots and pans, and I don't know what the hell he's doing over there, but it's very loud in the living room. So I just turn on subtitles. Damn him for making me food. I know, rude. So I don't like the banging around, and I also don't like when my TV yells at me because you know what? Growing up, my mom would always say, Why is the TV yelling at us? So now I say to my family, Why is the TV yelling at us? So if you put on subtitles, you can pay attention. Subtitles help you to learn the words.

Jay Franze:

I don't see anything wrong with subtitles.

Tiffany Mason:

No, I don't think there's anything wrong with it. It's just, I guess it's not really a new feature, but it's being utilized more. It is right. So they say it's a new feature, but it's not really that. Well, now I think we have talked on the show previously how much of a fan I am of Morgan Wallins' 20 cigarettes. Okay. Uh yes, we have talked about that. So now it's saying that um he steers his messy love life story into an official video. The fan favorite pulls no punches in the new visual exploring the fallout relationship with a moody cinematic style. I hated this video. And it's kind of like when you read a book and then you go watch the movie. I think that your mind is so creative and your imagination takes away, and then you go watch it. It's just basically Morgan Wallen smoking a cigarette, probably 20 cigarettes. Although he did share a few, so they're not all his, but it was just a dumb video. I want to see them in the truck, I want to see the windows down, I want to see them getting down and dirty, I want to see them afterwards sharing a cigarette and using the bottle as an ashtray, and you know, all the things that it describes in the song, but that is not what the video is. It's just him looking kind of cool. And then like it shows multiple versions of him on the screen at the same time. So like four different Morgan Wallins are on the screen at the same time, and he's doing something different in each one of them. But meh, I don't think that this was a messy love life story in an official video. It does not seem like that to me at all.

Jay Franze:

I've never been the biggest fan of music videos anyway. And I grew up in the 80s.

Tiffany Mason:

Right, me too.

Jay Franze:

So never been the biggest fan.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah, they're just okay. I feel like they don't match very well. Like the Janet Jackson's Paul Abdul's where they did like the group dancing, those were really good.

Jay Franze:

Yeah.

Tiffany Mason:

But the rest of them is like that didn't match the song.

Jay Franze:

Your mother chimed in, said she didn't want the TV yelling at you because she didn't want you to have hearing aids.

Tiffany Mason:

Well, I think my husband may need them because we are listening to the TV very loud these days at our house. Sorry. I might still get a mom, might still get me some hearing aids.

Jay Franze:

Cool thing about Mr. Morgan while I'm there.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah.

Jay Franze:

He recorded his album at Abbey Road Studios.

Tiffany Mason:

Cool.

Jay Franze:

So London Beatles, that whole thing.

Tiffany Mason:

Mm-hmm.

Jay Franze:

It is pretty cool.

Tiffany Mason:

Friday, November 7th. The chicken fried singer, the military nonprofit blue star families, Ford and TikTok have teamed up to show the country music hall of fame and museum in Nashville, which will be live streamed on the social media platform at 8 p.m. Central Standard Time, 9 p.m. Eastern. On November 7th, remote viewers will be able to contribute via TikTok's donate live button. So that is Mr. Zach Brown, and he is going to be headlighting Proud to Honor Celebrating America's Heroes.

Jay Franze:

Nice. There you go. Give him a little credit.

Tiffany Mason:

I will give him a little credit because the next little blurb that I wanted to tell you all about was actually about him and his wife, Kendra Scott. I did not realize that he was married to Kendra or they're dating.

Jay Franze:

Nor did I.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay. So very interesting. Mr. Mason always watches Shark Tank, and sometimes Kendra Scott is on there as one of the investors. So they are actually going to have a blowout Thanksgiving with their blended families, quote unquote, like the Brady Bunch. So Miss Kendra Scott says he's next level, speaking about Zach, that he's had a cookbook out. And then her son, Cade, who's 24, is also a chef, and he's been working in restaurants since he was 18. So the two of them take care of the food and she'll just take the orders like a sous chef. She said, I'll cut vegetables or whatever they need me to do. Scott says the year's feast will be one of the new traditions. All eight of their kids are joining to have fun at one massive celebration at Scott's Barn at her ranch near Austin. It's an awful lot of kids. Eight kids. Can't do it. Can't do it. Yeah, but they're older now, so when they blended their families, they're probably a little bit older. Which makes that a little bit easier, I think, than trying to blend, like, you know, I have an eight-month-old.

Jay Franze:

56 and 42. Yeah.

Tiffany Mason:

Yes. Okay. Well, the next thing I want to tell you about is women continuing to carve space at the top of country. Signs pointing towards a shifting hall of fame landscape. A recent piece digs into how women in country music are not just nominated, but shaping the genre's future. And I think that we could easily say that with Miss Laney Wilson. I know you sent me a clip of Reba giving her the notification that she was going to be inducted into the Grand Old Opry. And I feel like she is really, Laney Wilson is really changing the narrative, the fashion, the everything. Like she is hardcore country. And I'm here for it. And I think her little friend Ella Langley is not far behind.

Jay Franze:

No. I watched a interview today with Gretchen Wilson. And in that interview, the guy asked her, How did she feel about women in country music today? And she was saying that they're there and they're powerful and they're, you know, bigger presence than ever. And then he followed it up by saying, Do you think the male artists are pussies? And she kind of looked and said, Well, and she kind of agreed that they're a little soft.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah.

Jay Franze:

She goes, but that's just how things are these days. And I think we should get back to them not being so soft. You know, don't be so politically correct and go out and flirt with women. And let's get back to the way things were. So I just thought it was humorous.

Tiffany Mason:

As long as you're single.

