Katie & Company

Riley Green joins Katie Neal backstage at Tortuga Music Festival.

Tyler Hubbard talks with Katie Neal at Tortuga Music Festival.

Dylan Scott joins Katie Neal inside our Nashville studios to talk about the success and unique inspiration behind his hit song "What He'll Never Have," his songwriting process, balancing family with work, and much more.

It goes without saying that it “Ain’t A Bad Life” for Thomas Rhett, who is on the verge of scoring his 25th number one song, and just welcomed his fifth child, Brave, earlier this year. The Country star joined Katie Neal to talk about it all this week during the 'Superstar Power Hour.' “We're tired, but he's actually sleeping,” Rhett says of the newborn, his first son. “He's our best sleeping baby that we have had.” “I still think just like having a newborn, plus you know, 4 other, kids' schedules with school, and sports, and friends, and birthdays. We're in the weeds as my grandmother would call it.” “It's a season and I'm really trying to not let it slip me by,” Thomas shares. “I'm not trying to wish it away, so really just trying to, when I'm home just be extremely present. It kind of dawned on me the other day that my oldest child, she's 10, so, I have 8 summers left with her. When you start thinking about it in terms of like, ‘whoa, 8 years,’ it seems like a long time, but It's been 6 years since COVID and it kind of feels like it was yesterday in some capacity, you know, so that's how quick time is moving.” “I'm really trying to just be as present as I humanly can while I'm home because I know that, you know, this might be the last infant phase that we go through. We're having a good time and we're just tired, but we kind of have learned how to live tired, so.” Katie was quick to ask, “is this the last infant, or are you guys still undecided?” “Dude, I mean, in my brain, I'm done, but we've seen how far that my brain has gotten me, you know, over the last decade or so.” On the music front, Rhett is approaching a monumental milestone, his 25th number one song, “Ain’t A Bad Life” with Jordan Davis. “It doesn't add up in my brain,” TR tells Katie. “There are some days I wake up and I still feel like a new artist, and then there are some days I wake up and I'm like, ‘gosh, I've been doing this for a long time.’ There's really no in-between for me.” “When I think about 25 number ones, I think if I were to tell my 19-year-old self that I'd be talking to you today, talking about that, I would have called you a complete liar,” he adds. “So I feel grateful. I feel blessed, I don't know. Just feel undeserving for the people that have helped me get here, honestly.” “Then also just to have that number one, hopefully with Jordan, is really special because he's gotten to become one of my best buddies in this industry and, to have that with him is really cool” To hear more about family life and what’s next, listen to the full conversation with Thomas Rhett above.

Luke Grimes is back with his vulnerable and personal sophomore album, 'Red Bird,' and the actor and artist is joining to Katie Neal unpack it inside our Nashville studios. It's all about balance and beauty for Grimes, as we dive in with the Country star.

Dan + Shay have kicked off their next project on a very personal note, sharing the single, “Say So,” which also serves as a tribute to their friend, Ben. The duo recently joined Kate Neal for a conversation about new music, their pivot to “real,” mental health, and more.

Justin Moore is once again climbing the Country charts, this time with the song “Time’s Ticking.” The singer joined Katie Neal during this week’s Superstar Power Hour to talk about the track, working with Dierks Bentley, and the unbelievable amount of TVs he has on his tour bus. “I think throughout your life, you learn that, maybe what used to be the most important things are not necessarily to be,” Moore says. “This song to me is kind of, you know, soaking it all in and just slowing down, maybe put your phone down at a certain time or stop checking emails or whatever, and just making the most out of every day you can with your loved ones, your friends” The song features his friend Dierks Bentley, who Justin is quick to admit is better at the art of friendship than he is. “I always say Dirks is a much better friend than I am,” he smiles. “I mean he texts, he texts me every time we have a big hit. He texts me, ‘man, I love this song, or it sounds great,’ or every Father's Day he texts me, ‘hey, man, you're such a great Dad.’ I'm just like, I would just drop me like a bad habit because I'm terrible about all that.” “He's got to be the one that never forgets to get his wife a card for different occasions,” he adds. “I buy them about a week before and then I just, it's a running joke in our house, I just leave them in my console in my truck and forget about them.” Soon Justin Moore will hit the road once again, this time with Riley Green. He’ll likely win back some friend points on the tour bus, which features 17 TVs. “Yeah, I'm a little crazy,” says Justin. “Most of us at least in my camp, and I think a lot of camps out there, we're all sports fans and, so it's really good for like March Madness, or any kind of tournament, you know, football playoffs or whatever.” To hear more about Justin Moore’s tour plans and music, check out the full conversation above.

