Gotta do what it takes in this town. Nashville is filled with artists and songwriters who got where they are by never giving up and doing whatever it takes to get their music heard - and that includes Tim O'Connell. These days you may be more familiar with Tim's son, Freddie O'Connell, who just so happens to be the Mayor of Nashville. Freddie was elected mayor back in 2023 after serving on the city council for nearly a decade. But while Freddie was celebrating a big win recently with the passage of his transit plan for Nashville in the recent election, his father Tim was celebrating the release of his new album. While his son has found his passion in government, Tim O'Connell moved to Nashville back in 1970 for the same reason so many others come to Music City: To be a songwriter. And like many others, his favorite artist at the time was the legendary Johnny Cash. In fact, he had once even spent the night at the Ryman Auditorium after sneaking inside, just to watch a taping of Cash's show. While he was in college in Wisconsin, O'Connell and his wife found out that Cash taped The Johnny Cash Show at the Ryman on Monday nights. So on Sunday, they headed out to Music City - with no plans or place to stay. Well they got to downtown Nashville, and realized there was a door at the Ryman that was unlocked. So with no other place to stay, they decided to just sleep inside the Mother Church of Country Music for the night so they could be there for the taping of the show. And when they moved to Nashville a few years later so that he could pursue his career in the music business, O'Connell says his wife was determined to get Cash's attention on Tim's songwriting: "She drove out to his house and waited at the end of his driveway so he could talk to Johnny Cash. And as it turned out, he came out in a Jeep and she was standing there and she said, 'My husband's a songwriter, he really wants to be a songwriter, you think you could help him?' And Johnny Cash was mad. He said, 'I've only got one day off, and this is my day off.' So when he said that, the tears started coming down, and Johnny Cash was so nice. When he saw that he had made her cry he said, 'Tell him to come out Thursday and bring me some songs and I'll listen to them.'" Well O'Connell did just that, and Cash told him that he had a future as a songwriter. And Cash meant it: Years later, he ended up recording "A Singer of Songs," which was written by O'Connell and featured on Cash's Unearthed box set, released two months after his death in 2003. All those years after his hard-earned meeting with Cash, O'Connell decided he wanted to write and record his own music, so in 2010 he dropped his debut album It's My Song, Dammit. And he has no intention of slowing down: Just last month, O'Connell released his latest album On That Hillbilly Highway, the final installment to a trilogy he calls Terry and Jasmine: A Country Music Love Story. The project tells the story of a man who, like O'Connell, moves to Nashville to chase his dreams in the music business - but also serves as a cautionary tale of all the dangers and tragedies that come with success. It's a story that's no doubt relatable to anybody in the music business, who's worked so hard and done whatever it took to get to where they are today. Including sneaking into the Ryman to see Johnny Cash... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrWKjF-hf70

The King of country music is easier to get in touch with than Dolly Parton or Vince Gill. We all know the stories (or maybe you don't, which is truly a shame) of how Dolly Parton is hard to reach. Her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus, once said that to get in touch with her, you have to fax her. Reba seconded that statement on Watch What Happens Live!, with Andy Cohen noting that the "Jolene" singer does not text. “Dolly does not text. I don’t have her telephone number. And I asked Kenny Rogers one time, I said, 'Do you have Dolly’s number?' He said no. You know what…maybe he said that because he doesn’t want to give it to me…I don’t know.” But Dolly isn't the only one who keeps it old school and has not adapted to modern forms of communication because Vince Gill has also disclosed that he does not text. But for Gill, it's not just that he doesn't text; he's genuinely NEVER sent a text. “I’ve never sent a text. I’m the most non-tech guy that ever walked earth." So, given that these two icons don't communicate via blue or green messages on your phone screen, you can blame Parker McCollum for being surprised that George Strait DOES text. Ahead of the CMA Awards, Parker McCollum chatted on the red carpet about getting close to George Strait. The interview segment begins with how Mr. Strait likes to be addressed. Given that McCollum is a properly raised Southern gentleman, he shared that the first time he met The King, he addressed him as "Mr. Strait." But he was quickly corrected. "I just call him George. The first time I ever hung out with him, it was Mr. Strait, and he looked at me and was like, 'Not again.' I'm like, 'Yes sir, George.'"  Haagar then tells Parker that is when he knows he has really made it, but Parker said that wasn't even the craziest "I've made it moment" since getting to know George Strait. "The craziest thing was before the show at Kyle Field. I was sitting on my bus by myself, and my phone lit up. It had a text message that said, 'Hey, this is George; I just wanted to say thank you..' You know this long message. Well, it wasn't long, but it was a short message about thanks for being a part of this tonight, and that was pretty surreal. I didn't even know he texted." Haggar then asked if the message was blue or green, and Parker said it was blue. Okay, George, getting down with an iPhone. I must admit hearing Parker say that George texted kind of surprised me, too. Not to say that you can't be tech-savvy as you age, but I mean, I can hardly get a text back from my father that isn't just an emoji, and he's a bit younger than George Strait. Some folks just like a good old-fashioned phone call, and I could 100% see George Strait being that kind of person. Parker's got a lot he can brag about now. He's got Geroge's number, a text from him, and is on a first-name basis. He's living the dream. @adisonhaager #parkermccollum ? #georgestrait ♬ original sound - AdisonHaager

