Country Minute Podcast

James Shotwell
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The Country Minute Podcast brings you closer to the artists, songs, and moments defining today’s country music scene. Hosted by husband-and-wife team James and Laura Shotwell, each episode is an immersive, fan-centered journey through the world of country music. From exclusive artist interviews and deep dives into emerging trends to unforgettable stories from behind the scenes, we deliver the latest in a way that only true fans can. Built on the success of our social media content, Country Minute Podcast captures the vibrant, diverse, and ever-evolving nature of country music. It’s a space wh

  1. 11h ago

    Karen Fairchild Called Us Out + Jason Aldean Walked Right Past Us | Country Minute Show Ep. 2

    Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town singled James out in a room full of people, and Jason Aldean walked right past us at the Grand Ole Opry. James and Laura are back from a whirlwind week in Nashville with a lot to unpack. It started at the Grand Ole Opry, where Rhett Akins was inducted with help from the artists who made his songs famous: Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Jon Pardi, Jamey Johnson, and his son Thomas Rhett. We take you inside the reception afterward and tell you about James freezing up when Jason Aldean walked right past us. Two days later, we were at an intimate album celebration with Little Big Town at The Elm in downtown Nashville, where Karen Fairchild called James out in the best way possible. Plus, James recaps Zach Top and Marty Stuart at Van Andel Arena while Laura held down the fort at home. Tortuga Music Festival is officially on our 2027 calendar, and Florida Georgia Line is headlining day one. But FGL’s poster shows a festival date before Tortuga, and we can confirm one thing about it: it’s not Crash My Playa. We go through the full Tortuga lineup with Eric Church, Megan Moroney, Train, Goo Goo Dolls, Chase Matthew and more, and explain why it might be the most conservation-focused festival in the country. We also dig into Zach Bryan’s new EP, his 2027 tour with John Fogerty, and his two-hour front porch conversation with Matthew McConaughey. Zach opens up about softening on Nashville, his sobriety, making peace with Morgan Wallen, and what the next chapter of his life might look like. Then we celebrate Jon Morgan’s first solo #1. We also cover Lauren Alaina and Chase Matthew topping country radio with “All My Exes” and ask why it took 55 weeks to get there. We wrap with Parker McCollum’s acoustic album Live from Sound City and a vinyl plea. West Michigan friends: join us Saturday, October 24 at The Intersection in Grand Rapids, where we’re hosting the VIP Q&A with Lakeview. About Country MinuteCountry Minute is a country music entertainment platform run by husband and wife James and Laura Shotwell out of West Michigan. With over 40 years of combined music industry experience, they bring fans together through news, event coverage, and honest opinion. At the heart of it all is community.

  2. Oct 12

    EP. 1 - Ella Langley’s Canceled Show, Our Wild Morgan Wallen GTA 6 Theory & More

    Welcome to the Country Minute Show, the only show about country music made in a Michigan basement. James and Laura Shotwell of Country Minute sit down knee to knee to break down the biggest stories in country music, and in this first episode there is a lot to talk about. Ella Langley’s Tulsa show at the BOK Center was canceled hours before showtime because of a credible security threat. We talk about what that means for fans and why we probably won’t get many answers. Ella’s record-setting run with “Choosin’ Texas” also hit a speed bump when Taylor Swift’s “Patient Zero” debuted at #1 on the Hot 100. We each make a prediction about how many weeks Ella can rack up before Mariah Carey thaws out for Christmas. Morgan Wallen is hosting a country radio station in GTA 6 alongside Lana Del Rey, and fans are digging through his Monster Energy demolition derby video for clues. We have our own unhinged theory about what else Morgan might be doing in the game. We also look at whether Morgan and Florida Georgia Line share a stage in 2027, and float our dream scenario for Crash My Playa. Our pal Gavin Adcock is using his new album, The Day I Hang It Up, to speak out against data centers taking over farmland. All proceeds from his new “Take Care of Americans” shirts go to Farm Aid. Then we go through the stacked lineup for the “I Will Always Love You” Dolly Parton tribute live from Belmont on October 21, and preview our trip to Nashville for Rhett Akins’ Grand Ole Opry induction. About Country MinuteCountry Minute is a country music entertainment platform run by husband and wife James and Laura Shotwell out of West Michigan. With over 40 years of combined music industry experience, they bring fans together through news, event coverage, and honest opinion. At the heart of it all is community.

