Sunday, March 1, 2026
Saturday, December 20, 2025
Pat Green & Corey Kent Take That Nashville Sound’s Top Country & Americana Song of 2025 With "Two Hands"
This shift has unlocked a wider range of production styles, songwriting voices, and collaborations than we’ve seen in years. Artists are releasing music that feels more personal, less formulaic, and deeply connected to real-life experiences — and listeners are responding. The result is a landscape where songs don’t need massive radio rotation to matter. They need authenticity, emotional pull, and staying power.
That spirit defines our Top Country & Americana Songs of 2025 — a list shaped not by charts alone, but by resonance. These are the songs people kept talking about, kept sharing, and kept coming back to.
🏆 Song of the Year
"Two Hands" — Pat Green & Corey Kent
Few songs in 2025 captured the soul of modern country music quite like “Two Hands.” Bringing together two Texas-rooted voices from different generations, Pat Green and Corey Kent delivered a song built on grit, humility, and lived-in truth. It doesn’t chase trends — it honors work, family, perseverance, and the quiet pride that comes from building something with your own two hands. In social posts, Pat Green described Two Hands as a song about grit, building something that lasts, and honoring hard work — and that message proved to be the heartbeat of its success. At a time when listeners are craving authenticity, the song spoke directly to working-class values and personal perseverance without sounding polished or preachy. Instead, it felt lived-in and earned. That universality — the pride of showing up, putting your head down, and creating a life with your own two hands — allowed the song to transcend across the country.
Fans didn’t just listen; they related, shared, and claimed it as their own. The collaboration between Green and Corey Kent further reinforced that bridge between generations, proving that real stories still travel fastest. In a modern music landscape driven by connection rather than consumption, “Two Hands” resonated deeply, and that resonance is what carried it so far.
Other Finalists- The Songs That Defined 2025
"Hidin' Behind This Microphone"— Wade Bowen feat. Cody Johnson
A powerful reflection on vulnerability and truth, this duet pulls back the curtain on life behind the spotlight. Bowen’s seasoned storytelling paired with Johnson’s raw delivery created one of the most emotionally honest performances of the year.
"The Cowboy" — Waylon Jennings
A timeless outlaw spirit echoes through “The Cowboy.” Whether rediscovered or newly embraced, this song stands as a reminder that independence, authenticity, and grit never go out of style. That this song was discovered well after his passing and released under the careful guidance of his son Shooter makes it all the more unique and special.
"Circa 1943" — Chase Rice
Nostalgic without being sentimental, “Circa 1943” bridges eras with thoughtful storytelling and a reflective tone. Rice continues to evolve, leaning into depth and maturity that resonated strongly with listeners this year.
"Whatever Happened To Heroes" — Jason Michael Carroll
This song struck a chord by asking a question many listeners have felt but couldn’t quite articulate. Carroll’s heartfelt delivery and poignant lyrics made it one of our favorite heartfelt songs of the year. Carroll continues to deliver a powerhouse vocal well into his career and this look back on the heroes of yesteryear is sentimental and introspective as an artist and a nation equally.
"Dream Come True" — Carly Pearce
Pearce once again proves that emotional clarity is her superpower. “Dream Come True” is tender, sincere, and beautifully grounded — a love song that feels earned rather than imagined.
King Rodeo — Tim McGraw
A confident, swagger-filled anthem from a veteran who still knows how to connect. “King Rodeo” blends heartland storytelling with arena-ready energy, reminding us why McGraw remains a cornerstone of the genre.
Final Thoughts
The songs of 2025 prove that country and Americana are thriving not because of tighter formulas, but because of wider creative freedom. With fewer barriers between artists and audiences, the best songs are rising naturally — carried by connection, conversation, and community.
At That Nashville Sound, we celebrate the music that finds its way into people’s lives and stays there. These songs did exactly that — and together, they tell the story of a genre very much alive, evolving, and rooted in truth.
Up next: our look at the Top Country & Americana Albums of 2025.
Thursday, November 6, 2025
Saturday, September 20, 2025
“This Is My Anthem”: Jason Michael Carroll on Redemption, Family, And Bringing Country Back — On His Own Terms
This week he dropped “Nothin’ But Country," a hard-charging, Southern-fried anthem that teams him up with longtime friend and hip-hop legend Petey Pablo. It’s a genre-bending, high-energy declaration of identity, heritage, and the music that raised them both. But as powerful as this single is, it’s just the beginning. Jason is preparing to release his brand-new album Anthem in early 2026, a project he describes as the most personal, most authentic, and most defining of his career
Across Anthem, Jason takes listeners on a journey stitched together with classic country, honky tonk grit, gospel heart, Southern rock swagger, and even unexpected hip-hop flourishes. It’s an album full of redemption and self-discovery, yet it also celebrates the joy of family, the influence of heroes, and the power of storytelling that has always been the backbone of country music. With over a billion career streams already to his name, Jason is proving that independent country music can be bold, fresh, and unapologetically real.
Today, I get to sit down with Jason not just to talk about the single or the album, but about the journey that brought him here, the struggles he’s overcome, the family that surrounds his music, and why he believes Anthem might just be the most important work of his life.
Ken: Jason, first of all, do you have a firm date yet on the album release?
Jason: We do not have a firm date, but we are looking at February of 2026 as the actual full album release. Leading up to that album, I think we're planning on talking to my publicist and the team. I think we're looking at three singles released before then, so I'm really excited about this album. I'm so happy that we're finally here. It seems like it's been a long time putting this project together, but I think that the overall result of the work that we put in, the picking the songs, writing the songs first, picking the songs that we did afterwards, and I think that really led to what we've got here is, I think, my best album yet.
Ken: I'll probably start the album first, and then we can maybe chat about your first single towards the end. I'm always an album guy first, so I always love the storylines and the themes, and I think you've done that so tremendously well on this new album, Anthem. It being your eighth studio album, and at this point in your life, I feel like it's maybe your most introspective and most self-discovered album that you've written thus far. Do you feel that way?
Jason: I do, and I'll be honest with you. The fact that – I really appreciate you pointing that out, because I've really not had the control or the ability to make the album that I've always wanted to make. Usually, there was always influence in it somewhere, from managers to labels, and I'm not necessarily knocking that, but that was always somebody else's input. This record right here, I picked the songs, I knew what I wanted to say. And when people hear the title out, Anthem, no doubt that some of them know where I stand on certain things, but I think that that title does drive a certain political motive, but it's really not. Anthem is your story, the way that you were raised. I think that the person you've become, it plays out to be your anthem in life, and that's where I got the title Anthem.
The album artwork is actually a picture of me sitting behind a photo that has the main focus. It's me sitting behind a chair or sitting behind a photo that my mom got years ago, she won this prize from JCPenney or Ames or somewhere. She said it's a free family photo from Olan Mills, and I don't know why they always book those in the shadiest hotel in town, and they slid all the furniture up against the wall and put a really beautiful backdrop and said, smile like you're about to get shot kind of thing.
So that's what my mom won, and not only did she get the free 8x10, but she got it up on the way from church that day to go to this place. My dad screamed at us for five minutes all the way there. From the church to the parking lot of the hotel is five minutes, and my dad yelled at us about something all the way there. So, in the picture, all of us have bloodshot eyes, our faces are red. You can tell we've all been crying.
