Katie & Company

Riding high off her new single, "You Had To Be There," Megan Moroney recently joined Katie Neal for the 'Superstar Power Hour,' to talk about working with Kenny Chesney, life on tour, her next album, and the story behind her hit, "Am I Okay?" "I had only known this dude for like a month," admits Megan about the song's subject. "Mistake number one. Never write a nice song about a man that you've only known for a month because by month 3, they will ruin your life." "I was like a month in and I was like, 'wait, I'm actually like really happy and this is crazy,' like what's wrong with me? I'm usually so sad, like put me in rice, something's wrong with me. And so that was the sentiment that I went in with. I wrote it with Jesse Jo Dillon and Luke Laird." "But at the same time... I knew I was going on tour with Kenny, so I wanted it to feel like a stadium song. So when I was having Luke come up with the chords and stuff, I was like, 'this needs to feel really big' because I want to be able to get people up even though I play pretty early. I want people like up out of their seats, just like another good song for my setlist that feels like a party, and we would end the set every night with that one, and mission accomplished, I guess. But yeah, when we wrote it, it was kind of just half of authentic feelings of being like, 'wait, I'm actually happy. Am I okay?' And then paired with the need for a big stadium song, and that's how we got it." With the tour coming to a close and her star rapidly rising, it's almost the end of the 'Am I Okay?' era, but what's next for Megan Moroney? "Well, I can say that I've been in the studio a lot. I've been writing a lot. I'm just gonna keep the ball rolling, you know, so I'm excited," she reveals. "This next set of music is a lot happier than what you would expect, but I feel like that's just where I'm at in life. I feel like for once I'm just like, chilling." "I do have one really gut-wrenching song on the album. There's a few sad songs still because I would never abandon my emo cowgirlness, but for the album as a whole, I definitely think it's a lot more carefree and just like, sassy and fun, and I'm excited for everyone to hear what I've been working on." For more from Megan Moroney, check out the full 'Superstar Power Hour' interview above.

Jason Aldean is currently rocking stages across the country with his 'Full Throttle Tour,' excited to get back on the road after six months away. He joined Katie Neal this week during the 'Superstar Power Hour' and talked about prepping for tour, and how he's spent his time away from the spotlight. Aldean is "ready to get back to work," he tells Katie, but his time away has produced some new music we'll hopefully hear later this year. "Trying to finish up an album while we're off not touring, so kind of wrapping that up," he says. "I got some new music coming this year." A new album would be a great accomplishment for anyone, but given the carpool schedule at the Aldean house it's even more amazing. "Right now, you know, kids are all playing sports. Memphis is in baseball, Navy's in softball. Kendall's playing flag football at her school, and so they're just kind of all over the map," he reveals. "We've spent a lot of time going to practices and games and doing all that kind of stuff, and all that's about to wrap up here in the next week or two and get ready for summer." "Yeah, essentially a chauffeur and just trying to figure out how to get everybody where they need to be and, not really a lot of time for me to do anything right now except be a driver." Jason says he's "excited to get it out there," with the new music, but still figuring out the best way to present the songs due to the rapid consumption of music these days. "You know, you drop an album and then everybody just consumes it for a month or two and then they're like, 'OK, when's the next one coming out?' You're like, 'man, it took me 8 months to make that thing.' So, I think this go around, trying to figure out how we drop a project and maybe kind of stagger it out where we don't give them everything right off the bat, just enough to kind of say, 'here's a little bit' and then 'here's a little bit more' and then, 'here's the rest of it' kind of thing." "It's Morgan Wallen's fault," Jason jokes. "Morgan's putting out all these records, 20 songs here, 20 songs there, then dropping like random stuff here and there and it just like seems like the guy's dropping a new record every 4 months or something. The reality is there's a lot of work that goes into that and just writing the songs, and getting to a place to go in and make those records. So to just turn them out like that it's almost impossible. So, just trying to figure out how to extend the life of the album and some of the songs." Hear more about the new music, the 'Full Throttle Tour,' and more during the 'Superstar Power Hour' interview with Jason Aldean above.

