New music from Keith Urban is here with the release of his new album, HIGH, and he joined Audacy’s Katie Neal for a conversation surrounding the songs, creative process, and “dark humor” of the title.

After a public battle to sobriety nearly 20 years ago, Keith isn’t hiding from his past with the title, HIGH, which may raise some eyebrows now that he is 18 years sober. “I love the dark comedy of it, given my past. That's very intentional,” Keith said of the title. “But it also means something different to every person that hears the word. I mean, some people immediately think of just great sort of euphoria, or being in a mountain, or being in love, or getting good news, or being fit and healthy, or whatever it is. It's a place…. how we all get there is different but we all agree on the destination.”

With many of the songs capturing the feelings and moments of being “high on life,” Urban does address his dark past head-on with the closing track, “BREAK THE CHAIN.” A song that was born out of his own struggles with drug and alcohol addiction in addition to growing up with an alcoholic father. While the subject matter is heavy, Urban presents pure hope and a refreshing mindset to those that may be going through a hard time.

“That was just one of those beautiful, divine days where a song wants to come out and we happen to be in the right place at the right time portaling it in,” he said of writing the song alongside Marc Scibilia. “That song wanted to be here and I'm grateful that we were able to bring it in because it was not something I had in mind.”

He continued, “I come from a family with an alcoholic father and being raised in that environment… all its challenges aren't really apparent at the time, but as I get older I've got a lot of dysfunctions I'm trying to work through,” he expressed. “I can either keep blaming my circumstance, which is not my fault… it's nobody's fault whose family they're born into, but at some point it becomes my responsibility to change that… No matter what it is, that bit is up to me to be willing to take the steps to change past behaviors and break the chain.”

While clearly unafraid to touch on topics of real intensity, Keith also gives us plenty of his fun, playful, guitar-shredding style on songs like, “LAUGHIN’ ALL THE WAY TO THE DRANK,” where he not only name-checks actor, Matthew McConaughey, but also gives his best impression writing, “alright, alright, alright,” into the lyrics.

“I actually FaceTimed him when I was recording the song,” Keith said, before sharing he asked McConaughey if he’d be interested in coming in to record his infamous “Alright, alright, alright” line for the track. Unfortunately, McConaughey filming schedule didn’t allow him to make it happen, however, Urban said he was very appreciative for the shout-out.

In addition to brand new songs like “LAUGHIN’ ALL THE WAY TO THE DRANK,” and “BREAK THE CHAIN,” fans will also hear some familiar tunes on the album including current single, “MESSED UP AS ME,” and previously-released tracks, “HEART LIKE A HOMETOWN,” “STRAIGHT LINE,” WILDSIDE” and “GO HOME W U (WITH LAINEY WILSON).”

Experience the "HIGH" of them all by checking out the new album, HIGH, available now.

Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Katie Neal

Country music is having a global moment and Tullahoma, Tennessee native, Dustin Lynch, could not be more proud.

During his time as a guest on Audacy’s Superstar Power Hour with Katie Neal, Lynch opened up about the current state of Country music and the excitement he feels seeing others embrace the genre he’s known his entire life.

“With the success of Morgan [Wallen] worldwide and Luke Combs and then the album that HARDY made [Quit!] that was rippin’ and rockin’, it's really opened to a lot of these, ‘I hate Country. I'm a Rock fan. I'm a Rap fan’ people,” Dustin shared of the current expansion of the Country music fanbase. “It’s opened the genre up… some guys and girls that probably had always written Country music off as a whole and dip their toe in it. They go, ‘Oh, maybe I like this.’”

While there’s clearly been a major shift in the acceptance from once-skeptical fans, there’s also been a shift on the artist side as mainstream artists are also taking a dip in the Country pool. With unexpected Country albums from Beyoncè and Post Malone this year, Country music is gaining appeal to more artists and Lynch says he’s witnessed the impact first hand with pal and Alternative Rocker/Rapper, Machine Gun Kelly.

Dustin shared he and MGK have been friends for a few years as they’re both part of an annual group trip to Lake Powell, and the the change in his attitude surrounding Country from their first meeting has been monumental. “The first year that I was on that trip, you couldn't get Kells [MGK] to even give Country the time of day,” Dustin said. “Really, he hated it… Since then, it's evolved. I think the genre has, you know, probably in a way made him respect and recognize.”

