Country
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For the first time since the death of her husband last year, Kellie Pickler returned to the stage Monday night to perform at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium for a tribute concert to Patsy Cline.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was not incredibly nervous right now,” Pickler said when she hit the stage. “It’s the first time I’ve been up on stage in a while.”
Kyle Jacobs, a songwriter/producer and Pickler’s husband of 12 years, died by suicide in February 2023. He was 49 years old.
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On Monday night, according to a TikTok video posted by Music Mayhem magazine, Pickler performed her song “The Woman I Am,” from her 2013 album of the same name, which she co-wrote with Jacobs.
“My husband and I actually wrote this song together, gosh, over a decade ago,” Pickler said onstage. “The last time I was here in the Ryman Auditorium was with him on a date night, and I know he is here with us tonight.”
Watch Pickler’s return to the stage below:
Jacobs’ songwriting credits included Garth Brooks’ Hot Country Songs chart-topper “More Than a Memory,” as well as songs recorded by Trace Adkins, Clay Walker and more. Jacobs also produced several Lee Brice hits, including “I Drive Your Truck,” “Hard to Love,” “Rumor” and “Drinking Class,” and was a producer on Brice’s 2020 album Hey World.
Jacobs and Pickler got married in January 2011 and previously starred together on the reality show I Love Kellie Pickler. Pickler competed on American Idol in 2006 and finished in sixth place, later earning a Country Airplay top 10 hit with “Best Days of Your Life.”
Pickler broke her silence following Jacobs’ death in a statement to People magazine last August, writing: “One of the most beautiful lessons my husband taught me was in a moment of a crisis, if you don’t know what to do, ‘Do nothing, just be still.’ I have chosen to heed his advice.”
If you’re thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, available 24 hours, at 988.
This week, Billboard is publishing a series of lists and articles celebrating the music of 20 years ago. Our 2004 Week continues here as we check in with one of the artists who defined mainstream country music 20 years ago: Gretchen Wilson, whose smash hit “Redneck Woman” and subsequent best-selling Here for the Party album made her the freshest and most exciting new artist in Nashville.
Two decades have elapsed since Gretchen Wilson set fire to country music’s staid mainstream landscape in 2004 with her debut single, “Redneck Woman.”
The song’s lyrics — highlighting women who prefer beer to champagne, and who leave Christmas lights hanging year-round — vividly detailed a lifestyle familiar to millions of female country music fans. It was also a lifestyle that Wilson didn’t see or hear depicted among the female artists on country radio and in music videos in the early ’00s. So, Wilson teamed with Big & Rich singer-songwriter John Rich to craft a song that celebrated anti-“Barbie doll type” women.
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“I remember sitting down and saying, ‘I can’t really relate to what I’m seeing on CMT, GAC, all the popular music video channels, and this is not real life,’” Wilson recalls to Billboard. “That’s kind of the mindset we had that day. It was like, ‘If I’m not that, then what am I?’ And the best thing I could come up with was, ‘I’m just a regular ole redneck woman.’ That’s a really pivotal moment, just writing that song that I knew was uniquely me. But I also knew, from a songwriter’s standpoint, it was about as honest as I could get. I knew at the same time that it was going to speak to so many women that were feeling frustrated just like I was.”
“Redneck Woman” was a true slice-of-life for Wilson, who was born to a teenage mother and grew up in Pocahontas, Illinois, a town with a population of less than 1,000 people. Wilson grew up in trailer parks, and was working in local bars as a cook by age 14. She moved to Nashville in 1996 and spent much of her 20s singing on songwriters’ demos and performing in local bars. By the time she signed with Epic Records in 2003 and earned her breakout hit with “Redneck Woman,” Wilson was in her 30s and raising her own daughter.
Music fans instantly connected with “Redneck Woman,” calling radio stations and demanding that it be played. “Redneck Woman” was released in March 2004; by May, it had reached the penthouse of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart (then-called Hot Country Singles & Tracks) and stayed there for five weeks. It proved a counterpoint to the smash pop crossovers of country artists like Shania Twain and Faith Hill, whose most commercially dominant years were already solidly in the rearview by the time Wilson’s breakthrough came around.
