Country
Page: 184
Thriving in commercial country music is a bit of a tightrope walk.
The artists who make a permanent mark â people such as Merle Haggard, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton or Willie Nelson â invariably have their own look, their own sound and/or their own kinds of songs. But success isnât merely a matter of being different; thereâs a long line of acts who have stood out through the years for unique attributes that never caught fire with the masses.
Part of the tightrope walk is the nature of the music thatâs popular at any time. If all the music in existence were represented by a standard, letter-size sheet of paper, the songs that earn significant exposure on playlists would be about the size of a pencil dot. The easiest way to figure out how to land on that tiny dot would be to identify all the elements that mark a successful recording. But that pencil dot is continuously moving, in part because customers are invariably looking for something new, but also because the advent of new technologies, new creative ideas and new gatekeepers invariably changes the rules.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Those conflicting ideas â the need to be different and the temptation to conform â were a recurring theme during the recent Billboard Country Live events, as a handful of artists and executives received Country Power Player awards on June 6 and seven panels explored current issues and trends in country music on June 7 for a consumer audience.
Jelly Roll perhaps best illustrated the balance of matching the current sound of the genre and creating an individual brand. After establishing a persona as a rapper-rocker, the Nashville native slipped into country over the last year, with music that had some similarities to sounds that were already working.âHow lucky am I that HARDY is on fire right now?â he asked rhetorically, alluding to that artistâs hard-rock edge and rawness that had already found favor with programmers. âGuys like Tyler Childers are out right now. Guys like Sturgill Simpson are on the scene right now. Thereâs so much variety in music, and especially in the genre of country music right now.â
But Jelly Rollâs civic passions â born from his own story, which includes substance abuse and incarceration â set him apart in the current structure. His blunt honesty about his past, and about the issues he has yet to conquer, makes him an ideal spokesman for a significant part of the country audience, many of whom know characters like him.
âI shoveled sât for 30 years, and Iâve turned my heart,â Jelly Roll said. âWhen my heart changed, itâs like God was [saying], âJust waiting on you, big fella.â And he started repaying all that bad luck I had.âJelly Roll was at least partially cynical when he started courting Nashvilleâs country gatekeepers for an opportunity. He was convinced that the fans would be there, but repeatedly got suggestions that he should be looking in Los Angeles or somewhere else for his shot.
That sort of experience is familiar to nearly every artist who stood out from the crowd. âWhen I first moved here, this town told me I couldnât be me, and I heard no for so many years,â Carly Pearce said during a panel about women in country music. âI just want the next generation to have the hope to be brave to do that. Because you can.â
History supports individuality. Johnny Cash, with his man-in-black fashion choices and imposing vocal tone, earned an authoritative place in countryâs annals. Loretta Lynn, through her plain-spoken songs and overwhelming history of hardship, made a connection. Alabama, sporting a then-daring mix of country harmony and rock influence, became an arena act that many tried to emulate. Miranda Lambert, mixing fiery femininity and Texan musical heritage, needed a little development time but ultimately broke through and became an icon.
Still, while decision-makers are fairly competent at identifying whatâs unique, theyâre less successful at knowing what differences will actually work.
âWhen I got to town, boy, they were quick to tell me what to change,â Ashley McBryde said while accepting a Billboard groundbreaker award. âThat was, âYour hairâs too curly. Lose 30Â poundsâ â weâre all trying to lose 30Â pounds â and âToo many tattoos.â And back then, there were three [tattoos]. They did the same thing with what to write or what not to write. And it was exhausting. The most important thing we can be as an artist, or as a bandmate, as a songwriter, as a human being, is ourselves. The other person I was trying to be was absolutely exhausting.â
Trying to become a unique artist mirrors much of the life that art is intended to portray. Successful companies have some identifiable trait that sets them apart, from a logo to a product to a market niche theyâre filling. Successful people invariably battle the voices of their parents, their teachers, society and even themselves to find their path. The threat of being outcast is large, but so is the threat of not being an individual, as Garth Brooks found when he released the risky âWe Shall Be Free,â which advocated for nontraditional relationships, in 1992. It failed to match the No. 1 status his singles typically earned in that era â though over time, it has become one of his signatures.