Jay Franze:

The person flirting or the person you're flirting with?

Tiffany Mason:

Um, well, if you're a country music artist and you're married. I mean.

Jay Franze:

What if you're a rock artist? Just trying to figure out what the rules are.

Tiffany Mason:

Well, I think the rock crew has a different thing.

Jay Franze:

What if you work behind the scenes? If you're married, period. Is that the rule?

Tiffany Mason:

I think that should be the rule. Yes. Damn.

Jay Franze:

She's got to be sleeping by now.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay. Behind the scenes at the news desk, how country music media stays live and reactive, a feature on how outlets like this one produce talking country live and keep pace with the genre's fast moving stories. I just think like overall, just there's so much going on, so many moving pieces that it's nice to have, you know, behind the scenes like what we're doing. I mean, you heard it here first, folks. Sure you did.

Jay Franze:

You said news desk, and I instantly went to that sound effect. Did it, did it, did it, did it?

Tiffany Mason:

Oh but I don't have it. It's just in folks.

Jay Franze:

I don't have that sound effect. Now you gave me something else to do. We're gonna run out of space on this board here at some point.

Tiffany Mason:

Jay, can you remind me what was the question of the day?

Jay Franze:

You know what? I'd be happy to remind you that. I would be absolutely thrilled to remind you this from Holly, because she would like us to turn it into a competition because she knows we like that. Holly says, What's the best album of all time?

Tiffany Mason:

We are going to dig into it and get you guys answers.

Jay Franze:

We will come up with the answer, folks. Miss Tiffany, as always, I will give you the opportunity to go first or last.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh last. Save the best for last.

Jay Franze:

I don't know if that's a fair statement, but let's go for it.

Tiffany Mason:

It is.

Jay Franze:

Lisa chiming in from Nashville itself says George Strait, pure country. George Strait is awesome.

Tiffany Mason:

George Strait is awesome. Is that album awesome?

Jay Franze:

It's George Strait.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay.

Jay Franze:

I would put it on the list.

Tiffany Mason:

Pure country.

Jay Franze:

Tommy. Tommy says Garth Brooks, no fences.

Tiffany Mason:

That's gotta go on there.

Jay Franze:

Okay. He says, no skips, just hits. Fair enough. Emily. Emily says Reba McIntyre. Rumor has it.

Tiffany Mason:

So good.

Jay Franze:

Mark, not the Mark, but a Mark, says Alan Jackson, a lot about living.

Tiffany Mason:

Mmm. I think that also has good time on there and Chattahoochee.

Jay Franze:

Oh, it's a tough one.

Tiffany Mason:

But is it better than Garth, Reba, or George Strait?

Jay Franze:

I don't think it's better, no.

Tiffany Mason:

No.

Jay Franze:

Sarah says Shania Twain. Come on over.

Tiffany Mason:

I think it's gotta go. It's gotta go on the list.

Jay Franze:

Engineered by Bob Bullock. Produced by Mutt Lang. Jason says Chris Dableton. Traveler.

Tiffany Mason:

I don't know enough of that whole album.

Jay Franze:

Alright, Michelle says, I'm gonna give you one. You want better than? I'm gonna give it to you. She says, Dolly Parton, Jolene.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh.

Jay Franze:

Is that the name of the album?

Tiffany Mason:

I was asking myself the same thing.

Jay Franze:

What did yourself say to yourself?

Tiffany Mason:

I don't freaking know.

Jay Franze:

Fair enough.

Tiffany Mason:

I was like, as old as before my time. I don't know.

Jay Franze:

Danny said Danny with a Y says.

Tiffany Mason:

Thank you for specifying because I was. Thinking an eye, and it really changes how I view the answer.

Jay Franze:

Well, it's male versus female. Danny says, I'm from Tiffany Country in Florida, and I'm going with Brooks and Dunn, brand new man.

Tiffany Mason:

Mmm, that's another good one. Yeah.

Jay Franze:

All right. Our list is full already. We should probably stop. Holly says Miranda Lambert, Revolution.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh my god.

Jay Franze:

Randy says Willie Nelson, red-headed red-headed stranger. I remember that from an earlier list. Seems like it might have been dark.

Tiffany Mason:

Some identity crisis.

Jay Franze:

The master in storytelling. Kendra says the chicks.

Tiffany Mason:

Oof. I like it, but I know Jay.

Jay Franze:

Zach says Eric Church, Chief. Rockalooch says Faith Hill. Breathe. Brian says Hank Williams Jr., born to Boogie.

Tiffany Mason:

What do you know?

Jay Franze:

Tiffany, otherwise known as Tiff. Not you, not that Tiffany.

Tiffany Mason:

No.

Jay Franze:

Tiffany says Keith Urban. Eddie says Randy Travis, Storms of Life. Maya Project Music, previous guest of the show. She says, I'm going in with Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd, for the win, please. It is the Bible of music. I love you for it, my friend. I really do. You need to come back on the show sometime soon. That's a good one. Belongs on the list for sure.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay.

Jay Franze:

L Viking 067. L Viking O sixty seven says Metallica ride the lightning.

Tiffany Mason:

Love Viking.

Jay Franze:

Harrison says Dark Side of the Moon.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh.

Jay Franze:

Got two. Y T Wolf five two three. Y T Wolf five two three. Every album I own. With a little laughing emoji. Thank you. And then Jack, I'm going with Jack. J C.

Tiffany Mason:

Nice.

Jay Franze:

Jack. Pink Floyd with the Wall.

Tiffany Mason:

What the Wall?

