It’s pretty much a no-brainer that Uvalde native Matthew McConaughey would choose Texas.
However, hearing him sing the 2025 mega-smash hit from Ella Langley came as a bit of a shock. It seems the 56-year-old Academy Award-winning actor and producer is leaning into his bluegrass side, showing off his mandolin skills last night on Fallon.
Promoting his latest rural-crime thriller, The Rivals of Amziah King, hitting theaters tomorrow, August 14, McConaughey stopped into the late-night show to discuss the film and showcase the real-life band featured in the movie, The Last Bison. Yes, McConaughey quite actually plays the frontman of a bluegrass band in the Andrew Patterson-directed project, backed by the Virginia folk group.
Showcasing his vocal chops last night on The Tonight Show, he and the band decided to put their own bluegrass junction-style spin on Langley’s current Billboard Top 100 record-breaking phenomenon. Oh, and of course, you know Jimmy Fallon can’t help but add himself to every musical performance, playing alongside McConaughey with his washboard in hand.
The internet had some mixed reactions to the unexpected cover, with quite a few stating the obvious pun, “this was alright, alright, alright.” Personally, I’m leaning more towards the “It’s so bad it’s good” group of people, but I gotta admit his little “yee-haw” ad-libs throughout really top off the performance. There were also quite a few tone-deaf individuals that actually thought he sounded wonderful:
Luckily, arguably the one person whose opinion matters the most gave her stamp of approval on the lively rendition. Langley herself commented on multiple posts of the segment, noting, “I may never recover from this” and a simple “OMG,” expressing her enthusiasm.
I’ll give McConaughey kudos, though, because this cooky cover of arguably the song of the summer genuinely kinda makes me wanna see what else he has up his sleeve in the actual movie. As for Langley, she’s “Choosin’ Texas” this weekend as well, heading to Austin tonight, August 13, followed by two more stops in Corpus Christi and Fort Worth as she continues out on her highly successful 2026 Dandelion tour.
Tour Dates:
- 8/13 – Austin, TX Moody Center (#, &)
- 8/14 – Corpus Christi, TX Hilliard Center (#, &)
- 8/15 – Fort Worth, TX Dickies Arena (#, &)
- 8/20/26 – Green Bay, WI – Resch Center (#, %)
- 8/22/26 – North Little Rock, AR – Simmons Bank Arena (#, %)
- 8/28/26 – Auburn, AL – Neville Arena (#, &)
- 8/29/26 – Auburn, AL – Neville Arena (#, &)
- 9/10/26 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center (#, &)
- 9/11/26 – State College, PA – Bryce Jordan Center (#, &)
- 9/12/26 – Charleston, WV – Charleston Coliseum (#, &)
- 9/17/26 – Oxford, MS – SJB Pavilion (@, %)
- 9/18/26 – Athens, GA – Akins Ford Arena (@, %)
- 9/19/26 – Jacksonville, FL – Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena (@, %)
- 9/24/26 – Knoxville, TN – Food City Center (@, %)
- 9/25/26 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center (@, %)
- 9/26/26 – Moline, IL – Vibrant Arena (@, %)
- 10/7/26 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre (@, &)
- 10/9/26- Tulsa, OK – BOK Center (@, %)
- 10/10/26 – Lubbock, TX – United Supermarkets Arena (@, %)
- 10/13/26 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre (@, %)
- 10/14/26 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre (@, %)
- 10/29/26 – Des Moines, IA – Casey’s Center (@, &)
- 10/30/26 – Lincoln, NE – Pinnacle Bank Arena (@, &)
- 10/31/26 – Saint Paul, MN – Grand Casino Arena (@, &)