âYou canât be somebody else,â he said in a Billboard Q&A. âYou got to be yourself.â
That idea was underscored by Lily Rose, who admitted that walking an uncharted path is difficult.
âEvery single song that weâre cutting and putting out, itâs like, âAre we doing the right thing for me first? And then for the LGBTQ community? And then just country music in general,â â she said during the women in country panel. âIt can be kind of heavy, but it makes up for it every single time âŚÂ a mom or dad comes up with their 13- or 14-year-old, and they say, âBecause of you, they decided to tell me who they really are.â Itâs like, âYeah, I wish I had that.â â
In that way, itâs important for artists to continue owning their unique place in the world. Not every act will be successful â thatâs not the way it works â but those who do break through inspire other artists, and other people, to more fully explore their own individuality. âKnow thyselfâ is one of the biggest challenges ever issued to humanity.
âBetting on yourself,â McBryde said, âis the right move.â
Morgan Wallenâs âLast Nightâ adds a 20th week atop Billboardâs streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs chart (dated July 1).
The song surpasses âYou Proof,â which dominated Hot Country Songs for 19 weeks beginning in May 2022, for the longest-leading of Wallenâs seven career No. 1s.
Hereâs a look at the songs that have led Hot Country Songs for 20 weeks or more since the chart became an all-encompassing genre survey in October 1958. Wallen is the only soloist with two titles on the list, while duo Florida Georgia Line is the only other act with two. (All seven songs below have reigned since the chart adopted the all-genre Billboard Hot 100âs multimetric methodology in October 2012.)
Longest-Leading Hot Country Songs No. 1s (since 1958):
50 weeks, âMeant to Be,â Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line, beginning in December 2017
34, âBody Like a Back Road,â Sam Hunt, February 2017
27, âI Hope,â Gabby Barrett, July 2020
24, âFancy Like,â Walker Hayes, July 2021
24, âCruise,â Florida Georgia Line, December 2012
21, â10,000 Hours,â Dan + Shay & Justin Bieber, October 2019
20, âLast Night,â Morgan Wallen, February 2023
âLast Night,â released on Big Loud/Mercury/Republic Records, drew 72.2 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 4%) and 29.8 million streams (up 1%) and sold 7,000 downloads (down 3%) in the June 16-22 tracking week, according to Luminate.
âLast Nightâ concurrently leads Country Airplay for an eighth week â tying for the chartâs second-longest command ever, below âYou Proofâ (10 weeks) â and bullets at its No. 8 high on both Pop Airplay and Adult Pop Airplay.
Unsurprisingly, the seven 20-week-plus Hot Country Songs leaders above have all received pop/adult crossover radio airplay support, as the chart reflects all-format airplay, in addition to streaming and sales data.
âCarâ Ride
Concurrently on Hot Country Songs, Luke Combsâ cover of Tracy Chapmanâs 1988 classic âFast Carâ holds at its No. 2 high. The cover attracted 21.2 million streams (up 4%) and sold 10,000 in the tracking week â as it hits No. 1 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart and rises to No. 2 on Streaming Songs.
The song, which Chapman solely authored, pushes 10-7 on the all-format Radio Songs chart, led by its No. 2 rank on Country Airplay, as it surged by 18% to 31.1 million in audience. It also bullets in the top 25 of Adult Contemporary, Adult Pop Airplay and Pop Airplay.
As previously reported, âLast Nightâ and âFast Carâ rank at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on the Hot 100, marking the first time in over 42 years that country songs have pulled off such a double-up.
Zimmermanâs 4th Top 10
Also on Hot Country Songs, Bailey Zimmerman scores his fourth top 10 as âReligiouslyâ pushes 11-10. On Country Airplay, it climbs 16-14 for a new best (11.8 million, up 27%). It also drew 9.9 million official U.S. streams (up 6%) and sold 2,000.
Zimmerman made history on the Sept. 2, 2022-dated Hot Country Songs chart when he became the first artist to place three career-opening entries in the top 10 simultaneously. That week, âRock and a Hard Place,â âWhere It Endsâ and âFall in Loveâ ranked at Nos. 6, 7 and 10, respectively. The songs peaked at Nos. 2, 5 and 7.
