Katie & Company

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Bailey Zimmerman on the making of 'Different Night Same Rodeo' Aug 28, 2025

Show notes

Bailey Zimmerman seems to live at an 11, always turned up and ready to go. But it's some advice from a fellow Country star that has taught him to pump the breaks once in while, because nobody is going to do it for him.

Riding high off the release of his new album, 'Different Night Same Rodeo,' Zimmerman joined Katie Neal in the studio to talk about the making of his sophomore album, and also shared the wise words given to him by HARDY about his motor that's always running.

"My favorite thing I ever learned actually was from HARDY," Bailey reveals, sharing HARDY told him, "You have a jet pack on your back right now that they've strapped on you and they've made it go, but they are not going to tell you to shut it off and chill out."

"Eventually that motor is gonna burn out. So you don't want to do that. Make sure you know when to shut the jetpack off and chill out for a little bit and take time for you," he relays. "Everybody's gonna want you to keep going. And when you feel like you shouldn't and you need time, take the time because that's gonna affect your future and everything."

"Ever since I heard that, I was like, 'no, if HARDY tells me to do this, I'm gonna do that,'" he adds. "That was a big, big thing for me because at the end of the day, I'm still human. I got feelings, I got things going on in real life. So taking time off for yourself, shutting the jet pack off for a little while and chilling out is something I learned from HARDY, and I will probably always remember that."

Never has that advice been more precious for Bailey, as the "Comin' In Cold" singer is in a whirlwind of promotion for his new album, 'Different Night Same Rodeo.' "I was just excited to see if I could do it again, you know, and see if I could create another album," Zimmerman modestly admits. "If I'm being completely honest, when I created 'Religiously. The Album.' I didn't really know what I was doing. I had no idea it was my first time putting an album together. It's my first time really touring, being an artist, singing, I'm trying to learn guitar. I'm learning all this stuff. And now I'm 25 and I just learned so much from that record."

"It gave me a lot of confidence having to, I guess, back 'Religiously' up with this new album because I was like, 'no, I can do it.' Now I'm even smarter and I know even more now, and I know who I wanna be, what I wanna say, the production, what I want to sound like," shares Bailey. "I would say I was just really excited to get it out and I'm so, so thankful it's out now because, wow. Holding it close to my chest sucked. I was so ready to give it to everybody because I had worked so hard on it."

To hear from Bailey Zimmerman on the making of 'Different Night Same Rodeo,' filming his music video at Stagecoach with Luke Combs, and more, check out the full interview above.

Thomas Rhett on finally playing Fenway and his secret to a happy marriage Aug 22, 2025

Show notes

Take it from Thomas Rhett. The GRAMMY-nominated singer knows a thing or four about kids, life on the road, navigating the Country music industry, and maintaining a happy marriage. This week on the 'Superstar Power Hour,' TR talked about it all with Katie Neal, sharing his mentoring journey with artists like Tucker Wetmore and his secret to keeping his marriage strong.

Rhett and his wife Lauren are one of music's greatest love stories, and Thomas admits that his "secret" to a happy marriage comes down to "being aligned."

"Be aligned on all fronts," Rhett tells Katie. "Finances, the way that we're gonna raise our kids, the schools we're gonna go to, church we're gonna go to, just being right here the whole way makes for so much more of a peaceful marriage, but it takes work and it takes a lot of conversation and, you know, maybe some arguments here and there, but I think just alignment is what I would say."

Thomas has learned a lot of lessons in marriage and in music, and is taking that knowledge and trying to pass it down to the next generation of Country stars. "I feel like this year and last year I've gotten to know so many of the newer artists in our format," he reveals. "They all just happen to be a decade younger than me."

"That's been kind of the the biggest joy of my life right now. I still love playing shows and love writing, but when younger artists do come to me and ask me for any, not even just show advice, but 'how do I have a family and do this' or 'how do I have kids and do this?' That's gonna become one of my favorite parts of being in this business right now is just sort of being a guy that's done it for 14 years and made all the wrong decisions and some of the right ones, and being able to lead people in a direction where they can hopefully not do the same things bad that I did."

