We Speak Country

Whiskey Myers’ John Jeffers Plays the National Anthem on Electric Guitar Before Vikings vs. Bills

Published

2 days ago

November 13, 2026

Whiskey Myers' John Jeffers performs the national anthem on electric guitar at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis

Whiskey Myers lead guitarist John Jeffers opened Monday Night Football in Minneapolis with an electric guitar national anthem, honoring his high school teammate Adrian Peterson ahead of Peterson’s induction into the Vikings’ Ring of Honor.

Whiskey Myers’ lead guitarist John Jeffers performed an electric rendition of the National Anthem before Monday night’s Minnesota Vikings vs. Buffalo Bills game at Minneapolis’ U.S. Bank Stadium.

Honoring his high school football teammate and friend, Vikings legend Adrian Peterson, ahead of Peterson’s induction into the Vikings’ Ring of Honor on Monday night, Jeffers’ performance resonated with football fans nationwide.

Whiskey Myers continues its one-of-a-kind trajectory with the record-setting success of breakthrough hit, “Broken Window Serenade.” The 15-year old track from debut album, Firewater (2011), breached the Top 10 on Spotify’s all-genre Top 50-USA chart in October. This year alone, the band’s Spotify listeners have increased 88%, climbing to nearly 11 million monthly listeners this month.

Read the Rolling Stone feature breaking down the unprecedented success of “Broken Window Serenade.”

Whiskey Myers just wrapped a stint of headline dates that followed their co-headlining Southern Hospitality Tour with genre-defying rock legends The Black Crowes. Their last performance of the year is this weekend at Field of Dreamz Crossroads Music Festival in Port Charlotte, FL.

About Whiskey Myers

Cult favorite six-piece Whiskey Myers are “the real damn deal” (Esquire), an independent Southern rock powerhouse who have “emerged as upstarts of the genre” (The New York Times). Since the band’s inception in East Texas in 2007, Whiskey Myers has released seven full-length records, “turning out cutting-edge albums, with each one consistently better than the last” (Forbes).

Their latest, Whomp Whack Thunder, is what Rolling Stone calls “their most supercharged album yet,” produced by GRAMMY Award winner Jay Joyce and colored with “shades of Led Zeppelin and David Allen Coe” (USA Today). Whiskey Myers have sold more than 3.3 million albums and amassed over 4.9 billion streams while earning ten RIAA Gold, Platinum and multi-Platinum certifications.

Among those accolades are 3X Platinum certifications for the raw, gut-punching fan favorite “Broken Window Serenade,” from their 2011 album Firewater. More than a decade after its release, the track has surpassed 500 million streams on Spotify alone, appearing on the platform’s Top Songs USA Chart early this year and recently landing on Billboard’s Top 50 Streaming Songs chart.

Known for their high-energy live show and unabashed sound, Whiskey Myers has found sync success with features in Paramount’s hit shows “Yellowstone” (including an on-screen performance) and “Landman,” plus the Netflix series “What/If,” Angelina Jolie’s film Those Who Wish Me Dead and CBS series “SEAL Team,” among others. Having recently wrapped their co-headline Southern Hospitality Tour with rock legends The Black Crowes, Whiskey Myers brought their “seminal combination of twang and crunchy rock & roll guitars” (Rolling Stone) to more than 40 cities nationwide, joined by special guests Southall.

Lauren Alaina Sells Out Her Ryman Debut and Brings Out Luke Bryan, HARDY and Scotty McCreery in Nashville

Published

2 days ago

November 13, 2026

We Speak Media

Lauren Alaina sings on stage at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville during her sold-out headlining debut, with her band beside her and a packed crowd in the pews and balcony

Sixteen years after she auditioned for American Idol on the Ryman Auditorium stage, Lauren Alaina came back to headline it, sold the room out, and closed The Stages Tour with a night built around family, friends and surprise guests.

On Thursday (Nov. 12), Diamond-certified Country superstar Lauren Alaina made her SOLD-OUT Ryman Auditorium debut – a full-circle moment for the small-town Georgia native who auditioned for American Idol sixteen years ago on the very same stage.

Taking a well-deserved victory lap, Alaina surprised her sold-out crowd with several star-studded guests, including her brother, Tyler Suddeth (“Babies Raising Babies”), Scotty McCreery (“When You Say Nothing At All”), Emily Ann Roberts (“I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)”), Chase Matthew (“All My Exes”), HARDY and Devin Dawson (“ONE BEER”) and Luke Bryan (“Drink A Beer”) for an emotional tribute to the loved ones they have both lost.

Concluding her 15-stop headlining The Stages Tour last night, Alaina has donated $1 for every ticket sold throughout the tour to her foundation, My Kinda People – contributing to several causes that are meaningful to her and her “Kinda People.”

“I was introduced to the world on the Ryman stage in my American Idol audition 16 years ago. It was the perfect and only place to end The Stages Tour,” Alaina shares. “It was even more special because the night supported our military heroes who sacrifice so much for us.”

At the start of the show, Alaina announced her new My Kinda People initiative with the Fisher House Foundation. An exclusive signed CD,“For The Boots,” was available for purchase and included “Boots On The Ground” and a Live at The Opry performance of “When You Say Nothing At All” featuring her dad and brother, Tyler. For those who were unable to attend the show, the remaining signed CDs are available for purchase as well as an Amazon exclusive “Boots On The Ground” t-shirt. All proceeds will go to the Fisher House Foundation, helping military and veteran families when a loved one is in the hospital.

After nine years of dedication to her craft, Lauren recently topped the charts at country radio, earning her fourth No.1 with smash hit “All My Exes (feat. Chase Matthew), becoming one of only five female country artists to reach the top of the charts in 2026, joining an elite group of powerhouses including Ella Langley, Megan Moroney, Stella Lefty, and Taylor Swift. Alaina is now one of eight women to have earned multiple Country Airplay No.1s this decade. Adding to her milestones, Alaina performed “Never Been In Love” (which features childhood friend Kane Brown) on Live with Kelly and Mark last month from her 17-song collection Stages. The confessional track has become Alaina’s highest streaming debut to date.

About Lauren Alaina

Lauren Alaina, praised by Rolling Stone for her “powerhouse, honey-toned vocals that meld timeless twang with modern sass,” continues her “limitless upward trajectory” (American Songwriter) as one of country music’s most magnetic entertainers. Her new album Stages, out now (8/28) builds on the momentum of smash hit “All My Exes (feat. Chase Matthew)” that just topped the charts at country radio, making it the fourth No. 1 of her career. A proud member of the Grand Ole Opry since 2022, Alaina has earned four No. 1 hits: “All My Exes (feat. Chase Matthew),” Platinum-certified “Road Less Traveled,” the 4x Platinum “ONE BEER” with HARDY and Devin Dawson, and Diamond-certified “What Ifs” with Kane Brown. With “What Ifs,” Alaina became the only solo female country artist in history to receive the RIAA’s Diamond song certification. The vocalist has performed on some of the highest-profile stages in the world including PBS’ A Capitol Fourth, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, CBS’ Beyond The Edge, ABC’s The Bachelorette, TODAY, Good Morning America, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, ABC’s CMA Fest specials, CMA and ACM Awards, Nickelodeon’s All That, Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Day halftime performance, MLB’s World Series national anthem performance, a performance at the White House for President Obama, and more.