State Champ Radio Country
Page: 188
On Sept. 24, 1988, Dan Seals’ “Addicted” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. It became the eighth of his 11 career leaders on the list.
Cheryl Wheeler wrote the song following a conversation with her sister, who was deciding whether or not to stay in a relationship. “‘Addicted’ came really fast to me,” Wheeler has said. “I’d just hung up the phone with the person the song is about, after she’d said, ‘I feel like I’m addicted to a real bad thing.’ Chordally (is that a word?), it has a lot more going on than most of my stuff.”
Wheeler first released “Addicted” on her 1987 LP Half a Book. In addition to Seals, Blake Shelton also recorded the ballad, for the iTunes deluxe edition of his 2011 album Red River Blue. Wheeler added a second Hot Country Songs top 10 as a writer via Suzy Bogguss’ version of “Aces” (No. 9, 1992), while Garth Brooks reworked her song “If It Were Up to Me” in 1999.
[embedded content]
Seals’ “Addicted” was released as the first of three singles from his LP Rage On, his third of three top 10s on the Top Country Albums chart. Second single “Big Wheels in the Moonlight” topped Hot Country Songs for a week and “They Rage On” hit No. 5.
“Addicted” became Seals’ eighth of nine straight No. 1 singles in 1985-89, a streak that started with his first leader, “Meet Me in Montana,” with Marie Osmond.
Born in McCamey, Texas, on Feb. 8, 1948, Seals was first known as half the duo England Dan & John Ford Coley. The pair notched four top 10s on the Billboard Hot 100, with 1976’s “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” its strongest showing (No. 2). Meanwhile, Seals & Crofts, comprised of Seals’ older brother Jim Seals and Dash Crofts, tallied three Hot 100 top 10s, starting with “Summer Breeze” in 1972.
Dan Seals was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2008. Following treatments, including a stem cell transplant, he passed in 2009 at age 61.
Queer country artist Adam Mac took to TikTok on Thursday (Sept. 21) to reveal that he removed himself from his upcoming headlining slot at Kentucky’s Tobacco Festival due to questions surrounding his sexuality. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “The last 24 hours have been a bit […]
He is one of the most sought after artists in the agency world and now he finally has major a booking team behind him.
Oliver Anthony has signed with UTA for exclusive worldwide representation in all areas.
“We’re honored to represent such an authentic artist, and excited to put together a global strategy to bring Oliver Anthony and his music to the people,” shared UTA co-head of Nashville Jeffrey Hasson and music agent Curt Motley in a statement to Billboard. Some of UTA’s other clients include Brittney Spencer, Megan Moroney, Parmalee, Elvie Shane, Ian Munsick and Jamey Johnson, who has performed recently with Anthony.
The “Rich Men North of Richmond” singer’s profile skyrocketed in August after a performance video went viral, generating more than 69 million views on Youtube and leading to a historic No. 1 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. With that song, Anthony became the first artist ever to top the chart without having appeared on it previously.
“Rich Men North of Richmond” is also the first song by a solo male to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs charts simultaneously. The Farmville, Virginia, native’s other songs — such as “Ain’t Gotta Dollar,” “90 Some Chevy” and “I Want to Go Home” — have also earned solid streaming numbers.
A quick bidding war followed, with music executives from all around the country to try to sign the hot new phenom. One label head told Billboard at the time, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this before.” Rapper Gucci Mane even posted on Instagram that he wanted to sign Anthony to his label and needed help finding him. Anthony, who sings of populist ideals that have grown him a grassroots following, seemed largely nonplussed by the newfound attention. He told social media followers he was determined not to make any rash decisions and that he had turned down record deals worth upwards of $8 million.
Meanwhile, Anthony has continued to perform for his new fanbase with a number of regional shows that have grown from the Eagle Creek Golf Club and Grill in Moyock, N.C., on Aug. 19, to Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge’s annual block party in Nashville last weekend on Sept. 17, where he notably performed with a full band for the first time. While in Nashville, Anthony apparently made his new agreement with UTA — marking his first major deal since breaking out.
Coming up, Anthony is slated to perform two sets at the upcoming Louder Than Life Festival, which opens Thursday (Sept. 21) and runs through Sept. 24 at the Highland Festival Grounds at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky. And then he has a sold out show at Smokies Stadium in Sevier County, Tenn., scheduled for Sept. 28.
Earlier this month, Anthony canceled a Sept. 27 concert at Cotton Eyed Joe in Knoxville, Tenn., due to a disagreement over ticket prices, which were listed at $99 and $199 for a meet and greet. Anthony posted to social media discouraging his fans from buying the tickets, explaining that he didn’t agree to those prices. Anthony explained his friend had been acting as his booking agent and he booked the show without asking what the ticket prices were. (The venue later responded, saying the high prices were the only way it could cover Anthony’s $120,000 booking fee.) Anthony continued to say his shows “never cost more than $40, ideally no more than $25,” pointing out that two of his four recent shows were “completely free.”