    EP. 1 - Ella Langley’s Canceled Show, Our Wild Morgan Wallen GTA 6 Theory & More

  3. Sep 24

    We ripped 1992 Country Gold Cards with Brothers Osborne

    About a month ago, we went to the Blue Gate in Shipshewana, Indiana to interview Brothers Osborne and do something we've never done before in a video, period. First, we sat down with TJ and John for about eight minutes to talk about their new album, Watertown. The guys explain why it took five records to finally write about their hometown of Deal, Maryland, why they went back home to announce it, and what it means to cut outside songs for the first time in their career, including Bottle It Up and Stubborn. They also break down the story behind R.I.P., the title track Watertown, their love for The Chicks (Fly or Wide Open Spaces?), and why other artists, including fellow Maryland boy Jackson Dean, say they won't touch Copperhead Road after hearing the Brothers play it. Then things got fun. We ripped a box of 1992 Country Gold Sterling trading cards, officially licensed by the CMA and featuring 99 country stars. The box only contains two autographs: Tracy Lawrence and Mark Miller of Sawyer Brown. The brothers tore through dozens of packs, pulling everyone from Merle Haggard and Alan Jackson to Charlie Daniels, Little Texas, and Riders in the Sky, all while hunting for those signed cards. Did they find one? You'll just have to watch to see. We'll see the guys again in October at Country Calling in Ocean City, Maryland. #BrothersOsborne #Watertown #CountryMusic #CountryMinute #TradingCards

    We ripped 1992 Country Gold Cards with Brothers Osborne

  4. Sep 1

    Mary Kutter: Kentucky Roots, Hank Williams Jr, and the Album She's Been Waiting to Make

    Kentucky native Mary Kutter joins us at XROADS41 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin for a conversation unlike anything we've done before. While we talked, a local artist sat a few feet away sketching a live caricature of the two of us, and you can watch it come together in real time throughout the episode. Mary opens up about cutting her teeth in Nashville as a songwriter for other artists before finding her own voice by leaning into the stories she grew up with in Kentucky. We talk about her breakout year, the strange feeling of hearing her full name (not just "that girl from TikTok") called out by fans, and how touring the country this summer, seven states in June alone, has reshaped the way she writes. She also gets into what it's been like opening for Hank Williams Jr, including her first arena show, and shares the songwriters and songs that shaped her, from Ashley Gorley's catalog to a deep dive she did on Luke Bryan's "That's My Kind of Night." Plus, new music is coming before the end of the year, with a full album set for 2027, and she gives us the perfect one-day itinerary for Lexington, Kentucky. In this episode: The live caricature session and how it changed the interview dynamicWriting for artists like Nate Smith, Bailey Zimmerman, Alexandra Kay, and Zach John King before stepping into her own spotlightGrowing recognition off the back of TikTok and what that's actually like day to dayOpening for Hank Williams Jr, from the Sturgis bike rally to her first arena showThe songwriters who shaped her sound, including a deep dive into Ashley Gorley's catalogNew music dropping before the end of 2026, with a full album coming in 2027Mary's perfect day trip through Lexington, Kentucky Follow Mary Kutter for more music and tour dates, and subscribe to Country Minute for more artist interviews, festival coverage, and the stories behind the songs shaping country music right now. #MaryKutter #CountryMusic #HankWilliamsJr #CountryMinute #XROADS41 #KentuckyMusic Full Episode Description

  5. Aug 17

    Braxton Keith On Moe Bandy, Elton John, And Opening For Wiz Khalifa

    Braxton Keith walked off stage at XRoads41 in Oshkosh and we followed him onto the bus. First time at this festival for us, first time for him too, and the first time he has ever opened for Wiz Khalifa, who was still landing on a PJ while Braxton was playing. He was supposed to be a dentist. His mom is a hygienist, his dad is a dentist, and both of them told him to stay out of the medical field because school probably was not his thing. He took that as a challenge, went in as a biochem major, and got wrecked by the labs. Then they told him the music thing probably would not work out either. Real Damn Deal has been out three months. We get into the album cover, which came from an old Moe Bandy record where Bandy is miniaturized inside a beer glass. James bought someone's entire Moe Bandy collection off Marketplace a few weeks back and cannot stop talking about how every title makes you flinch. Braxton explains why that kind of honesty is what he is chasing, what Hank Williams and Merle Haggard did that he is trying to do a little more modern, and why he wants every person in the crowd running their own movie of the song in their head. Plus: his first concert was Elton John in Lubbock at age eight, where his mom covered his eyes during a song she did not want him hearing. His Elton top three. Why fans are asking for the slow songs at a festival. And what happens when the Gavin Adcock run starts at the end of August. We also brought him a gift, because what do you get a guy who loves Crocodile Rock and did not become a dentist. Real Damn Deal is out now. Presented by Country Minute. Follow Country Minute for artist interviews, festival coverage, and the stories behind the songs.Instagram: @country_minuteTikTok: @countryminute

