Earlier this month, Rascal Flatts performed for an intimate room of fans during our 'Totally Private' show at the Hard Rock Cafe Nashville, powered by Spirit Airlines. But first, Gary, Joe Don, and Jay joined Katie Neal for a hilarious talk about touring, collabs, and a goat that got the better of them.

Life is a highway, and for Rascal Flatts, life on the road has evolved quite a bit over the years. The rider has gotten shorter for the trio, and no longer includes farm animals to prank their fellow Country friends. "We had all kinds of animals," shares Gary, admitting to getting a goat while on tour with Darius Rucker. "We put it in Darius Rucker's dressing room, but the joke was on us because it ate all the furniture, so that we had to pay for the furniture."

Things were simpler before social media, but the band still stays stocked with food on the road. "I have chicken wings and hot dogs in my room every night," Gary adds. "My friends are just rednecks and they're just like, 'You gotta be kidding me. Free hot dogs.'"

To hear more from the group about their collab with the Jonas Brothers, amazing meet and greet stories, and more, check out the full conversation above.

Don't go packing away the pink just yet, because another another album is almost here from Megan Moroney and the sky is bright for 'Cloud 9.' The ACM and CMA Award-winning singer was recently in our Nashville studios with Katie Neal, as she took us inside the tint, title, and topics of her third project during the 'Superstar Power Hour.'

'Cloud 9' arrives everywhere on February 20, and the title track has been living in the mind of Moroney for a minute. "I had the title for a while and I got to a place like the 1st quarter of last year where I was just like, really happy," she shares. "I was happy with how my career was going, I just felt lighter, and so I had met up with ERNEST and I was like, 'I have this title 'Cloud 9,'' and he always has like the really cool chords and he starts playing something. The whole concept of the song is that you're above cloud 9. I think it's a true love song."

"I feel like it's probably my first because my other songs like 'Am I Okay?' it's like crying and dying, and then like 'Third Time's the Charm,' I consider a love song but it talks about dying alone, but 'Cloud 9' straight up, it's a long way down to cloud 9 so we're cloud 10, 11, 12."

Just like with the green and blue of her first two LPs, this era has it's own color, with pink presenting itself early on in the process for Megan. "I wrote a song called 'Medicine' and when I wrote that song, it was so pink. I thought 'Medicine' was gonna be the title of my third album because I thought, 'Megan Maroney Medicine, MM3.' I thought I was like doing something there."

"But then once I wrote 'Cloud 9' I was like, 'oh no.' I could immediately see the cover. I saw music videos. I saw the tour design and I was just obsessed with it."

'Cloud 9' features two massive collabs with Kacey Musgraves and Ed Sheeran both featured on the project, along with more revealing and vulnerable music that has become a calling card for Moroney. "I said this whole album with my chest," she admits. "I know I've got the best fans in the world and they make me confident enough to where they're gonna get behind my songs, and they know that it's coming from an honest, authentic place, and that just has given me more confidence as a songwriter to not give a crap what people are gonna say about it."

To hear more about the collabs on 'Cloud 9,' the making of the album, and her upcoming tour, check out the full 'Superstar Power Hour' interview above.

The Band Perry is back making music under that moniker for the first time in nearly 9 years, as Kimberly Perry and Johnny Costello lead the new lineup for the group, debuting the track, "PSYCHOLOGICAL," just in time for Valentine's Day.

What was once a sibling trio is now a husband and wife project, as Kimberly and Johnny are set on continuing the story of The Band Perry after a hiatus for the band and solo projects for its members. "I keep saying like this, if you loved The Band Perry season one, you're gonna love 'PSYCHOLOGICAL,' first song of season two," shares Kimberly. "You know I love my psycho girl love songs."

"I do feel like this is evolution for The Band Perry, me as the narrator," she adds. "I think there's evolution in the fact that we're not trying to kill a man out here. We're like, are we deluded? Are we devoted? There's a fine line between the two."

"It's just a very tongue in cheek hilarious turn of a phrase, talking about the girl inside of me that has always been 150% deep diving into my crushes and obsessions."

The band has also dove in deep to the latest incarnation of the group, with a tour aptly titled, the 'Psycho Rodeo Tour,' and an album in the works. "I think playing the blend of all the OG The Band Perry hits, the songs that brought us to the dance in the first place, and like blending them perfectly with this new body of work that we've been working on," Perry notes as what she's most excited about for the upcoming set of shows. "We've only put out two full LPs, two full albums of Country music, so it definitely feels like the third installation of The Band Perry music."

"We are about, I would say 1/3 of the way through recording," the duo says of their upcoming album with producer Dann Huff. "I think it's really fun to be in a band with your husband, The Band Perry's always been a family band. This is our version of it with this project, and the love songs hit a little different, you know. Right now we've been writing a lot together to get to write those and think about how we're gonna bring those to life in the studio and on a video and on stage is a new element that I haven't gotten to really explore yet, so that's been really fun."

To hear more from The Band Perry, check out the full conversation above.

