where

Transcription initiation sites are locations in the DNA where a specialized transcription-factor protein can attach and then build an mRNA copy of the gene in front of it.

Knowing where the mRNA begins formation on the DNA strand is a significant part of understanding how genes are expressed.

These initiation sites contain regulatory elements and provide information to the cell about when and where to transcribe each gene to make protein, and how frequently to do so at any point in time.

Acts like Hardy, Warren Zeiders and Koe Wetzel have brought heavy guitars into commercial country music, while Nickelback has become a reliable draw at country festivals including this past April’s Stagecoach in Indio, where Smith was also on the bill and did a faithful cover of Foo Fighters’ “My Hero.”

In Nashville, another song of Smith’s — this one called “Wildfire” — took off on TikTok; the buzz earned him a sit-down with a publishing executive where he played “Sleeve,” a sensual, Fleetwood Mac-ish soft-rock number he says tells “the story of me and my ex-wife and how that s— really sucked.”