Jay Franze:

They are not my favorite band, though. You had to specify. It's the best album, but they're not my favorite band. Alright. Fair enough. Doug. Oh, thank you, Doug. Abbey Road, the Beatles. Joe. Joe. J-O-E. Top three-ish. Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys. Yep, on the list. Tapestry, Carol Kane. Songs and the Key of Life. Stevie Wonder. Alright. Bruce says rumors. Obviously referring to Fleetwood Mac. Bob Bullock says, I like it. Bob Bullock, previous guest of the show. Bruce, previous guest of the show, Tarletsky. Bruce Tarletsky and Bob Bullock, both from High Mountain Breezes. Nashville Supergroup. Thank you both for being here and joining in on our question of the day. Valerie. Thank you for having a name I can pronounce. Says Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen. Jason. Jason Sircone. Previous guest of the show. But Jason Sircone nonetheless says Guns N' Roses, Use Your Illusion 2, Live, Throwing Copper, or Weird Al Yankovic in 3D.

Tiffany Mason:

No. No. Alright, fine. We're gonna stick with Guns N' Roses on that one.

Jay Franze:

Yeah, okay, fair enough. I don't know if I would go with Use Your Illusion 2. I'd go with Appetite for Destruction if we're going with Guns and Roses.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, I would too.

Jay Franze:

Karen says Tapestry by Carol King. Dave. Dave Jackson, previous guest of the show, Dave Jackson, School of Podcasting. Says Van Halen won. Yes, that's a great album. Let me end this real quick with these forty more comments. Jason Hill, previous guest of the show, says I'd have to break it down by genre. And it would take about a day or two. Okay. Jason, I don't know if you're in town, but I was out by your house today. So I was far, far out today. And Jason was.

Tiffany Mason:

It was like a groovy day. It was like far out.

Jay Franze:

Jason lives far out. And he has a studio. It's beautiful, but it's far out. Yeah. Tristan. Tristan Burke. I'm going to use her full name because I want her to be a guest on the show. She says Fleetwood Mac rumors. James. James. The James. He says Led Zeppelin 4.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay, there's only about 20.

Jay Franze:

Okay. Two at a time. Yeah.

Tiffany Mason:

No, you got to give yours. Oh. Um, I'm you figured out how this works. I would go with rumors, Fleetwood Mac. I like that one.

Jay Franze:

I'm gonna go with Journey Escape.

Tiffany Mason:

No.

Jay Franze:

Yes. Yes, I am. Not just because it's Journey, but it is as a collective whole, and it doesn't even include my favorite journey song.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh wow.

Jay Franze:

But it is as a collective whole, what I believe is the best album of all time. And your mother is chiming in with a late entry.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, late entry.

Jay Franze:

She says Chris Young, the man I want to be. Alright. Go ahead. Two at a time.

Tiffany Mason:

Alright. Pet sounds by Beach Boys or What The Wall?

Jay Franze:

The Wall.

Tiffany Mason:

The Wall.

Jay Franze:

No, what the Wall. Just the Wall.

Tiffany Mason:

The Wall, Pink Floyd. Clearly not my genre.

Jay Franze:

Yes. That's the winner of those two, though. Okay. Sorry, Beach Boys. I mean, that's a she went for the jugular right out of the gate.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay, The Wall by Pink Floyd or Pure Country by George Strait.

Jay Franze:

The Wall. Sorry, George. And she, I mean, she started strong.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna go to the bottom. Okay. Led Zeppelin 4 or Van Halen 1.

Jay Franze:

Van Halen 1. Sorry, Led Zeppelin. Oh, sorry. I mean, that's great, but my opinion, Van Halen won.

Tiffany Mason:

Van Halen won or Kiro King.

Jay Franze:

There you go. Van Halen.

Tiffany Mason:

That felt like a fair battle right there. Van Halen won or Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen. Van Halen. Okay. Uh Van Halen won or Crossroads by Eric Clapton.

Jay Franze:

Van Halen. Okay.

Tiffany Mason:

Van Halen or Abbey Road by Beatles.

Jay Franze:

I personally would go with Van Halen, but Abbey Road.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay. Now do we want to glop the Metallicas together? Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning?

Jay Franze:

Yeah, neither one of them stand a chance.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay.

Jay Franze:

I know they both get you worked up, but no.

Tiffany Mason:

Abbey Road or Golden Road by Keith Urban.

Jay Franze:

I didn't realize Keith made it to the list, but no, Beatles.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay. Do you like the Beatles or do you like Exile on Main Street by Rolling Stones?

Jay Franze:

I personally prefer Rolling Stones, but I think Beatles would be the album.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay. Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon, or Abbey Road Beatles?

Jay Franze:

I'm gonna go with Pink Floyd.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay, okay. Wow. Okay. Pink Floyd or Chief by Eric Church.

Jay Franze:

Sorry, Eric. I prefer your album. However, I would have to go with Pink Floyd.

Tiffany Mason:

Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon, or Brand New Man by Brooks and Dunn.

Jay Franze:

Again, I would probably prefer Brooks and Dunn, but I'm going with Pink Floyd.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay, Pink Floyd or Dolly with Jolene.

Jay Franze:

Same thing. I think I'd have to go with Pink Floyd.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay. Come on over by Shania or Pink Floyd.

Jay Franze:

Sorry, Bob. I have to go with Pink Floyd. Now, just to be clear, all of those albums you just mentioned, I would listen to over Pink Floyd. But if we're going for best album, Pink Floyd so far.

Tiffany Mason:

Yes, you've said that. Yep. Yep. I feel like that's been fairly stated. Reba, rumor has it, or Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd.

Jay Franze:

Pink Floyd.

