Big Velvet from the top rope. I'll be honest, my very first impression of Oliver Anthony was a positive one. Kid out in the woods lamenting the state of the society, calling out Jeffrey Epstein and the pocket-stuffing, corrupt politicians in Washington DC... on both sides of the aisle. It was refreshing... a pretty cool viral moment, seemingly pretty organic (despite what people thought), and one that resonated with a lot of people struggling in middle America. Of course, it pretty quickly turned into a political argument with Conservatives embracing the song as their own anthem, and Liberal folks accusing him of being some red pill plant. Nevertheless, a viral sensation was born. The song quickly became the biggest thing in music, he was joined by Jamey Johnson at a farmer's market concert, made appearances on Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson's podcasts, and he quickly caught the attention of labels and publishers. He said he turned down millions of dollars from record labels and started booking some shows on his own, which proved to be more complicated than he could imagine. He released an album, Hymnal Of A Troubled Man's Mind, produced by Dave Cobb, but largely has remained outside of the music industry and relatively quiet in comparison to his viral breakout. However, he's been a bit louder more recently, and he shared that he is leaving the music industry entirely (which he was never really in), in an effort to make music under the umbrella of a "traveling ministry." He also took some time to rant about the music industry (which once gain, he said he never wanted to be a part of), and then eviscerate Beyonce's Cowboy Carter album, as well as called out (without using his name) Parker McCollum for allegedly singing with autotune and backing tracks. Here's the full 15-minute rant if you're interested: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDK8KmvxvTl/?hl=en And look, there are some serious criticisms of the corporate music industry, ones that are valid, as well as serious and necessary criticism of what goes in Washington DC. So I can understand why he resonates with a lot of people, but lately, his entire disposition just reeks of arrogance and self-righteousness from someone who doesn't have much experience or knowledge about the music industry... at all. What has he played... a couple dozen shows? Cut one album? He sure talks like an industry veteran for someone who has been doing this for what... a year? And complaining about venues and promoters and ticket prices like it costs nothing to put on a show? It just screams "I don't know what I'm talking about." But what really pisses me off lately is that all of this is done while holding a Bible, and now professing a traveling ministry? What about that is Christ-like? Make no mistake, nobody is perfect, especially people who call themselves Christians (as I do), but if I'm immature, in both my music career and immature in my faith (which he has confessed to on Joe Rogan), I would perhaps have the awareness to not pretend that I have EVERYTHING all figured out, and then drag people down in the process. By all means, keep reading you Bible, keep growing in your faith, but maybe flip over to Matthew 7... It just rubs me the wrong way... and you know who else it rubs the wrong way... Paul "Big Velvet" Cauthen. If you're not familiar, Paul Cauthen is a phenomenal singer, songwriter, and producer out of Texas who has released a handful of great records and has also collaborated on songs with Cody Jinks, Hayes Carll, Diplo and more. His most recent album, Black on Black is a guarantee to make the Whiskey Riff Album of the Year list (should be coming out VERY soon), but I'd recommend diving into his catalog... there's a lot of good stuff in there. He also puts on a KILLER live show, a certified entertainer. As it turns out, Paul also hasn't taken to kindly to ol' Oliver lately, and enough was finally enough. He took to Instagram to share a pretty direct video message for Oliver, essentially telling him to keep his mouth shut. He said in his caption: "Ain’t what he says he is folks. I’ve heard too many bad stories for too long now. It’s sad when a good singer and songwriter lets their own emotions get in the way. Thumping on your Bible at live shows and claiming this and that when you’re actually hurting commerce and small businesses all over the country. You don’t talk about when you get contracted a 100 grand to play a show and then you stiff the venues because the venue is trying to make enough money on the ticket sale to pay your hundred grand cost. Usually I’m in favor of the Artist nine times out of 10. This is that one time where I’m going to back the venues! I’ll tell you one thing I am a sinner, I have faith in Jesus Christ, but I will never be perfect. I don’t think Oliver Anthony is perfect either. Also, this is coming from somebody that didn’t have overnight fame on TikTok." https://www.instagram.com/p/DDXbhxCRf8x/?hl=en And he's right about Oliver being a great talent... he's a good singer and a good songwriter who has garnered himself a big audience... even if it came from a viral moment. And Oliver has maintained that his music career is not about the money or notoriety, and that he's on a mission to use his gifts to help people. But the problem is... he won't get the opportunity to use those gifts to help people if he alienates everyone in the industry, and some fans as well, along the way. At least not at the scale possible. We'll see... In the meantime, check out a few cuts from Paul Cauthen's latest album, Black On Black... like I said before, it's a good one: "Hot Damn" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRr3nHi4Xfc "Innocent" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jwwlHzlYxo&pp=ygUVcGF1bCBjYXV0aGVuIGlubm9jZW50 "To Whom Do You Belong" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvNTipUo0r0&pp=ygUicGF1bCBjYXV0aGVuIHRvIHdob20gZG8geW91IGJlbG9uZw%3D%3D

