Between dates on her already-epic 'Cloud 9 Tour,' Megan Moroney and her dog Boots join Katie Neal in the studio to talk about the making of her latest trek, the importance of her fans, and how she navigates life with a puppy on the road.

Moroney’s tour began in May, featuring hallmarks of Megan and her 'Cloud 9' album, a detailed stage design, and a floating window moment across the arena that initially had the singer in a panic.

“I will say I had 2 weeks to rehearse up in Pennsylvania, and fortunately my video guy Jeff has it all on video so one day I'll get to show everybody,” she shares. “The 1st 5 times I went up there I was terrified, like they were having to give me towels because my hands were so clammy and sweaty and I kind of felt like I was gonna pass out up there, and I was like kind of having mini panic attacks.”

“I think it's because all the lights were on so I could see the two little strings I'm hanging from, I could see that I could touch the rafter, I could see that I could fall to my death if something went wrong,” she adds. “Once we started doing the show full out and the lights were off I was like, ‘oh this isn't bad.’ And honestly, I was kind of just like, I'm gonna have to find a way to get over this fear because this window's already been paid for and it was expensive, so we're using the window.”

“Obviously the more I did it, it's fun now. It's one of my favorite parts of the show.”

On tour Megan keeps her routine, eating at the same time, doing her Pilates workout on YouTube, knocking out the schedule to keep things rolling.

“Every 15 minutes I have something to do,” Moroney admits. “Like my day is planned out that way.”

Through it all, she knows that it’s the fans that have pushed her career to this level, looking back on the past few years as she has shot to superstardom. “I released ‘Tennessee Orange’ in 2022 and it hasn't even been four years since I released [it]. It'll be four years this football season.”

“I always just give credit to my fans because they've done this for me, they show up, they're the ones that have encouraged me to continue to be honest in my songwriting and they support me when I do things. I know that there's a lot of people that don't get it still, but… the people that do get it, that's what it's for.”

For more from Megan Moroney and her dog, Boots, check out the full interview above.

Heading into the 4th of July, Katie Neal got to sit down with one of our favorite fireworks, HARDY, who has carved out his own lane in Country music and songwriting since first exploding onto the scene.

The GRAMMY-nominated singer is set to embark on a trip to Japan with his wife, his longest time away from his 15-month-old daughter, Rosie. While with Katie, he can’t stop gushing about how smart and sweet his little girl is, surprising himself with the way she has changed him.

When asked what surprised him about fatherhood, HARDY says, “I guess in a way this might sound weird, but how gentle and delicate I want to be with her.”

“Not that I ever imagined it any other way, but like, there's just something about a little girl,” he adds. “I'm looking at these guitars, all my guitars are banged up, all of my stuff is, I'm just rough on my stuff, and it's something about her that it's just, it's just completely different. I've never been that kind of person to be very gentle or to take things slowly or to be patient with things, and it's just, it's like second nature for me for sure.”

The conversation shifts to a mysterious, under-wraps film project involving actor Glen Powell, that HARDY is a part of, filming some scenes recently at CMA Fest. “I got to sit in the room and like he, I don't think this is giving too much away. He's already been talking about it, but like he's immersed himself into the culture. It reminds me of what Post Malone did where he like, he didn't just come here and write with all the big people. He like wanted to write with the songwriters and learn all that, and Glenn really like came to town and kind of, more or less, I guess like method acting, he wants to learn about the town to play the better character.” HARDY would be down to do more acting, but he needs to play himself. “Certain people just play themselves,” he notes, citing actors like Vince Vaughn. “I feel like that's the only way I can do it because I've thought about like, how hard it would be for Johnny Depp to become a completely different person and how good like Jared Leto, some of these people are just great at becoming a different person. There's no way I could do that I don't think.”

The real passion for HARDY still lies in songwriting, sharing that he’s having a real “songwriter moment,” including his work on the all-star single, “McArthur,” featuring Tim McGraw, Eric Church, and Morgan Wallen.

"It's two different channels of fulfillment too,” he says. “I started a publishing company with some members of my family... we're signing people and then like people that have never had hits and they're like writing hits and we're writing hits together and it's really cool, it's really special."

To hear more about a few of those hits and family life with HARDY, check out the full 'Superstar Power Hour' interview above.

Fresh from his 'Album of the Year' win at the ACM Awards this year, Parker McCollum is back with Katie Neal, talking about the big night, his child on the way, and the story behind his latest hit, “Killin’ Me.”

“I really, really, really didn't expect it,” Parker says of his win at the ACMs, with his self-titled LP taking home the prize for 'Album of the Year.’ “They say your name and it's on live TV and you're like, ‘oh damn, what do I do now?’”

“So many people are a part of my journey, I would need so much time to really thank everybody that I truly and sincerely want to give credit to for putting me in a position to do something like that, but it's, I don't know, it's such a blur when they call your name.”

After the big win, McCollum says he took his luck to the tables in Las Vegas with Tucker Wetmore. “Me and Tucker went to the blackjack table,” he shares. “We were balling. Laney Wilson was back there, and Zach Top was too. They weren't at our table. They ended up coming over once we were in it, and we were like, ‘Hey, this is going really well. Y'all can't sit down.’”

“Every time Laney would walk over and check on us, we would win. So like we had this Laney effect and like every time she would come over, and eventually she just came and hung out and I mean, I think I walked away with like 13,000. I sat down with 1000. Just asked Tucker, like it was the most unorthodox way of making money in that game, not playing by the rules, just winging it. The place is going crazy, but we had a good time.”

The winning streak continues for McCollum, who is once again climbing the charts with his song, “Killin’ Me.”

“A lot of people describe that song as like a sexy love song, but I had never really written anything from that perspective or in that vein, so it was kind of new territory for me in the songwriting aspect,” Parker reveals. “It was a little dark and it was emotional, and it was all hot and bothered is what the melody kind of made me think of, so it's just 3 grown men in the room writing this song.”

“I was like, let's all just close our eyes and picture our wives and let's stop looking at each other,” he laughs. “That's just how I've always written songs, just messing around on guitar, just kind of, you know, just making stuff up.”

For more on the upcoming addition to his family, and the stories behind some of his songs, listen to the full conversation with Parker McCollum above.