And my mom not only got the free 8x10, but she bought the big 34, 552, whatever photo. I said, "Mom, why'd you buy that?" And she said, "I don't know." And I said, "You know what, I don't care what you leave me in life, but I want that picture." And I've said that for years, even before I had this idea to make that my album cover. And she said, "Why?" It had this really cheesy brass frame on it. And I went and spent $400 on a really beautiful frame to have this thing framed in perfectly.
And so that is now the album cover of Anthem. That's my story. That's where it started with this picture of this family photo from when I was, I think I might've been nine or 10 in the picture. And my brother and my sister and my mom and my dad are all in this picture. And that's what the focus of the album cover is. My dad and my picture is sitting in a chair behind it. It's out of focus and it's intentional.
Ken: Wow. I think what I love about the project is that it's, you know, knowing you a little bit as I do and you being very public with your journey over these last few years, it's this fascinating combination of stories about redemption and forgiveness and self-discovery but then also with you being a bona fide rock star and playing music for a living. And those two things aren't opposites of one another. They're one in the same storyline.
Jason: Well, I appreciate that. Thank you.
Ken: Yeah. I think those songs that are towards the back half of the album, those little more mature themes, I think, are relatively new for you. And for me, those touched me the most as you were writing them. Was that a conscious effort, or did it just come, you know, did it kind of pour out of you?
Jason: I think that really songwriting has always been something to me that sometimes those moments, you have to capture them and I think the way you deal with yourself, which was not something I was ever really good at before. It's kind of crazy, talking about my addiction and things like that that I'm very open about because honestly, I was very open about my addictions in public before I started, when I was still doing them.
I think that one way to handle that and to recover is to address those things head on. It's kind of like the reason I didn't put out the gospel record until after I got sober. My mom always wanted me to do that record, and I never thought I would because I was still the guy playing the honky tonks and drinking beer and stuff like that on the weekends. And that was, you know, I didn't want to be a deterrent to what the actual message of the song was supposed to be. So when I did that, when I got sober, I felt it's finally time to start doing that. It was because I was addressing those issues that I had.
Ken: When you're putting together songs like “There Goes God Again” and “Sober” and even a little bit like “Whatever Happened to Heroes,” is that a hard reveal for you, or are you viewing it more as therapy and a relief as that gets written down on paper?
Jason: You know, it was funny you said that, but “Sober” in particular, that was a song that I was – when I wrote it – I write songs all the time for, you know, they're for me. They're really not for anybody else. And I've always used songwriting as therapy.
I remember when I was eight years old, the first song I ever remember writing was when I was dealing with some things at home. I was stressed out about a few things. I wound up getting an idea. I couldn't sleep one night. I remember I got up in the middle of the night and no one told me to do this. I don't know where the idea came from, but I got this idea to kind of put some thoughts down on paper.
So at eight years old, I got up in the middle of the night. My brother and I shared a room in the trailer we lived in. I grabbed my notebook out of my backpack. I walked down the hallway to the bathroom, shut the door, turn the light on, sat on the edge of the bathtub, and started writing my feelings. When I started doing that, things started making sense. And the more they made sense, I remember I wrote and wrote and wrote. So I didn't really have anything else to say. I shut my notebook. I turned the light off. I put my notebook back in my backpack and I slept like a baby.
I kind of started playing it. It all started coming back to me when I played it. I played it with my eyes closed and you can actually hear my voice breaking in the interview because I hadn't played it in forever. And I kind of brought back those feelings that I felt when I wrote it. And when I did, my buddy, I opened my eyes after I played the song and he was in tears. And he said, “Don't stop playing that one.” And I thought that was a really cool response. And because of that, it gave me a little more confidence to put that on the record and be a little more open with what I was doing.
Ken: They come from discovery. So with “Alyssa Lies,” obviously a very heavy topic, but what came out of that was an amazing sense of conversation and lots of personal stories that offline you have shared with me over the years of, you know, amazing impact that that song has had on people in helping them deal with feelings and all that kind of stuff. As you're doing some of these more highly personal songs, and even sharing your own personal story, the transparency that you've had, are you seeing similar reactions, or are you hearing from your fans similar type of things where these, you know, like “Sober” with your friend, with your podcast friend, that it's having an impact on their lives?
Jason: Yes. And the crazy thing is in a program I'm in, they discuss anonymity being something that's important and I do respect that. However, again, back to the point that I wasn't very anonymous with my drugs and my alcohol usage and it wasn't that I was out there advertising it, but I think my reactions and my actions were different. That being said, I think that my platform was more of an opportunity to share with folks that I've been through this and that, you know, if I made it out of something like this then so can you.
I'll be honest with you, when I wrote “Alyssa Lies,” Ken, I didn't think anybody [would] want to hear it. I thought that was one of the ones, like I just told you, that I was writing for myself, just to get something out, put it down on paper and leave it alone. In one of the groups I'm in, they say to write down your process, write down your feelings. And once you get it out, don't just think about it. Don't put it in your phone and type it on a digital outlet. Write it down, physically write, paper to pen. Get it out. And when you do that, you find some healing for yourself.
And that was kind of my purpose with “Alyssa Lies.” And when I start seeing that coming around, it's amazing that I've had so many people, so many walk up to me and tell me that they watch my morning videos on Facebook, saying your daily readings are inspirational or the fact that you're tackling this head on.
I had a guy come up to me in a builder supply store a while back that told me that because of my morning videos, he thought he recognized he might have a problem and he started looking into it and he just – just personally, I cannot give his name, but he personally crossed a year sober just – he doesn't go to meetings. He doesn't do any of that. Just watching my videos, he just crossed a year sober.
And I think that is so awesome that when I wrote “Alyssa Lies,” people were coming up to me and telling me how much the song impacted them and how their lives had changed because of it. And I wasn't ready for that. I wasn't expecting that. And it's kind of the same thing with these morning videos that I was doing. Just to be 100% honest, I was doing it because if I didn't make a commitment to somebody to stick with these readings, I knew that I had my personality, I would create a reason not to read them myself. And so that's why I did that.
Ken: Wow. I know there's an old quote by Paul McCartney that I've loved that he always says that music is like a psychiatrist. You can tell your guitar things that you can't tell people, and it will answer you with things people can't tell you. And I've always thought that's such a great quote and I think relevant to our conversation here.
What probably surprised me a little bit about this project is the diversification of production and all of the genre influences that are in there. There's some hip-hop influence and some Tom Petty influence and certainly honky tonk, which is something that you've had on previous albums, and Classic Country, and then even some very traditional old school with steel guitar and all that kind of stuff. Walk me through kind of where all these different influences came from and how they impacted the album.
Jason: So I love country music. I think that country music was one of those formats. I grew up on southern gospel, so that I think country music and southern gospel is not too much of a disconnect there. And I think that the storytelling in country music is what made it now, in my opinion, I think, it's arguable, the most popular format in the world. That's why you have all these hip-hop and other genre artists jumping to country music.
But I also don't – I'm careful with what I say when I say people that want country are coming country. I think country music is not a genre. I don't think that it's fair to classify it as a genre because then you start getting division. You start getting musical segregation, which is when people start thinking that, oh, well, that guy is not country. You know, his music isn't country. Well, hold on a second. People may say that about me. I grew up on an 82-acre tobacco farm. Okay, so that checks the box for you. You think I'm country. I appreciate your approval. But you would be surprised to learn that the surrounding towns that the only things we had to do on the weekends besides hanging out on the farm would go to urban towns.