Pretty sure that's a crime... Zach Bryan has enough on his hands right now, after the backlash from his messy breakup with Barstool Sports personality Brianna Chickenfry. The singer has been under fire after Brianna dropped a tell-all episode of her BFFs podcast in which she accused the country music superstar of emotional abuse and detailed a pattern of jealousy and controlling behavior during their year long relationship. And she's also gotten quite a bit of public support from her podcast co-hosts, Josh Richards and Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who released some brutal diss tracks taking aim at Zach. Among the most shocking of Brianna's revelations, she claimed that the singer offered her $12 MILLION to sign a non-disclosure agreement after they broke up, which she obviously ended up turning down. But of course this just led to questions of: What was so bad that he was willing to pay $12 million to cover it up? And apparently it's not the first time Zach has asked one of his former partners to sign an NDA, with Brianna alluding to the fact that both his ex-girlfriend Deb Peifer and his ex-wife Rose Madden both were unable to tell their stories because they signed agreements of their own to keep quiet. Zach hasn't really said much about the situation or his breakup from Brianna, choosing to largely just ignore it and probably hoping that it all goes away sooner rather than later. But naturally, the knowledge that he's willing to throw that kind of money around to protect his reputation is going to bring other women out of the woodwork...like this woman who claims she'll release a sex tape she has with Zach if he doesn't give her an NDA too. In a video posted to TikTok by OnlyFans model McKinley Richardson, a woman who appears to be her fellow adult content creator Claira Lizzy claims to have hooked up with the country star early on in his career - and she says she has video to prove it: "This was like, when he was like, at the start of his music career, but I have a video of us. He came to Miami... I bought the VIP backstage passes and then he ended up wanting to link after the show, and I have a video of me in missionary from my point of view." The model says that Zach knew that she was recording, but probably doesn't remember that the video is out there: "I don't know if he remembers. He knew that it was being taken, but it was at like the beginning of his music industry and I bet you he just didn't know how far he was going to go." She says that she's scared to release the video, but then threatens to release it if Zach doesn't "give her an NDA." "I'm scared to post it...Zach, if you want to give me an NDA, I'll sign it or else this video's dropping. I'll give you by the end of the month to decide." Now, I'm not trying to give any legal advice here, but releasing (or even threatening to release) a sex tape if somebody doesn't pay you to keep it private is a serious crime and can land you in big trouble. And this girl may just be joking about releasing it, but I have a feeling that (assuming she's telling the truth about having the tape in the first place), Zach and his team aren't going to be laughing about her threat to post it. https://www.tiktok.com/@mckinleyrichardson/video/7446119834284248366