“I felt validated, but mostly with the fans, because radio put up quite a fight,” Wilson says of “Redneck Woman”’s success. “Radio was like, ‘Who is this white trash hillbilly chick coming at us with 13 cuss words in the first song?’ My argument at the time—and I had a valid argument, even though it was 20 years ago, before a lot of feminine movements had happened—my argument was, ‘I’m on the same record label as Montgomery Gentry, who just had a hit with ‘Hell Yeah’ [in 2003]. So, is this just because I’m a female and I can’t say ‘Hell Yeah’ in my song? So that kind of got ‘em, and they shut up real quick about that. But it was really the fans who called their local radio stations. They called and basically said ‘You will play this song or I’ll be switching to the other guy’s station.’”
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Those fans didn’t just call radio stations — they attended Wilson’s concerts in droves, holding up signs of support and telling Wilson how they identified with her no-frills, rough-around-the-edges persona. “A lot of ‘em would bring up Faith Hill rolling around in satin sheets in the [2000] video ‘Breathe,’” Wilson says of the contemporary country image that was prominent at the time, which some fans found difficult to relate to. “It’s a great song, no doubt. They were like, ‘I just don’t think I could stomach any more of that because who wakes up looking like that in the morning?’ People were so enthusiastic [about feeling represented by my music] that they would show up and they would have homemade t-shirts that said, ‘Redneck Girl,’ ‘Redneck Woman’ and ‘Redneck Grandma’ on them — representing three generations, sometimes four. It did feel very validating.”
In 2004, Wilson earned the Country Music Association’s Horizon Award (later renamed new artist of the year), and the following year, female vocalist of the year. “Redneck Woman” won Wilson a Grammy for best female country vocal performance, while Wilson’s debut album Here For the Party bowed at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart and was certified five-times Platinum by the RIAA. Three more singles from the album, “Here For the Party,” “When I Think About Cheatin’,” and “Homewrecker,” reached the top 5 on Hot Country Songs.
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Wilson’s success also helped elevate the MuzikMafia, an eclectic collective of artists (including Wilson) founded in 2001, whichwas known for holding court with free-wheeling, hours-long shows at Nashville’s Pub of Love — all driven by creating an atmosphere of acceptance and support across a spectrum of sounds. Alongside Wilson and Big & Rich’s Rich and William “Big Kenny” Alphin, the group included ‘00s country fixtures like Cowboy Troy, James Otto, Shannon Lawson and Jon Nicholson.
“At the same time that we were being crazy, wild and having a party, the other stipulation was, ‘You got to be good,’” Wilson notes. “One of our mottos was that it doesn’t matter what you play. As long as you can play it well and hold an audience, we’re not going to tell you that you’re not country enough, or not rock n’ roll enough. You just got to be good. That’s why the shows would go on for six or seven hours, just one person after another getting up there, because we were a group of talented friends coming to these parties. When you get 13, 14, 15 artists all wanting to play five or six songs apiece, that’s a long night of music.”
In 2004, as Wilson’s “Redneck Woman” dominated, other MuzikMafia artists also mounted breakthroughs. Big & Rich’s “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” rose to No. 11 on the Country Airplay chart. Otto released his debut album Days of Our Lives in 2004, while the following year, Cowboy Troy released the single “I Play Chicken with the Train” and his album Loco Motive. Together, the group broke through the polished, often pop-oriented sounds emanating from Nashville’s Music Row.
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After the blazing-hot popularity of Wilson and Big & Rich in 2004, the MuzikMafia’s rising tide slowly began to level out. Big & Rich earned a No. 1 on Hot Country Songs with “Lost in This Moment” in 2007, then went on hiatus as a duo in 2009 and each released solo projects (they reunited in 2011). Wilson’s sophomore album, 2005’s All Jacked Up, didn’t quite reach the same sales heights as her debut album, while the songs found more moderate success on radio (though the album, and 2007’s One of the Boys, both reached the pinnacle of Billboard’s top country albums chart). Meanwhile, a new crop of female artists began making their own country chart strides in the mid-2000s, including Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler (all of whom offered up polished, sparkly personas and pop-country sounds). Wilson’s own songs also helped pave the way for the independent-minded singer-songwriter Miranda Lambert, who earned her first top 10 hit on Hot Country Songs in 2008.