So Oxford and Henderson were very predominantly urban towns. And all my friends, you know, white, black, doesn't matter, we would drive from the car wash. We would cruise the strip from the car wash down to Bojangles gravel parking lot at the time or to Walmart and blasting everything from George Strait to Tupac. I mean, that was my country. And I think when people hear that, they might even say, well, he's not country. I don't think country music was ever a format. I think it was a lifestyle. And I think that's something that really, honestly, I lost sight of for a while. And so that really influenced me.
If you go back and listen to this record, you'll hear influence from, like you said, you'll hear classic country. You'll hear some modern country. You'll hear some of the honky tonkers that I cut my teeth on when my band first started playing in honky tonks and we were the house band for Long Branch for a long time. You'll hear some hip-hop influence. Now, another thing that people might not recognize from this record, the hip-hop influence that they hear in a song, sure, but the interludes in this record were actually hip-hop influence.
One of my favorite records in the '90s was a band called Jodeci. They had a record called The Hotel, The Show, The After Party. And if you listen to that record – Jodeci, by the way, gave us great break-off bands like Devonte was a good artist at the time. And then the most popular out of that band was K-Ci & JoJo, who had some hits on their own and they did a lot of showcasing with Tupac and things like that. But anyway, I digressed.
They had interludes on that record. So you'd be listening to the album, you'd hear a song go off and then you'd hear bottles clanking and people partying in a hotel room and things like that. That was an interlude. And what it did for me was it carried me on a journey. It wasn't just song, song, song. Okay, thank you for listening. Have a great day. You're bringing somebody with you on this project. Songs are put in place for a reason.
And so now you're listening and hearing, oh, so he's leading from – he came out and cranked his truck in the morning and this interview is on the radio. This is his anthem. Well, what's his anthem?
Okay, well, then it starts with a country music, you know, kind of Tim McGraw '90s kind of – well, it starts with hip-hop beat first and then goes into the Tim McGraw kind of style solo from the '90s, you know, then goes into the song “Go to the Bar,” followed by Tom Petty, “Pretty Wild Thing,” the Tom Petty influence that I had, which really is a heavy influence that I had leading into something in my life that I wasn't prepared for years later, dealing with something my daughter and something that – the difficulty she faced.
During that time, she wasn't speaking to me and there was – there's reasons why I could go into, but for the most part, the main point was that I really didn't know how to handle not being able to help my daughter. So, I sat back in my chair and I'm thinking about life and what I'm doing. And I'll be honest with you, at the time, I probably had a rocks glass and Crown sitting in front of me.
And a buddy of mine called me up. And I remember I was sitting in my office and he said, “Did you hear about Tom Petty?” I said, “No. What happened?” He said, “He died.” And dude, it was like, just, you know, whatever wind I had left in my sails was taken away. And I kind of sat back and said, “Well, damn!” I remember sitting back up in my chair and thinking about those bracelets. I don't know what drew my attention to this, but those bracelets, What would Jesus do? you know, people wore all the time. I sat back up in my chair and I said, “What would Tom Petty do about this?” And I said, “He'd write a song about it.”
And so that afternoon I wrote the song “Pretty Wild Thing.” I didn't realize years later that I'd meet Steve Ferrone from the Heartbreakers, who played with Tom Petty for over 25 years, and let alone have the nerve or the courage to ask him to say, “Hey, would you mind playing on the song for me?” And definitely didn't know that he would say yes.
This record is put together the way it is intentionally, from the interludes to everything else. And there's so much influence from rock to country, to hip-hop, to everything that made me who I am, which is why I call the record Anthem.
Ken: Yeah. I would encourage anybody that's, when it's time, when this comes out, to listen to it from start to finish because I agree with you, it has a storyline. It has a road trip vibe- this is an album you want to put in and listen intentionally from beginning to end. And it even has a couple radio interviews in it from some people that had big influence on your career, didn't it?
Jason: It does. The very first interview that's on there – and again, I started all of these as faux interviews. That's not what my intention was, to make these somewhat comedic and have that kind of thing. And what we got when we stepped in the studio, because none of us had really done this before and country music didn't really have this in its format to this point, in my opinion. Some people did in the woods, but they weren't as like this. And when we went in the studio and started doing these, they actually turned into real interviews.
I remember when I did mine with Pat and Tom right there in Sacramento, by the way, and those folks have been a big part of my career and big supporters of my music, when we did them to be a part of it. One, I didn't know that Tom would be retiring, so that was a shock to me. And it makes me even more grateful that I asked them to be a part of it because now I have that as a memory for myself.
And then having them do the interview, I remember when we did the radio part, because I wanted theirs to be, like the first one with Mike Wheless, he was my very first radio interview ever as a local band. I mean, we did it. He actually called me in with Neal McCoy and that was the most crazy thing I've ever done in my life. I thought I was scared to death that I'm sitting here talking to Neal McCoy on the phone. I'm like almost jumping up and down on my end of the phone.
Ken: Now that has to be about 20 years ago now, right?
Jason: That was back in – that was in 1998, I think.
Ken: Wow. Time flies.
Jason: Yeah. So Mike Wheless has been a friend of mine for a long time. He was one of the first people I asked to do this interlude kind of thing with me. I actually did that interview in studio with him. So, the two of us are together staring at each other, which was really cool after I did a morning show with him.
When I asked Pat and Tom, I actually wanted it to sound like I was on the phone because for the most part, that has been our experience when we would do interviews. And so they were so gracious enough to record it for me, chop it up a little bit with their parts, and then I actually had to go clean up some of my uhs and things like that out of it.
But then I remember when we called and they went through the script that I – I remember Pat said, “Hey, can we actually do a real interview with you?” And I was like, “Yeah, please. Absolutely.” So the interview you hear on the track, he makes a joke at the beginning of donating to my record, so don't ask, which is so those guys, but that was an actual interview. That was one we used. It wasn't the script I used.
And so we actually used that and I'm so grateful they asked the questions they did. And it really placed itself on its own. I had an idea where I wanted the tracks to sit and the interview placed itself in front of “There Goes God Again,” which was the subject of what interview was about.
Ken: Beautiful. Well, before I leave, I do want to touch upon your first single release off of Anthem and it's a single called “Nothin’ But Country.” It's a featuring Petey Pablo. And this is one of those songs that is going to sound unlike anything that you've heard from Jason Michael Carroll. It's a little bit genre bending, but it's along those themes of building upon all of those country themes that have kind of built to you as a person, right?
Jason: It is. It's crazy. Petey and I have known each other for probably 20 years now. We met at the Ale House in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and we exchanged information that first night. The crazy thing was I remember when Petey Pablo and I became friends, every time I'd see him, he'd be like, “Let's do something, dawg.” I'm like, “Yeah, I'm down. Let's do something.” And we would always say that. It was almost like the Nashville goodbye. We should write some time, you know? So I was like, “Yeah, man, let's do something.”
