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“IT DOESN’T FEEL REAL, TRULY.” — BRANDON COLEMAN, HOLDING HIS 2ND ACM AWARD IN 2 YEARS. The Red Clay Strays just won ACM Group of the Year at the 61st ACM Awards in Las Vegas. Brandon Coleman held the trophy, looked out at the room, and said those words like he still couldn’t process where he was standing. But they weren’t done yet. They stepped back onto the stage. A full gospel choir — led by 3-time Grammy winner Shannon Sanders — walked out behind them. And when they opened “Demons In Your Choir,” the lead single from their upcoming album Grateful, something in the room changed. It stopped feeling like an awards show. It felt like Sunday morning. Coleman sang every line like it was personal. The choir didn’t just support him — they lifted the whole performance past what any band alone could do. The crowd at the MGM Grand rose to their feet. This is a band from Mobile, Alabama that opened for the Rolling Stones in 2024. And right now, they sound like they’re exactly where they’re supposed to be.

Brandon Coleman Says It “Doesn’t Feel Real” After The Red Clay Strays Win ACM Group of the Year

At the 61st ACM Awards in Las Vegas, The Red Clay Strays reached a moment that felt bigger than a trophy. Brandon Coleman held the ACM Group of the Year award in his hands, looked out across the room, and said, “It doesn’t feel real, truly.” It was an honest reaction, and it fit the night perfectly. For a band that has spent years building something from the ground up, the recognition felt both earned and surprising.

This was not just another industry win. It was their second ACM Award in two years, a sign that The Red Clay Strays are no longer a band on the rise. They are a band in command of the room. The moment carried extra weight because of where they came from: Mobile, Alabama, with a sound shaped by grit, heart, and a kind of old-school sincerity that fans connect with quickly.

A Night That Turned Into Something Bigger

After accepting the award, The Red Clay Strays were not finished. They returned to the stage for a performance that changed the mood inside the MGM Grand. A full gospel choir joined them, led by three-time Grammy winner Shannon Sanders, and the whole setting shifted in an instant. What had started as an awards-show appearance suddenly felt intimate and spiritual.

They performed “Demons In Your Choir,” the lead single from their upcoming album Grateful, and Brandon Coleman delivered every line with clear emotion. The choir did more than support the band; it expanded the performance into something larger, giving the song a sense of lift and urgency that the audience could feel right away. As the final notes rang out, the crowd rose to its feet.

It stopped feeling like an awards show. It felt like Sunday morning.

From Mobile To The World Stage

The Red Clay Strays have earned attention not by chasing trends, but by staying true to what makes them distinctive. Their sound blends country, rock, soul, and gospel in a way that feels lived-in rather than manufactured. That is part of why their success has resonated so strongly. When a band sounds this confident on a stage this large, people notice.

In 2024, The Red Clay Strays opened for The Rolling Stones, a major milestone for any group. That kind of opportunity does not happen by accident. It comes from momentum, credibility, and the kind of stage presence that can hold its own in front of huge audiences. Now, with another ACM win and a performance that left the room standing, the band seems to be entering a new chapter.

A Band Standing Exactly Where They Belong

Moments like these can feel fleeting in the music business, but The Red Clay Strays made this one feel grounded. Brandon Coleman’s words captured the disbelief, but the performance captured the confidence. Together, they told the story of a band that still remembers where it came from while standing firmly in a bigger spotlight.

For fans, the night was a reminder that real connection still matters. For The Red Clay Strays, it was proof that the journey has only gotten more meaningful. And for everyone watching, it was clear: this is a band that is exactly where it is supposed to be.

 

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ERIC CHURCH SPENT 8 MONTHS TRYING TO WRITE A SPEECH. THEN HE JUST PICKED UP HIS GUITAR. Last month, Eric Church walked onto the stage at Kenan Stadium to speak to over 7,100 UNC graduates. He’d been struggling for eight months to figure out what to say. Nothing felt right. Then one night, he stopped thinking and just picked up his guitar. That’s when it hit him — life runs on six strings. He compared each guitar string to something that holds a person together: faith, family, partnership, ambition, community, and staying true to who you are. When all six are in tune, everything sounds like music. When one drifts off, you feel it right away. The speech went viral. Millions of views. People calling it one of the greatest commencement speeches ever. And what nobody expected — but what he just revealed on Bussin’ With The Boys — is that book publishers started reaching out almost immediately. The book will be called The Six Strings of Your Life. Eight chapters. The speech, plus more. Eric Church wrote songs for 20 years. Turns out he had a whole book in him too.

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FOR 30 YEARS, HIS VOICE WOKE UP NASHVILLE EVERY SINGLE MORNING — NOW THAT VOICE IS GONE. Bill Cody — host of Coffee, Country & Cody on WSM Radio, Grand Ole Opry announcer, Country Radio Hall of Famer — passed away last night at 67. He started in radio at 12 years old at his dad’s small Kentucky station. Spent 54 years behind a microphone. When he finally got to WSM in 1994, Charlie Daniels walked in as his very first guest — and complained about the chocolate raspberry truffle coffee they served him. That little moment tells you everything about the kind of show Bill built. But what happened in his final weeks was something nobody saw coming. He’d been in the ICU fighting heart and kidney failure, waiting for a double transplant that never came. His daughter Hannah shared the news publicly on May 31st, and the whole country music world held its breath. WSM called him “a trusted voice, a generous friend.” He earned a star on the Music City Walk of Fame in 2024. But the people who loved him most were the ones who simply turned on the radio each morning and heard him say hello. Nashville is quieter today.