Tiffany Mason:

Is it the music, the instrumentation? Or is it the songs that makes this album so amazing?

Jay Franze:

It's a collective whole.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay. Okay. Dark Side of the Moon.

Jay Franze:

Just to be fair, you've mentioned two Pink Floyd albums on this list. So at some point I'm gonna guess they're gonna go up against each other, but yeah.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah. Pretty soon, too. No offenses by Garth Brooks or Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd.

Jay Franze:

Sorry, Tiffany.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay. Um I think I already did rumors. I think we already booted that one out.

Jay Franze:

No, rumors. Did we mention rumors yet? I don't think we mentioned it. And I'd still go with Pink Floyd over rumors. Um but yeah, I mean that's a a great album as well.

Tiffany Mason:

Listen to it.

Jay Franze:

We can that's one that I would probably listen to Pink Floyd over rumors. They were never my my favorite.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah. You've made that abundantly clear, Jay.

Jay Franze:

I'm just saying, I mean, I went to see him in concert. I liked them. Just not my favorite.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay, so I think the final battle royale is Journey with Escape. I know it's Escape, but I want to say Escape. Or do we want to do Pink Floyd separate the wall and Dark Side of the Moon?

Jay Franze:

Well, let's just knock the two Pink Floyd together real quick.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay.

Jay Franze:

I think I prefer the wall, but I think Dark Side of the Moon would be the winner.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay. So then it's Dark Side of the Moon or Ascape.

Jay Franze:

Again, I prefer Journey, but I think Dark Side of the Moon would be the album.

Tiffany Mason:

And Jay, do we know who gave us Dark Side of the Moon? There were two people.

Jay Franze:

I could find out. I have the technology. It might take six or seven days. Dark Side of the Moon was Maya Project Musical. She did say for the win.

Tiffany Mason:

She did. I mean, we gave it to her.

Jay Franze:

And then there was also Harrison Vandenberg, one, two, three, four, four, or five.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay. Well, thank you, Harrison, and Maya Project Music.

Jay Franze:

There you go. Maya Project Music for the win.

Tiffany Mason:

For the win. She called it. She wasn't messing around. All right. Should we talk about the top country music charts?

Jay Franze:

Yes, let's talk about the charts.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay. We're gonna start with number 10 for country music.

Jay Franze:

Oh, this works.

Tiffany Mason:

And it is gonna be Parmele coming in with Cowgirl.

Jay Franze:

That was a pretty good song.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah, it's uh got a little bit more of that club country sound to it.

Jay Franze:

Country club.

Tiffany Mason:

Country club. Country club. Number nine is Tucker Wetwar with three, two, one. We've only heard this song once, and eh. I don't know. We'll see.

Jay Franze:

It's okay.

Tiffany Mason:

I feel like it's gonna be a grower.

Jay Franze:

Not a shower.

Tiffany Mason:

No. Okay. And numero ocho, Parker McCollum with what kind of man?

Jay Franze:

Yeah. I don't know if it's deserving of my my number, but I would agree with that.

Tiffany Mason:

I just I don't know. I I guess when things are new, I just gotta warm up to it a little bit. I gotta warm up. I gotta warm up. Now one I really have warmed up to is Miss Laney Wilson. She deserves my number. Yeah. Well, she's printing the winter.

Jay Franze:

She deserves smaller numbers.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah. Yeah, she's she's going for smaller numbers there, Jay.

Jay Franze:

That is a great, great song.

Tiffany Mason:

Somewhere over Cincinnati. I mean Laredo.

Jay Franze:

Oh, I see what you did there. Do we have it, baby?

Tiffany Mason:

A barrel of laps. Okay, numbers. Jackson Dean with Heavens to Betsy. And I just yeah, I just still have a hard time. Heavens to Betsy. I just can't. I don't know. I don't like it. Feels like a stretch. I don't know. Okay. Spot number five with Mr. Jordan Davis. Bar none.

Jay Franze:

Comma.

Tiffany Mason:

Comma. I'm I'm proud of this one for hanging in there for a while.

Jay Franze:

Yeah.

Tiffany Mason:

Makes me happy. And we've got Mr. Luke Combs back in the saddle in spot number three.

Jay Franze:

Whoa.

Tiffany Mason:

Whoa. Oh, oh, whoa. Jelly roll. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, jelly roll. Spot number four. Jelly roll. Heart of stone. I was hoping this one would grow on me, but I don't think it's going to.

Jay Franze:

I like his other songs better.

Tiffany Mason:

I do too. Yeah. A little more grit. I think there's just this one's doesn't go anywhere.

Jay Franze:

To me, it doesn't have the same emotional connection as other songs have.

Tiffany Mason:

I agree. Something's missing. I don't know. It's just not it's not him or I don't know, but other people are resonating with it.

Jay Franze:

So well, it doesn't have that. I don't feel the pain of his life in this song.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah. Yeah. We want more pain, Jelly Roll.

Jay Franze:

Why don't you echo have some more pain? So you can create some better music, please.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay, spot number three is gonna be Mr. Luke Combs back in the saddle.

Jay Franze:

Yes.

Tiffany Mason:

And I know you and I are big fans of this one. Yeah. Yeah, I just heard that.

Jay Franze:

I like those comeback songs.

Tiffany Mason:

Mm-hmm. Yeah. One more grit, a little more guitar. And number two.

Jay Franze:

Yes, darling. Oh.

Tiffany Mason:

Is Chase Matthew with Darlin? Why's he call you Darlin? Why's he call you Daily? That's a good song.

Jay Franze:

Think he's here this week or next week.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, in the Cincinnati area?