That's one way to make sure nobody can bother you. Jelly Roll has clearly had a love/hate relationship with his cell phone for a while. The rapper-turned-country singer had a whirlwind year in 2023 after shooting to superstardom, scoring three #1 hits and winning the CMA Award for New Artist of the Year. So at the end of the year, he was ready to unwind - and that meant ditching his phone for a while. Jelly (whose real name is Jason DeFord) told fans back in October of last year that he would be ditching his phone for the remainder of the year: "I’m going to get rid of my phone again and go phoneless for the rest of the year to focus on family and try to be as present as possible for my family." https://www.instagram.com/p/CyjEUnLO7lF And after a 2024 that was even crazier for Jelly Roll, including two Grammy nominations and a sold-out 58-stop Beautifully Broken tour, as well as the release of his second country album, there's no doubt he was ready for a much-needed break yet again. The Nashville native wrapped up his tour last night in his hometown, with a sold-out show at Bridgestone Arena that featured appearances from Snoop Dogg, Ernest and Morgan Wallen (or "Morgan Waylon" if you prefer). And ahead of the show, Jelly told fans that he would once again be ditching his phone for the remainder of the year: "Y'all know I have a very unhealthy relationship with social media. I have a very unhealthy relationship with phones. So I'm getting on here to tell y'all I'm taking a break. It's been a crazy couple of years and I love y'all so much. I'm throwing this phone out the window tonight. I'm going to go phoneless for a few months." @officialjellyrollBig appreciation post - final day of tour. ♬ original sound - Jelly Roll So after the show, Jelly headed down to the river a couple blocks away from Bridgestone to finally do something he'd apparently been looking forward to doing for a while: Getting rid of his cell phone. Jelly's wife, influencer and host of the Dumb Blonde podcast Bunnie Xo, shared a video of her husband FaceTiming his family to let them know that his phone was officially going into the Cumberland River. "You know how I throw my phone out all the time? We're at the Cumberland River on the Shelby Street walkway. Mama, I love you. I'm a little tipsy. I look forward to spending my next couple of months with just y'all and no outside interference." And with that, he launched his phone over the side of the bridge and into the Cumberland River below, as his family watched it sink into the water on FaceTime. I guess that's one way to get rid of your phone. But how many people are going to be diving into the river today trying to find Jelly Roll's cell phone? @xomgitsbunnie We’re sorry Jelly Roll cant come to the phone rigjt now #baileeandbunnie ♬ Proud Mary - Creedence Clearwater Revival

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MSNBC admitted it was "unaware" that Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign paid $500,000 to Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network nonprofit ahead of a friendly interview with the Democratic nominee ahead of Election Day.  Harris sat down for a friendly interview on Oct. 20 with MSNBC’s Sharpton, an open supporter of Harris and the Democratic Party. Following Harris’ loss to President-elect Trump, FEC filings revealed the Harris campaign gave two $250,...

MSNBC told the Washington Free Beacon’s Chuck Ross for a report on Tuesday that the network was “unaware” that Rev. Al Shaprton’s non-profit organization had received $500,000 in donations from Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign, during the same time period he interviewed her on the network. “MSNBC was unaware of the donations made to the National Action Network,” the MSNBC spokesman told Ross some two weeks after the donation was first...