The Top 15 Stories of 2015 at RadioTexasLive.com

Whiskey Myers put the words behind their latest radio single to task. After seeing the devastation in Van, TX in the wake of Sunday’s tornadoes the East Texas natives announced they will be donating all proceeds from their show Thursday (May 14) at Grahams to Van Community Ministries.

On Sunday night (May 10th) the tiny town of Van, just off HWY I-20, in East Texas was devastated by tornadoes.

Categories include: Mustache of the Year, Defensive Beard of the Year, Showstopper Beard of the Year, Comeback Beard of the Year, Rookie Beard of the Year, and the coveted MVB (Most Valuable Beard).

New categories in our first-ever awards this year are: Breakout Beard Performance of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Beard, and DJ Beard of the Year.

Only after careful deliberation, we here at Radio Texas, LIVE! are ready to announce our winners.

The summer and spring saw great albums from Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen (“Hold My Beer Vol. 1″), and there was Pat Green’s “Home.” And who can forget the February shocking-to-the-rest-of-America No. 1 album release of “The Underdog” from Aaron Watson.

But those albums are not what this post is about.

This post is about great albums that may have not made it onto your radar (although aside from Watson’s album, the aforementioned certainly did not make it on enough radars), and into your heart.

After sweeping all three categories he was nominated in at the CMAs (New Male Vocalist, Album, and Male Vocalist of the Year), the whole world was talking about Chris Stapleton.

Many folks already knew Stapleton for what he is, an amazing performer and songwriter. Many more of you might not know you know, and love his music already. Here are Five Songs Chris Stapleton Wrote That Were Made Popular By Someone Else.

Back in May, Cody stopped by Radio Texas, LIVE! and debuted a brand new song with us. So how did this song, a song for his daughter, come about?

“I didn't want to write a song to her, per say,” Johnson told us on the show. “I just tried to write a song that made me feel good. But instead of thinking about my wife, and that kind of love, I just thought about my daughter. I started playing this song riding down the road to no miss home so much and the more and more I’ve played, it just feels good.”

2015 was a good year in the Texas / Red Dirt scene. Wade and Randy finally released their collaborative “Hold My Beer: Vol. 1,” Pat Green came “Home,” in October Jason Boland and the Stragglers unveiled “Squelch,” and in September the Turnpike Troubadours launched their self-titled album, their first since 2012.

2014 was a good year in Texas Music. We got great new albums from Cody Johnson, Sunny Sweeney, Stoney LaRue and Wade Bowen. Reckless Kelly won a Grammy, and a few bands took big steps forward in the collective conscience of all Texas Music lovers including: Curtis Grimes, Sam Riggs and William Clark Green.

And these were the most played songs according to the Texas Regional Radio Report, for all of 2014.

There are no words for something like this. At least not ones I know. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Rogers family during this terrible time.

Rumer, the second child of Randy and Chelsea Rogers, was born on June 3 and died just days later.

I’ve run into a dilemma recently… some friends who just moved to Texas from New York, are in need of some new music. Naturally, my inclination is to give them a taste of Texas Country, although they aren’t big country fans. Or they aren’t yet…

Putting together a playlist for them made me think hard about the genre. I want to give them a good, versatile mix of music, while being cautious of their natural distaste for “mainstream” country. In no particular order, of course. Let’s see how I did.