It's true, Thomas has become a monument to balance with a beautiful family and an outstanding career, but he cautions that it didn't happen by accident. "Listen, we've done a lot of work, we've all done a lot of therapy, we've all worked a lot on ourselves and, I think that that's kind of put us where we are now and it's been fun to pour into younger people. I feel like my wife and I both, we love doing that so much."

To hear much more from Thomas Rhett on touring, playing Fenway Park, and learning from Luke Bryan, check out the full interview above.

Luke Bryan on fake feuds with other artists: 'I just wanna grill the beef' Aug 14, 2025

Show notes

One thing about Luke Bryan, he's always going to deliver a good time. It might be while you're shaking it to a setlist packed with hits, or it could be when he's cutting up with other artists on social media, but the party always seems to follow the "Knockin' Boots" singer. The music and comedy go hand-in-hand with Luke, and he tells Katie Neal that it's all in good fun.

"I think that's the hurdle in society this day, when you go into comedy, the comedians they gotta go for the big joke," he shares. "Sometimes if I'm having fun up there I wanna go for the big joke, and if you do that there's a percentage that they're not always gonna land like you want them, but I think you gotta trust your fans to know you got a good heart under there and don't twist it around too much."

Bryan has become a sensation of social media, aside from pranks within his family, for his good-natured "feuds" with other artists like Riley Green and Blake Shelton. "I mean people will really worry about me and Blake," he laughs about the decades-long bit. "The day that Country music loses that or any of that gets lost, I mean, listen, there's real beefs that go on, but I don't know. I don't have time for beefs. I just wanna grill the beef."

To hear more from Luke Bryan about his hit, "Country Song Came On," his summer tour, and a look back at who he was in high school, listen to the full 'Superstar Power Hour' interview above.

Jordan Davis on his upcoming album and newborn baby: 'It's been a blessing' Aug 07, 2025

Show notes

Jordan Davis delivers again this month with the release of his new album, 'Learn The Hard Way.' The singer is celebrating his latest labor of love, coming almost a month after welcoming another newborn into his home, his daughter Sadie, who is the 4th child for Jordan and his wife Kristen.

"She's perfect," gushes Jordan during his visit with Katie Neal for this week's 'Superstar Power Hour.' "I mean honestly like just sleeping, eating, healthy, such a calm demeanor. The kiddos love her to death. Mama's happy. Mama's healthy. So it's been a blessing."

"It's definitely, you know, the process of keeping one alive now, we at least feel like, all right, we figured out 3, but yeah the change in getting 4 kids ready to go somewhere, or getting 4 people fed and asleep before 9 o'clock, is tough."

Davis actually had a show on Sadie's due date he admits, but he managed to make it back in time. "My only saving grace on that show was it was booked so long in advance, and I asked her at the time," he shares. Initially the show was only around the due date, but things change over nine months. "Then the due date starts changing, and then you're like, 'oh,' so I had like at least a little bit of defense there. Don't get me wrong, I was still in hot water, but that was a Saturday... I landed back at 2 o'clock on Sunday and she got here Tuesday morning. So it wasn't super close, but yeah."

Much easier to predict is the release date for 'Learn The Hard Way,' which we know for sure lands on August 15. "This is definitely the record that went the longest without having a name, and I don't know why," Jordan tells Katie. "I just wanted to get back to fun, and I wanted this record to be fun live and I think that's one of the reasons why it took forever."

"But when I heard 'Learn the Hard Way,' that was the first time I kind of saw the thread through a few of these songs about somebody missing something," he explains. "You can kind of go back and be like, 'all right, there's a common character through this album that is kind of always going back and trying to fix something that he probably should have fixed back then.'"

"Then personally, even with 4 kids and music being better than I ever would have dreamed, there's still a few things that I'm kind of having to learn the tough way."