The love story between Tim McGraw and Faith Hill remains a fairytale, and during his 'Superstar Power Hour' interview with Katie Neal, we learned how it all started. "I remember the very first time I saw a picture of Faith. I fell in love instantly," Tim gushes, after looking back at one of Faith's first award acceptance speeches. "I think she was on Billboard magazine or something. I was walking through my management office, and I'd had like one or two singles out off of my first album, I hadn't really done much, and I was in the process of recording my second album. I walked by and saw the photo of her on it and I'm like, 'oh my God.' I need to find that girl." The two have now been married for nearly 30 years, sharing 3 kids along the way, and still adding to the family. "We got two new puppies at home, so we're pretty busy right now," adds Tim. "We got Aussie Mountain Doodles. So they're cute as they can be, but they're a handful... She's busy handling them while I'm out doing some work." In addition to his family update, McGraw also gave us an update on his health, after undergoing several surgeries over the last few years. "Over the last 2 years I've had 4 major surgeries. So it's been a rough go, but you know, I beat myself up over the years pretty badly." "I'm starting to come around. It's just gonna take a little time, but I've done a lot of PT getting to where I can move a little better. There's setbacks, you know, you go a couple of weeks, everything is really good, then you have a couple of weeks everything goes backwards again, and so it's sort of a back and forth thing, but at least I'm up and going and moving." "The worst part for me is I'm terrible at sitting still," admits Tim. "I had two back surgeries before the tour last year. And then during the tour, the back started going cattywampus on me and in about 3 weeks in the tour, my knees went out, so I had to do the whole tour with my knee shot, my back shot, so right after I had double knee replacements. So both knees. And that was the worst, having to lay there for 6, 8 weeks and not do much." "That was the worst part was mentally. I mean, I was warned about it by my doctors that everybody that gets these things, there's of depression that happens. And for me I was saying, 'I not gonna get depressed, you know, it's football season. I'm gonna have my knees replaced and watch football.' But, you know, 3 weeks into it, I was tired of it." Thankfully Tim is in better spirits now, booked and busy with more music to enjoy. There's the MLB Speedway Classic happing in August, his Field of Dreams concert later that month, the Music City Rodeo later this month, and of course his new take on "Paper Umbrellas" with Parker McCollum out now. "That song was on my 'Standing Room Only' album, and we were getting ready to pick a new single. I wanted to bring something off of that album, and there were a couple of choices we had, but I always loved that record, one of my favorite records on the album, and I wanted to freshen it up a little bit because it had been out for a while on the album." "And was looking around at somebody new to put on the record and Parker was the first guy I thought of because I liked his music and the direction that he goes, and the way his voice sounds, and it seemed like his voice would fit perfectly on this type of song," reveals Tim "He did a great job on it and so we decided that, yeah, this is gonna be the single and so it's off and running." Hear much more from Tim McGraw during the full 'Superstar Power Hour' interview above.

This week on the 'Superstar Power Hour,' Chris Young is in to keep Katie Neal company, talking about the making of his beautiful new ballad, "Til The Last One Dies," his upcoming album, as well as a look back on his career as he approaches his 40th birthday. "It's almost done," Young says of his upcoming 10th studio album. "Got a whole bunch of stuff tracked, ready to go." The project is preceded by "Til The Last One Dies," a wedding song if ever there was one, and Chris Young knows it. "I personally, I don't want to be reaching, I don't want to be over ambitious, but like 99% of the people that are getting married this year should use it as their first dance song at their wedding," he shares. "I don't want to say 100% because you don't want to be greedy, but I, I just love this love song." The song is just one of the tracks that Chris says makes up the "snapshot" of his life for his upcoming LP, a piece of advice that he has carried with him from another artist. "I think something that another artist told me one time, I think is very encapsulating of every single album that you will ever make, if you make one, if you get to make one hundred, It's a snapshot of where you are in time as an artist. What you feel, what resonates with you, what you've written, what you find." So what are those things for Chris Young as he enters this next era? "I think this is really just about having a whole lot of freedom," he admits. "The ability to, if I wanna do a song where I've just got steel guitar all over it, that's totally fine. If I want to do something where I'm standing in the studio with two of my good friends, stomping with a mic set up next to our feet to get part of a track that we want like a stomp clap thing, and all of us just like laughing, telling jokes and goofing off, that's totally OK." "You get to just make art. It's never perfect. It's always abandoned, but you work as hard on it as you possibly can."