Jay Franze:

Cincinnati, greater Cincinnati area. For those in the area, he is playing here. I don't know where, but he's playing here. I looked it up once before. The tickets were like super high. I don't know what I mean. They're very proud of him here.

Tiffany Mason:

Charging top dollar if you want to see Mr. Chase Matthew. I don't really know any other songs by him, so I guess I'd have to do some homework if I was gonna go see him.

Jay Franze:

I actually like his other songs better.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, okay. Well, that's exciting.

Jay Franze:

Darling's a good song.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah, okay. I'm gonna look up more. And spot number one.

Jay Franze:

Yep, spot number one.

Tiffany Mason:

Morgan Wallen. I got better.

Jay Franze:

Let it play out. Let it play out. Yep.

Tiffany Mason:

There you go. Until the fans die. Whoa. I don't. Whoa. The fans die down. Man. Such a dark show tonight. It's a dark show tonight. Okay, well, I am really excited to talk about the indie charts.

Jay Franze:

Indie charts.

Tiffany Mason:

I'm really excited. Okay, so I'm gonna blow past spot number 10 a little bit.

Jay Franze:

Are you Metallica excited?

Tiffany Mason:

No, I'm not Metallica excited. Okay, spot number 10 said no redneck ever by Aaron Goodvin.

Jay Franze:

A Aaron.

Tiffany Mason:

Yes, I think you have to say it with like a Transylvania. I don't know. Goodvin.

Jay Franze:

Okay, fine. No redneck ever. Just pointing that out.

Tiffany Mason:

Said no redneck ever.

Jay Franze:

Said no redneck ever. Let's go to number nine.

Tiffany Mason:

Number nine, you guys. Oh my gosh, this is so exciting.

Jay Franze:

Tell me about it.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay. It is Turquoise and Silver by Billy Joe Jones. And she told us uh when she was on the show last that she was releasing this album and she was very excited about the artwork. The artwork is so cute, and she's on the road. On the road, she's on the show. There you go. The road.

Jay Franze:

Same thing. I just want to be clear that it's a television show.

Tiffany Mason:

Yes. It was so good. She's finally not sick. And she sang the song to her grandma. She did.

Jay Franze:

Yeah, and she she invited her grandparents there.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah. They showed up 90 and 86 years old.

Jay Franze:

And I think that's what gave her that clinch with the audience to vote for her that night. Yeah. Because as you mentioned, she was sick and did not give the best vocal performance because of that. But it was her connection with the audience over the story. We always say how important the story is. So she wrote the song for her grandparents and won the crowd over. They voted for her. And not only did they vote for her, but I mean they voted high. She was like one of the top, if not number one. So she was number two for the night.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah, yeah. So that song that she performed on the show, The Road, was She Did. The song that she's on the indie charts for is Turquoise and Silver, which is one of her new songs. Correct. So check that out.

Jay Franze:

Billy Joe Jones. You know where you can check that out? jFranzi.com slash countdown.

Tiffany Mason:

Is it in any of the drop-down menus, Jay?

Jay Franze:

It might be in a drop-down menu. If you stare at it long enough, there'll be smoke signals.

Tiffany Mason:

Perfect. Okay. Well, on that list, you are going to find Numero Ocho. We'll leave in Louisiana in the broad daylight by Flat River Band. And it is featuring the Oak Ridge Boys.

Jay Franze:

Oak Ridge Boys. The Mighty Oaks, as they call them.

Tiffany Mason:

Mighty Oaks. Spot number seven goes to Ken Domash. Domash. Domash with Wish You Wouldn't Go. All right. Spot number six is Hell. That I call home. By Porter Martin.

Jay Franze:

No, are you calling hell home? Is there a comma there? Is it hell that you're calling home?

Tiffany Mason:

Hell that I call home. Hell that I call home. I don't know. I'm gonna listen to it and I'm gonna get back to you on that.

Jay Franze:

You know, Satan is real.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay. Spot number five is gonna go to Mr. Jet Jurgensmeier with the song Red. Number four is I Don't Know How to Say Goodbye. Bang Bang Boom Boom. Dwight Yoakum and Post Malone. I absolutely hate reading that title.

Jay Franze:

Bang bang. Boom boom.

Tiffany Mason:

And number three is Hide and Go Cheap by Mr. Eric Lee Bettingfield. Jay's favorite. My song about me, the song that Chris Kizia wrote about me, is still on the charts. Holding at number two, turn the night on.

Jay Franze:

It's not how this works. If you're gonna make me do sound effects, we gotta start off with number two.

Tiffany Mason:

Sorry. We can redo it. You want to redo it? No. And number two.

Jay Franze:

No, I don't like doing it in the first place. Don't make me do it twice.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay. Okay. Spot number one is gonna be Pontiac. So tell me, mama, by Aaron Watson. Aaron Ron Watson. Oh, just a tiny clap. Enough of that. Fair enough.

Jay Franze:

All right. I'm not gonna do a true artist spotlight tonight, but I do want to cover something real quick because on our last episode we talked about AI songs, and we talked about a song that you wrote, I produced for you, and we used AI to generate the the music for us.

Tiffany Mason:

Yep.

Jay Franze:

And we say it wasn't quite there compared to real instruments yet, but it's passable. If you didn't know that it was AI that created it, you would probably assume it was on the radio.

Tiffany Mason:

Yep.