Well, we never did anything. We would always see each other. Twenty years' time, we would call each other on the phone. I mean, at first, when I got his number, the funny thing was I must've been the top of his call list because you'd be gone for two weeks, come home in bed at night, like 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, my phone would ring and Wendy's like, “Who's calling you?” I'm like, “What do you mean?” She'd wake me up and tell me this. I'm like, “What are you talking about?” She's like, “Somebody's calling you.” And I wouldn't even look at my phone. I'd say, “It's Petey.” She's like, “What?” I said, “It's Petey.” She's like, “No, who's calling you?” I said, “Baby, I'm telling you it's Petey Pablo.” And she says, “Why? Why is he calling?” I said, “I don't know, baby. He'd bug me all the time.” And she's like, “Uh-uh.”
So finally, I reached out, I fumbled through the door, like I find my phone, I grab it and I open it. And what she would hear was… And I'd be like, “Petey! Petey!” And finally, he'd pick up, “What up, dawg?” And I'm like, “Dude, you called me.” That's how our conversations would go.
And the crazy thing about asking him to be on this record, it was so organic. It wasn't intentional. It wasn't forced. I thought I had done – I thought I'd finished the record with the song that you and I were talking about off interview, with the song “Whatever Happened to Heroes.” And I thought that was going to be the end. I wanted the record to fade out into the abyss with the last line of the song people heard and got people thinking, you know, because all you hear is my vocal asking.
And I remember I asked a guitar player, after we finished this record, real quick, I asked a guitar player, a very prominent guitar player in Nashville, very famous, to be on this record. I reached out to their day-to-day person. They got back to me and said, “Yes, he would love to do it.” I said, “Awesome.” “He can't do it right now. He's got things coming up. He's got projects. Can you hold off a little bit?” “Yeah, sure.”
So every two weeks, I'd call, “Hey, has he been able to do it?” “No, he's got this.” Okay. Two weeks later, “No, he's got this.” Two weeks later. “No, he's got this.” Christmas. No. February, the first week of February, I called, “Hey, has he been able to do it yet?” He can't do it. And I was so disappointed.
But I'll be honest with you, my mind went straight back to the fact that that waiting time, I would have finished the record had he been able to do that sound, that solo for me. In December, I started writing another song that the more I wrote it, the more it turned into what modern country seems to be today. I even called my wife up to my office. I said, “Hey, can you listen to this? Tell me if it's cool.” And I said, “I'm thinking about sending it to Petey and ask him to be on it.” She said, “Do it.” So I did.
He actually agreed to put bars on it. He did a great job. One of my favorite lines is “I feel like Petey Timberlake. I'm out here bringing country back.” What a great line.
But when we tracked it, man, this song organically just became something so cool that I was like, man, I thought I was done with “Whatever Happened to Heroes.” I thought it was gonna be it. Now we need to segue into this song because I didn't want to change the rest of the rhythm for the record.
So I actually had my buddy Eddie and Amanda Fox down in Asheville, North Carolina. Eddie has been a very big supporter of mine and a good friend for years. I actually reached out to him and said, “Hey, can y'all do another interview for me?” So that's the only interview that turned into this photo interview where they – I didn't realize. They sent me their idea and next thing you know it was like the comedic bit. I love this. So I edited it all in my studio, put it down together, and they're like banging on asking for one more track and this is the one we give them. So I love that. I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to put this out the way I wanted to.
Ken: That's great. I'll just maybe finish up with just, you know, from your perspective, is there anything else that's from your heart you want people to know about this project that's coming up, Jason?
Jason: This album is not only my opus. I hope it's not my last one, but I think it's, to this point, I definitely believe it is my staple. It is my favorite album I've ever done, but not only that, there are things in this record that I think people, little factoids about this. My grandbaby is on two tracks, on the “Pretty Wild Thing” song, which I told you I wrote because I was dealing with some things with my daughter.
Fast forward, I didn't know that I would be friends with Steve Ferrone years later and he would track on it. But I also didn't know that my daughter and I would mend our relationship. I was there for her when she needed me and I always was and I always will be. And the reason I wrote “Pretty Wild Thing” was whether they speak to me or not, whether they're talking to me or not, they would know how I felt about them and either spiritually, physically or not, their dad would be there for them. And that's why I wrote “Pretty Wild Thing.”
I didn't realize years later that my daughter that inspired the song that I wrote about, I wrote for all my kids, would actually be singing with me on the track. I told you about the Tom Petty influence on “American Girl,” you remember Tom Petty does this “ah” kind of thing in the background that he does that throughout the entire song, I actually looped this “tah-tah” thing in “Pretty Wild Thing.” And I got the idea to add Nugget, my grandbaby, one of her first coos, one of her first laughs. So in the song, the entire loop of the song you hear tah-ah, and that's Nugget and myself that are looped through the entire song. So another Tom Petty nod.
And then, lastly – oh, not lastly, I actually had my family singing all the gang vocals on “Go to the Bar” and on “What I Know Best.” So my mom, my kids, my grandbaby, they're all singing on every one of those gang vocals. And my daughter's story, lastly, is singing the harmony with me on the song, which was very traditional, very country sounding.
Ken: That's going to be a big bus when you have to take them all out on the road to do those gang vocals when you go on tour, buddy.
Jason: (laughter) No kidding, right?
Ken: Well, for anybody that's out there listening and/or reading this, I'd encourage you to get this in your ears as soon as it comes out, hopefully early in February 2026. It has the early song of the year on my choice for next year already for “Whatever Happened to Heroes.” It's got some amazingly personal and really fun songs. Jason, I just want to tell you, thank you for pouring your heart out for all of us fans out here.
Jason: You know, independent music is alive and well, so go out there and support an independent artist, myself or anyone else. But I really do think that if people give this record a shot, they'll not only know more about myself, but they'll be really happy with finding some more about some things out about themselves.
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Get Your Tickets Now for the 17th Annual Golf & Guitars Music Festival: More Days. More Music. More Intimate.
This year, we’re dialing it in. Shrinking it down. Making it more personal.
We’re creating a truly intimate experience that brings the music closer and
makes the connection between audience and artist stronger than ever before.
With the elimination of General Admission tickets, every attendee is now a VIP
— and that means better views, better vibes, and a deeper dive into the stories
behind the songs.
At its core, Golf & Guitars is more than just a
concert series. It’s a powerful fundraiser supporting some of Sacramento’s most
impactful youth charities — including The California Eagles, the
nation’s first and largest Special Olympics golf program, and Angels for
Hearts, a program dedicated to bringing joy and resources to pediatric
heart patients and their families. This year, we'll likely cross the
2-million-dollar mark in funds raised for charity since we started.
And this year? We’ve added an entire third night of music to
the VIP experience — giving you three unforgettable evenings of
country music’s brightest stars, all while doing good in our community.
🎸 The 2025 Line-Up:
Sunday, September 28 – Wine & Guitars at
Silt Winery, Clarksburg
Doors open at 5:00pm – food and drink available
for purchase
- Bryan
White (Grammy Award Winner)
- Megan
Conner
- Brian
White
- Lauren
Mascitti
A magical kickoff set against the vineyard backdrop of Silt Winery
— the perfect setting for a mellow night of acoustic melodies, storytelling,
and sipping wine under the stars.
Monday, September 29 – Songwriter Showcase at
Haggin Oaks
Doors open at 5:00pm – food and non-alcoholic
beverages included
- Chris
Roberts
- Johnny
Bulford
- Heidi
Raye Bulford
- Craig
Wayne Boyd
- Drew
Kennedy
- Josh
Grider
- Riley Roth
This fan-favorite night returns with a Nashville-style round that
brings award-winning singer-songwriters center stage to share the stories
behind their hits in a setting as authentic as it gets.
