Country Minute Podcast

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

Country Minute Podcast is a music podcast hosted by James Shotwell, with 36 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

James Shotwell hosts Country Minute Podcast, a music show with 36 episodes published.

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  Country Minute Podcast

  We ripped 1992 Country Gold Cards with Brothers Osborne

  Sep 24, 202616 min

  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

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  Country Minute Podcast

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

  Sep 1, 202612 min

  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 dynamic Writing for artists like Nate Smith, Bailey Zimmerman, Alexandra Kay, and Zach John King before stepping into her own spotlight Growing recognition off the back of TikTok and what that's actually like day to day Opening for Hank Williams Jr, from the Sturgis bike rally to her first arena show The songwriters who shaped her sound, including a deep dive into Ashley Gorley's catalog New music dropping before the end of 2026, with a full album coming in 2027 Mary'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

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  Country Minute Podcast

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

  Aug 17, 20267 min

  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_minute TikTok: @countryminute

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  Country Minute Podcast

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

  Jul 31, 20268 min

  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.

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  Country Minute Podcast

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

  Jul 21, 202613 min

  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 Bryant The story behind "Dirty Church Clothes" Faith, fatherhood, and suffering well "Nitty Gritty Grind" and the daughter who named it Growing up Michigan, Bob Seger, and "Live Bullet" Why he will never root for a Tennessee team Subscribe to Country Minute for more artist storytelling, festival coverage, and the conversations that go deeper than the single. #countrymusic

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