Jay Franze:

So what I did is I went back and took a song that I've previously written and recorded and went into the studio and produced, and I recreated it using AI. Mm-hmm. So that way there is an A B that you can hear the difference. So I will go ahead and post those two as well. But I just wanted to mention that real quick because I did find some differences. I played the song from Miss Tiffany as well, but I'm just gonna go down my list real quick. This is a song called For This Life. It's a song that I wrote for my wife. So I use this song as the sample. Like I said, I will post the original and the AI version. I feel as if the AI version had lack of depth. I feel like it was a little bit more synthetic in sound. It wasn't quite as natural sounding to me. And then I think that the AI version had a lack of punch. If you heard it and that was the only one you heard, you might say, oh, that was a you know, nice song, good song. But if you compare it to the original, I think you'll notice that there's a lack of actual punch, especially in the buildup coming out of the bridge. So then if we go to the original one, what I noticed was the original is more open, it's more full, it has a bigger sound to it. I think the background vocals themselves were a little fuller. And then I think the spatial spectrum of everything was better. So I think the panning of instrumentation wasn't all in your face at all times. It actually was using the stereo spectrum, moving guitars from left to right or different instruments from left and right, leaving the center for the vocal, which I prefer. And then the original was clearer, it was a little bit stronger in instrument instrumentation. And the drums, especially in the cymbals, the AI has some pretty good sounding snare drums at this point, but when it comes to cymbals, it's kind of washy. The real version had real clear, crisp sounding cymbals. And then the last thing I noticed was on the real one, there is a tag, the outro of the song kind of goes out with the vocal singing uh piece over and over again that I really enjoyed. AI just did not want to recreate that piece. So AI kind of twisted it and did a it's a spin on it, but it's not quite the same. Yeah. My thoughts. Miss Tiffany, your thoughts?

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah, I mean, I would echo a lot of that. That the first one, the AI one, felt flat to me. Like when you started the second one, immediately I was like, you know, I always say that I like movement in the song, and I feel like I could really feel that or you know, notice that. And I know that we've talked to you with AI, sometimes something just feels off and you don't know what it is. And guys, I'm not a musical producer, I don't I don't do any of that. So for me, it's just surely listening and you know what sticks out to me. So the second one, I also noticed the backup singers. I I liked that you could actually hear them and differentiate them from the male voice. So they were female backup singers, maybe they were male ones too. I don't know. I didn't catch that. Jay only gives me one run through, y'all. Okay, so I only got one run through of each one. You're saying the original had the gentleman singing the same thing on the outro, right? That I did like that better on the original as well. I knew something was missing at the end. So I remember feeling that way as well. But I would echo the um the it just had depth to it, the music and the instruments.

Jay Franze:

Well, I think what we can get out of this experiment, and that's all we've been doing, is experimenting with this from the conversation with Robbie over AI music. If you listen to the AI song by itself, I think it comes across as a finished, polished song.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah.

Jay Franze:

But if you listen to it compared, especially if you're comparing the same song to a traditionally produced song in a recording studio with live musicians, there is a huge difference side by side. Well not just a small difference, a huge difference side by side. But if you just heard the AI version by itself, it is definitely in the ballpark of acceptability and actually sounds pretty good. So, like your song, it doesn't have a studio version to compare it to. And my thought was if you go into the studio and record it at this point, because your version is complete, you play it over and over again, you'll get used to that version. No matter what you do in the studio, you'll feel as if it's not as good as that version. Where when I took this song into the studio, it was just a guitar vocal. Literally just a guitar vocal. We played that for the musicians, and they went in the studio and they all came up with their parts, and it was clearly better than a guitar vocal at that time. Where your song, my fear would be if you were the artist and you took that song into the studio, you would want those musicians to play it note for note, because that's what you're used to in your head. Where if it was a guitar vocal, they'd be playing stuff and you'd be more excited about it.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah. Yeah. As you build the layers.

Jay Franze:

So, you know, little pluses and minuses, not necessarily one better than the other, or one approach better than the other. It's just different.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah. So fun to see the differences though.

Jay Franze:

But I will put them all up on the website. The song that that I wrote, the original version, is on Spotify. So you can go listen to that right now. But the AI version is not on Spotify. I will put all of the AI versions that we keep doing, I will put them up on my Spotify account so everybody can go listen to those as well. But in the meantime, I'll go ahead and post them on the website so that way you can listen to those.

Tiffany Mason:

Okay, and I just feel like it's necessary to reiterate that he is saying website, not social media. He's going to put them on his website.

Jay Franze:

I just feel like did that feel like that needed clarification?

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah. Yeah, it did. It did for a female brain. Yeah.

Jay Franze:

Really?

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Jay Franze:

JFrenzy.com. It'll be on jfrenzy.com. Probably be on jFrenzy.com slash samples. I don't know. Maybe, maybe what I'll do is just put a link right on the main page saying click here. Little flashing, you know, icons or something. I don't know. We'll be creative. Maybe it'll just be colored text that says here's the AI version of the song. I don't know. We'll play. We'll figure it out. All right. Is that enough of that?

Tiffany Mason:

That's enough of that.

Jay Franze:

Move on to the mailbag.

Tiffany Mason:

Mailbag.

Jay Franze:

All right. Moving on to the mailbag. Ooh. There's a lot of mailbag tonight. But they're quick. They look like they're all one-liners. Okay. I do not read them in advance. Again, I like to be as surprised as you are. One of these days they're gonna really catch us off guard, though. Maya. Thank you for having a name I can pronounce. Maya says Country Music's next big star won't come from Nashville.

Tiffany Mason:

I like this.

Jay Franze:

She says Texas or Australia. TikTok.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, wow.

Jay Franze:

I think we've already had the next stars come from TikTok. I think that's pretty clear. They come from TikTok and go straight to Nashville.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah, right.

Jay Franze:

Texas, I think that's pretty overplayed at this point, too. I think it's guaranteed you're gonna have a country star from Texas, George Strait.