Tuesday, September 30 – Nashville Concert Under
the Stars at Haggin Oaks
Doors open at 5:00pm – food and non-alcoholic
beverages included
- Jackson
Dean
- George Birge
- Runaway
June
- Love
& Theft
- Chase
Matthew
- Jason
Michael Carroll
This is the big stage finale. A full concert experience with
chart-topping artists performing under the Sacramento sky. It’s electric. It’s
emotional. It’s everything country music fans dream of.
🎟️ Ticket Info:
- 3-Night
VIP Pass – $150
- Sunday
Night Only – $50
- Monday
Night Only – $50
- Tuesday
Night Only – $100
Whether you're a longtime supporter or a first-time attendee, this
year’s Golf & Guitars promises a concert experience unlike any
other — all in support of kids who need it most.
🎤 Get your tickets now and be a part
of the magic:
www.golfandguitars.com
Let’s make music. Let’s make memories. And most importantly, let’s make a difference.
Saturday, May 11, 2024
16th Annual Golf & Guitars Music Festival Line-Up Launched - 1.5+ Million Dollars Raised For Charity Since Event Started
We're thrilled to announce the launch of ticket sales for the eagerly awaited 16th Annual Golf & Guitars Music Festival and Children’s Charity Concert! Mark your calendars for June 24 & 25, 2024, as we return to the scenic Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, CA, for a two-day extravaganza of music, golf, and philanthropy.
Star-Studded Lineup
This year's festival boasts a lineup filled with some of the brightest stars in country music. Get ready to be entertained by the incredible talents of Mark Wills, Ashley Cooke, Craig Campbell, Josh Ross, Corey Kent, and Dylan Schneider. We’re also excited to welcome back long-time Golf and Guitars favorites like Love & Theft, One Flew South, and Jason Michael Carroll. These artists are not only chart-toppers but also big-hearted individuals ready to make a difference through their music. Night one is a singer-songwriter showcase filled with an equal amount of talent including chart-topping songwriters like Erin Enderlin, Emily West, Kevin Post and more.
More Than Just a Music Festival
Golf and Guitars is more than just a concert; it’s a celebrity pro-am golf tournament that brings together top country music artists and fans for a cause close to our hearts. Each golfer has the unique opportunity to play alongside a celebrity, blending sport and entertainment to create unforgettable memories. As night falls, the golf course transforms into an enchanting concert venue under the stars, where our artists give stellar performances that resonate far beyond the music.
A Cause Worth Supporting
All proceeds from the Golf and Guitars Music Festival go towards supporting vital children's charities. The Morton Golf Foundation is a primary beneficiary, receiving a significant portion of the event's funds to continue their incredible work. Additionally, the artists contribute to the charity of their choice through the tournament purse, ensuring that their participation benefits multiple causes. Over the years, Golf and Guitars has proudly raised over $1.5 million for charity, making a substantial impact on the lives of many children.
Get Your Tickets Now!
Don’t miss out on this unique blend of sports, music, and philanthropy. Tickets for the Golf and Guitars Music Festival are on sale now! Secure your spot and be part of an event that celebrates great music and supports even greater causes. For ticket information and details on the event schedule, please visit our Golf & Guitars website at www.golfandguitars.com.
Join us for two incredible days of music and giving back at the 16th Annual Golf & Guitars Music Festival. Let’s make a difference together!
Sunday, May 5, 2024
TNS Interview - Jason Michael Carroll Comes Full Circle On New Gospel Album, Rest My Soul
However, as we sit down to discuss his latest musical venture, Rest My Soul, it's evident that Carroll is embarking on a profoundly personal chapter of his career. Beyond the glitz and glamour of commercial success, he's delving into the depths of his own soul, guided by a newfound sense of purpose and passion. With this gospel album, released on April 25th, 2024, Carroll isn't merely chasing radio hits or industry accolades; he's seeking solace and spiritual fulfillment through the power of music. It's a departure from the conventional path, a journey back to his roots, and a testament to the transformative power of faith and family in his life.
Ken Morton Jr: At this point in the stage of your career, why a gospel album?
Jason Michael Carroll: Well, as you know, with a lot of the changes that I had to make coming up on -- I'm about to have 21 months sober, if the good Lord will, in a few days.
I grew up in a very strict Christian home. My dad found Jesus when I was seven years old. Turns out he was in a trailer parking loop. I remember church immediately. My dad quit drinking, cussing, smoking, all that stuff cold turkey. The only thing he couldn't quit was his temper, and we got to later deal with that with "Alyssa Lies."
But I remember church became an integral part of my upbringing right out the gate. We were there every Sunday, Sunday night, Wednesday night service, and every revival. I mean, we didn't miss a night of revival while we were there unless one of us was sick. Even then, that was an act of God for me to convince my parents I was too sick to go.
But I remember growing up listening to music. It's not the earliest memory I've got, but it was definitely one of those ones where I remember singing those hymns in the congregation and my sister getting carried out because she was acting up in the church service and bouncing behind my dad when he pointed to her, and then moves for her to come follow him as he walked out of the church. And when they came back in, she came back with her head down looking like a cartoon. It's kind of funny, but that was just the way I was raised.
My mom has been begging me to do a gospel record for years. And when my dad died unexpectedly eight years ago this year, it was one of those things where I did not want to regret not doing that for her and kind of getting back to my roots, which is what I started in, singing gospel specials on Sunday. I ran the sound for my dad's church at his second church, Temple Baptist Church in Oxford. I ran the sound. I ran the tapes and the CDs for all the people that were singing their specials. There were times when we were very bare bones, and I would have to run and push play on the cassette player, and then go sing my special and then run back and stop it.
So it was always something that was special to me. And even though I got away from it, when my dad felt the sin in the churches, as they call it, and he quit preaching, he reached out to a lot of pastors in the area for help and needing prayer and needing support, and every one of those pastors in our area turned their back on him. I did not quit going to church. That's how I was raised. I earned the moniker PK, Preacher's Kid, fairly early, but what people don't think about when they say that is what that family saw on the inside of being the preacher's kid and the preacher's family.
So, I got out of church. When Wendy and I had the kids, she was like, "You know what? I want to take the kids to church." I supported that. I thought it was a great thing. Every Sunday that I was home from the road, which is very rare, Wendy would get them ready, and I'd tell the boys how handsome they were and the girls how pretty they were. Then I'd go back to bed.
I remember one Sunday my daughter had come in. I could tell which one it was by the way that she walked with her clogs across the floor. Savannah tapped me on the shoulder and she said, "Daddy, why don't you go to church?" And I took a deep breath, and I said, "I'm getting up." Because I couldn't let my experience be her experience. I still believe that God has some things to do for her and for eventually me with this thing turning around.
So that was the reason. We finished the record two years ago. I know I'm telling you a lot for one question, but we finished the record two years ago. It's been done for two years. I mean, the artwork I finished two years ago. Everything has been finished. And when I would go to my team and ask for help on it, I would say, "Hey, I've got this project that's finished, and it's really special to me. I'd like to put it out." And I'd get the "Well, let's come back to it" or "Let's come up with a budget for it." Unfortunately, with budgets, you've got to get shows to supplement the income that you're living off of, plus the money to build the budget for these things. So, it just never seemed to happen after two years. And I said, you know what? I don't want to regret this. My mom's birthday was the 25th of April, and she turned 70, and so I made that the release date for the gospel record.