Scanning today’s country music landscape, however, Wilson doesn’t really see a modern-day parallel to what the MuzikMafia set out to do. “I would say the MuzikMafia was reminiscent of the early Outlaws, in a sense. I don’t think there’s been [anything like it since] — not to say that there won’t be, it could happen again — but it was definitely a movement and each one of us had our own position. I think maybe what made it successful is it didn’t get too big; it always stayed just a handful of us. It was a brotherhood and sisterhood, and we’re all just real close; it’s definitely a family.”
Earlier this year, Wilson teamed with Big & Rich and Cowboy Troy to launch their 20th anniversary celebration tour.
“It’s like walking right back out onto a stage that I never left,” she says of the shows. “Every time I look over at John, he’s grinning from ear to ear. Every time I look at Kenny, he’s being Kenny, which is crazy, throwing his arms up in the air — anytime you look at Kenny, you just got to be ready for anything that might be coming at you. But it’s been a lot of fun.”
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In addition to the current tour, Wilson shares that there is new music on the way: “I’ve got a song that I’m going to try to finish up by the end of this month, and I’m hoping to have it circulating at least by the first couple of weeks in May. I can tell you that it’s kind of like [Wilson’s 2005-released single] ‘Homewrecker’ part two. It’s kind of a follow up on that kind of vibe.”
Wilson says she’s always thoughtful about releasing songs that showcase different facets of her artistry, while maintaining the rowdy songs fans have come to expect.
“There are songs I’ve written that are very personal, more ballady with a softer edge. When people go look me up and find songs from me, they are looking for the hard edge. They’re looking for that girl on a four-wheeler that’s guzzling Jack Daniels barefooted,” she says. “But definitely, there are different shades to my personality and songwriting and it’s pretty complex.”
Still, there’s a reason that Wilson felt “Redneck Woman” was true to who she is. “There’s always going to be that layer of me that is that girl that they expect to see,” she explains. “And I’m barefooted, right now, sitting outside on the back porch watching the train go by in the distance. So, after all these years, I haven’t really changed too much.”
Luke Bryan‘s party came crashing down over the weekend when he fell right on his back during his Vancouver, B.C., concert. But while the country star joked at the time that a fan who’d thrown their cell phone on the stage would be hearing from his attorney, Bryan has since revealed that he thinks the oopsie was caused by an entirely different reason.
“Ironically, last week, I was having back trouble to the point where I had to get a chiropractor to the room,” he began in an interview with Entertainment Tonight on the American Idol red carpet Monday night (April 22). “It’s because I’ve been cycling. When I get to L.A., I love to go cycling around. I love it out here.”
“When I hit the ground, I was like, ‘Oh!’ The first thing [I thought] was, ‘Oh god, all the work I did to get my back feeling better is out!’” he continued, laughing. “Everybody is reporting [about the] cellphone, but I was kind of hamming that up. I don’t think it was a cellphone. I think it was just slick.”
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The country star elaborated on the slickness of the stage to Extra. He shared that when he looked back at footage of the fall, there may have been an additional culprit. “I keep my water bottles down there, and I think a water bottle may have spilled,” he said. “But whatever, it was slicker than a banana peel. Thankfully, it’s a cheap way to get a viral moment going.”
Bryan is currently on his Mind of a Country Boy Tour, which will next make stops in Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Jacksonville, Fla. While performing in Vancouver, he slipped and fell backward in a moment of unplanned slapstick comedy that even Charlie Chaplin would be envious of, after which the “Drunk on You” singer asked the crowd, “Did anybody get that?”
Picking up a cellphone that had made its way onto the part of the stage where he fell, Bryan added, “My lawyer will be calling.”
“I need viral moments, you know? I need viral moments!” he later joked to ET. “My new single is ‘Love You, Miss You, Mean It.’ Now I gotta get the bumper sticker made — ‘I busted my a– and this is my new single.’”