Brantley Gilbert stays on his grind, continuing to push the boundaries and shake up the world of Country music. His latest effort is the song, “Good Damn,” which arrives everywhere this week. But first, the “Real American” singer checked in with Katie Neal from the beach, to talk about new music, his journey to sobriety, and so much more. “We've always known where we belong,” says Brantley of his next collection of music. “As long as there's a box that is the Country music genre, we always know where we belong, and that's outside of it. Close enough to touch it, but, you know, outside the lines, and this one kind of pushes the envelope a little bit even for us, which is really fun for me as a songwriter, just like even, even less rules, you know what I mean?” “We really wanted this one to cover all the bases and then some, and I feel like it does that,” he adds. “There's songs on here that I've been excited about for a long time, some of these songs are older, but we also wanted to be reminiscent of some of my earlier albums. So there's some nostalgia in there. There's definitely some stuff that leans a little further back, stylistically and sonically. So, you know, that, that part's been really fun. “ “We weren't really trying to write a number one because we didn't ever think we'd get one. We were just trying to write a good song, and that was the approach I can honestly say we took on the majority of these… It was more about, ‘hey, let's write a cool song and let it be what it wants to be.’” To hear the full conversation with Brantley Gilbert, check out the 'Superstar Power Hour' interview above.

This week we closed out our 'Totally Private' series with a special performance from Bailey Zimmerman. The "Rock And A Hard Place" singer serenaded fans with an intimate, stripped down set inside the Hard Rock Cafe, but first he joined us inside our Nashville studios for a talk with Katie Neal, powered by Spirit Airlines. The always energetic and electric Bailey Zimmerman dove into a few of his recent songs while sitting with Katie, including the hit currently climbing the charts, "Chevy Silverado." "it just feels so meant to be because it's just about my grandpa," says Bailey. "It's just like such a special song, so when they came to me and they wanted to take it to Country radio I was like, 'oh I'm in, like I love this.' This means more to me than anything, and then to see what it's doing is just like crazy. It's so cool. Grandpa would be proud for sure." Another song that Bailey has been talking up on socials is one for "the future Mrs. Zimmerman," a song called "Before You." "It's just a song about growing up and, you learn lessons and you learn how to be, and you learn what life's really about," he says. "The title is 'Before You,' and it's like I wanna be the man I need to be for you, but it talks about like who I was before I met my future wife." "I'm at a place right now in my life where I'm just kind of ready for that. I've been ready for that and I had some things I was working on, you know, just like personally kind of just growing up, but I really feel like I'm in that kind of era of my life where I'm really ready to like meet that person... I'm ready to be that person for them as well." To hear more from Bailey Zimmerman, check out our full conversation above.

