Kentucky native Mary Kutter joins us at XROADS41 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin for a conversation unlike anything we've done before. While we talked, a local artist sat a few feet away sketching a live caricature of the two of us, and you can watch it come together in real time throughout the episode.

Mary opens up about cutting her teeth in Nashville as a songwriter for other artists before finding her own voice by leaning into the stories she grew up with in Kentucky. We talk about her breakout year, the strange feeling of hearing her full name (not just "that girl from TikTok") called out by fans, and how touring the country this summer, seven states in June alone, has reshaped the way she writes.

She also gets into what it's been like opening for Hank Williams Jr, including her first arena show, and shares the songwriters and songs that shaped her, from Ashley Gorley's catalog to a deep dive she did on Luke Bryan's "That's My Kind of Night." Plus, new music is coming before the end of the year, with a full album set for 2027, and she gives us the perfect one-day itinerary for Lexington, Kentucky.

In this episode:

• The live caricature session and how it changed the interview dynamic
• Writing for artists like Nate Smith, Bailey Zimmerman, Alexandra Kay, and Zach John King before stepping into her own spotlight
• Growing recognition off the back of TikTok and what that's actually like day to day
• Opening for Hank Williams Jr, from the Sturgis bike rally to her first arena show
• The songwriters who shaped her sound, including a deep dive into Ashley Gorley's catalog
• New music dropping before the end of 2026, with a full album coming in 2027
• Mary's perfect day trip through Lexington, Kentucky

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Full Episode Description

Braxton Keith walked off stage at XRoads41 in Oshkosh and we followed him onto the bus. First time at this festival for us, first time for him too, and the first time he has ever opened for Wiz Khalifa, who was still landing on a PJ while Braxton was playing.

He was supposed to be a dentist. His mom is a hygienist, his dad is a dentist, and both of them told him to stay out of the medical field because school probably was not his thing. He took that as a challenge, went in as a biochem major, and got wrecked by the labs. Then they told him the music thing probably would not work out either. Real Damn Deal has been out three months.

We get into the album cover, which came from an old Moe Bandy record where Bandy is miniaturized inside a beer glass. James bought someone's entire Moe Bandy collection off Marketplace a few weeks back and cannot stop talking about how every title makes you flinch. Braxton explains why that kind of honesty is what he is chasing, what Hank Williams and Merle Haggard did that he is trying to do a little more modern, and why he wants every person in the crowd running their own movie of the song in their head.

Plus: his first concert was Elton John in Lubbock at age eight, where his mom covered his eyes during a song she did not want him hearing. His Elton top three. Why fans are asking for the slow songs at a festival. And what happens when the Gavin Adcock run starts at the end of August.

We also brought him a gift, because what do you get a guy who loves Crocodile Rock and did not become a dentist.

Real Damn Deal is out now.

Presented by Country Minute.

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We caught Graham Barham backstage at Country Jam USA in his trailer, hooked up to an IV, on a day he flew in that morning and was flying out that night. He is a three shirt guy: the one he shows up in, the show shirt, and the one that goes on after. There is no going back to the first one.

This is our second sit down with Graham, and it might be our most honest one. He talks about missing his best man speech tonight to play this show, for a friend he has had for twenty years, and the sacrifices in this job that nobody sees. He talks about Club Country a month out, why Shoot You Straight is his favorite because of what his band did with it, and his ongoing campaign to manifest Matthew McConaughey into one of his music videos.

We also make him answer for the Florida Georgia Line reunion. We had asked him about it at CMA Fest. We had handed him a tiny vinyl in March. He said he had no idea. We are still not entirely convinced. Either way, he was upstairs at Spotify House when it happened, and he says he cried at least twice.

Plus: forty odd shows in the first two and a half months of 2027, what Tyler Hubbard told him about keeping his head on straight, the outside cut he wrote for someone he has looked up to for a long time, his mom's favorite songs and exactly why, and the reason his dad Barry has been irrigating crops in a mullet, shorts, and boat shoes since 1985.

Club Country is out now. The Club Country tour is coming.

Presented by Country Minute.

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Blake Whiten was posting covers from his bedroom in Six Mile, South Carolina twenty five months ago. Last week he played Michigan Stadium with Morgan Wallen and sang a verse of "Up Down" in front of 90,000 people, which was also the first time he and Morgan had ever shaken hands.

We sat down with him the next morning in Ann Arbor. He talks about dodging pyro, asking Hudson Westbrook for backstage advice, keeping his mom in the dark so she would not miss the moment, and the hometown release show where he bought free gas for the entire town and played off three truck beds in a gas station parking lot. His debut album is out now, and the headline tour is coming at the end of the year.

Presented by Country Minute.

Frankie Ballard is back, and this one meant a lot to me.

We caught up at CMA Fest to talk about the last stretch of his career, the quiet years where he stepped away from country radio to start a family, and what it took to walk back through the door. Frankie and I have a lot in common. We are both Michigan boys, both dads to little ones, and both figuring out how to grow up in real time while chasing something we love. That shared ground made this a special conversation for me.