KMJ: That's beautiful. Very meaningful. Your story is, I mean, it's kind of like a country song, pal. It's full of fun and redemption and salvation and the kind of timeliness topics that go all the way back to Jimmie Rodgers and all that kind of stuff. How does this kind of fit within the story of Jason Michael Carroll's music catalog?
JMC: Well, you know, I had a fear of singing in front of people growing up. I could sing. My parents always thought I could sing. My mom was always thinking I should do something with it. Until I actually decided to do something with it and then they wanted me to change my mind.
But I remember when I was in the Marine Corps, I sat beside my senior drill instructor. And yes, I sang in church a few times, but I sat beside my senior drill instructor in boot camp. And that night at lights out, I remember he called and said, "Carroll." And I'm thinking, "Okay, I'm in trouble now." "Sir, yes, sir." "Get ahead of my squad bay." "Yes, sir." I run up there in my skivvy. I stand there in front of the squad bay. "Carroll reporting, sir." He said, "You sat beside me in chapel today, Carroll." "Yes, sir." He said, "You sing like [0:06:20] [Indiscernible]. I said, "Thank you, sir." He said, "Sing my hymn." And the reason I knew the Marine Corps hymn at that point was because I was less than a man. I had not earned the title Marine yet. I was lower than the dirt.
The reason that I was able to sing that was because growing up the way I did in a Marine household, my dad was a Marine, and then he became a preacher, so double-whammy, I wound up when my dad would come home from work at night for a sports company. I remember these days, when my mom would have to get on us, I could tell we were in trouble when he would go up the hallway of our trailer, and then I'd hear him stomping back down the hallway of the trailer after he got home from work like 10:00 or 11:00. And if we gave my mom any trouble, we could expect that he would kick the door open and he would say, "Get up." And my brother and I knew that meant put our shorts on, put our tennis shoes on.
We lived in a trailer park in Zebulon, North Carolina. My dad would get in the family station wagon and turn the headlights on bright, and he would lean out the window and run us around the circle driveway of the trailer park, singing Marine Cadence at 10:00 or 11:00 at night until we wore ourselves out. And if we weren't loud enough, then we would do another lap. That's where I learned the Marine hymn growing up before I even thought about becoming a Marine. So doing that kind of thing really brought this whole thing to life. And then growing up and the fact that I sat beside my senior drill instructor in chapel, church service of all things, it just kept coming back around.
Here's the real kicker. I told you this project was done for two years, and I'm not blaming my managers or anybody like this, but God has got a reason. I'm not trying to get super spiritual, but I am in a program now that's helping me realize that I need help with getting through my day-to-day activities without picking up a drink or using and things like that.
So, what I've figured out is that God has a reason for everything He does and everything is in His timing. And even though I finished this record two years ago, I believe that He knew I was still doing my things. I was still living a life that was not reputable to what I'm trying to promote with this album and what the reason I recorded it would have been.
I think that He put that on hold for me to get my life together. I didn't see it coming. This wasn't my decision. When the family quit talking to me and when he left and all of that, for me, that was the beginning of my recovery was me first getting mad, thinking, how dare they leave me alone? This is not fair to me. And then realizing that my life needed to change. That was something that I would not have found on my own.
I do believe that this was all done intentionally. Again, I'm not blaming my managers for not jumping on this work that was done two years ago. If that sounds like that, I apologize. But I really do believe that it was in God's hands because He knew that His time had to happen.
KMJ: That's wild that the music came first and then the change in behavior came second.
JMC: Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, the crazy thing is and just like everything else, one thing I've learned in the program is we have atheists, we have agnostics. This is a definition that I learned. I heard agnostic growing up in church, but never really wrapped my head around what that word meant. Atheists obviously don't believe in God or a higher power.
Agnostic means that you believe in a higher power. You believe He's all powerful. You believe everything that the Bible or whatever spiritual reading that you're reading says about Him. But you're still doing the things that are contrary to what you say you believe, and that's agnostic. That was something that I definitely was, and I would not have categorized myself that way before I learned this in the program.
KMJ: Fascinating. Any favorite songs, any tunes on there that are more meaningful than any others on there?
JMC: Oh, lots of them, man. Everything on here was picked intentionally. My grandmother loved the song "Old Rugged Cross," and I sang that at my aunt's funeral. My aunt is the same lady who ran away when I was a child, I think one or two.
I think I've told this story before where I grew up in a house where we prayed for this lady every day. She ran away from an abusive husband. What I didn't understand was she left her kids with him. She disappeared. My uncle, who served three tours in Vietnam, tracked her down to Birmingham, Alabama, which is why the song "Postmarked Birmingham" means so much to me. It still brings tears to my eyes if I hear it.
But then, 16 years later, we were at my grandmother's house for Christmas. The phone rings, and it's this lady calling and asking to speak to Frances. I knew my grandmommy's name was Frances. And I gave the phone and saw my grandma's face change when she was talking to her daughter she hadn't spoken to in 16 years, which is also why we recorded the song "Hurry Home," which meant the world to me when I heard that demo. So that's "Old Rugged Cross."
The song "Rest My Soul," which is the title track, really spoke to me in our church services, even with me out there doing the life that I had and living the life I was living. I was still drinking and using. I was making bad decisions. This song hit me in so many ways.
Everything on here has a reason why I recorded it. But then the song "Spirit of God," my father used to go to church with us. When we were working on our relationship after all the turmoil and stress that we've gone through with "Alyssa Lies" and why I wrote "Alyssa Lies" was based on my relationship with him. My dad and I, we were working on our relationship, and that was all because of Wendy. Wendy, in several ways, has saved my life. She said, "You know, your dad deserves to know his grandkids." I said, "Fine, but if he messes up, I'm taking him down."
And I meant it because my dad and I faced off since I was about 13. I was 21. I knocked him out when I was 21. I thought I killed him. That was it. We had worked together in the business as far as he wanted to be my manager, and then he used that opportunity to mess around my mom, which is basically what that all turned into. So we really didn't have a strong relationship.
When I gave him that opportunity with my kids, my dad turned out to be the best granddad you'll ever see. He took them to Chuck E. Cheese, for God's sake, and I hate that place. I tell you, man, I miss him. But "Spirit of God," I felt like we were really working our way through some things. I was starting to develop this relationship with my dad that I always wanted.
I remember one time when my dad was a preacher, and I felt like he put us on the back burner a lot for the church. I asked him, I said, "Hey, can you come out and throw the ball with me and John, my brother, in the yard?" My dad said, "No, so-and-so is dying in the hospital." This was another big fight we had. I looked at him and I yelled, "Just let him die." And I got hit for it. And I meant what I said. I was so angry that he was picking these other people over our family then. This was probably when I was 15 or 16. I felt like I just lost so much time with him.
When "Spirit of God" would come on in our church services, I vividly remember looking over and seeing my dad singing that song and especially the bridge part where it says, "You are welcome here. Purify, cleanse our tongues, lose our ears." That moment in that song takes me back to standing there beside my dad at church before he passed away.