Jelly Roll and Shaboozey are still feeling the impact of "Amen," as the GRAMMY-winning song continues to climb the Country charts and forever links the two superstars in the history books. Both artists made time recently to connect with Katie Neal for the 'Superstar Power Hour,' sharing their mutual admiration for each other, the value they place on authenticity, and their plans for future collaborations. "I think God really favored us," shares Shaboozey, "and rewarded us that day for making a choice to look at each other and be like, 'look, man, I see you.' You know what I mean? 'I see you as one of me, and I see you like I see myself and, and everybody else.' I think we made something from that place, and really God rewarded us on a Sunday, and gave us a GRAMMY for a song called 'Amen.'" "I feel like every time I perform that song, it renews and restores my faith and restores my purpose," he adds. "From the start of it to like us winning the GRAMMYs, to about to have a Country number one, it's just honestly God just answering my prayers. I ask God every single day to just help guide me and making sure I'm making the right decisions, and I'm making the right kind of music, and I have the right message, and I think it's just like kind of this weird full circle moment that the song is just called 'Amen,' and that's just God being, 'Amen, your prayers are answered. Here you go.'" Shaboozey heaped high praise onto his collab partner, which Jelly Roll was quick to give right back to the singer. "Getting to hang out with Shaboozey is like, he is the ball of joy that y'all see in these interviews, or that you see on the streets, or when you see him on stage," gushes Jelly Roll. "He has got the best temperament of any human I've ever met under every circumstance. We've toured the world together now. I've seen him in all different environments, climates, and time zones, and, he is who he is, man." To hear more from the "Amen" duo about future plans and "cry headaches," listen to the full interview with Katie Neal above.

Kane Brown is feeling more like himself these days than ever before, thanks to a new outlook on music, more time in the gym and in the ring, and less time gaming. The "2 Pair" singer recently joined Katie Neal in the studio to talk about it all for the 'Superstar Power Hour.' "My last album, just to be completely honest with you, I felt like it was a little rushed," Kane admits. "But now I'm like, more motivated than ever." Brown shares he found that spark in the gym, sharing that challenging himself physically has helped fuel his artistry. "It was, a lot of working out, and just kind of getting that competitive grind again," Kane says. "I don't play video games no more. I think that could be another big thing about it." "With the working out and the stages of working out, getting into boxing, bringing my competitiveness back, and then not having anywhere else to put it, it's made me like wanna put it towards music since I don't game." It all makes for a new and improved Kane Brown, ready to spill all that energy into his music. "When I say level up, I think you'll see a different light when I'm performing and my artistry, cause I'm trying to bring like, I'm trying to dance and do all that stuff that's just not done," he shares. "I feel like for the last decade I've kind of tried to fit in the box of what everybody's wanted me to be in and I've tried to please the wrong people, and not really be me and not really get to do my, or like please my fans and just show them, you know, I'm excited and I found that light again. So I think that's what people is gonna see, the difference in the music." To hear from Kane Brown on family life, his newly announced bar in Nashville, and more, check out the full conversation above.

It's been an historic entry into Country music for the band Shinedown, which has already found success across multiple genres because of their authenticity and sincere songwriting, and now have been firmly embraced by the Country music community. Shinedown singer Brent Smith recently joined Katie Neal inside our Nashville studios at the Hard Rock Cafe to talk about how Country crept into the recording of their single, "Searchlight," how it felt to debut the song at the Grand Ole Opry, and much more. "I grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, and when we were cutting the song, we were demoing it out, I think it was a bit more of a Rock ballad," shares Smith. "I just said, 'hey, listen, I'm gonna cut this with just the acoustic. Let me kind of re-sing it." The different approach from Brent rang very "authentic" for him, and the song began to ask for something different. "It was a different approach, but it was very authentic. It was very real, and it felt honest. So the song then asked for a banjo which in turn asked for a lap steel... and then a fiddle was brought in. And look, it's a very Country-esque Rock song, but for me when I heard it I was so enamored by the fact that it kind of is a style that we haven't done per se, and it was a bit more of a true homage to Country instrumentation and just the simplicity of the lyric and the way that it was sung. It made sense, and Country is starting to embrace it." It doesn't hurt that the band got to debut the song at the Mother Church of Country Music, singing it as part of the venue's 100th anniversary, and introduced by Carrie Underwood. "It was a very, kind of, out of body experience, especially when you walk into that circle," Smith admits. "You can feel the weight of the moment because of who stood in that circle." The Country connection is something that seemed inevitable for Smith and Shinedown, given the influence he was raised around. "I grew up, my granny had Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and probably out of all of them, Randy Travis was probably the loudest growing up," he says. Even now he's looking forward to meeting a few of the genre's heaviest hitters, praising artists like Ella Langley and HARDY. "I gotta give a lot of credit because I'm such a fan of his songwriting and again a very versatile individual, I haven't had a chance to meet him, but I hope I get to, I'm a huge fan of HARDY and just how he kind of is just this songwriting juggernaut for a lot of different styles." To hear more from Brent Smith of Shinedown, check out the full interview above.