Bailey Zimmerman is ready to show the world what he's been working on, and this week he joined Katie Neal for the 'Superstar Power Hour' to offer fans a peek into his next project. "I really wanna show people that I'm a real artist," Zimmerman explains, visibly stoked about his upcoming project. "I can do anything. I'm doing everything and I wanna show my growth and how hard I've been working to get my voice better, and my production better, and knowing what production is and how to do it. This whole record I helped do almost everything in the studio and I just want people to see my growth as an artist, and I want people to see, like, yo, I'm here to stay. I'm here to like put my name here. I've got a lot to say." After two years of learning and meticulously sorting through songs, Bailey can't wait to show you where he's at. "This new album is just the last two years of my life and the album itself is where I'm at now, but it also jumps back to how I used to feel, some of the feelings that I didn't get to say on 'Religiously. The Album' are on this album. There's a couple of stories from back in like 2018 that I wrote about that I always wanted to say, but can never do it. And then I finally wrote the song that I loved. So it's a new era of me." Filled with a few experimental songs and emotional moments that mean a lot to him, Bailey admits it's something new for the new era. "I've got this new sound that I'm really going after that's just something I haven't done quite before, I guess. I haven't done it like I'm doing it on this new record" Bailey also gave us some insight into his two big collabs, "All The Way" with BigXthaPlug and "Backup Plan" with Luke Combs. The latter with Luke finally coming after months of waiting from a return text from the "Fast Car" singer to jump on the track. "It's like the testament of the song, you know, the testimony is like, 'Man, there's so many times that I've had in the last 4 years of my being a Country artist, like falling on my face in front of a lot of people and disappointing a lot of people a lot, and learning from that is like the testament of 'Backup Plan,' is like, yo, I could have quit. There's a lot of people that are telling me you should, but I didn't. And I'd have never known. I'd have never had the song with Big X. I'd never had the song with Luke. You gotta keep going, and when people are telling you that you should quit, that's more of a reason to not quit. Don't quit, keep freaking going." To hear more from Bailey Zimmerman, check out the full 'Superstar Power Hour' interview above.

The 60th ACM Awards are starting in style with an epic 12 minute performance and tribute to 80s and 90s Country. "We're bringing it back," Wynonna tells Katie Neal backstage at the ACMs. "I've been here 42 years, and I'm still here." Judd is just one of the many set to celebrate the 60 years of the ACM Awards, and she's looking forward to seeing old friends from every era. It's a can't miss start to a huge night for Country music. The 60th Academy of Country Music Awards show is taking place on May 8 from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Hosted by 16-time ACM Award–winning entertainment icon Reba McEntire, the ceremony will stream live on Prime Video at 8PM ET / 5PM PT. Don't miss our continuing coverage backstage at audacy.com/acm.

Brothers, sisters, everybody sing! The Backstreet Boys and Rascal Flatts are joining forces at the 60th ACM Awards to bring you... Flattsreet Boys, as the two iconic groups will take the stage together for a performance of "What Hurts The Most." Before they take the stage on Thursday night, Katie Neal caught up with members of each to preview the performance, talk about how they first connected before the pandemic, and more. The 60th Academy of Country Music Awards show is taking place on May 8 from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Hosted by 16-time ACM Award–winning entertainment icon Reba McEntire, the ceremony will stream live on Prime Video at 8PM ET / 5PM PT. Don't miss our continuing coverage backstage at audacy.com/acm.

Hang tight honey, we're making way for 'Entertainer of the Year' nominee Lainey Wilson, backstage at the 60th ACM Awards. The singer sat in with Katie Neal to talk about the big show, the new music she's been teasing on socials, and her amazing feature film debut. The 60th Academy of Country Music Awards show is taking place on May 8 from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Hosted by 16-time ACM Award–winning entertainment icon Reba McEntire, the ceremony will stream live on Prime Video at 8PM ET / 5PM PT. Don't miss our continuing coverage backstage at audacy.com/acm.