When Anthony’s co-manager Draven Riffe spoke with Billboard in August, he said the artist is “very passionate about bringing other unknown, unheard musicians up and helping them get their music out as well” — and that help also means providing jobs for those in Anthony’s community where he can. “We’re doing all the booking ourselves,” Riffe said, adding the Anthony is booked through the end of the year. “We’re trying to keep everything in-house as much as we can… If we could have a hand in helping get a person a job they’ll love then we want to do that rather than contracting it out to something that we don’t even know where the money is going.”
Additional reporting by Jessica Nicholson.
Sometimes shadows conceal the truth, but often they reveal it.
Several of country’s historic songs have placed the singer outside of a house where the actions occurring inside — usually conveyed through shadows — announce the hard truth that a relationship is over.
Jim Reeves’ 1957 recording “Two Shadows on Your Window” and Wynonna’s 1992 single “I Saw the Light” each find the singer spotting two silhouettes in one embrace, a sign that the protagonist is a permanent outsider. Toby Keith’s 1994 drive-by “Who’s That Man” agonizes over the guy living with his former family and sleeping with his ex-wife. Rhett Akins’ “That Ain’t My Truck” spies the other guy’s pickup in the driveway and the “shadow on her wall,” and knows he’s lost a competition.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The title of Scotty McCreery’s new single, “Cab in a Solo,” doesn’t obviously announce that scenario — on paper, its meaning is likely confusing to all but the most ardent wine connoisseurs — but as its plot unwinds, McCreery’s character is outside of his now-former girlfriend’s house, watching a kiss play out in the shadows on her bedroom wall. When she turns off the light, it doesn’t take much imagination to know what he imagines.
“It’s not a smiling song,” he says. “But I’m happy to sing it, because it kind of takes me back to what I grew up listening to.”
What McCreery listened to in his youth was ’90s country, and “Cab in a Solo” was an attempt to emulate the sound of that era. He hosted a writing retreat at his home in the North Carolina mountains this year with songwriter Brent Anderson (“Lonely Tonight”) and songwriter-producer Frank Rogers (“Five More Minutes,” “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song)”).
The two guests did their homework ahead of the trip, trying to set up some ideas that would fit the bill. Rogers had a title that neither he nor Anderson loved — to this day, they don’t remember the original. But Anderson changed it, Rogers reshaped it, and it finally became “Cab in a Solo,” shorthand for “cabernet in a Solo cup.” Anderson got a laugh when he imagined the final hook: “Drinkin’ cab in a Solo/ Solo in the cab of my truck.”
“That’s the cool thing about co-writing,” says Anderson. “The point for me is to write something with somebody else that you wouldn’t write alone.”
[embedded content]
They paired it with an almost grinding signature guitar lick. Then they brought it up to McCreery in North Carolina after writing several other songs with a scenic view from his back deck on March . McCreery was in on “Cab” from the beginning, but it required that they map out the story a bit. That was one of the easiest parts of the exercise.
“We have to be in a truck, and you have to have wine,” Anderson quips. “Your path is kind of laid out inherently in the hook already.”
They landed on a guy who realizes during a break in a relationship that he wants to move forward. He buys a quality bottle of red and heads to her house to rekindle the romance. And of course, he discovers when he arrives that, based on the shadows in her bedroom, she’s already moved forward with someone else. Instead of writing it in linear fashion, they bounced among different stanzas — “Maybe a little bit of the ADHD/squirrel thing happened,” suggests McCreery — and they settled on a Silver Oak 1998 as the brand at hand. The outdoorsy name has a country vibe, though more importantly, it’s an expensive option (about $115, according to several websites) for a blue-collar guy. And it fit Rogers’ taste.
“At some point, I just threw out Silver Oak because I liked the wine,” he says. “It was a little deeper detail with that point, and if he’s going to make up for something, it’s not going to be [Trader Joe’s] Barefoot or Two Buck Chuck. It’s going to be something pretty good.”
Once the protagonist realizes his plans are dashed, the guy addresses his options in verse two: Does he take the bottle back for a refund? He ultimately decides to drink it right there at the curb while his ex is making out in the house. It’s a tragic story, though told with tongue in cheek and with a melody that would appeal to George Strait.
After they initially uncorked “Cab in a Solo,” the song tumbled out in a scant 90 minutes. Anderson whipped up a basic demo with a recording rig on the back deck around 1 a.m., and McCreery gave it a quality vocal. Its finish was rich, too.
“This was the song that I just kept coming back to when I was in my truck running errands or if I put my earbuds in before bed,” says McCreery.