Tiffany Mason:

I'm gonna call Australia.

Jay Franze:

Australia would be a good one. We've got Keith Urban already.

Tiffany Mason:

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.

Jay Franze:

Lydia, this show is the perfect mix of smart, funny, and unpredictable. Really? You you thought you were the smart and funny part of that?

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah.

Jay Franze:

You might be the unpredictable part of this. But I don't know if I would go with the smart or funny piece.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, please. All right.

Jay Franze:

Jules. Jules, have we had jewels on here before?

Tiffany Mason:

Well, I don't think so.

Jay Franze:

In response to your AI conversation.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh.

Jay Franze:

I like that. Timely Jules.

Tiffany Mason:

Me too. Me too.

Jay Franze:

AI can write a verse, but it cannot write feeling.

Tiffany Mason:

Right. I think that in the song that you did and the song that I did, we gave it the emotion.

Jay Franze:

I think the difference, like if you listened to the recorded version versus the AI version, there is a difference from the live singer singing it versus the AI singer singing it. There's definitely more grit, more power, more.

Tiffany Mason:

Well, like I said too, I think I forgot to say this in the artist's spotlight, but like at the end of the word, you know, sometimes people have like exasperation at the end of whatever the word is that they've just said, or you know, there's like a little bit of emotion, and that was that was lost in the AI version. So for sure. She right, she right.

Jay Franze:

All right, Jules. Thank you. Please come back again. Chad. Not my brother, Chad, but hey Chad. Thank you for joining us, Chad. Chad says, I just like saying Chad. And he's not hanging, folks. He might be hanging. I don't know. Maybe a little to the left. Who knows?

Tiffany Mason:

And you got offended when I pointed the finger at predic unpredictable at you.

Jay Franze:

Moving on. Fans can tell the difference when an artist treats country more like a costume instead of a culture.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, wow.

Jay Franze:

Chad, you're going deep, buddy.

Tiffany Mason:

Deep. I like it. Say it again.

Jay Franze:

Fans can tell the difference when an artist treats country like a costume instead of a culture.

Tiffany Mason:

Love it. Mm-hmm.

Jay Franze:

Thank you, Chad. You're welcome. Oh, mercy. Hate mail goes to Tiffany. jfrancy.com. All right, Hannah. Hannah with an H. That's all I'm going to say about that. She says, Jay is the country music version of Letterman. Quick, clever, and dangerous.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, dang.

Jay Franze:

Letterman was always one of my favorites. And I actually got to see him live in New York.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, cool.

Jay Franze:

Matter of fact, Richie Sambora was the musical guest that night.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, cool.

Jay Franze:

But I will take that any day of the week. That is an amazing compliment. Thank you, Hannah, with an H. You can take that laugh. Naomi says Americana is where the soul of country has moved.

Tiffany Mason:

Shared.

Jay Franze:

Shared. Does that mean you agree?

Tiffany Mason:

Shared. Yeah, I feel like shared.

Jay Franze:

Alright. Wesley says, Jay, your interviews feel effortless. You ask questions that make artists actually think you can hear that moment in Golden's voice. Referring to William Lee Golden.

Tiffany Mason:

Mm-hmm.

Jay Franze:

Alright. Thank you. Brody. Brody's a name I have not heard on here before. Brody. I miss live shows. I miss the experiences. Bring back the grit and the sweat. Brody.

Tiffany Mason:

Well, if you come to any concert in Florida, you will see some sweat.

Jay Franze:

Won't be from the artist, but you know, hey.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, it will. It'll be from everybody, though.

Jay Franze:

Logan, we can skip it and just said something about Tiffany. So Nora.

Tiffany Mason:

Tell me what my raving fans are saying, Jay.

Jay Franze:

Logan says, Tiffany isn't just a co-host, she's the heartbeat of the show.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, shn. That's bull. That's all that's missing.

Jay Franze:

Nora says, I love that Jay can go from talking about Garrett cracking a joke without missing a beat.

Tiffany Mason:

Yes. Agreed.

Jay Franze:

Kayla. I have a niece named Kayla and I have a cousin named Kayla.

Tiffany Mason:

It's not always about you, Jay. Maybe it's somebody that knows me.

Jay Franze:

It's not about me because it's clearly a last name that I don't recognize.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh.

Jay Franze:

Ethan says country is not dying, it's just evolving. And we're gonna end it here. Denise says Tiffany's laugh needs a credit at the end of the show.

Tiffany Mason:

Thank you. Thank you.

Jay Franze:

I don't know if that's a compliment.

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah, it is. It's like a whole character all by itself, is what she's saying, right?

Jay Franze:

All right. What is going on with you this week?

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, well, we are settling into life. Uh I'm settling into life. Yes. My son moved down to Florida. So we're just getting him settled and seeing what that lifestyle looks like, which is like my dream come true. Anyone who's had their kids move away and then come back home. Always a new episode of Link Up Lounge. And tomorrow a new episode will come out of Memories of the Beat.

Jay Franze:

Nice, nice, nice.

Tiffany Mason:

What are you doing, Jay?

Jay Franze:

Oh, what am I doing?

Tiffany Mason:

Yeah. What's what's exciting? What's shaking?

Jay Franze:

I don't know what I'm doing, but um let's see. I know what I've done.

Tiffany Mason:

Where have you been? What'd you do?

Jay Franze:

Where have I been? What have I done? Who have I done?

Tiffany Mason:

Nope. Just Jennifer and just your wife.

Jay Franze:

Yes, thank you for for that. No, she's sleeping. We can we can talk truth. No, it's just you, babe. I swear. She woke up the other day and yelled at me. I said, What do I do in your dreams now?