Backstage at the 60th ACM Awards, Eric Church checked in to talk about his performance on the big show, his new album, 'Evangeline vs. The Machine,' and his upcoming tour. The Chief also told Katie Neal about his spot on Morgan Wallen's upcoming album, due out next Friday. The 60th Academy of Country Music Awards show is taking place on May 8 from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Hosted by 16-time ACM Award–winning entertainment icon Reba McEntire, the ceremony will stream live on Prime Video at 8PM ET / 5PM PT. Don't miss our continuing coverage backstage at audacy.com/acm.

Throughout his career, there's been a few songs that really struck Cody Johnson, but he wasn't sure if they should be singles. Thankfully the fans have the final vote, and have pushed tracks like "'Til You Can't" and the latest single, "The Fall," into the spotlight. Backstage at the 2025 ACM Awards, Cody explained why it's always up to the fans, and shared his excited with Katie Neal for this week's award show. The 60th Academy of Country Music Awards show is taking place on May 8 from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Hosted by 16-time ACM Award–winning entertainment icon Reba McEntire, the ceremony will stream live on Prime Video at 8PM ET / 5PM PT. Don't miss our continuing coverage backstage at audacy.com/acm.

Backstage at the 2025 ACM Awards, Tucker Wetmore talks with Katie Neal about the reaction from fans after releasing his debut album, and how it feels to be collaborating with Thomas Rhett. The 60th Academy of Country Music Awards show is taking place on May 8 from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Hosted by 16-time ACM Award–winning entertainment icon Reba McEntire, the ceremony will stream live on Prime Video at 8PM ET / 5PM PT. Don't miss our continuing coverage backstage at audacy.com/acm.

Our Audacy 'LAUNCH' artist, Hudson Westbrook, is making the most of first ACM Awards, dipping in and back out immediately to continue life on the road. It's not something he planned for at the beginning of the year, but the success has been "insane" and amazing for the Texas native. The "House Again" singer caught up with Katie Neal backstage to talk about being able to drive his truck to the award show, the things he always forgets at home, and more. The 60th Academy of Country Music Awards show is taking place on May 8 from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Hosted by 16-time ACM Award–winning entertainment icon Reba McEntire, the ceremony will stream live on Prime Video at 8PM ET / 5PM PT. Don't miss our continuing coverage backstage at audacy.com/acm.

Blake Shelton has a lot to celebrate this week, including his 30th number one single and being back on stage at the 2025 ACM Awards. Backstage he told Katie Neal how "unbelievable" it is to notch his 30th chart-topper, and shared who he won't lock eyes with when performing at the ACMs. "Those Dan + Shay guys, they're pretty idiotic," he joked. "Shay is always doing something stupid." The 60th Academy of Country Music Awards show is taking place on May 8 from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Hosted by 16-time ACM Award–winning entertainment icon Reba McEntire, the ceremony will stream live on Prime Video at 8PM ET / 5PM PT. Don't miss our continuing coverage backstage at audacy.com/acm.

Backstage at the 2025 ACM Awards, Katie Neal caught up with 'Entertainer of the Year' nominee, Kelsea Ballerini, who shared how proud she is of her nomination and also detailed her day out with Noah Kahan at Dollywood. The 60th Academy of Country Music Awards show is taking place on May 8 from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Hosted by 16-time ACM Award–winning entertainment icon Reba McEntire, the ceremony will stream live on Prime Video at 8PM ET / 5PM PT. Don't miss our continuing coverage backstage at audacy.com/acm.