To hear more from Jordan Davis about his family and upcoming album, check out the full conversation with Katie Neal above.

Luke Combs on his ‘oddly normal life’ and what’s next Jul 31, 2025

Show notes

Luke Combs has found the balance between two kids at home and a bigger-than-life career as one of the most acclaimed artists in music. His secret? Just be yourself.

"I don't operate, really ever I feel like is whatever the public version of me is, because it's not really any different than who I just am anyways," The "Back In The Saddle" singer tells Katie Neal during this week's 'Superstar Power Hour.' "Whatever the persona is, it's just who I am, so it's easy to just be myself, and that's what I always wanted."

"I didn't wanna have to pretend to be anything that I'm not when I'm doing interviews or at home or around people I don't know, or at the grocery store or whatever, you know what I mean? I live an oddly normal life to be honest. I feel like, and that's the way I wanted it to be."

Part of that normal life is having too many remotes and not knowing what they all do. For Combs, it came to light in a video where fans noticed a wide array of what appears to be garage door openers. "Yeah, there's been a lot of speculation on the garage door front," he laughs.

"So there's two clickers in there that have one button on them, so I have one clicker that's for my house garage. I have one clicker that's for my gate. I have a 3rd clicker that's for a detached garage that was there when we bought our house, and so that one does that. One clicker from my old gate that we don't even have anymore, so I just left it on there... I got a good collection. I could really probably have two clickers, but I have like 6."

"When we bought our place, it was just, those were just the clickers that were like that they had from down in the houses from the 50s or something so, that was just all the clickers they had and I was just too lazy to reprogram them."

Aside from collecting clickers, Combs has been racking up recordings for whatever his next project will become. "I probably got one recording session left on it, but I've already recorded, I don't know over 30 songs I would think," he reveals. "I don't know that there's any plans to do like the big album thing. I just don't know if I'd love that idea. There's nothing against it. I mean, obviously it works really well."

"I don't know what it's called yet. It's hard to know without having everything recorded," he adds. "Right now we're just, we have the songs we need."

"I'm really stoked about everything that we've recorded. I think it's really, really strong stuff," Combs gushes. "Obviously everyone says that about every album they've ever done, so take that with a grain of salt, but it's really just up to people how good it is, but I'm I'm really excited about it. I'm really stoked to to be getting back into it."

To hear more from Luke Combs on family, plans for next year, and current collabs, check out the full conversation with Katie Neal above.

Sam Hunt on having 3 children under 3 Jul 24, 2025

Show notes

Sam Hunt was rested and refreshed for a bit, but now he's back on the road and managing a newborn at home, his 3rd child under 3, and it's led to the best kind of chaos for the "Country House" singer.

"I've been good. Been enjoying a little time off. We're back on the road now, so I would say I feel refreshed, but that was about 6 weeks ago and, I had a new baby get here," Sam shares with Katie Neal. "So the past 6 weeks, I haven't gotten a whole lot of sleep, but I'm still on cloud 9."

Weyman Allen Hunt is Hunt and wife Hannah's third child in 3 years, but everyone seems to be figuring it out. "They seem to be adjusting," says Sam, but then again so is Sam. "They're getting old enough now to, you know, they'll just kind of go off and do their own thing, and still they understand how they need to be gentle and not so rambunctious around the baby. They're learning that, but they're getting better at it. We're all getting along well."

"New baby needing so much time with Hannah, I have to be the distraction for the other two kids," the GRAMMY-nominated star admits. "So I'm pretty good with them, but it's been rare up to this point that I've had them really like, just me without Hannah close by. So all the little things like, 'Where are your shirts?' or 'Where are your shoes?' You know, all these little things that Hannah's always doing, like getting them dressed and that sort of thing. I needed to know these things, but I have learned how to manage on my own."

It hopefully helps to have a song climbing up the charts while you have 3 children climbing up the walls, and that's also the case for Sam Hunt with "Country House."

"This is one that, when I started writing it, I thought about my little cabin in the woods where I have lived for several years now," Sam reveals. "We're about to outgrow it."