There's a lot of action inside the Aldean house these days. Of course there's that first duet between Jason Aldean and Brittany Aldean, linking up on a song after years of fan fervor, but also, there's a piglet and a puppy that are best friends, and that might even get the louder applause online.

During this week's 'Superstar Power Hour' with Katie Neal, Aldean opened up about both, the collaboration that's been a long time coming and the most adorable friendship of 2026. "We got the bulldog, he's rocking, he's fun, but the pig, it's so cold outside, and she's a little piglet that we haven't put her outside yet, so she's been living in the house in a pen, which is really driving me nuts right now," Aldean admits.

"It's got a pen outside. It's ready to go, but my wife's like, 'it's too cold. We can't put her out there right now. She's too little.' So I'm like, 'alright, well, we'll reevaluate here in about a month or so,' so yeah, I'm ready for the pig to go outside, but other than that, it's been good."

The piglet and puppy have already become somewhat of social media stars, sharing the same pen inside and spending tons of time together. "They're best friends. The pig and the puppy are best friends. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen."

"They'll sleep in the bed together and they'll play and I think the pig actually thinks she's a dog because we got the pig, and then we have 3 dogs. So I think she just thinks she's part of the dog squad."

Elsewhere in the Aldean home is another first-of-its-kind moment, as Jason and Brittany have joined forces on the new song, "Easier Gone."

"Whenever it comes to a duet or doing anything like that, I've always kind of said the song will dictate what we do with that," explains Jason. After being pitched a song by Lady A's Charles Kelley, Aldean took it to his wife. "I said, 'hey, I got something that I think you would sound really good on.'"

"She's never really been in the studio, so we took her in, and I think the first day was probably a little overwhelming," he adds. "She kind of had never done it, so she didn't really know what to expect. And so I think the first day was a little bit feeling it out, and then the second day, she went in and kind of knew what to expect, a little more confidence and, and crushed it."

"We've wanted to do something together for a while, but like I said, you gotta wait for the right thing to come along, and I felt like this was something that really fit her well. People probably thought if we ever did something, it would be this big sappy love song, but it's actually the opposite of that, which I love. I'm more of a heartache, heartbreak song kind of guy than I am a love song guy, but yeah, I love it. I love the way it turned out, and I think she sounds amazing on it, and I think a lot of our fans have wanted to hear that for a while, so it's cool to give it to them."

To hear more on recording with Brittany and the stories behind a few of his recent hits, check out the full talk with Katie Neal above.

Nothing raises the bar quite like an award for 'Album of the Year.' So it goes for Cody Johnson, who is hard at work on his next project after winning the CMA Awards' top prize in 2024 with his LP, 'Leather.'

Cody came by our studios in Nashville at the Hard Rock Cafe to talk with Katie Neal about what's next, the success of his song, "The Fall," and his massive remodeling project at home. Along the way he shared some details about the upcoming album, which finds Johnson once again trying to outdo himself and only himself.

"When you win, 'Album of the Year' with 'Leather' before the 'Leather Deluxe' comes out, your back's against the wall as far as expectations," he admits. "I think I don't ever focus on trying to be better than anybody else. I really just wanna, if I can just constantly beat myself and if my next song is better than the last song, and my next project is better than that project, and my next performance is better than the last performance, then that's what keeps me motivated and driven."

"I took like a half and half approach to this record," Cody continues. "Some of this stuff is like so stone cold Country, or it's like so left Motown, or it's like really leaning Rock, or it's really leaning Bluegrass. I don't have a radio agenda with those songs. It's just I recorded these songs because I love these songs and I wanted you to hear me sing these songs, so you can take about half of that and put it over here for 'this is who I am.'"

"Then you're gonna hear certain ones on the record where you're like, 'OK, that's gonna be huge, that's gonna be a big song' and you're gonna hear that one on the radio. Trying to whittle it down. I'd like to get it down to about 16, I've got about 20 tracks and it's pretty hard because once you invest the time in the studio with them and you kind of get to know them, it's really hard."

Although Cody is "emotionally attached to all of them," he'll trim down the tracklist after listening sessions with friends, seeing which get the most play while riding around. The project also incudes a few collabs, which Johnson revealed to Katie. "I know that me and Luke Combs, we cut one together, we finally got on it."

"Brothers Osborne. That was kind of a last minute deal," he says. "I heard this song and I was like, 'man, this sounds like John and TJ.' And they had happened to be reaching out at the same time of like, 'hey, when we do our next project, would you do this song with us?' I was like, 'yeah, absolutely. Would you do this with me on my project?' So it's kind of a trade-off."

"There's a couple of collabs that haven't happened yet. It's still just a lot of cell phone conversation," explains Cody. "As a matter of fact, I got a call right before I walked in here and I had to say, 'hey, I'm walking into Katie. I'll holler back at you,' but that person is in to do the collab so far. So there's gonna be some cool surprises on here."