Just a few days away from the release of his 13th studio album, and potentially on the cusp of his 30th number one song, Blake Shelton shared with Katie Neal the moment that inspired him to jump back into the album arena. "I've been so excited and grateful to see the reception that it's gotten because, man, I hadn't even made an album in years," Blake says of the success of "Texas" which continues to climb the charts. "I was kind of OK with that because, I just kind of been in the grind with 'The Voice,' and just my career over the last, you know, now quarter century." "It wasn't until Post Malone called and asked if I would sing 'Pour Me A Drink' with him for his record, and then it came out as a single, and then we made a video, and just being around him and his excitement for Country music and how much he loves it," shares Shelton. "It truly did. I credit Post all the time. It was the wake up call I needed to realize, 'what am I doing?' I get to be a Country singer and a handful of people in the world get to do what I do, and I need to get back in there and make another record." First up with his new lit fire was "Texas," which Blake says is a "once in a lifetime" song. "It's just when you hear it, it's it for me anyway, it was impossible to get it out of my mind. I'd wake up in the middle of the night just singing my own song. Like normally if I make a record and by the time I get a mixed version of it, I'm so sick of it. I never want to hear it again, you know, when you work on something like that. And I just still sitting here right now, it's so much fun, that song. I love the George Strait references in there, and 'All My Ex's.' It's just been a blast." After his collab with Post Malone marked Shelton's 29th number one, could "Texas" be lucky number 30? "if we're able to get to 30, I may lose my mind," smiles Blake. "That might be the thing that sends me over the edge." To hear more from Blake Shelton about his show, 'The Road,' the title of his upcoming album, 'For Recreational Use Only,' and being mixed up with Luke Bryan, check out the full 'Superstar Power Interview' with Katie Neal above.

It's been a big week for Tucker Wetmore, who just released his album, 'What Not To,' thrilled the Country crowd at Stagecoach, and now is gearing up for a summer tour with Thomas Rhett. Before the whirlwind of the past few days, Katie Neal had a chance to talk with Tucker, sharing some of the stories behind the songs on his latest effort, and how he has felt about his rapid rise over the past year and a half. "I'm ready to get it out in the world, it's been a long time coming," Tucker shared about his official debut album. "Nothing in my life for the past year and a half has felt real, but yeah, I'm just blessed." "There's a couple different themes to the album, but I actually wrote 'Goodbye Whiskey' as the outro track, originally when I first wrote it, and that's why it's produced out the way it is and that's why it's set up and it kind of feels like an outro," says Wetmore about one of the three "Whiskey" songs on the nineteen track album. "But it felt like the perfect medium to the next step of the album. So I was like, 'that has to go right there.' It feels like I'm closing a chapter and then opening up a new one and then boom, 'Whiskey Again,'" which closes out the album for Tucker. "I'm right back to square one." Check out the full interview with Tucker Wetmore above.

It's a coin toss once again when it comes to Cole Swindell. With a big 2025 ahead of the "Forever To Me" singer, we can't decide if we're more excited about his upcoming album, 'Spanish Moss,' or that upcoming baby he's expecting with his wife, Courtney. "That's kind of taking over everything in our lives, and I'm totally cool with that," Cole tells Katie Neal during this week's 'Superstar Power Hour.' "It's been awesome." "I think the first trimester was a little rough. She didn't have much energy and I was like, 'wow this is a lot different,' you know. I noticed she does a lot around here," the soon-to-be "girl dad" explains. "But she's feeling good and everything has gone great so far, so we're just, really thankful." Swindell is also expecting a new album, with 'Spanish Moss' set to be released this June. It took over 2 and half years for Cole to create the album, working with numerous writers and producers, and doing a lot of living that influenced the music. "It's literally different seasons of life happen in between albums and I've always tried to do that," he reveals. "I said, 'you know, the best song wins,' but when you're working on something for over 2 and a half years, I think you build up stuff that you love." To hear much more from Cole Swindell about the meaning behind 'Spanish Moss' and the stories behind some of its songs, check out the full 'Superstar Power Hour' interview above.