How did Miranda Lambert's kangaroo lead to a chart-topping hit from Ella Langley? The ACM and CMA award-winning artists told us the origins of her smash, "Choosin' Texas," and also gave us a look at her upcoming album, 'Dandelion,' during this week's 'Superstar Power Hour' with Katie Neal.

This week we traveled to Chiefs in Nashville, where Eric Church performed for an intimate room of fans during our 'Totally Private' show. But first, the "Record Year" singer made his way to the Hard Rock Cafe and into our studios for a talk with Katie Neal, powered by Spirit Airlines. Church is currently on the road with his 'Free the Machine Tour,' supporting his album, 'Evangeline vs. The Machine,' a very deliberate outing for the GRAMMY-nominated singer. "For me in a world that's very fabricated, it's very AI driven, it's very machine-driven, we wanted to, you know, when you come see us play, everybody that's on stage, we're all playing music and there's no tricks," he shares of the show. "We're playing music, and that's what I grew up on, and it's been fun to see over the course of the tour people gravitate to that." Eric is a veteran in this Country music game, and he shares he's willing to impart his wisdom unto his openers when asked, like with Ella Langley. "It was kind of fun to be the old guy in the room that, as we kind of talked about advice and where she's going and stuff, I've been there and, it was fun to just hang out with her." "When you go from where she is and where I've been, and you're struggling, you're struggling, you're struggling and you find something that that kind of is like a rocket ship, things change quickly," Chruch admits. "All the outside noise becomes pressured noise, and kind of what I said to her was, 'you gotta keep it about the music and what you wanna do long term,' because you're gonna have a lot of opportunities to do things that take it away from that, and that's just normal, and that's great, but, the farther you get away from your anchor there, the harder it's gonna be to get back to that." It's always been about the music for Chief, who has caught his own rocket a few times since the start of his career. The year's testament to the power of music for Eric is a massive collaboration he did with Tim McGraw, HARDY, and Morgan Wallen, called "McArthur." "It's just it reminds me a lot of of the stuff that I grew up on with message and with the quality of the songwriting, and just what the track said and the way they tie in," he says of the song. "It's a great song and I'm happy to be part of it." "The great thing about Country music, you think about the Opry, you think about what we are, it is, as far as I'm concerned, format wise, a family-based, we take care of our own format. I said this song does that, it lays it out that it's about lineage, it's about remembering where you came from. It's about legacy, and I think it's a really important song for Country music." To hear much more from Eric Church, check out the full interview above.

Earlier this month, Rascal Flatts performed for an intimate room of fans during our 'Totally Private' show at the Hard Rock Cafe Nashville, powered by Spirit Airlines. But first, Gary, Joe Don, and Jay joined Katie Neal for a hilarious talk about touring, collabs, and a goat that got the better of them. Life is a highway, and for Rascal Flatts, life on the road has evolved quite a bit over the years. The rider has gotten shorter for the trio, and no longer includes farm animals to prank their fellow Country friends. "We had all kinds of animals," shares Gary, admitting to getting a goat while on tour with Darius Rucker. "We put it in Darius Rucker's dressing room, but the joke was on us because it ate all the furniture, so that we had to pay for the furniture." Things were simpler before social media, but the band still stays stocked with food on the road. "I have chicken wings and hot dogs in my room every night," Gary adds. "My friends are just rednecks and they're just like, 'You gotta be kidding me. Free hot dogs.'" To hear more from the group about their collab with the Jonas Brothers, amazing meet and greet stories, and more, check out the full conversation above.