It’s been quite the evolution for MGK as he went from not giving Country music the time of day to now having his own Country collaboration with one of modern-day Country’s biggest artists, Jelly Roll. In July, the pair gave one of the genre’s most iconic songs the crossover treatment with the release of “Lonely Road,” which samples John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” from 1971.

Mainstream artists like Machine Gun Kelly aren’t the only ones having fun with the shake-up — longtime Country artists like Dustin himself are also enjoying pushing the boundaries of what Country music has always been and that’s exactly what Lynch did with his most-recent single, “Chevrolet,” featuring Jelly Roll.

“I was scared to death of it.” Lynch admitted when he first heard the song which interpolates Dobie Gray's "Drift Away" from 1973. “Interpolation of a classic song that’s been around forever — it's like, ‘Okay, can we do this again?’”

He continued, “I was just nervous. I didn't want to be judged, you know, and that's probably why the conversation ever started [of featuring Jelly Roll]. Like, ‘Should we bring in somebody else in to soften the blow?’”

With the song recently reaching number one on the charts marking a 10th hit record for Lynch, he’s happy he went for it, but says he’s ready to return to a more original Country sound with his new music, which is in the works.

“There's a song on the Killed the Cowboy album that really inspired, I think, what's going to be the next chapter for me,” Lynch revealed. “And that’s, 'Honky Tonk Heartbreaker,' just musically and sonically, that one excites me a lot. It's fresh and new for me, kind of getting back to where I started with, 'Cowboys and Angels,' a little bit. There's no definite direction yet.”

While all the logistics if the next album are still very much in the beginning stages, Lynch says there’s one thing for sure — he wants it to be fun. “I want to keep it light and fun and make music for guys and girls to dance too,” he shared. “I think that's kind of where I'm at in life right now just providing some fun for some people… I think I want more of those moments in our show right now.”

Hear more about his ideas surrounding a new album, his friendship with MGK, his inability to “veg out” and more by checking out Dustin Lynch’s full interview on the Superstar Power Hour with Katie Neal above.

Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Katie Neal

Chris Young is a man of many talents. Not only does he have 14 number ones under his belt at Country radio — including his most recent, “Young Love and Saturday Nights,” but he’s also a closet breakdancer.

Young’s breakdancing talent has been exposed thanks to his mom, Becky Harris, who shared his secret during an appearance on the Got It From My Mama Podcast with Jennifer Vickery Smith which has resurfaced following breakdancing being added to the Olympics this year.

“Down on second avenue [Nashville] there was a group of B-boys that would actually go meet up so i would play shows acoustic and then go down to second avenue and they had cardboard and a drummer.”

He continued “A lot of those guys were really close friends of mine and I just picked it up. It was something that I thought was really fun. I guess that's part of me being a Gemini because that has absolutely no bearing on me being a Country artist.”

While Young seems to have some serious cred, fans shouldn’t expect to see him bust any moves at upcoming shows. “It’s a party trick,” he said when asked if he could bust out some moves on the spot. “Nor will I do it on stage because everybody immediately goes and asks for that.”

Breakdancing may have no place on Young’s current Young Love & Saturday Nights Tour, but he did share some unexpected things that do when asked about his pre-show rituals.

“There are multiple handshakes, there are certain things that I'm just a creature of habit about praying before I go on stage,” he shared. “My stage manager always has a movie quote that he says once we're ready to go for the show — different movie every day and we all have to try and guess what movie it is. I actually love that.”

We’re sure many of those quotes come from sports movies as Young is a known sports fanatic made clear by the bling he sports on his finger which is a legitimate World Series ring for the Texas Rangers. “I know people that know people,” he said when asked how he got the official bling.

“I didn’t think honestly I’d be able to get one,” he admitted. “I was making a casual observation that those rings are really, really cool and I used to live in Arlington, Texas and went to Rangers games.”

Definitely a man of many different hobbies, music still holds the top spot in Young’s heart and he’s feeling extra grateful that his most recent album, Young Love & Saturday Nights, has been received so well by fans. “There's so many songs that people have leaned into,” he said of the project, which released earlier this year. “That's really all you're hoping for as an artist is for people to love your music and relate to it.”

Hear about the music, hobbies, breakdancing and so much more by checking out Young’s full conversation with Audacy’s Katie Neal on the Superstar Power Hour above.

Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Katie Neal