There’s a lot going on here, but let’s start with the most important question: How have you never heard of Keith Whitley or George Strait?
Ok, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to a few of the other things to talk about here first.
Apparently the Hawk Tuah girl, Haliey Welch, has the best team in the business working for her, because this girl is everywhere these days. From appearing onstage with Zach Bryan to partying with Shaq and making $30,000 for appearances in NYC, Welch is really doing her best to capitalize on the viral fame from her man-on-the-street interview in Nashville when she gave some advice on pleasing a man in bed:
“You gotta give him that hawk tuah, spit on that thang.”
Welch, a native of Belfast, Tennessee, has since quit her job at a local spring factory and has been making the rounds on pretty much any podcast or show that will have her on – including an appearance with Bill Maher on his Club Random Podcast.
Now, right off the bat, this seems like a weird pairing. The young, outgoing Welch with the older, cynical comedian Maher was sure to produce plenty of awkward moments. And it definitely did, with Welch at times leaving Maher at a loss for words as he tried to figure out what to talk about with a 21-year old whose claim to fame was making a blowjob joke.
But when they got to talking about music, Maher managed to leave Welch speechless when she asked about one of her favorite artists.
Welch was discussing her love for country music, and Maher said that he liked “the good parts” of country music, mentioning Brooks & Dunn as an artist that he loves.
She then asked Maher if he liked Keith Whitley, and left Welch stunned when he revealed that he had never heard of the country legend.
(The conversation then quickly devolved into another “hawk tuah” joke when Maher told her to close her mouth before she became another meme).
Once they got back on track though, Welch and Maher were able to find some common ground on Toby Keith, who Maher says he recently gained a new appreciation for after making fun of his song “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” back in 2003.
But Maher then dropped another bomb when Welch asked about the King of Country Music, George Strait:
“Don’t know his work…I know enough about country to know he’s not the king of it.