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Country Music Moments 2024: John Moreland & Kyle Nix Scrap At Tulsa’s Mercury Lounge
For a guy who makes music as soft and touching as John Moreland, it turns out he's not the person you'd want to get into a bar fight with.
Granted, you can take a peak at his skull tattoos and get an idea of the fire that burns inside of him, not to mention he was in a few punk and hardcore bands before his venture into country music and the fact that he's a pretty sizable man, but still, the man who wrote "Hang Me In The Tulsa County Stars" doesn't exactly jump off the page as a likely suspect to get into a bar fight, but that's exactly what happened earlier this year.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DBZevfgS9Ik/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
As 2024 comes to a close, we're taking a look back on some of the wildest moments in country music this year. First we looked at Morgan Wallen chucking a chair off Chief's rooftop bar in Nashville and now let's remember an altercation between two Red Dirt artists from back in August.
An Oklahoma Throwdown At Tulsa's Mercury Lounge
Admittedly, details about this alleged bar fight are sparse but we first found out about the incident in a series of Instagram stories posted by Moreland (some of which were later deleted) as well as through some people who were close to the situation.
In the early morning hours of August 2nd, Moreland posted a video (which was deleted) in which he said:
“Hey guys, little Texas country fun fact. If you ever happen to get in a fight with Kyle Nix, the tiny fiddle player from the Turnpike Troubadours…uh, and he pulls you out of your bar stool and starts kicking you in the head a few times…
Don’t worry because he’s four feet tall, and it’s just going to feel like a f***ing third-grader is kicking you in the head. And then you can get up and start wailing on his face, and it’s all good. F*** that guy.”
He then followed up that post with two more written messages:
"F**k that whole band honestly…"
And:
"Except Hank."
Kyle Nix has been the fiddle player for the Turnpike Troubadours since at least 2012, first playing on their Goodbye Normal Street record. During the group's multi-year hiatus, he started his own band called Kyle Nix & The 38's (a great group if you haven't given them a listen) but is certainly more well-known for his work with perhaps the greatest Red Dirt band of all-time.
The Hank referenced is Hank Early, Turnpike's steel player.
Whiskey Riff reached out to both Moreland and Nix's PR teams at the time but they didn't provide a comment, though a source close to the situation told us the two of them were talking at the bar when things almost suddenly went south. Allegedly, Moreland threw the first strike and that's when Nix pulled the stool out from under him, kicking off a bar fight. Rumor has it that they both held their own before it was broken up.
The next day, Moreland addressed the situation, saying he regretted going after the entire band and only had a problem with Kyle, though he thought the whole thing was getting blown out of proportion:
"Ok, even though this is kind of hilarious, I’d like to say I regret bringing anybody else in the band into my issue. I was just angry and being an a**hole, I’m sorry to those guys. My problem is with Kyle only.
And honestly, it’s not even that much of a “problem,” we just got in a bar fight and I think he sucks now. I think that’s reasonable."
Honestly, that's a pretty solid take. Who hasn't gotten into a shoving match or fight after a few too many drinks? Heck, I almost fought my own friends a few times, and while it's never a good thing, you can certainly understand that every now and again things get out of hand and the next day you have to send a few apology texts and smooth the situation over. While it didn't seem like Moreland and Nix were going to hit the road together anytime soon, nothing further came out of it and hopefully they've moved past it.
Earlier in the year, Moreland shared a cover of Turnpike's "Diamonds & Gasoline" and I hope everyone can let bygones be bygones because a Turnpike Troubadours and John Moreland ticket is something I'd travel a good distance to see. Plus, them Okie boys gotta stick together, right?
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1kQrxBAPox/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=f6cf804c-f763-4334-a75f-87ff4db50bb5
Moreland also released his 7th studio album in April titled Visitor, which I'm betting will wind up on our Top 40 albums list coming out soon...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeaW-Lndc9c
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