"More of the lifestyle of just being married with kids, and out in the woods and, raising the kids and just content. So that was sort of the inspiration behind the song. It started with the title just 'Country House' and a lot of songs start with just a phrase that I hear it, or I see it written down, and it just jumps out at me like it sort of screams 'this is supposed to be a song that's a part of your catalog.' So let's go."

"Once I zero in on an idea like that, I'll take the time to try to get the song right. And that's kind of how this song came about."

To hear much more from Sam Hunt check out the full 'Superstar Power Hour' interview above.

Dierks Bentley on 'Broken Branches,' being a 'banned' fan at the Grand Ole Opry Jul 17, 2025

Show notes

Dierks Bentley is currently celebrating the release of his new album, 'Broken Branches,' and recently made time to talk with Katie Neal about his latest project, and the story of his temporary ban from the Grand Ole Opry.

"It's kind of surreal to have it be done," Dierks says of the release of his latest album, 'Broken Branches.' "You spend, like you said, so much time working on the album. It's different now than it was when you first started putting records out. There's some preloading that happens now, the little videos you make for each song and releasing tracks along the way before the album comes out, then once it does come out, it's kind of like, it feels pretty final, where it used to be you put the album out, there's a lot of stuff behind it that happens, but now with obviously streaming once you put the album out it's really out and everyone can access every song and it feels pretty great. I'm really happy to have it out there."

After diving into the making of some of the album's key tracks, our 2025 'Stars and Strings' headliner also shared a story of the time he was "banned" from the Grand Ole Opry because he was too big of a fan.

"I used to work at TNN, The Nashville Network, which is a building directly across the driveway from where the Grand Ole Opry is," recalls Bentley. "On Fridays, you could just sign this piece of paper and let them know you're gonna come over. So I'd signed this piece of paper and say, 'Hey, I'm gonna be at the Opry tonight,' and you could get a pass to come in backstage and watch the show. It was great. I'd do it every Friday and Saturday, and then I go down to Lower Broadway afterwards."

"I did it every weekend and finally, they sent an email out to my employer saying, 'Hey, Dierks a nice guy, but he can't come to the Opry every single night. Sorry, we just can't have him back there every night.' So they kind of kicked me out from backstage, from doing that back then."

Dierks eventually got "the ultimate backstage pass," when he became a member of the Opry in 2005. "I was just too big of a fan, going too often."

To hear more from Dierks Bentley on his album, tour, working with Zach Top, and more check out the full 'Superstar Power Hour' interview above. And don't forget to get your tickets to see Dierks and more at Audacy's 'Stars and Strings' on November 6.

Miranda Lambert on MuttNation success stories and what's inspiring her new music Jul 14, 2025

Show notes

Miranda Lambert recently joined Katie Neal during the 'Superstar Power Hour' to celebrate the release of her new song with Chris Stapleton, "A Song To Sing," discuss her work on new music, and the success of her MuttNation charity helping shelter animals across the country.

"We started as just me and my mom, a little mom and pop operation and raising over $10 million has been, it's crazy, it blows my mind," Miranda says of the success of her charity and the work they've been able to do. "I'm so thankful for people that give because we really vet every single place we give the money."

"$10 million later we have been able to save and help thousands of shelters, thousands, hundreds of thousands of shelter animals."

"A Song To Sing" has served as the perfect soundtrack to summer from two of Country's greatest voices, and Lambert still has more up her sleeve. "I've been writing a ton and I have some plans," she reveals. Working on her own new label she shares is "inspiring," because "it's great music and it's making me want to go create my own. I've been writing a ton and I have some little wildcards up my sleeve, I think, but I'm like really excited that in the middle of all that that I have a song, 'A Song To Sing,' here for this era in my life where I'm just feeling creative."

