Christian music meets Country music round three with Brandon Lake, who announced on his official Facebook page that he and Lainey Wilson, collaborated recently on a song that is coming out on Good Friday.

Lake, a Christian artist, has been teaming up with country artists like Jelly Roll, for songs like, “Hard Fought Halleluja,” which is their number one hit. And Cody Johnson teamed up with Lake, too, at the start of the year.

The announcement of the new collaboration is here:

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/18hKRvrLdm/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Straight from Craig Johnson’s official Facebook page here is Kirk’s review.

“A star for the sheriff!

The starred review for Kirk’s for the upcoming Walt Longmire Novel… Be sure to read the last line,” Johnson posted on his Facebook page.

The Kirk’s review says:

“”THE BROTHERS MCKAY”
Author: Craig Johnson
Review Issue Date: April 15, 2026
Online Publish Date: March 23, 2026
Publisher:Viking
Pages: 368
Price ( Hardcover ): $30.00
Publication Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN ( Hardcover ): 9780593830734
Section: Fiction
Solving the murder of the most hated man in Absaroka County, Wyoming, is no easy case for Sheriff Walt Longmire.

Wealthy landowner Pepper McKay is found dead in a trout stream on his O-Kay Ranch. Did he slip and hit his head on a rock, or was he murdered? Pepper was an indifferent parent, an alcoholic, a womanizer, and a rapist. He had three sons from his marriage—David, Ian, and Alan, who were all at the ranch for a family meeting the night before Pepper’s body was found—and another, Manx Henenoka, the product of an affair with a Shoshone cook who worked at the ranch. They all hated Pepper to varying degrees. Manx’s story is the best example of Johnson’s deep dives into characterization. Different in every way from his half brothers, he lives at the ranch, where he was raised by foreman Gary Lyman and his wife, Lynn, after his mother died, and expects nothing of Pepper. Manx wins Walt’s admiration for his blunt answers to questions and his skill training a mule named Borax. Two sets of boot prints at the scene hint at murder, delighting Walt’s undersheriff and fiancée, Victoria Moretti. Even Walt has a motive for the crime: Years ago, Pepper tried to rape his now late-wife. In addition to the murder case, there are several dangers: Wildfires threaten the ranch, and Walt is stuck acting as parole officer for Maxim Sidorov, an erudite Russian spy who once tried to kill him. Both Pepper and David were once involved with a woman named Paetra Agirra, whose hot-tempered uncle has already killed three men. Unlike the average lawman, Walt has a philosophical bent, lives by his own code, and reads voraciously. But it’s Maxim who points out the similarities between Pepper’s family and The Brothers Karamazov that could crack the case.

A complex, cerebral mystery with a plethora of suspects that demands out-of-the-box thinking and help from a heroic mule.”

Johnson has two Wyoming tour stops this summer:

And you can find out more on Johnson’s official website:

Www.craigallenjohnson.com

C. J. Box’s latest novel hits #1 on the New York Times Best-Sellers list for hardcover and ebooks.

C.J. Box’s official website is:

Www.cjbox.net

Barnes and Noble Book Sellers also carries both authors’ novels as do other independent book stores, and online platforms, such as Barnes and Noble’s Nook and Amazon’s Kindle. Libraries have the books available for borrowing, although they may have hold lists.

Yesterday wind gusted in Cheyenne, Wyoming and Northern Colorado and several other states and caused a lot of damage. wind gusted at 90 mph.

Here are photos of damage that was done in Cheyenne.

Lainey Wilson welcomed Jelly Roll into the Grand Old Opry recently.

Wilson said this, “Your love for Jesus Christ radiates from you. And I’m so proud of you. It’s inspiring, it really is inspiring, Country music has always been about telling stories. Telling the truth; the good, the bad, the ugly, the messy. It’s about redemption, and tonight we are welcoming a man who has never been afraid to tell the truth about his life and that is powerful. He turned pain into purpose, mistakes into music, and somehow managed to make millions of people feel a little less alone, I’m so proud to know you, so proud to call you my friend. Jelly Roll because of your heart, your stories, your story, and the way that you have used your voice to lift everybody up it is my honor to welcome you into the Grand Ole Opry family. Watch the Facebook reel below:

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1R1Tc6tcJG/?mibextid=wwXIfr

By Karen Cotton

Michael W. Smith announced he’ll be releasing a brand new song on March 20th.

“Hymn For Communion” can be presaved at this link below:

https://slinky.to/HymnForCommunion?fbclid=IwRlRTSAQc0FFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeYpaKoB-zz_BRIJWOjo8rq76tVxS2tE19afof-vV05lqeeSCiZwWij1J_kVY_aem_sH2UZ-6PojDsw52u53qJmA

Story by Karen Cotton

We lost Chris LeDoux 21 years ago today. LeDoux went from being a bareback rodeo legend, who often competed in the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo, to gracing the stage at CFD as a country act multiple times. Often known as Wyoming’s son, LeDoux, was also a Grammy nominee and bronze sculptor. The world lost him when he passed away in 2005, on March 9th in Casper, Wyoming, after fighting a hard brave battle with a rare cancer, Cholangiocarcinoma, which is a rare, aggressive cancer of the bile ducts, according to Wikepedia.

Below is an official photo of LeDoux from his official Facebook page

I was fortunate enough to interview Chris and you can hear that phone interview at the PRCA Hall of Fame, which had an exhibit of LeDoux on display. Or in Laramie, Wyoming at the University of Wyoming American Heritage Center in the Karen Cotton papers.

The PRCA Rodeo Hall of Fame museum will be moving to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where our magazine is based, by 2029.

Here is a link to that story by 9News in Denver, Colorado:

https://www.9news.com/article/life/style/colorado-guide/prca-leave-colorado-wyoming/73-85e24017-8124-4c8e-a7b8-139c8cc3171b

Chris’ website is :

https://www.chrisledoux.com/

Ned LeDoux, one of Chris’ sons, carries on his father’s music legacy. He performs many of his father’s hits as well as his own hit songs. He often comes to Cheyenne and has also performed at CFD multiple times.

For Ned LeDoux’s online information about upcoming tour stops go to:

https://nedledoux.com/

PRCA Rodeo Hall of Fame website:

https://www.prorodeohalloffame.com/

University of Wyoming American Heritage Center:

https://www.uwyo.edu/ahc/

The Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum also has a number of Chris’ ticket stubs from his shows at CFD and press photos from my days as a reporter at the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. I believe they also had a signed guitar that Chris signed backstage, which is something artists often do when they perform at CFD. The guitar was on display at one point. I believe he was also inducted into the CFD Old West Museum’s Hall of Fame and will confirm that soon.

You can find out more about the CFD Old West Museum and LeDoux’s legacy here:

https://www.oldwestmuseum.org/