Indeed, “Love You, Miss You, Mean It” arrived April 5, debuting at No. 40 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Bryan is also in the midst of finishing out his latest season on American Idol as a judge alongside Lionel Richie and Katy Perry, with the show premiering its Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits-themed episode Monday.
The Academy of Country Music revealed the winners of the 2024 ACM Radio Awards on Monday (April 22). There are ties in two categories (major market on-air personality of the year and medium market radio station of the year) and multiple first-time honorees.
B-Dub of B-Dub Radio Saturday Night receives his second ACM Award for national weekly on-air personality of the year, while Steve, Ben and Nikki of Steve, Ben and Nikki took home their second award for small market on-air personality of the year.
In the radio station categories, WXTU in Philadelphia took home its second win for major market radio station of the year, and WUBE in Cincinnati, Ohio took home its fourth win for large market radio station of the year.
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The announcement was made with the help of numerous artists, including Danielle Bradbery, BRELAND, Ashley Cooke, Russell Dickerson, Lady A, Ashley McBryde, Parker McCollum, Megan Moroney, Conner Smith, and Tigirlily Gold.
The announcements were made ahead of the 59th ACM Awards, which are set for Thursday, May 16 at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Tex. streaming exclusively on Amazon’s Prime Video.
The show is produced by Dick Clark Productions. Raj Kapoor is executive producer and showrunner, with Patrick Menton as co-executive producer. Damon Whiteside serves as executive producer for the ACM, and Barry Adelman serves as executive producer for DCP. John Saade serves as consulting producer for Amazon MGM Studios.
Below is a complete list of the radio award winners for the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards:
On-Air Personality of the Year Winners
National Daily: Katie Neal | Katie & Company
National Weekly: B-Dub | B-Dub Radio Saturday Night
Major Market (Tie): Angie Ward | Angie Ward – WUBL – Atlanta, Ga. and Jason Pullman | The Jason Pullman Show – KPLX – Dallas, Tex.
Large Market: Annie Fox and Cole Dunbar | Annie & Cole – WLHK – Indianapolis, Indiana
Medium Market: Doc Medek and Chewy Medek | The Doc Show – WGGY – Scranton, Pa.
Small Market: Steve, Ben, and Nikki | Steve, Ben and Nikki – WXBQ – Bristol, Va.
Radio Station of the Year Winners
Major Market: WXTU – Philadelphia
Large Market: WUBE – Cincinnati, Ohio
Medium Market (Tie): WBEE – Rochester, New York AND WGGY – Scranton, Pa.
Small Market: WFLS – Fredericksburg, Va.
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Two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Luke Bryan turned a fall into a viral moment over the weekend when he played a show in Vancouver, Canada.
The incident happened during Bryan’s Mind of a Country Boy Tour, when he slipped and fell onstage, landing on his back, on top of a fan’s cell phone that had been thrown onstage.
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Bryan made a swift recovery, and with his signature quick wit, turned it into a humorous moment, asking the crowd, “Did anybody get that?” before handing the phone back to its owner and joking, “My lawyer will be calling.”
He then gave the crowd an instant replay of the fall by holding a phone from another concert attendee who had recorded video of the fall, and having the concert’s cameraperson zoom in on the video, casting it on the big screens for all to see.
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Bryan also joked to the audience, “Hey, I need some viral. This is viral, all right? This is viral!’ As the video played, he said, “All right, here we go again. There I am, there we go … there it is!”
Bryan appeared unfazed by the brief tumble, and continued on with his headlining set. Additionally, the American Idol judge the singing competition the following evening, offering his rendition of John Mellencamp’s “Small Town.”
Bryan has additional shows in Saskatoon and Winnipeg as part of the Canadian leg of his tour, while the next leg will launch in June in Jacksonville, Fla., at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
Watch the country star’s onstage tumble and reaction below:
When Annie Ortmeier was appointed co-president at Triple Tigers in September, one of the programs she undertook was retooling Scotty McCreery’s online presence.