On Country Airplay, Zimmerman has notched two No. 1s: âFall in Loveâ led for a week in December 2022, followed by âRock and a Hard Place,â which ruled for six frames starting this April.
In 2022, Zach Bryan released three projects, including his American Heartbreak album and Summertime Blues EP, followed by the live album All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster (Live From Red Rocks), which dropped in December. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news But according to Bryan, heâs already working […]
Taylor Swiftâs signature goes a long way, especially if itâs for a good cause.
On Monday (June 26), Toby Keith and Friends announced the top earning items from its 2023 OK Kids Korral auction, which benefits children battling cancer and their families. And while trips to Europe, one-on-one time with Keith himself and autographs from other celebrities definitely pulled in some big bucks, it was a guitar signed by the âAnti-Heroâ pop star that blew all the other items out of the water at the event earlier this month.
According to a release, the Swift-signed instrument went for a whopping $120 thousand, bringing the charityâs total event earnings up to a record $1.8 million. Other top earners included a fishing trip and a personal dinner with Toby Keith ($80,000 and $70,000, respectively), a guitar donated by Country Countdown USAâs Lon Helton ($44,000) and autographs from Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, Carrie Underwood, Kane Brown, Parker McCollum, Cole Swindell, Jordan Davis, Brantley Gilbert, Russell Dickerson, Brett Young, Ingrid Andress, Maren Morris, Luke Bryan and Jelly Roll.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Other auction items included memorabilia from NFL quarterback Joe Burrow, NBA star Steph Curry and golf icon Tiger Woods, as well as donations from Ashley Furniture, Crewâs Cottage Carlton Landing, The Joinery, Tim Kenney, Travis McIntyre, Red Fork Distillery, Kennel & Crate, Ryan Cunningham, South OKC Ace Hardware and LOREC Ranch Home Furnishings.
Established in 2006, The Toby Keith Foundation raises funds and provides housing for Oklahoma pediatric cancer patients. In 2014, they constructed the OK Kids Korral, a site where families can stay in comfort as their kids undergo treatment.
âNext year, itâll be the 10th year for OK Kids Korral, 20th year of my foundation party,â Keith told The Oklahoman at this yearâs event. âWeâre gonna celebrate a 10 and a 20, and weâre gonna blow it out. Itâs amazing how much support we get. But it takes that kind of support to handle 300 families a year.â
Patrick Moore has been named as CEO of Opry Entertainment Group (OEG), a division of Ryman Hospitality Properties. His new role includes oversight of OEGâs growth plan, day-to-day operations and business development activities at the company, which has a portfolio that includes the Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman Auditorium. Moore replaces former OEG CEO […]
In this weekâs stack of new country releases, Carly Pearce welcomes Chris Stapleton on a scorching breakup ballad, Tim McGraw and Brad Paisley further tease upcoming albums with new tracks, while Dan Tyminski offers his first full-fledged bluegrass album in over a decade.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Carly Pearce feat. Chris Stapleton, âWe Donât Fight Anymoreâ
The devastatingly deep, bone-cutting honesty in Pearceâs album 29: Written in Stone, which centered on the dissolution of her marriage and a painful divorce, elevated Pearceâs career and acclaim as an artist and writer â catapulting her into the realm of multi-award winner, earning accolades from the Grammys, CMAs and ACMs. On her latest, written with Shane McAnally and Pete Good, Pearce returns to the realm of heartache, though this time, focusing on the slow dulling of love rather than a sharp slice of any betrayal.
âWe donât cuss and we donât care enough to even hate,â she sings, her lead vocals accented by in-demand collaborator Chris Stapletonâs harmonies, followed by stirring vocal give-and-take. Though fans undoubtedly hoped for more of a true duet between these two superb vocalists, their harmonies wring out every bit of desperation and regret etched in the lyrics.