Jon Pardi is back with his new album, 'Honkytonk Hollywood,' and he joins Katie Neal this week on the 'Superstar Power Hour' to talk all about it. Packed with 17 new songs and produced by Jay Joyce, Pardi returns with his signature blend of soaring guitars and tear-inducing tenderness on 'Honkytonk Hollywood,' an album named for the glitzy glow up that Music City has seen over several years. "This is not the Hollywood you think about, this is boots and rhinestones and glitz and glamour and every artist has got a bar downtown, and TV and film and the music business, and like 5 star hotels," explains Pardi. "I mean how many fancy restaurants does Nashville have now? We are spoiled. This is the new booming town and it's all a bunch of glamorous rednecks, Honkytonk Hollywood." The driving force behind the record, Jon co-wrote half the album and was the one who reached out to Joyce to produce, thanks to a sign from Tom Petty. "Tom Petty helped out because at the time I was really like, 'what do I do with the next record?'" "Tom Petty, they just released last year, the 'Wildflowers' documentary and it was like hidden footage, but it was old footage from when they did the record with Rick Rubin. He was talking about how he likes to switch up producers every 3 or 4 records because it made him a better songwriter, better artist, and a better musician. I was like, 'Tom Petty's doing it!' I think it was a sign from Tom Petty, and I was like, 'I gotta do it, Tom.' Call Jay later that week and he had open the same time that I had opened, and it was like meant to be." Pardi brings the party per usual on 'Honkytonk Hollywood,' but also hits the heartstrings with a few family songs, "He Went To Work," and "She Drives Away." "I went on TikTok and I'm like, man, the amount of videos that 'She Drives Away' has been used. I mean like fresh newborn girls, and like it's just kind of sets that mood, and it's really fun to watch that," gushes Pardi. "Just to see everybody being human beings and relating to music. I feel like this is a really emotional and soulful record, it's fun but it's also, sexy and family. I mean, it's got a little bit of everything." To hear much more from Jon Pardi including tour plans and beyond, check out the full 'Superstar Power Hour' interview above.

Keith Urban invited us into his new Nashville studio space, to talk about the path to his latest single, "STRAIGHT LINE," and his anxiousness to hit the road for his upcoming tour. Describing it as a bit of a "fixer upper," Urban welcomed Katie Neal into his new studio with a lot of history for the hitmaker. "So I've got a lot of history in this place and can't believe it's now mine," he shares. Joking that he's learned "too much about mold remediation" during the renovation process, Keith explains that he's been looking for a studio for a long time and that the timing was right for this space. "I feel like I bought the school I went to. That's what it feels like." The lead track from his latest LP, 'HIGH,' Keith explains that his new song "STRAIGHT LINE" was "really born of a spark of energy." "It was written really from the music outwards, and it just sounded like a song that was breaking out of the monotony and claiming your life back again." But Urban admits that the origin of the song wasn't quite the straight line that you would think, explaining that it actually came from a misheard lyric. "One of the guys was singing so quietly that when he said 'late night lover,' it sounded like 'straight line lover,' and we're like, oh, 'straight line lover's interesting, what's that? And then we just got rid of the lover and it became straight line." Next up for Urban is his 'High and Alive Tour,' which the GRAMMY winner can't wait for. "I'm super impatient right now. I wish I was touring this tomorrow." Don't miss so much more from Keith Urban on touring, TV, and Australia on this week's 'Superstar Power Hour' with Katie Neal.

Lainey Wilson stopped by the 'Terra Origin Interview Lounge' on her way to bringing the house down at Audacy's 'Leading Ladies' last week, taking the stage alongside a group of amazing women while sharing songs, stories, and so much mutual appreciation. "I cannot believe I'm getting to sit on the stage," Lainey gushed about getting to spend time with fellow Leading Lady, Gwen Stefani. The two had only met in passing previously, but were quick to praise each other on stage at the Kings Theatre. But before the two icons connected in the spotlight, Katie Neal caught up with Lainey about her recent ACM Awards nomination, and her plans for an upcoming wedding to fiancé Devlin 'Duck' Hodges. "I think it's going to be small," Wilson shared, admitting not much planning has taken place quite yet. "We have said everything else is a big old to do. We just want this to be about what it's supposed to be about and have our friends and family there and just really enjoy that moment." "I definitely, probably will have like a jazz band from New Orleans, something like that. We'll definitely, probably ride off on horses, or ride in on a horse, maybe in on a carriage off on a horse." As for that ACM Awards nomination, "Oh, my gosh. Girl. I don't think that will ever get old," Lainey exclaimed. "I know that they're not going to always be calling my name like forever, you know? So I soak up those moments. I really do. I have to." To hear more from Lainey Wilson check out her full interview from the 'Terra Origin Interview Lounge' above and visit audacy.com/leadingladies for more.