One person, rather than an independent firm, was devoted to the singer’s social media, and in the first six months, his email list doubled in size alongside growth in his streaming and his online followers. When McCreery received the trophy for CMT digital-first performance prior to the CMT Music Awards on April 7, it marked his first win at that ceremony in 12 years, and Ortmeier took it as a sign that their revised marketing efforts are working.
“We made voting a part of our social media strategies since the nominations came out,” she says. “I can’t help but think that had a lot to do with him winning that award.”
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Ortmeier and Warner Music Nashville co-president/co-chair Ben Kline are the first two country label heads whose paths to leadership included working full time in digital marketing. Ortmeier’s journey started in 2004 at CMT.com, where she ventured into ecommerce for CMT, VH1, VH1 Classic and Comedy Central. She segued into digital marketing for Universal Music Group Nashville.
Kline started more traditionally in the 1990s with the pop divisions of PolyGram and Island before joining UMGN in 1997, staying in Nashville for a dozen years. By the end of that run, new media had become part of his job title. He left to work for three years at InGrooves, a company focused strictly on distributing and marketing music online. It was a key piece of his development as a 21st-century music executive prior to his 2014 return to Nashville with WMN.
“Every decision we made [at InGrooves] was viewed through the digital lens, and we were raising money and going through a couple rounds of funding, and the conversations all were digital: ‘What’s the future? What’s next? What are the growth patterns?’” he recalls. “It was a digital-driven business, and you had to understand the ins and outs of how to speak to consumers and speak to partners in that space.”
Both Kline and Ortmeier first devoted their efforts to digital music and promotion full time in an era when CDs and airplay were still the primary vehicles for the country genre. Their early commitment to then-new platforms uniquely positioned them to take label reins once the industry’s drivers flipped.
“I was working in streaming when it was 15% of the business,” Ortmeier recalls of her earlier UMGN work. In more recent years, “it was 85% of the business. So it completely inverted.”
Label leadership has changed dramatically in Nashville. In the earliest years of the business, record company heads — including Chet Atkins at RCA, Owen Bradley at Decca and Ken Nelson at Capitol — tended to be producers. It made sense; labels earned their money by selling singles and albums that were exposed through radio, and producers generally had a handle on the sounds that worked on-air. But as the industry increasingly relied on the sales of more expensive albums, record companies more frequently gave the top position to promotion and marketing execs, including Joe Galante at RCA, Bruce Hinton at MCA and Rick Blackburn at CBS.
Now that artists and labels reach listeners through virtual platforms, the industry’s central companies are turning to people who were on the front lines as those new avenues emerged, providing more data than was ever available before. Understanding that information is key to every modern marketing plan. But knowing when to apply humanity to the numbers is just as important.
“Data can make smart people look dumb or make dumb decisions,” Kline reasons. “Analytics and data help inform, but it can’t be how your decisions are all based. Gut and instinct and knowledge and past experience — they all have to play a role.”
One of the key lessons of past experience, however, is that the past may not be much of a predictor for how to reach fans in the future. Taylor Swift famously built some of her earliest fan base on Myspace, which is now a quaint relic with outdated accounts. Luke Combs came to prominence by introducing his music on Vine, which was shut down in 2017.
“Whatever is working today, enjoy it today, because it may not work tomorrow with the digital world,” Kline says.
That same digital environment has radically changed the way that labels and artists find one another. In another era, artists’ consumer marketing started primarily after they signed a recording deal and started releasing music. Now the artist already has a fan base before labels will even consider a signing, and the act is usually savvier about how to interact with that audience. Thus, meetings with an artist in 2024 are different than they would have been in, say, 1994.
“They’re creating fans, they’re talking to them, they’re sharing music, they’re getting their music heard,” says Kline. “Think about the stories that artists bring by the time they go sign deals versus what it was 30 years ago. I mean, it’s unbelievable, so the conversation has to change.”