There's so many things like that on this record. I'm grateful for the opportunity to do it and for my praise and worship team at Faith Baptist Church that actually did all the recording and working with me on this project. It was such a great experience, man. I definitely think there's probably going to be another one in the future. But I mean, as I tell people all the time, in the Bible it says Paul would not eat meat in the New Testament because the Old Testament laws have changed, and people believed that that was a sin to eat meat sacrificed to the idols according to Old Testament law. But in New Testament law, that would change. And Paul said, even though the laws have changed, I will not eat the meat if it causes a brother to stumble.
Which is why I've never recorded a gospel record before because I know that I'm playing in honky-tonks every weekend. I sing country music. I am a country boy. I grew up in the sticks. I'm going to write more country songs. I'm going to put out more country albums.
It was just an experience for me to try and get this out. I wanted to do it, one, to get the message out. Glorify God with what I'm doing, again, which I think was in his time that it came out when it did. But also, I didn't want to regret not doing it with everything with my dad. My mom is still here asking me for this record.
Friday, May 27, 2022
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Hear It Here - Jason Michael Carroll's "Tell Me Your Name (Diane's Song)"
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
13th Annual Golf & Guitars Music Festival Raises $120,000 For Charity at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex In Sacramento
Featuring a pro-am golf tournament and two all-star concerts, annual Sacramento event brings together artists, and altruism- has raised a million and a half dollars since inception.
For more than a dozen years, the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex, the Morton Golf Foundation and KNCI 105.1 FM have proudly hosted the Golf and Guitars Music Festival and Children’s Charity Concert in Sacramento, CA, raising well over one million dollars for charity along the way. This year’s Golf and Guitars event was held on October 18 and 19, 2021, with more than 20 country artists and singer/songwriters donating their musical support to the cause.
Walker Hayes, Love & Theft, Elvie Shane, Jameson Rodgers, Jason Michael Carroll, Lainey Wilson, Priscilla Block, Erin Enderlin and Texas Hill were among the 20+ musicians and acts who performed during the two-day event. Hayes’ rendition of the TikTok’s #1 worldwide phenomenon song “Fancy Like” was met with the evening’s largest singalong. The event kicked off with a VIP party on Monday night, including a singer/songwriter showcase with some of the nation’s best and most-heralded songwriters, including NBC’s Songland winner Griffen Palmer. Tuesday’s activities included a silent auction, a charity golf tournament featuring professional golfers and golf-loving country artists alike, and a star-studded main concert held under the stars in a main stage built on the 17th tee box.
Funds raised by the annual event were split between the Morton Golf Foundation — a non-profit corporation that provides funds to help enrich the lives of the less fortunate through healthy outdoor activities like golf — and the artists’ children-focused charities of choice. The Morton Golf Foundation funds programs offering a healthy outdoor recreational environment that stresses the building of lasting personal relationships while seamlessly instilling life’s core values for the youth, disabled, and under-served communities of Sacramento. Programs that receive monies from the funds include California Eagles (the first and largest Special Olympics golf program in the country), Swing Club for the Blind, Saving Strokes (for stroke victims), PGA Hope (for veterans), First Tee of Greater Sacramento, minority scholarship programs, college scholarships, golf grants and more. Artist charities that also received funds included St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, Down Syndrome Association of South Texas, Trail Youth, Augies Quest to Cure ALS and more.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
The Ties That Bind – Former Marine & Country Music Star Jason Michael Carroll Pays It Forward Through Golf
It was Carroll’s first time playing golf, his very first round, the first time he was ever on a golf course.
“My very first time playing golf, I shot a 96,” Carroll recalled of his day at Brevofield Golf Links, located in Wake Forest, North Carolina.
It was years and years ago, but Carroll can remember what the experience did for him.
“I was thinking, ‘Wow, I think I’m pretty decent at this game,’ ” he said in a telephone interview from his home in Raleigh, N.C. “And then I got cocky. The next time I went out, about three weeks later, I shot 120.”
Carroll, a country music star with a number of big hits, has continued in golf – a game that he plays as often as he can.
“There’s some really beautiful spots out this way,” Carroll, a singer-songwriter, said.
“A lot of my friends are members at some prestigious golf courses in the area,” he added, referring to Hasentree, a course in Wake Forest that was designed by Tom Fazio; 12 Oaks, a course in Holly Springs, N.C., designed by Jack Nicklaus; and The Country Club at Wakefield Plantation’s course, located in Raleigh, N.C., and designed by Hale Irwin.
“It’s pretty cool to be able to have connections in those places, where I can go … and see the masterful work by the groundskeepers and the course superintendents.”
Carroll’s connection to golf involves his family as well.
Two of his children play golf, following in their father’s footsteps.
Carroll travels to the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento each year to participate in its Golf & Guitars Children’s Charity Pro-Am & Music Festival. He is also there to play golf and spend time with military veterans through the PGA HOPE and Wounded Warriors golf programs that Haggin Oaks offers.
KNCI 105.1 and the Morton Golf Foundation sponsored the 12th annual Golf and Guitars Music Festival, held in May. It’s a two-day music festival that also serves as a fundraiser for the Morton Golf Foundation, according to www.hagginoaks.com.
“The Morton Golf Foundation funds programs offering a healthy outdoor recreational environment that stresses the building of lasting personal relationships while seamlessly instilling life’s core values for the youth, disabled, and under-served communities of Sacramento. We need your support to continue our mission of helping those in need in the Sacramento area,” according to www.hagginoaks.com.
PGA HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere) is the flagship military program of PGA REACH, the charitable foundation of the PGA of America, according to www.pgareach.org. PGA HOPE introduces golf to veterans with disabilities to enhance their physical, mental, social and emotional well-being, according to www.pgareach.org.
There is no cost for veterans to participate, as all programs are funded by PGA REACH and supplemented by PGA Section Foundations.
The program, taught by PGA professionals trained in adaptive golf and military cultural competency, introduces the game of golf through a developmental 6-8 week curriculum, www.pgareach.org reported.
PGA HOPE is the flagship military program of the Northern California PGA Foundation, based in Vacaville.
“Since 2015, 750 veterans in Northern California were impacted by PGA HOPE. By the end of 2019, more than 1,000 veterans will have participated in PGA HOPE Programming,” according to www.ncpgafoundation.org.
Carroll does all he can to provide help and support for veterans. He has also performed with USO tours overseas.
“We like to wave our flags as a community. But I think a lot of people don’t really know how to get involved and how to help,” he said. “An organization like PGA HOPE … shows their appreciation. But it also gives these veterans a pastime, so they are not sitting there, thinking about what they don’t have, or things that they can’t do. I think that’s a beautiful thing.”
It was Ken Morton, Jr., VP Retail & Marketing for Morton Golf, LLC and the Event Manager-Golf & Guitars Children’s Charity Pro-Am & Music Festival, who reached out to Carroll, inviting him to Sacramento, to perform and to play with a group of wounded veterans.
“I was like, ‘Absolutely,’ ” said Carroll. “I can’t thank (Morton) enough for this. It’s because of the efforts through groups like PGA HOPE … some of these veterans are out there, learning the game of golf, learning how to handle it and to adapt with their disabilities. And I’m like, ‘Wow, good for you.’