To hear much more from Cody Johnson, listen all week on the Superstar Power Hour during Katie & Company, and check out the full conversation above.

There's a big 2026 ahead for Bailey Zimmerman, but first the Country star is coming off of the "best holidays" ever, thanks in part to a gift he was able to give his mom. The "Chevy Silverado" singer recently joined Katie Neal to talk about the big surprise, his upcoming arena tour, and more.

Last year, Zimmerman's mom landed in the hospital and "almost died," according to the singer. "When she was in the hospital, I was like 'dang, she doesn't really have a home, like a house to come home to,'" he reveals. "I was like 'dang, I really wanna like try to buy this one house for my mom,' so I ended up buying it and then redid the whole thing."

"It was so much fun redoing it, and then I got to show her on Christmas," he adds. "This year's just been such a tough year for her, getting to have that to just be pumped about is so nice for her. Then I got her a new car because she comes to Nashville a bunch and she drives all over the place to shows and stuff so I'm like, 'I really just wanted to set her up to where she felt like taking care of because she's always taking care of me.' I just feel like, I have to take care of her because she's always believed in me. She's always done everything she could to make sure I was good and had the best of the best, and now it's my turn to make sure."

With all that good energy in the air, it's time to tee up a big 2026 for Zimmerman, who is focused on being better and delivering on tour. "I'm always trying to just continue to get better and continue to, always move forward," he says of his new year plans. "I'm really focused on the tour right now, making sure that just everything is locked in. I went and redid my whole stage and lighting and the way everything is and all the stuff, so I've been working really hard on that."

"I'm gonna focus on just making sure that's good to go for the tour, and then making sure I just crush this tour, and then I've been focusing on just writing music and and living life too."

To hear about dating, dogs, and the story behind his latest hit, check out the full conversation with Bailey Zimmerman above.

Stephen Wilson Jr. did not take your typical path to being a Country music star, first making stops as a scientist and an amateur boxer, but it did shape him and help pave the way to winning the CMA Award for 'New Artist of the Year.'

"I don't think I'm interesting, but it has provided, I guess, a wealth of dialogue and narrative to to pull from," Stephen admits during an interview with Katie Neal. "I've been habitually quiet most of my life, so I got to work a lot of jobs and kind of keep my mouth shut and listen and take notes, and from those learnings that's where the songs kind of came from."

"Science is a big part of my process, Having a hypothesis or an idea and then testing it against the world," he adds. "It is pretty much what science is, but doing it in a controlled setting and doing that experiment over and over again and trying to keep your emotions out of the results. That's, I think, what songwriters try to do at the end. You wanna have an emotion to start with because I'm more in the emotion business than I am in the music business, at least that's what I think of it as. So it's got to start with an emotion, but then you kind of got to separate your emotion from it to get to the truth, because then you'll have, they call user bias, and then that'll affect your results."

The analytical comes face to face with the creative for Stephen Wilson Jr. in the process, with a heaping dose of talent swirled in the center. "Being a trained scientist has helped me kind of remove my emotion from it, but then the creative side of me and just all the wealth of experiences and emotions that I went through has given me a lot to authenticate an idea from, because it has to kind of start with my own emotion, because if I've felt something, most likely somebody else has."

The fascinating science of songwriting is in full swing on Stephen's song, "Gary," which he admits was tested and thought about in a very scientific way. "I tested that one a lot, in a lot of laboratories," he shares. "I had to start with a metaphor that everybody could relate to... I started to basically, you know, think of Gary as a subspecies, a human, like a Gary as an organism, not so much just a name for a person because it was to me more of a stereotype or a garyeotype, so to speak. So if you could classify that organism, how would you do that? And that's how I approach Gary, is almost like how Jane Goodall would approach a chimpanzee or something, kind of like studying the Gary's in the wild because, you know, the Gary's are going extinct."

To hear much more of the Wilson Jr. method and his journey to Country music success, check out the full conversation above.

HARDY is already back in his FGL feels, after a post shared that Florida Georgia Line members Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard went on a hike together and sparked reunion rumors. The "Favorite Country Song" singer recently joined Katie Neal and talked about being anxious for the return of the duo, the success of his latest single, and an update on his daughter Rosie during the 'Superstar Power Hour.'

"I drove back from Mississippi yesterday morning and I listened to, 'Here's To The Good Times' and 'Anything Goes,' the whole record all the way through because I'm like, 'I need to get back in the FGL headspace," HARDY reveals. "I don't know. I have no inside baseball. I'm literally just like, I feel like it's coming and I wanna be on the front end of it."

"I feel like they're scheming something."

While Katie and HARDY talked about the end of the holidays, the singer also shared some updates on his daughter, Rosie, who is quickly approaching her first birthday. "She's like really coming to life now. Like, it's crazy," he admits. "It's just something new every day. She's getting ready to walk and she's starting to say words. It's crazy. Time flies."

To hear more from HARDY about songwriting for Blake Shelton, ghost stories with his family, and the success of his hit, "Favorite Country Song," check out the full conversation above.