Brad Paisley, âSo Many Summersâ
On his latest release, and in anticipation of his upcoming album Son of the Mountains, Paisley returns to classic form on âSo Many Summers,â which he wrote with Ross Copperman and Lee Thomas Miller. This song turns the party vibes and good times up to 10, while offering a steady reminder to wring joy out of every moment while you can â âYou only get so many summers.â Paisley is no stranger to blending up-tempo fare with keen lyrics, whether assessing the evolution of global culture on âAmerican Saturday Nightâ or technological advances on âWelcome to the Future.â But here, he offers the kind of enduring country music fare that steadfastly touches a vein with listenersâmost recently with songs such as Texan Cody Johnsonâs smash 2022 hit, the CMA Award-winning ââTil You Canât,â and Tim McGrawâs âStanding Room Onlyâ (not to mentionâs McGrawâs 2004 signature âLive Like You Were Dyingâ).
Tim McGraw, âHey Whiskeyâ
Speaking of McGraw, his latest release from his upcoming 17th studio album Standing Room Only, this surefire future Country Music Hall of Famer again asserts his penchant for top-shelf songwriting â this time courtesy of Brad Hutsell, Joel Hutsell and The Warren Brothers (Brad and Brett Warren).
McGrawâs voice is at once mellow and filled with dignified regret, as he chronicles the downward spiral of a young man who increasingly devotes his weekends to liquor to the point of dependency, until reaching an unmistakable realization that he relinquished a storied romance in the process.
Naomi Cooke Johnson, âGirls of Summerâ
In 2011, George Strait earned a hit with a track that espoused, âI ainât here for a long time/ Iâm here for a good time.â Former Runaway June lead singer Naomi Cooke Johnson offers her own take on this notion, as she officially makes her solo bow on BBR Music Group/Stoney Creek Records. In âGirls of Summer,â she smartly retains the carefree, female empowerment sentiments that were so prominent in the Runaway June hit âBuy My Own Drinks,â while elevating it extra confidence, her purring voice painting vignettes of girls who âshow off tanlines just to tease,â girls whose photos are still hidden in the cowboy hats of the guys they left long before the summer days were over.
Cooke Johnson co-wrote the song with Jason Duke and Jacob Durrett, with Durrett also producing the track.
Dan Tyminski, God Fearing Heathen
Tyminski issues his first bluegrass album in 15 years, following detours into more roots-oriented lanes with 2017âs Southern Gothic, and last yearâs Tony Rice tribute project One More Time Before You Go. He offers a stellar bluegrass revision of âHey Brother,â his 2013 collaboration with the Swedish DJ Avicii. Meanwhile, he teams with Luke Dick (Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves) and Jaida Dreyer to pen âNever Met a Stranger,â a delightful tribute to the freewheeling life of a musician.
But not all of these top-shelf tracks are so light-hearted; he delves into the story of a PTSD-suffering military veteran on âSilence in the Brandy,â and on the title track, muses that heaven is âfor the losers and winners/ the hard-livinâ, God-fearinâ heathens like me.â The album closes with âOde to Jimmy,â a rollicking bluegrass scorcher feting Bluegrass Music Hall of Famer Jimmy Martin. Throughout the collection, Tyminski and his band offer expert instrumentation to further elevate this well-crafted set to tracks, spearheaded by Tyminskiâs raw, yet smoothly superb, lead vocals.
Pecos and the Rooftops (feat. Kolby Cooper), âMemoriesâ
Texas band Pecos & the Rooftops â which includes vocalist/guitarist Pecos Hurley, guitarists Brandon Jones and Zack Foster, bassist Kalen Davis and drummer Garrett Peltierâpreviously released their EP Red Eye in 2020 and earned a platinum-certified hit with âThis Damn Song.â They return with their debut major label Warner project, The Album, which includes this collaboration with Kolby Cooper.
âMemoriesâ finds Hurley and Cooper trading defiant, growling vocals over thrashing, furious guitar work, as the song muses over being on the better side of an imminent breakup, guaranteeing an ex-lover will remember them at every vulnerable moment.
Taylor Austin Dye, âBible Beltâ
Of late, a few artists including Jelly Roll and Pillbox Patti have become known for crafting country songs that shed light on the struggles, hopes and dreams of an often-overlooked segment of America â those who live in some of the most poverty-stricken places, where addictions and overdoses are a part of life. Kentucky native Taylor Austin Dye offers her own keen-eye perspective with âBible Belt,â which, on its full-throttle, rock-soaked surface would seem another run-of-the-mill, radio-aimed track.