Ella Langley on Pets, Peppermint Pre-Show Rituals, and More Jul 08, 2025

Show notes

As Ella Langley's star continues to rise, she's bringing good vibes wherever she goes. From her non-profit animal work with Pawsitive Pets Paradise, to making good on a promise to her sister to take to her to Hawaii, right down to the intentions she sets before each show with her band, the "weren't for the wind" singer recently kept Katie Neal company during the 'Superstar Power Hour' and told us all about it.

Ella continues "taking each step up the ladder" on tour, as she gets closer to the headliner at stadiums across the country, playing shows with Riley Green and Morgan Wallen. Langley shares her own pre-show ritual with the band, that helps get them set to take the stage. "We've been doing, very consistently, peppermint oil," she reveals. "We just put a little bit in the palm of our hand, rub it together, and kind of talk about our intentions on the show and what we want the show to be for us, for them, for the crowd, just all the good vibes that you could possibly think of for walking out there, and then rubbing your hands together and then taking three massive breaths in."

Along with something she calls "loose body dancing," the natural moment has been mostly great for Ella and her band. "It just opens everything up and it's kind of like, 'whoa,' like a little bit of an adrenaline rush almost. It's kind of how like, it's smelling salts before they go out and play sports or whatever, it's kind of a similar thing to that, but probably not as intense. It's just a little more natural."

"Don't get it in your eyes though if you do it," she cautions. "It stays on your hands and we've all done it where we're all in the show, like our eyes are watering because there's so much peppermint oil in our eyes."

Langley plans to continue riding high on the success of her album, 'still hungover,' letting fans fully take in the effort before releasing something new. "My next record's not gonna be out until 2026," she shares. "I feel like people move on from their records so fast, they're like, 'here's a whole record of 20 something songs and then we're gonna give you one single off of it and then move on to the next record,' and I think there's something to be said with taking your time with making the record and putting all those pieces in place where it can last a long time, last in a way where fans can keep digging into it and digging into it and finding new songs that they love and finding new little pieces about the record that's different."

"I'm really just trying to do what feels right to me. I'm not really paying attention to what other artists have done or also doing that, but still keeping my blinders up in the way where it's like, this is my art. This is how I want to put it out. This is in the way that I think is would be best for my artistry, and that's what's so cool about the team that I have is everyone really does... they see the vision with me and they believe in it and execute it."

To hear much more from Ella Langley, check out the full 'Superstar Power Hour' interview above.

Parker McCollum | Superstar Power Hour Jun 26, 2025

Show notes

On the cusp of releasing his new, self-titled album, Parker McCollum joins Katie Neal this week for the 'Superstar Power Hour,' where the "Big Sky" singer shares an update on his family, talks about creating his new LP in New York City, and reveals what it's like to tour with the one and only, George Strait.

McCollum's self-titled new album, set to arrive everywhere on June 27, is a return to the authentic approach Parker took on his debut effort. "I feel like I finally figured out that just like being me is is really what I should do as an artist," he shares. "I spent so much time trying to be a Country singer and wanting to be a Country singer and wanting to sound like Country singers and I'm just like, 'man, I just don't think that I do,' and that's alright."

Recorded in New York City, McCollum says it was an intense, focused environment that helped create his latest collection. "I didn't go to a restaurant, I didn't go to a bar, I was either in my hotel room or in the studio for 7 days or in the car from one to the other. I ate room service, same meal, breakfast and dinner every night and went straight to the studio every day for about 10-11 hours, and it was intense and it was emotional and grueling and we just went after it."

This summer Parker McCollum will once again hit the road, this time touring with George Strait and Chris Stapleton in stadiums across the country. "I haven't spent any time with Chris, but George and I spent a little bit of time together and he's just an unbelievably kind human being," remarks Parker. "Just a really, really sweet man and he's the king of Country music. He's a living breathing legend and just the greatest to ever do it. And he just couldn't be more down to earth and genuine and kind, and, every time I've been around him, I've really enjoyed just getting to talk with him a little bit. I have a lot of respect for him."

To hear more from Parker McCollum on his new self-titled album, check out the full Superstar Power Hour interview above.

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