Similarly, that overall country audience is different. Streaming platforms make more artists and more genres available, so even core country listeners are likely to ingest a wider range of music. Similarly, the genre is accessible to a much larger slice of the population. Thus, the current Beyoncè moment is possible, in part, because of streaming. Cowboy Carter is connecting because she was able to harness her established audience in addition to appealing directly to country fans. Had she attempted to cross over in ’94, her primary options of exposure would have been late-night TV appearances, prominent in-store placement and whatever radio play she could muster. PDs who were protective of country’s identity would have felt reluctant to give a playlist slot to a pop singer who was likely to stick around for only one album.
“It does open up a consumer who never thought they were a country fan, much like Garth Brooks did 30-plus years ago,” Ortmeier suggests.
The shift to digital marketing and distribution in country directly aided the rise of Kline and Ortmeier to label leadership. Streaming is here to stay, so it’s a good bet that these two execs are setting what could be a long-term precedent.
“I do think,” predicts Ortmeier, “that there will be others behind us.”
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Nearly two weeks after he was arrested for allegedly throwing a chair off the roof of a Nashville bar, country superstar Morgan Wallen has posted a statement on his X account addressing the incident. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news In a two-part response, the country superstar tweeted, […]
In early April, country star Maren Morris released her children’s book Addie Ant Goes on an Adventure, in collaboration with former schoolteacher Karina Argow. According to the interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show, they have known each other for about 11 years. This long-lasting friendship evolved into a collaborative partnership. Explore Explore See latest videos, […]
In addition to earning his own top 20 Billboard Hot Country Songs hit “Flower Shops” in 2022, Big Loud Records singer-songwriter Ernest’s songwriting acumen has become a not-so-secret hitmaking weapon in Nashville’s songwriting circles, stealthily helping to fashion the sound of modern-day country music. He’s a writer on seven No. 1 Country Airplay hits, including Morgan Wallen’s 10-week No. 1 “You Proof” and three-week No. 1 “Wasted on You,” as well as chart-toppers by Kane Brown (“One Mississippi”) and Jelly Roll (“Son of a Sinner”).
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With that in mind, the industry has recognized his ability to spin words and melody into chart hits, lauding him with a nomination as artist-songwriter of the year at the upcoming Academy of Country Music Awards in May.
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On Ernest’s new album, Nashville, Tennessee, which released April 12, this rapper-turned-modern country traditionalist declares his intentions right from the start in not only honoring his hometown of Nashville, but the creative spirit and community that has long made Nashville “Music City.”
“It listens more like a playlist than a true album,” Ernest tells Billboard. “The true denominator is country music and all the influences I’ve taken, definitely going back to the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, all the way to present-day. It has a little bit of all of it.”
Nashville, Tennessee features collaborations Ernest’s with fellow Nashville native and country hitmaker Jelly Roll, as well as Lainey Wilson, Lukas Nelson, as well as the other members of his Big Loud Records labelmate singer-songwriter trifecta, Morgan Wallen and HARDY.
The sprawling, 26-song album’s essence is highlighting the artistry of country music’s top songwriters, including Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famers, alongside newcomer hit writers. Two sets of Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame country writers and their next-gen country songcrafters are present on the album: Dean Dillon (known for numerous hit songs including “Tennessee Whiskey,” Keith Whitley’s “Miami, My Amy,” Kenny Chesney’s “A Lot of Things Different” and George Strait’s (“The Chair”)) and his daughter, the Grammy songwriter of the year-nominated Jessie Jo Dillon, as well as Rivers Rutherford (the Dolly Parton/Brad Paisley collab “When I Get Where I’m Going”) and his son Rhys Rutherford (Bailey Zimmerman’s “Is This Really Over?). ACM and CMA song of the year winner Nicolle Galyon, Ryan Vojtesak and Grady Block are featured, in addition to writers signed to Ernest’s own Cadillac Music publishing company: Chandler Walters, Cody Lohden and Rafe Tenpenny.
Along the way, he nods to a plethora of country music’s towering figures, including Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, George Jones and Lefty Frizzell—while also signaling his expanse of influences outside the genre in covers of songs from John Mayer and even Radiohead. In simultaneously mining country music’s history, yet eschewing any borders, he sets forth a music-first mantra. Within Nashville and beyond, fans responded immediately, with 6,000 people showing up at Ernest’s pop-up show in Nashville on the album’s release day.