  6. Aug 4

    Graham Barham Swears He Didn't Know About The FGL Reunion

    We caught Graham Barham backstage at Country Jam USA in his trailer, hooked up to an IV, on a day he flew in that morning and was flying out that night. He is a three shirt guy: the one he shows up in, the show shirt, and the one that goes on after. There is no going back to the first one. This is our second sit down with Graham, and it might be our most honest one. He talks about missing his best man speech tonight to play this show, for a friend he has had for twenty years, and the sacrifices in this job that nobody sees. He talks about Club Country a month out, why Shoot You Straight is his favorite because of what his band did with it, and his ongoing campaign to manifest Matthew McConaughey into one of his music videos. We also make him answer for the Florida Georgia Line reunion. We had asked him about it at CMA Fest. We had handed him a tiny vinyl in March. He said he had no idea. We are still not entirely convinced. Either way, he was upstairs at Spotify House when it happened, and he says he cried at least twice. Plus: forty odd shows in the first two and a half months of 2027, what Tyler Hubbard told him about keeping his head on straight, the outside cut he wrote for someone he has looked up to for a long time, his mom's favorite songs and exactly why, and the reason his dad Barry has been irrigating crops in a mullet, shorts, and boat shoes since 1985. Club Country is out now. The Club Country tour is coming. Presented by Country Minute. Follow Country Minute for artist interviews, festival coverage, and the stories behind the songs.Instagram: @country_minuteTikTok: @countryminuteNewsletter: countryminute.net #GrahamBarham #ClubCountry #CountryJam #countrymusic #CountryMinute

  7. Jul 31

    Blake Whiten On Meeting Morgan Wallen In Front Of 90,000 People

    Blake Whiten was posting covers from his bedroom in Six Mile, South Carolina twenty five months ago. Last week he played Michigan Stadium with Morgan Wallen and sang a verse of "Up Down" in front of 90,000 people, which was also the first time he and Morgan had ever shaken hands. We sat down with him the next morning in Ann Arbor. He talks about dodging pyro, asking Hudson Westbrook for backstage advice, keeping his mom in the dark so she would not miss the moment, and the hometown release show where he bought free gas for the entire town and played off three truck beds in a gas station parking lot. His debut album is out now, and the headline tour is coming at the end of the year. Presented by Country Minute.

  8. Jul 21

    Why Frankie Ballard Walked Away From Country Music, and What Pulled Him Back

    Frankie Ballard is back, and this one meant a lot to me. We caught up at CMA Fest to talk about the last stretch of his career, the quiet years where he stepped away from country radio to start a family, and what it took to walk back through the door. Frankie and I have a lot in common. We are both Michigan boys, both dads to little ones, and both figuring out how to grow up in real time while chasing something we love. That shared ground made this a special conversation for me. We get into "The Messenger," the album he made with his best friend and producer Tyler Bryant of Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown, and how looking into his daughter's eyes gave him a whole new reason for being in music. We dig into "Dirty Church Clothes," the song about walking into a church that felt more like a fashion show than a sanctuary, and his search for a place that would simply preach the word. Frankie opens up about faith, about the responsibility of feeding little souls when you are still being shaped yourself, and about the truth that dads are allowed to make mistakes in front of their kids. Then we get to "Nitty Gritty Grind," his new single, and the story behind it is one of my favorites. His daughter handed him the title on his way out the door to the studio, and the song became his way of putting a hand on the shoulder of every parent grinding through a chaotic, expensive, exhausting season and saying, you are not in this alone. We close it out Michigan style with a little this or that, some Bob Seger worship, the "Live Bullet" record that changed both our lives, and the story of Frankie touring with Seger back in 2012. Stick around to the end for a promise Frankie makes that I fully intend to hold him to. What we cover: Taking a hiatus to start a family, and finding his way back"The Messenger" and building it with Tyler BryantThe story behind "Dirty Church Clothes"Faith, fatherhood, and suffering well"Nitty Gritty Grind" and the daughter who named itGrowing up Michigan, Bob Seger, and "Live Bullet"Why he will never root for a Tennessee teamSubscribe to Country Minute for more artist storytelling, festival coverage, and the conversations that go deeper than the single. #countrymusic

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About

The Country Minute Podcast brings you closer to the artists, songs, and moments defining today’s country music scene. Hosted by husband-and-wife team James and Laura Shotwell, each episode is an immersive, fan-centered journey through the world of country music. From exclusive artist interviews and deep dives into emerging trends to unforgettable stories from behind the scenes, we deliver the latest in a way that only true fans can. Built on the success of our social media content, Country Minute Podcast captures the vibrant, diverse, and ever-evolving nature of country music. It’s a space wh

Information

  • Creator
    James Shotwell
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    38
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © James Shotwell
  • Show Website
    Country Minute Podcast