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35 FILMS IN 49 YEARS. AND RIDLEY SCOTT HAS NEVER ONCE MADE A PIRATE MOVIE — UNTIL NOW. The man behind Gladiator, Alien, Blade Runner — somehow never touched the pirate genre. Not once in nearly five decades. That just changed. Scott, now 88, is directing a new adaptation of Treasure Island. And the actor stepping into the boots of Long John Silver — literature’s most famous one-legged pirate — is Hugh Jackman. But here’s what makes this different from the 50+ adaptations before it. The script comes from Jack Thorne, the Emmy-winning writer behind Adolescence. Scott produces through Scott Free alongside Michael Pruss, with Thorne executive producing. No studio is attached yet. The package hit the market this week, and reportedly every major studio is expected to fight for it. Jackman’s next film, The Death of Robin Hood, opens June 19 through A24. He’s barely done playing one legend and already becoming another.

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ERIC CHURCH SPENT 8 MONTHS TRYING TO WRITE A SPEECH. THEN HE JUST PICKED UP HIS GUITAR. Last month, Eric Church walked onto the stage at Kenan Stadium to speak to over 7,100 UNC graduates. He’d been struggling for eight months to figure out what to say. Nothing felt right. Then one night, he stopped thinking and just picked up his guitar. That’s when it hit him — life runs on six strings. He compared each guitar string to something that holds a person together: faith, family, partnership, ambition, community, and staying true to who you are. When all six are in tune, everything sounds like music. When one drifts off, you feel it right away. The speech went viral. Millions of views. People calling it one of the greatest commencement speeches ever. And what nobody expected — but what he just revealed on Bussin’ With The Boys — is that book publishers started reaching out almost immediately. The book will be called The Six Strings of Your Life. Eight chapters. The speech, plus more. Eric Church wrote songs for 20 years. Turns out he had a whole book in him too.

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FOR 30 YEARS, HIS VOICE WOKE UP NASHVILLE EVERY SINGLE MORNING — NOW THAT VOICE IS GONE. Bill Cody — host of Coffee, Country & Cody on WSM Radio, Grand Ole Opry announcer, Country Radio Hall of Famer — passed away last night at 67. He started in radio at 12 years old at his dad’s small Kentucky station. Spent 54 years behind a microphone. When he finally got to WSM in 1994, Charlie Daniels walked in as his very first guest — and complained about the chocolate raspberry truffle coffee they served him. That little moment tells you everything about the kind of show Bill built. But what happened in his final weeks was something nobody saw coming. He’d been in the ICU fighting heart and kidney failure, waiting for a double transplant that never came. His daughter Hannah shared the news publicly on May 31st, and the whole country music world held its breath. WSM called him “a trusted voice, a generous friend.” He earned a star on the Music City Walk of Fame in 2024. But the people who loved him most were the ones who simply turned on the radio each morning and heard him say hello. Nashville is quieter today.

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35 FILMS IN 49 YEARS. AND RIDLEY SCOTT HAS NEVER ONCE MADE A PIRATE MOVIE — UNTIL NOW. The man behind Gladiator, Alien, Blade Runner — somehow never touched the pirate genre. Not once in nearly five decades. That just changed. Scott, now 88, is directing a new adaptation of Treasure Island. And the actor stepping into the boots of Long John Silver — literature’s most famous one-legged pirate — is Hugh Jackman. But here’s what makes this different from the 50+ adaptations before it. The script comes from Jack Thorne, the Emmy-winning writer behind Adolescence. Scott produces through Scott Free alongside Michael Pruss, with Thorne executive producing. No studio is attached yet. The package hit the market this week, and reportedly every major studio is expected to fight for it. Jackman’s next film, The Death of Robin Hood, opens June 19 through A24. He’s barely done playing one legend and already becoming another.

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21 YEARS PLAYING IN A FARMHOUSE BEFORE NASHVILLE EVEN KNEW THEIR NAME. THEN ONE ALBUM CHANGED EVERYTHING. The Kentucky Headhunters didn’t come from a label office. They came from a farmhouse in Edmonton, Kentucky, where Richard and Fred Young started playing with friends back in 1968. For over 20 years, they were just Itchy Brother — loud, messy, half-country, half-rock, too rough for anyone in Nashville to care. By 1986, they became The Kentucky Headhunters. In 1989, Mercury Records pressed just 15,000 copies of their debut, Pickin’ on Nashville, hoping maybe 30,000 would sell. What happened next, nobody in that building was ready for. Double platinum. A Grammy. CMA Album of the Year. Vocal Group of the Year. ACM Top New Vocal Group. “Dumas Walker” and “Oh Lonesome Me” became hits that made Nashville listen to the sound it had spent years turning away. They didn’t clean up to fit in. Nashville just ran out of reasons to keep them out.