We get into "The Messenger," the album he made with his best friend and producer Tyler Bryant of Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown, and how looking into his daughter's eyes gave him a whole new reason for being in music. We dig into "Dirty Church Clothes," the song about walking into a church that felt more like a fashion show than a sanctuary, and his search for a place that would simply preach the word. Frankie opens up about faith, about the responsibility of feeding little souls when you are still being shaped yourself, and about the truth that dads are allowed to make mistakes in front of their kids.

Then we get to "Nitty Gritty Grind," his new single, and the story behind it is one of my favorites. His daughter handed him the title on his way out the door to the studio, and the song became his way of putting a hand on the shoulder of every parent grinding through a chaotic, expensive, exhausting season and saying, you are not in this alone.

We close it out Michigan style with a little this or that, some Bob Seger worship, the "Live Bullet" record that changed both our lives, and the story of Frankie touring with Seger back in 2012. Stick around to the end for a promise Frankie makes that I fully intend to hold him to.

What we cover:

• Taking a hiatus to start a family, and finding his way back
• "The Messenger" and building it with Tyler Bryant
• The story behind "Dirty Church Clothes"
• Faith, fatherhood, and suffering well
• "Nitty Gritty Grind" and the daughter who named it
• Growing up Michigan, Bob Seger, and "Live Bullet"
• Why he will never root for a Tennessee team

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Ashley Cooke stopped by Country Minute at CMA Fest right in the middle of what she calls a shift, a stretch where the momentum just keeps building and she cannot quite explain why. In this conversation she opens up about leaning all the way into the personal on her new self-titled album, the idea that getting more specific somehow makes a song more universal, and the breakthrough that led to the emotional closer The Girl Who Cried Wolf.

We talk through the singles already out, the full 15-track range from sassy to pissed off to heartbroken, the Exes Hotline moment she created to keep every live show different, and the World Tour lineup she is bringing along for the ride. The self-titled record Ashley Cooke is out August 14th.

Listen, follow, and tell us which track you are most looking forward to.

James sat down with Shane McAnally at CMA Fest, and somehow captured lightning in a bottle. We chased this interview for nearly a full year, and Shane did not disappoint. This is, by far, one of the most personal conversations we've had on this show.

Shane was just named the second greatest living country songwriter by Rolling Stone. But we start where it all began that week: his brand new one-man show, Hits & Giggles, which we caught at Zanies in Nashville. Shane talks about how the show came together, the nerves of hitting the road without a padded crowd, and why he insists on that piano being on stage.

From there it's pure songwriting. Learning to navigate Sam Hunt's train of thought writing style. How Kacey Musgraves showed him it was okay not to give a damn. The quiet sadness inside "American Kids" that most people miss until someone points it out. And what song he'd play for his 2008 self if he could.

Shane also gets honest about losing the joy in his career chasing commercial success, and why he's fighting to get it back. That part, honestly, might be my personal favorite.

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Colby Acuff is the country outsider leading a revolution that is anything but quiet. We sat down with the Idahoan singer-songwriter in the basement of The Intersection in Grand Rapids, Michigan to talk about his headlining tour, his upcoming record, and why he is doing everything opposite this year.

Colby just wrapped up a Whiskey Riff March Madness run where he beat Chris Stapleton and Turnpike Troubadours to take the whole thing. He is playing a ton of unreleased music on this tour, leaning into a Southern rock and country rock sound that pulls from CCR, Waylon, Willie, and Bob Seger. The new record was solo written, recorded raw with no vocal tuning, and Colby calls the next single his favorite song on the entire project.

We also got into the art direction behind the new era, why he packages serious messages in comedy, the iPhone he passes into the crowd every night so fans can shoot the show, and what it means to find your own measurements of success when you are not chasing the mainstream.

New music drops at the end of April.

Presented by Country Minute.

James sits down with 2025 Country Minute Rookie of the Year Zach John King backstage at the Blue Gate in Shipshewana, Indiana. Zach opens up about joining Thomas Rhett on the road this fall, the headlining run he's been low-key teasing, and why ticket sales are the only metric that really matters to him. He also breaks news on back-to-back releases coming in just a few weeks, including a Harry Styles cover that was previously Amazon-exclusive. Plus, his honest take on TikTok, balancing the grind with keeping his band's morale intact, and what it looks like to build a catalog that doesn't put fans in a box.Subscribe for more country music interviews, festival coverage, and artist stories every week.#ZachJohnKing #countrymusic #CountryMinute

Gavin Adcock joins Country Minute backstage at US Bank Stadium before night two of Morgan Wallen's Still The Problem tour. Gavin walks us through the debut of his new song Wannabe, his plan to release new music every three weeks, and the next album taking shape. He previews his first arena headlining tour with a 25-foot longhorn stage piece and a drum riser that puts his drummer 15 feet in the air, teases Country Never Dies II, recaps his sold-out Australian run at CMC Rocks, and tells the story behind the caddy suits he and Vincent Mason wore on stage in Minneapolis.

Recorded on location in Minneapolis.