Tiffany Mason:

Yes, that is real.

Jay Franze:

She does that all the time.

Tiffany Mason:

Oh, my dreams are so vivid. And I will wake up and be like, babe, it was so bad. You look right at me as you kissed another chick. That hasn't happened for a long time, but it used to be like if we hadn't had date night in a long time, I'd be like, Okay, gotta have date night. I'm like, the dreams are getting crazy.

Jay Franze:

Metallica hasn't played. This Friday, Jody Messina.

Tiffany Mason:

Ooh. That'll be fun.

Jay Franze:

I'm gonna see if I can go. I don't know if I'll be able to make it, but I hope to.

Tiffany Mason:

I always say that, and then you always go.

Jay Franze:

And then I always go. Well, hey, it works out. Some things work out. This past week, I went to see Jason Bonham. Nice. Jason Bonham, son of John Bonham, drummer from Led Zeppelin. Jason is now the new drummer of Led Zeppelin. You know, when they do play their, you know, one or two reunion shows here or there. However, I went to see Jason Bonham and they played the Led Zeppelin experience. You know, it was a very good show. I always thank Jason, although I didn't know I get to talk to Jason this time around. I did go backstage. I spent my time with with Chris Franz, Chris Franz, previous guest of the show, and the person who invited me. So thank you, Chris. I didn't even know they were coming to town. Chris reached out to me, asked me if I wanted to go. I said, yes, sir. Absolutely. I don't even have to think about that. Yes, sir. I probably should have thought about it because it was on the night of my wedding anniversary.

Tiffany Mason:

Uh-huh. So I thought about interjecting my two cents, but I thought you know your marriage better than me. So I was like, probably should have thought about that a little again.

Jay Franze:

Sorry, babe.

Tiffany Mason:

Jennifer, I was gonna have your back, but I decided to keep my mouth shut.

Jay Franze:

But let's just say Chris, good friend, he reached out, asked me if I wanted to go. Now to be fair, I did ask the wife if she wanted to go. She said no. But I went, I again, nobody wanted to go. He offered me four backstage passes. Nobody wanted to go.

Tiffany Mason:

I do not understand your family.

Jay Franze:

No, it's not just my my family, my Lucy would have gone. She would have gone, but it was uh at a casino, so it was 21 plus. Right. But no friend wanted to go. Nobody I know in this area ever wants to go to a concert. It's insane to me.

Tiffany Mason:

Pains me.

Jay Franze:

Especially when it's backstage.

Tiffany Mason:

Pains me.

Jay Franze:

Yeah, we get to go meet these people and stuff. I don't know. I don't know why people don't want to go, but Chris was very nice. And Chris took me backstage. He showed me Jason's new drum rig and everything, which is very cool. There are pictures I put them up on Instagram, on the gram.

Tiffany Mason:

On the gram.

Jay Franze:

I put them up on the gram, so you can go check that out. But I will say I found it very impressive watching Chris work. He's a drummer and he's played drums for a Steve Miller band. I mean, he's he's a drummer. But he's also a guitar tech. So he's on the road, he's been on the road with Steve Miller as a guitar tech, and he's now on the road with Jason Bonham. He's been on the road with several other people. I think L. King, I think he just got off the road with her. But nonetheless, he's out with Jason Bonham. That's his main gig. What I found impressive is not just his world, like I got to go back into guitar world and see how everything was set up. But watching him do it throughout the show was super impressive. You know, you're not thinking of these people running up and you know, up and down from the side of the stage, handing new guitars, and he's back there restringing them and tuning them and getting them ready. I mean, he's really doing a lot of work throughout the show, it was a very impressive thing to see him do it.

Tiffany Mason:

Cool.

Jay Franze:

And then I just went back because I was gonna be a wise ass, tell Chris you gotta start promoting your episode a little bit more because you know, a little friendly competition, you don't want people to beat you. Well, I looked at he's he's the number two episode ever downloaded on on the show. So he's out of the number one slot by like 22 downloads. So if you want to help Chris make it over the list, go stream the Chris Franz episode of the Jay Franzi show, and you'll help Chris make it over the finish line. And I sent it to him, I said, Hey, I was gonna make fun of you, but it looks like you're you're doing great. He's like, I don't know why. I'm like, I don't know why. But nonetheless, he's a great guy and he does a great job, and it was good to see him.

Tiffany Mason:

That's awesome.

Jay Franze:

All right, with all that said, let's go ahead and bring it to an end. We have reached the top of the hour, our number dose, which does mean we have reached the end of the show. And if you've enjoyed the show, please tell a friend, Miss Tiffany, if you have not.

Tiffany Mason:

Tell two.

Jay Franze:

Tell two. You can reach out to both of us over at jfranzy.com. That would be a website, jfrenzy.com. You can also reach out to us on the socials, but if you go to jfranzy.com, you can go ahead and communicate with us there. You can comment on any of the episodes you'd like. You can talk to us, you can join the show, you can join live. jfrenzy.com, our website. You could use. There's also links to our socials, which could also be confused as a website, I guess. Anywho, Ms. Tiffany, my friend, do you have any final words for us?

Tiffany Mason:

The mics are going off for now, but the music never stops. Have a great week, crew members. Adios.

Jay Franze:

I like the fact that he kind of likes song the last little line. All right, folks. On that note, before Tiffany sings anymore, have a good night.

Tony Scott:

Thanks for listening to the Jay Franzi Show. Make sure you visit us at JFranzi.com. Follow, connect, and say hello.

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Jay Franze

Host
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Tiffany Mason

Co-host