Ernest spoke with Billboard about some key tracks from the new album:
“Would If I Could” with Lainey Wilson was written three decades ago by Dean Dillon and Skip Ewing. How did you come across this song?
Ernest: Jessie Jo Dillon sent me that song and said, ‘This is the only song my dad and Skip ever wrote. I think you would like it.’ I did fall in love with it. I listened to it probably a thousand times, and within a week I recorded my own voice note of it on my phone, and I sent it to Dean just out of the blue. I don’t know that he even knew that I had the song, and I sent it to him and said, I’m going to cut this song. And he was like, well, damn son, if you’re writing him like this, what do you need me for? And then I was like, you wrote this. And it all came back to him.
How did Lainey come to be on the track?
Ironically, I guess within the same few days, Lainey put that song on hold. She found it in the Sony catalog, and cut it for an Apple Music session. I texted Lainey and said I planned on cutting the song. She called me and was like, ‘I’ll just sing on your record. I’ll do that song with you.’ So it worked out so naturally and beautifully, and it wasn’t written as a duet, but it turns out it’s a great duet.
You co-wrote “I Went to College/ I Went to Jail” with Luke Bryan, Chandler Walters and Rivers Rutherford. But it sounds perfectly written for you and Jelly Roll. How did it come about?
That song really is the perfect song for Jelly. We both grew up in Nashville. I’d known him for a while, and that’s what me and Luke Bryan were talking about. We’re playing golf. He was like, ‘You go back a while with Roll, don’t you? I said yes, and started singing, “I went to college and he went to jail,” and said, ‘We have to write that right now.’ We started writing it in the golf cart. The heavens dropped that song in our little golf cat that day. We FaceTimed Jelly Roll and he loved it was like, “Let’s go, baby!” Classic Jelly Roll.
It was a great song to start the album off with, with [both of us] being from Nashville and just kind of setting the tone for the record, that it’s a good time and it’s real storytelling and all that. It’s not too serious.
“Hangin’ On,” featuring Morgan Wallen, sounds a little more modern country than some of the other tracks on here. How do you decide which songs to keep and which to give away?
It was fun getting to be a bit selfish on this album. Usually, I’m just going in and writing a song that I’d like to sing. Then there are special days were Morgan will come in and we’re writing Morgan songs. I knew that I would typically have given that song to Morgan. So instead I just asked if he wanted to feature instead of just straight-up giving it away. [The 2024 Morgan Wallen collab] “Cowgirls” was kind of the same way. When I first did it, I didn’t show it to Morgan immediately, and when I finally did, it was always a no-brainer — it was going to be a Morgan song and he asked me to feature on it with him.
The midway point of the album is a family moment you share with your son Ryman Saint, singing “Twinkle Twinkle.” It’s from your concert at Boston’s Fenway Park. Why did you want to include that?
It’s a little palate cleanser, where you get into the “Life Goes On” segment of the record. But me and Ryman sing that song every night before he goes to bed and fall asleep singing it. And so when we were on our way to Fenway, I asked if you wanted to sing with Daddy, and he wanted to sing that song. So he did his first time ever. It was a proud parent moment.
You also include John Mayer’s “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” and a bluegrass spin on Radiohead’s “Creep.” Why was it important to include those on an album like this?
“Slow Dancing” has been one of my favorite songs for forever. I think that’s true for most people. It’s one of the best John Mayer songs, and it’s fun to play it with the steel guitar in it. And then as for “Creep,” that just was a fun little accident of me picking up a banjo and realizing it was the “Creep” chords. We were like, “If Old Crow Medicine Show did Radiohead, what would that be like?” Then it sat around for a year and I was like, “This would be the perfect song to get Hardy on for the record.” It was kind of the perfect way for me and Hardy to coexist on that album.
Sam Hunt banks his 10th No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “Outskirts” rises to the top of the tally dated April 27. The song increased by 15% to 33.2 million impressions in the April 12-18 tracking week, according to Luminate. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news […]