Don't go packing away the pink just yet, because another another album is almost here from Megan Moroney and the sky is bright for 'Cloud 9.' The ACM and CMA Award-winning singer was recently in our Nashville studios with Katie Neal, as she took us inside the tint, title, and topics of her third project during the 'Superstar Power Hour.' 'Cloud 9' arrives everywhere on February 20, and the title track has been living in the mind of Moroney for a minute. "I had the title for a while and I got to a place like the 1st quarter of last year where I was just like, really happy," she shares. "I was happy with how my career was going, I just felt lighter, and so I had met up with ERNEST and I was like, 'I have this title 'Cloud 9,'' and he always has like the really cool chords and he starts playing something. The whole concept of the song is that you're above cloud 9. I think it's a true love song." "I feel like it's probably my first because my other songs like 'Am I Okay?' it's like crying and dying, and then like 'Third Time's the Charm,' I consider a love song but it talks about dying alone, but 'Cloud 9' straight up, it's a long way down to cloud 9 so we're cloud 10, 11, 12." Just like with the green and blue of her first two LPs, this era has it's own color, with pink presenting itself early on in the process for Megan. "I wrote a song called 'Medicine' and when I wrote that song, it was so pink. I thought 'Medicine' was gonna be the title of my third album because I thought, 'Megan Maroney Medicine, MM3.' I thought I was like doing something there." "But then once I wrote 'Cloud 9' I was like, 'oh no.' I could immediately see the cover. I saw music videos. I saw the tour design and I was just obsessed with it." 'Cloud 9' features two massive collabs with Kacey Musgraves and Ed Sheeran both featured on the project, along with more revealing and vulnerable music that has become a calling card for Moroney. "I said this whole album with my chest," she admits. "I know I've got the best fans in the world and they make me confident enough to where they're gonna get behind my songs, and they know that it's coming from an honest, authentic place, and that just has given me more confidence as a songwriter to not give a crap what people are gonna say about it." To hear more about the collabs on 'Cloud 9,' the making of the album, and her upcoming tour, check out the full 'Superstar Power Hour' interview above.

The Band Perry is back making music under that moniker for the first time in nearly 9 years, as Kimberly Perry and Johnny Costello lead the new lineup for the group, debuting the track, "PSYCHOLOGICAL," just in time for Valentine's Day. What was once a sibling trio is now a husband and wife project, as Kimberly and Johnny are set on continuing the story of The Band Perry after a hiatus for the band and solo projects for its members. "I keep saying like this, if you loved The Band Perry season one, you're gonna love 'PSYCHOLOGICAL,' first song of season two," shares Kimberly. "You know I love my psycho girl love songs." "I do feel like this is evolution for The Band Perry, me as the narrator," she adds. "I think there's evolution in the fact that we're not trying to kill a man out here. We're like, are we deluded? Are we devoted? There's a fine line between the two." "It's just a very tongue in cheek hilarious turn of a phrase, talking about the girl inside of me that has always been 150% deep diving into my crushes and obsessions." The band has also dove in deep to the latest incarnation of the group, with a tour aptly titled, the 'Psycho Rodeo Tour,' and an album in the works. "I think playing the blend of all the OG The Band Perry hits, the songs that brought us to the dance in the first place, and like blending them perfectly with this new body of work that we've been working on," Perry notes as what she's most excited about for the upcoming set of shows. "We've only put out two full LPs, two full albums of Country music, so it definitely feels like the third installation of The Band Perry music." "We are about, I would say 1/3 of the way through recording," the duo says of their upcoming album with producer Dann Huff. "I think it's really fun to be in a band with your husband, The Band Perry's always been a family band. This is our version of it with this project, and the love songs hit a little different, you know. Right now we've been writing a lot together to get to write those and think about how we're gonna bring those to life in the studio and on a video and on stage is a new element that I haven't gotten to really explore yet, so that's been really fun." To hear more from The Band Perry, check out the full conversation above.

Jason Aldean opens up about his latest number one, talks about his duet with his wife, and details the piglet and puppy friendship happing inside his house. It's all during this week's 'Superstar Power Hour' interview with Katie Neal, powered by Spirit Airlines.

