All roads lead to the Ryman. On the first-ever season of The Road, 12 rising stars got the chance to open up for Keith Urban at shows across the country, gaining both exposure and experience.
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After the artists performed both a cover and an original, Urban’s audiences voted on who should continue on The Road and should be sent packing. It all led to here—the final three artists.
Adam Sanders, Cassidy Daniels, and Channing Wilson are the lucky three, having survived weeks on The Road to make to the final performance at Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium.
“What an awesome experience for all of us,” Sanders told American Songwriter ahead of the finale. “I’m very, very grateful to be in this position.”
That’s something about which all three finalists agree. It’s especially the case since they’ve all been working towards a career in music for years, a stark difference from artists on other singing competition shows.
“To be handpicked to be a part of a show like this is validation for all of us in our career, something that we’ve all worked for for a very long time to be in this position,” Sanders said. “The 12 of us that were on the show didn’t just start singing a week ago and create a TikTok. We’ve been at this for a really long time.”
The Road Contestants Praise Their Show Mentors
As the old adage goes, hard work tends to pay off. That’s certainly true in this case.
After years of struggle and sacrifice, the artists on The Road were not only given the chance to open for Urban, but were lucky enough to get advice along the way from executive producer Blake Shelton and tour manager Gretchen Wilson.
“Being able to converse regularly and hang out with the people of that caliber is something that’s worth its weight in gold to a new artist like me,” Daniels noted, before gushing specifically about “Mama Gretchen” herself.
“She has been such inspiration to me, especially as a female in country music,” Daniels said. “There is no other female out there that is busted up the boys club more than Gretchen freaking Wilson.”
The male Wilson also expressed appreciation for the female one, stating, “She was really amazing. She shot you straight, and sometimes you really need that in this business. A lot of people just kind of keep it even all the time, and she was really real the whole time.”
What to Expect from The Road‘s Season Finale
The three finalists considered all that they had learned when it came time to pick their finale songs.
Sanders observed that ’90s country did well with Urban’s audience, so he decided to lean into that vibe, covering Brooks & Dunn’s “That Ain’t Now Way to Go,” and returning to one of his most well-received originals of the tour, “All Summer Long.”
As for Wilson, he paid particular attention to the venue when selecting his songs.
“Playing at the Ryman’s very, very special all the time,” he said. “… Having a moment at the Ryman is important. They Ryman will give you that moment if you pick the right song.”
Those right songs wound up being David Allan Cole’s “The Ride,” and Wilson’s “dynamic” original, “Blues Comin’ On.”
Daniels played more coy about what fans can expect from her finale performance, teasing only, “All I gotta say is there’s a whole lot of crazy in the final episode.”
That final episode, which will air Dec. 21 on CBS, will reveal The Road‘s first-ever winner. That lucky person will earn a set at Stagecoach, $250,000 cash, and a recording contract.
No matter who walks away with the prize, Wilson said that he “took a lot of positivity” out of his experience on The Road.
“I truly think, for me, this show has truly been nothing but blessings,” Daniels agreed. “… Seeing how everything really ended up, looking back now, it’s truly as if God put me in that situation to prepare me for what’s to come. This next couple of months are going to be crazy for me, but thank God I had The Road to really prepare me for what crazy meant.”
Photo by Connie Chornuk ©2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc.
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