But lyrically embedded is a tale of poverty and the hard choices made to ensure a womanâs survival, as chronicled through the eyes of her daughter, who watches as her mother navigates cycles of drugs and sex work to cope and live among the slim economic prospects and abundant despair in rural Appalachia. âBorn into this fire/ Donât wanna die here,â she sings, embodying both the unflinching perspective born of a lifetime of poverty but also a merciless determination to rise above and chase a dream of a more stable life. Dye wrote the song with Nicole Croteau and Chris Utley, with Rob Pennington.
The Watson Twins, Holler
Identical twins Chandra and Leigh Watson hail from Kentucky, and issued their largely pop-positioned first project Southern Manners in 2006. While their previous albums have housed country-leaning moments, the duoâs latest album, Holler, delves deeper into their Kentucky roots, most notably on the saloon sizzling shuffle of âTwo Timinâ,â while on the barroom-ready âHonky Tonk Heart,â the twins lend their electrifying harmonies are embedded with grunge-edged guitars, spritely piano. Throughout the project, they deliver each track with a steely confidence, an abundance of handclaps and folk-pop sensibility.
Morgan Wallen surprised the audience on Thursday (June 22) during the first evening of a two-night, headlining run at Chicagoâs Wrigley Field as part of his One Night at a Time World Tour. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Wallen welcomed his friend and rapper Lil Durk to […]
Luke Combs sends his 18th consecutive career-opening single to the top 10 on Billboardâs Country Airplay chart as âLove You Anywayâ rises from No. 11 to No. 10 on the list dated July 1. In the tracking week ending June 22, the song â which Combs co-authored with Ray Fulcher and Dan Isbell â increased […]
Carly Pearce reveals five things you didnât know about her at the Billboard Country Live event. Carly Pearce:Hi, Iâm Carly Pearce, and these are five things you may not know about me. I live on a bus with four grown men â and Iâm grosser than all of them. If I wasnât in commercial country […]
Amid the ever-present marketplace demand for positive, uptempo recordings, country artists who take a contrarian position with stark, tragic ballads are sometimes rewarded on the awards circuit. Grammy Awards or nominations have been granted through the years to such spare titles as Sugarlandâs âStay,â Ronnie Dunnâs âCost of Livinâ,â Cole Swindellâs âBreak Up in the Endâ and Reba McEntireâs âShe Thinks His Name Was John.â
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Carly Pearceâs âWe Donât Fight Anymore,â enhanced with a guest appearance by Chris Stapleton, seems an instant contender for that kind of reward. Released by Big Machine on June 16, it artfully weaves a raw vocal performance across a vulnerable music bed as it portrays a couple so resigned to a passionless existence that the two people barely acknowledge each other. If a song could make bones ache, âWe Donât Fight Anymoreâ would do it.
âI really donât think Iâve ever been more proud of a song,â she says.
Pearce co-wrote âFightâ with Pete Good (âTale of Two Towns,â âYâall Lifeâ) and Shane McAnally (âhalf of my hometown,â âSome People Doâ) at Goodâs studio in Nashvilleâs Berry Hill neighborhood on a day when their initial ideas all failed to jell. âFightâ emerged from conversation.
âI donât remember who said, âWe donât fight anymoreâ â it was probably Shane â and I was like, âLetâs go sad. Letâs do it,â â she recalls. âPete played this riff that was so inspiring. He has such a good melodic sense and also such a way of building a track that inspires you. From five minutes in, I just felt like we were on to something.â
None of the three were working out personal problems. Pearce, in particular, was in a relationship at the time, so even though her last album, 29, was built around a divorce, âWe Donât Fight Anymoreâ was not an extension of that project.
âMany of us have been in a relationship at some point where itâs kind of running on fumes,â says Good, âso thereâs enough to tap into and then, obviously, take liberties to be a storyteller.â
McAnally served up the opening line of the chorus â âWe donât yell, âcause what the hell/Difference does it makeâ â using a bold, attention-getting internal rhyme. They purposely stayed more subtle the rest of the way.