Dolly Parton just can't get enough of Christmas. I'm sure we can all relate to that in some form or fashion. There's nothing like a Christmas tree and some strung up lights to raise the ol' serotonin levels this time of year. The Christmas music this time of year also helps, though I hope you didn't start listening to it a little too early. There are studies that show firing up the Holiday Playlist too soon can actually have negative effects on your mental health. But I've lived my life so far by a simple mantra, and that's whatever Dolly Parton says goes. It's never led me astray, and now that I've heard about how the 78-year-old country music legend views the holiday season, it only makes the "WWDD?" guideline for life that much better. Parton recently revealed in an interview with People that she values nothing more than being home for Christmas: “I love being home for Christmas, and so far I’ve missed all kinds of holidays, but to my knowledge I have never not been home for Christmas. (I love) the tradition of being home for Christmas, and being with family, and having all the good food and all the different dishes that different family members make, and just the music, and just all the festivities of the lights and the sounds, and everything to do with Christmas.” Love that. Same here Dolly. That statement above is mutually agreeable, is it not? There's nothing like going back home for the holidays, eating food, and spending time with friends and family. Christmas is simply the best. The only thing I have a bit of an issue with is just how much Christmas music Dolly says she consumes. In that same interview with People, Dolly was talking about all of the things she adores about Christmas, including the variety of Christmas songs that we've all come to know and love: "Well, you know I love all the Christmas songs. I love the fast ones, I love the slow ones. I love ‘Silent Night’ and ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem,’ but then I love ‘Rudolph’ and all of those fun things. I just love all of that.”  Nothing wrong with that. Every good Christmas playlist has a juxtaposition of slow songs like "O Holy Night" and faster songs like "Last Christmas" by Wham! But its the next part that Dolly Parton said that I'm not so sure how to feel about. It has to do with the duration that the country music star usually has the holiday music playing: “We all have either an Alexa or Siri or one of those kinds of things. I just always holler out, ‘Alexa, play holiday music for 12 hours in my house,’ or something like that, and I just like all of it.” 12 hours? Sheesh. I don't know if there's actually that many different Christmas songs in existence. Sure, you could hear "Let It Be Christmas" by Alan Jackson, then hear it again by another artist in the next hour. But I'd like to think that you could only hear the "12 Days of Christmas" so many times before you start shouting, "ALRIGHT WE GET IT." All that being said, if it makes Dolly Parton happy, maybe there's something to it. As I stated earlier, asking myself, "What Would Dolly Do?" is typically a great guardrail for going about life... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvK1F6bUrzU&pp=ygUpaGFyZCBjYW5keSBjaHJpc3RtYXMgc29uZyBieSBkb2xseSBwYXJ0b24%3D

A Manhattan jury Monday acquitted Daniel Penny, a former marine, of any criminal wrongdoing in the trial surrounding the death of Jordan Neely.  Penny had placed Neely in a chokehold on a New York Subway in May 2023, after Neely had had an outburst threatening to passengers. Penny’s defense argued that he had done so as to protect bystanders and subdue Neely until police could arrive. They also had argued that it was unclear whether Penny’s chokehold was indeed the cause of Neely’s death. Prosecutors did not dispute that Neely’s behavior was threatening to others on the train, and that Neely was high on synthetic cannabinoids. Penny originally faced charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. The manslaughter charge was dropped by the prosecution on Friday after jurors could not come to a unanimous verdict on it. The prosecution attempted to make race a salient factor in the trial, with the prosecutor, Dafna Yoran, referring to Penny as “the white man” and “murderer” throughout the trial. Yoran is also known as a proponent of “Restorative Justice,” having earlier reduced the charges against a man caught on camera killing an elderly college professor from felony murder to manslaughter. Last Wednesday, Neely’s father, Andre Zachary, also launched a lawsuit against Penny, which was described as a distraction by Penny’s lawyers. “We will not be distracted by this attempt to attack Danny while he is under such tremendous stress,” defense attorney Steve Raiser stated on Thursday. The post Penny Acquitted of Charges From Deadly Subway Encounter appeared first on The American Conservative.

The former president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, spoke Thursday to assembled dignitaries and onlookers at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC about the future of the eastern European country.  “This is a decisive day for the future of Ukraine,” Poroshenko said, arguing that previous Ukrainian triumphs in defending Kiev and in its 2022 counteroffensive were successful because of technological and military aid from western countries.  Further success, he argued, was likewise dependent on the continued support of Western powers. “Putin has larger manpower and military budget [sic], but Ukraine can fight smarter, with higher motivation and better technology.” He also spoke of the current challenges Ukraine faces militarily and domestically. Russia is not fighting the war itself, he said. Seventy percent of its attack drones are Iranian, and 45 percent of the ballistic missiles fired at Ukraine are of North Korean provenance. The cost of western military goods, Poroshenko also said, is also a major hurdle: Ukraine buys American-made artillery shells which cost $5,000, compared to a cost of only $400 for the North Korean-supplied shells used by Russia. Poroshenko also expressed a number of criticisms about the past and current conduct of the Ukrainian military. When asked why the 2023 offensive failed, he pointed out that the offensive had been broadcast ahead of time for weeks beforehand to raise support from friendly powers. The campaign, per Poroshenko, was fundamentally a PR operation “We should stop using the people of Ukraine as fuel for [meat grinder] operations,” he argued. “We should stop working for TV and start working to save the soldiers.” At the urging of the host, the former ambassador John Herbst, Poroshenko also explained what his advice to the incoming Trump administration would be. Most importantly, he said, NATO accession for Ukraine is the only guarantee for any potential peace deal. The post Ukraine Should “Stop Working for TV,” Says Poroshenko appeared first on The American Conservative.

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