Here's one that'll hit you right in the heart. Lainey Wilson has spent her whole career saying Tim McGraw is the reason she wanted to make country music – the two even grew up just down the road from each other in Franklin Parish, Louisiana, a few decades apart. But incredibly, the two had never actually met. That changed this past weekend at CMA Fest when McGraw invited Wilson to join him for a surprise duet of "I Like It, I Love It" at Nissan Stadium. But it's what happened backstage that has the internet in its feelings. Years ago, a young Lainey wrote Tim a letter that he never received. When McGraw found out about it last year, he did something nobody expected he wrote her back. Backstage before the show, Tim handed Lainey a stuffed envelope and told her quote, "I wrote it as though I had gotten the letter, this is what I would've said." Lainey fought back tears, and honestly, good luck not doing the same when you watch the video.
On a lighter note, if you're looking for your summer soundtrack, LOCASH and Parmalee just delivered. The two acts teamed up on "Let the Country Music Play," a country reimagining of Rupert Holmes' classic "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" that swaps the beach bar for a boat on the lake and name-drops everyone from Shenandoah to Merle Haggard to Alan Jackson. It's fun, it's nostalgic and it's out now on all platforms.
I'm Brailey, and that's your Music City Minute.