âA lot of times, when you have a line like that, you want to beat the rest of the song to death and match it,â McAnally says. âBut the rest of it has to soak in. That top of the chorus brings you back into the song, and then the rest of it just happens.â
Pearce guided much of the melody, from the versesâ conversational notes to the melancholy, descending prechorus and the heartbreak range of the chorus. âItâs Carlyâs gift,â says Good. âSheâs just one of those natural singers and creators of melody. Itâs just inspired, whatever sheâs singing, and itâs got so much heart behind it.â
They wrote a bridge for a single voice, begging for any shred of possibility the couple could end the stalemate â âI wish you would say something, say anythingâ â then called it a day. Good developed a demo, and he came up with a short, aching riff for the intro that would be repeated through much of the song. âIt sets the stage so well,â McAnally says. âSomehow in that lick, I hear the story. I donât know how he does that.â
Pearce was so pleased with the results that she teased one chorus on Instagram in early September, though she later removed the post. She also shared âFightâ and six other songs with Big Machine Label Group president/CEO Scott Borchetta, and he was such a big believer from the outset that Pearce and her crew felt empowered to develop the song without considering any preconceived commercial blueprint.
âHe got it, even from the beginning, what the song was going to be,â says co-producer Josh Osborne (Midland, Jon Pardi). âWe were fortunate to not feel any of that pressure of, âHey, letâs add a bunch of bells and whistles.â We just leaned into a great song. It speaks for itself.â
They recorded the instrumental tracks at Nashvilleâs Sound Emporium on Nov. 15, the same day that Pearce picked up her first Grammy nomination, for the Ashley McBryde collaboration âNever Wanted To Be That Girl.â Guitarist Ilya Toshinskiy and Dobro player Josh Matheny re-created Goodâs key riff, guitarist Sol Philcox-Littlefield employed a shimmering tremolo effect that highlights the coupleâs instability, and pianist Alex Wright dropped notes here and there that helped develop a sense of movement without stealing attention from the basic story. Fiddler Jenee Fleenor heightened the trackâs lonely quality in overdubs, and drummer Aaron Sterling was asked to reimagine the original percussion, transitioning the kit from a time-keeping tool to a more atmospheric element.
The songâs heartbreaking quality posed a potential challenge when Pearce cut the final vocals. It required her, and the producers, to stay in that fragile space long enough to record multiple, believable takes. âItâs not method acting,â Osborne says. âItâs not that hard, but she definitely wanted to be in the character and in the moment of the song. And so once she got in there, she was willing to stay in there and keep going.â
As work progressed, Pearce began thinking about Chris â who previously won a Grammy for âEither Way,â a similarly spare song about a broken couple â as a vocal partner. She reached out in January to his wife, Morgane Stapleton, who said they would consider it, but also warned he would pass if he wasnât really into the song. Pearce waited weeks for an answer. Unaware of that overture, Big Machine meanwhile decided âFightâ should be the first single from Pearceâs next album. Morgane called to say yes on Feb. 4, the night before Pearce won her first Grammy, and Chris called at a later date during his drive to the studio to get creative input from Pearce. She told him she wanted harmonies, but to feel free to add anything that he felt. He took command of the bridge and raised the songâs emotional quotient another notch.
âIt unlocked the whole other side of the story in a very unexpected way because you donât typically hear somebody come in on a bridge that has only been singing harmony,â says Pearce. âIt just turned into something so cool because he trusted his gut.â
Pearce went back to the studio to adjust her vocal in the bridge to Stapletonâs performance, and McAnally cut and pasted a wailing cry from the songâs final moments to the end of verse two.
The plot of âWe Donât Fight Anymoreâ never quite arrives at a conclusion, but thatâs also part of its attraction. It resides in the ache, and the authenticity in the performance practically guarantees that âFightâ will have an impact on playlists and the awards circuit. Still, as real as it sounds, Pearce insists that sheâs only playing a character this time around and that fans should not read anything into the songâs difficult emotions.
âI came on to the scene with a heartbreak ballad, and Iâve always been a storyteller that said things that were uncomfortable,â she notes. âWho I was long before 29 is still the same girl.â