Nothing raises the bar quite like an award for 'Album of the Year.' So it goes for Cody Johnson, who is hard at work on his next project after winning the CMA Awards' top prize in 2024 with his LP, 'Leather.' Cody came by our studios in Nashville at the Hard Rock Cafe to talk with Katie Neal about what's next, the success of his song, "The Fall," and his massive remodeling project at home. Along the way he shared some details about the upcoming album, which finds Johnson once again trying to outdo himself and only himself. "When you win, 'Album of the Year' with 'Leather' before the 'Leather Deluxe' comes out, your back's against the wall as far as expectations," he admits. "I think I don't ever focus on trying to be better than anybody else. I really just wanna, if I can just constantly beat myself and if my next song is better than the last song, and my next project is better than that project, and my next performance is better than the last performance, then that's what keeps me motivated and driven." "I took like a half and half approach to this record," Cody continues. "Some of this stuff is like so stone cold Country, or it's like so left Motown, or it's like really leaning Rock, or it's really leaning Bluegrass. I don't have a radio agenda with those songs. It's just I recorded these songs because I love these songs and I wanted you to hear me sing these songs, so you can take about half of that and put it over here for 'this is who I am.'" "Then you're gonna hear certain ones on the record where you're like, 'OK, that's gonna be huge, that's gonna be a big song' and you're gonna hear that one on the radio. Trying to whittle it down. I'd like to get it down to about 16, I've got about 20 tracks and it's pretty hard because once you invest the time in the studio with them and you kind of get to know them, it's really hard." Although Cody is "emotionally attached to all of them," he'll trim down the tracklist after listening sessions with friends, seeing which get the most play while riding around. The project also incudes a few collabs, which Johnson revealed to Katie. "I know that me and Luke Combs, we cut one together, we finally got on it." "Brothers Osborne. That was kind of a last minute deal," he says. "I heard this song and I was like, 'man, this sounds like John and TJ.' And they had happened to be reaching out at the same time of like, 'hey, when we do our next project, would you do this song with us?' I was like, 'yeah, absolutely. Would you do this with me on my project?' So it's kind of a trade-off." "There's a couple of collabs that haven't happened yet. It's still just a lot of cell phone conversation," explains Cody. "As a matter of fact, I got a call right before I walked in here and I had to say, 'hey, I'm walking into Katie. I'll holler back at you,' but that person is in to do the collab so far. So there's gonna be some cool surprises on here." To hear much more from Cody Johnson, listen all week on the Superstar Power Hour during Katie & Company, and check out the full conversation above.

There's a big 2026 ahead for Bailey Zimmerman, but first the Country star is coming off of the "best holidays" ever, thanks in part to a gift he was able to give his mom. The "Chevy Silverado" singer recently joined Katie Neal to talk about the big surprise, his upcoming arena tour, and more. Last year, Zimmerman's mom landed in the hospital and "almost died," according to the singer. "When she was in the hospital, I was like 'dang, she doesn't really have a home, like a house to come home to,'" he reveals. "I was like 'dang, I really wanna like try to buy this one house for my mom,' so I ended up buying it and then redid the whole thing." "It was so much fun redoing it, and then I got to show her on Christmas," he adds. "This year's just been such a tough year for her, getting to have that to just be pumped about is so nice for her. Then I got her a new car because she comes to Nashville a bunch and she drives all over the place to shows and stuff so I'm like, 'I really just wanted to set her up to where she felt like taking care of because she's always taking care of me.' I just feel like, I have to take care of her because she's always believed in me. She's always done everything she could to make sure I was good and had the best of the best, and now it's my turn to make sure." With all that good energy in the air, it's time to tee up a big 2026 for Zimmerman, who is focused on being better and delivering on tour. "I'm always trying to just continue to get better and continue to, always move forward," he says of his new year plans. "I'm really focused on the tour right now, making sure that just everything is locked in. I went and redid my whole stage and lighting and the way everything is and all the stuff, so I've been working really hard on that." "I'm gonna focus on just making sure that's good to go for the tour, and then making sure I just crush this tour, and then I've been focusing on just writing music and and living life too." To hear about dating, dogs, and the story behind his latest hit, check out the full conversation with Bailey Zimmerman above.