Eric Church announced the Heart & Soul album series this month. It's three separate albums, a concept that comes with implications for the bean counters (1:50). Eric Church clearly does not care about the bean counters.

Billy also looks at yet another way country music and sports are similar (at 8:40). We compare stats across eras like it's fair when really there is an increasingly small window of relevancy around any streak or moment of history.

Read: Everything You Need to Know About Eric Church's new album at Taste of Country

Kelly Sutton's story isn't just one of perseverance. It's a story of persistence and versatility. Those three qualities are essential for a modern journalist, something she epitomizes in 2021. Think of this episode of the podcast as a Country Music Media survival guide, but enjoy our tangents on industry events, country music Twitter and YouTube conspiracy theories.

Kelly's new show is called Connected With Kelly and it's a chance for one of country music's leading ladies of media to have longform conversations with artists like Carrie Underwood and difference makers.

Thanks to everyone who has rated and reviewed the podcast, and shared on social media!

Watch: Find Connected With Kelly on YouTube

Find: Kelly Sutton on Twitter

Find: Billy Dukes on Twitter 

Toby Keith and Ricky Skaggs rolled into the White House during an impeachment. Garth Brooks chose to play an inauguration that was divisive, especially in country music circles. Country music and politics crossed paths in some significant ways this month but there is something you should know, especially about that Medal of Arts ceremony. We got the response all wrong.

Read: Toby Keith on His Politics in the Chicago Tribune

Read: Emily Yahr's Washington Post profile on Toby Keith 

Read: A Recap of the Drama that followed Ethan Hawke's Rolling Stone article, in Entertainment Weekly 

Rolling Stone music critic Jonathan Bernstein says  Morgan Wallen's Dangerous: The Double Album does some things very well, but has some major flaws. He gave it a 3-star rating and this week he explains what went into the review, how he approaches music criticism and the future of album reviews.

Read: “Morgan Wallen is a versatile Nashville Cliché Machine on ‘Dangerous: The Double Album" in Rolling Stone

Read: The Story of the Black Country Music Association" in Rolling Stone

Tweet: Find Jonathan Bernstein on Twitter, @JonBern

There's a problem with Loretta Lynn’s new album, and it’s kind of a big one. The press release says Still Woman Enough is a celebration of women in country music but it should say it’s a celebration of white women in country music.  To what degree should we eviscerate an 88-year-old Country Music Hall of Famer, and true pioneer in American history? The answer to that requires a bit of research.

Read: Rest In Peace, Ceasar Gaiters in the Richmond Times Dispatch
Listen: Loretta Lynn recites "Coal Miner's Daughter"

Loretta Lynn's Still Woman Enough album drops on March 19. 
 

Days after the Christmas morning bombing in Nashville, Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts gave weight to a conspiracy theory that a missile — not a bomb in an RV — was responsible for the explosion on 2nd avenue. Today's guest called his bluff. Big Rick Daniels hosts the morning show on Korn Country 100.3 in south-central Indiana. He's not a seasoned news journalist, but you wouldn't know it to hear him handle a serious topic with appropriate objectivity.

After our conversation about Gary, Rick and I talk about the art of the radio interview and how to avoid a major trap.

Then, some thoughts on two country wives who took to social media following the siege on the U.S. Capitol, which was literally happening as Gary and talked to each other. 

Listen: Big Rick's interview with Gary LeVox on Korn Country.

See: Rick's tweet with the graphic Gary posted on Instagram and Facebook.

Follow: Rick on Twitter at @OnAirWithRick

Read: "Why Are Country Music Wives Pushing Baseless Conspiracy Theories" on Rolling Stone Country. 

There are very few people capable of properly reviewing an album like Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous, and even fewer who want to. This says nothing about the actual album and it’s relative worth. This is more about what goes into a proper album review. They're hard. They're time-consuming and — if we're being honest — nobody is reading them. 

Why do good songs go bad? Chart expert Chris Owen shares what happened to great songs from Maren Morris and Lady A, explained why superstars can't have a year's most played song and looked ahead to new music coming in 2021. No one makes sense of the country music airplay charts quite like Chris.

Find Chris Owen on Twitter, @FiddleSabre

Read: More About Florida Georgia Line's Solo Efforts on Taste of Country

Listen: Hardy, "Give Heaven Some Hell"

Listen: Jameson Rodgers (Feat. Luke Combs), "Cold Beer Calling My Name"

K.T. Oslin died on Dec. 21, but her legacy isn't the music. In 1987 she debuted on RCA Records with a song called "80s Ladies" that would win her fans and acclaim and start a half-decade career that featured Grammys, CMA Awards and ACM Awards. She was 45 years old at the time. Only one woman has more No. 1 hits past age 40 than she does (Dolly Parton). Only one woman has reached No. 1 while older than she was (Reba McEntire).

Why did we stop embracing women like K.T. Oslin? Why did the average age of women on the radio drop significantly in 2006?

Be sure to rate and review this podcast, and subscribe for more great guests and perspective. 

*Note: All data refers to Billboard Country Airplay Charts, 1985-2020.

Buddy Logan of Radio Texas Live is a hub in a wide and diverse wheel of great country music and storytelling in Texas. Think of him as traffic control for the current Red Dirt Music scene. This week we look back at legends lost in 2020 — Billy Joe Shaver and Jerry Jeff Walker come to mind, but there are more — and the next generation of superstars. Parker McCollum is just starting to break nationally, but he's been headlining in Texas for a decade. Who's next?

Listen: Chris Knight, "Down the River" 

Listen: Mike and the Moonpies, “Smooth Shot of Whiskey” 

Stream: Radio Texas Live

Tweet: Buddy Logan On Twitter