“Being able to be a part of Golf & Guitars has been amazing for me. My appreciation for the event has gone through the roof. I think Ken’s noticed how interactive I’ve been. I think Ken sees that I genuinely do care about the fans that come out there and support this event.”
For the last six years, Carroll has donated his day and foursome to play with four members of Haggin Oaks’ PGA HOPE or Wounded Warriors golf programs, said Morton.
Carroll’s day spent each year with the veterans goes much deeper than golf. He gets to know each player, and by the end of the round, each one has his contact information.
“Everybody that I’ve ever played golf with at Golf & Guitars, the veterans that I’ve played with, each one of them has my (phone) number by the time we are done with the round,” said Carroll, 41.
“It’s something that you’ve got to commit to. For the most part, most of them text me. We stay in touch.”
Carroll said he is also involved in a charity event in Ohio for wounded veterans. Organizers take veterans out on guided pheasant hunts. Sky diving is also offered.
“Some of them are still fighting. You know, the war doesn’t stop because they’re not at war right now. The internal war is pretty intense,” he said. “Some of these people are really dealing with some serious things.” Links to Freedom, a charity organization based in Lorton, VA, assists with veterans as well.
“Links to Freedom is dedicated to restoring a sense of normalcy to our Wounded Warriors, disabled veterans, their families and caregivers through rehabilitative and adaptive golf programs at military and civilian golf courses nationwide,” according to www.linkstofreedom.org.
Carroll is not the only one who plays golf in his family. He has a son and a daughter who also play.
“I tell my kids all the time: the game of golf … you’re out here playing with your friends. But literally, you’re playing against you. You’re in your own head space,” he said.
“I have a lot of friends that play, and they all want to go out. But there’s moments when you want to get away. There’s so much going on in your head and everything else, that you’ve just got to clear it. I go out to the golf course and hit balls.”
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association, Associated Press Sports Editors, and California Prep Sports Media Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.
Thursday, May 23, 2019
12th Annual Golf and Guitars Music Festival Raises Money For California-Based Children Charities
Cody Johnson, Mitchell Tenpenny, Love & Theft, Adam Hambrick, Jason Michael Carroll, Morgan Evans, Parmalee and Colbie Caillat's Gone West were among the musicians who performed during the two-day event.
The event kicked off with a VIP party on Monday night, including the recognition of 21 college scholarship winners (with more than $30,000 being awarded in educational funds) and a singer/songwriter showcase headlined by Jason Michael Carroll. Tuesday's activities included a silent auction, a charity golf tournament featuring professional golfers and golf-loving country artists alike, and a star-studded main concert. With tickets beginning at just $35, the Golf and Guitars Music Festival was both affordable and altruistic.
Some of those charities of choice from the artists included:
Grant Napaer - $5k – Thistle Farms
Eric Gunderson (Love and Theft) - $5k – Shine for Susie
Drew Kennedy - $5k- Mark McEvoy Legacy Foundation
Chris Roberts - $4k – Valor Collegiate Academy
Neal Morgan (Cripple Creek Band) - $2k – St. Jude
Travis Simas (Cripple Creek Band) - $2k – Youth for Christ
Matt Thomas (Parmalee) - $2k – St. Jude
For more about the Golf and Guitars Music Festival at Haggin Oaks, please contact:
Jackie Marushka at 615-417-6500 / Jackie@MarushkaMedia.com
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Jason Michael Carroll To Release Strings Official Movie Soundtrack On 1/11/19
Album: Strings (Official Movie Soundtrack)
Label: For The Lonely Records
Release date: January 11, 2018
Several months after the release of the debut of his first acting role in the movie Strings, Jason Michael Carroll is releasing an 11-song soundtrack from music featured in the film. Former Marine Jason Michael Carroll (whose album Waitin in the Country soared to number one on the US Country Charts - producing three Top 40 hits including "Alyssa Lies" "Livin Our Love Song" and "I Can Sleep When I'm Dead"), and Katie Garfield ("The Birth of a Nation") led a strong cast in this drama centered around making it big in the music business.
Track listing:
1. Take It All
2. Just Happens That Way
3. The Reason
4. Why (Because I Love You)
5. Let You Walk Away
6. Here I Am
7. Thank You For Loving Me
8. Just Happens That Way (Acoustic Scratch)
9. The Reason (Acoustic Scratch)
10. Why (Because I Love You) (Acoustic Scratch)
11. Let You Walk Away (Acoustic Scratch)
Saturday, April 14, 2018
That Nashville Sound Saturday Newsbytes: Clay Walker, Jason Michael Carroll, Brent Cobb & More
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| Jason Michael Carroll |
- Ditto for Jason Michael Carroll. The good guy is back with a good message with his brand new single "I Want You To Know" that you can listen to HERE.
- Michael Ray is following up his self-titled debut album with a new project due out June 1 on Atlantic Records/ Warner Music Nashville called Amos, named after his grandfather who gave him his appreciation of country music.
- Gretchen Peters is releasing a new project with a message on May 18th. Dancing with the Beast puts female characters at the forefront, from teenage girls to old women, and intentionally so. With the 2017 Women's March and #MeToo Movement as bookends to her writing, Peters knew that a feminist perspective would be the critical core of the record. “Those two events just put everything -- as so many things in 2017 -- in really stark relief,” she admits. “You can trace the feminist DNA in my songwriting back to 'Independence Day' and probably before. The thing that 2017 did is just put it front and center. It was very easy to kind of go to sleep for a while and just not think about that stuff because we were lulled into complacency for eight years.”
- And Brent Cobb is back with a fun animated video for his song "Mornin's Gonna Come" that you can watch below.
Monday, March 5, 2018
Golf & Guitars Music Festival Sets May 21 & May 22 For 2018 Dates- Crosses Million Dollar Mark In Fundraising For Children's Charities
Each golfer in the tournament gets to play with one of the celebrities and then gets a seat next to the stage where these artists put on a tremendous concert underneath the beautiful golf course sky.
The hottest acts in country music, the up-and-coming artists you’ll soon see topping the charts and some of Nashville’s very best songwriters are all donating their time to help raise funds for children’s charities during the Golf and Guitars KNCI Music Festival. Funds will go to the Morton Golf Foundation and a portion will paid out via a tournament purse to the artist’s children’s charity of choice.
Ticket Prices:
Day Two Concert General Admission: $35
VIP Ticket: $150 - VIP Tickets include designated concert seating, buffet dinner and a non-alcoholic drinks for both nights.
New One Day VIP Ticket: $100 (Tuesday night only) - includes designated concert seating, buffet dinner and non-alcoholic drinks for both nights.
The Morton Golf Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity, is to create a recreational environment that builds lasting personal development and that seamlessly introduces life’s core values of the great game of golf to the youth, disabled and underserved communities in the Sacramento region.
Kane Brown
Love & Theft
Maggie Rose
Jason Michael Carroll
Jimmy Wayne
Runaway June
Jordan Davis
Morgan Wallen
Monday, May 21 Night Performers:
Bryan White
Drew Kennedy
Courtney Patton
Jason Eady
Jamie Lin Wilson
Jake Worthington
Jim McCormick
Megan Conner
Erin Enderlin
Avalon Kali
Chris Roberts
Kimbery Dahme
Derek George
Get your tickets and raise money for a wonderful cause at www.golfandguitars.com.