Rogers co-produced “Cab” with Derek Wells (HARDY, Maddie & Tae) and Aaron Eshuis (Ryan Hurd) at Nashville’s Blackbird Studios. Wells did a basic guitar part, knowing he would have overdub opportunities later, then spent the rest of the session in the control room with the production team. Steel guitarist Mike Johnson was given plenty of room to affect the texture, and drummer Evan Hutchings played snare on the rim during the verses, subtly re-creating the ’90s vibe amid some other modern textures. The arrangement was relatively spare compared with more contemporary productions, and the musicians were careful to make all the parts work together.
“When the tracks are less dense, everything has to match,” Wells says.
Later, Wells went to work on the signature lick. They had pitched the master recording higher than the demo, but in the new key, the original riff “didn’t have the gusto to it,” he says.
“We kind of overhauled it,” he adds. “It’s kind of stacked up and doubled, with some more lower octaves in some different positions, just to beef it up and make it feel like it was as impactful as it had been on the demo in the new key. I think there’s even a baritone [guitar] tucked in underneath it to make it feel really pronounced and strong.”
McCreery delivered the final vocal without complication under Rogers’ guidance, though they took one additional pass and experimented with some vocal ornaments at the end of a few lines that approximate Keith Whitley. “I haven’t really recorded a bunch of those songs where I can really do that kind of stuff,” says McCreery. “It was just me having fun with it, and it really turned into a signature part of the song.”
“They’re not easy at all,” Rogers says of those inflections. “I promise you, if I get to the point where I decide to do [“Cab”] on a writers night, I will not be doing that.”
With McCreery’s affinity for the song, its clever wordplay and the current interest in ’90s country, it was an obvious choice for a single. Triple Tigers released “Cab in a Solo” to country radio via PlayMPE on Aug. 18, and it floats at No. 41 on the Country Airplay chart dated Sept. 23. No one in the shadows took issue with the decision.
“It was a consensus,” says McCreery. “Doesn’t happen a bunch, but when we have consensus, don’t second-guess it.”
Ryan Hurd is defending his wife, fellow singer-songwriter Maren Morris, after the star released her two-song project The Bridge and announced her departure from country music.
The Bridge contains two songs, “The Tree” and “Get The Hell Out of Here,” both of which delve into the challenges Morris has faced within the country music genre. In a recent interview with The Los Angeles Times, Morris said of country music, “I thought I’d like to burn it to the ground and start over. But it’s burning itself down without my help.”
On Instagram, Hurd supported Morris’s decision and music. “She deserves to be celebrated, not just tolerated,” he wrote in his message shared Wednesday (Sept. 20). “I love the response from people who don’t just love these two songs, they needed them. I knew it would strike a chord.”
Hurd also hit back against internet haters who have criticized Morris, her music and her support for greater diversity and inclusion of women, the LGBTQ community and people of color within the genre.
“Most people would just shut up and keep collecting the paycheck, because the wave of vitriol is real and it’s hard,” Hurd continued. “I’m so sick of watching my wife get the s–t kicked out of her by the internet. I’m sick of every talking head having some kind of stupid opinion about what she says. It’s the same every time, why are you surprised when she calls out something racist or homophobic, I’m sick of people getting rewarded for it.
“To me the Bridge is beautiful and so rock and roll. She deserves a little sunshine for the burden she has carried for every artist and fan that feels the same way,” he added. “I can’t wait for that first tour and to see all of the smiling and beautiful people who needed these songs and and also need HER. I can’t wait to make music that follows the same path, whatever that is.”
Hurd also had a message for the keyboard commentators. “Feel free to leave a comment below to express your hatred or love for whatever I said, they will be duly noted, filed, sorted, and discarded. Love you, MM. Keep on keepin’ on.”
In releasing The Bridge, Morris previously stated, “These two songs are incredibly key to my next step because they express a very righteously angry and liberating phase of my life these last couple of years, but also how my navigation is finally pointing towards the future, whatever that may be or sound like,” she said in a statement. “Honoring where I’ve been and what I’ve achieved in country music, but also freely moving forward.”
Morris — who posed for the cover of Billboard‘s Pride issue alongside drag stars — and Hurd have collaborated on occasion over the years, including the 2021 song “Chasing After You,” which reached No. 2 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart. The song and video also earned the couple CMA nominations for music video and musical event of the year.
Morris is set to perform at Joe’s on Weed Street in Chicago on Oct. 5, with proceeds from the show benefiting GLAAD, followed by performances in Washington and California later in the month.
See Hurd’s full message below:
As collaborations and interpolations of classic hits pile up in the country music genre, an iconic ’90s country group and one of country music’s current biggest stars are teaming up to refresh a ’90s country classic.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Grammy-winning country band Shenandoah and reigning, two-time CMA entertainer of the year Luke Combs will release a rendition of Shenandoah’s 1989 No. 1 Hot Country Songs hit, “Two Dozen Roses,” on Friday (Sept. 22).
The collab came about after Shenandoah heard that Combs had been performing the now nearly 35-year-old hit during his concerts.
“People would send us videos of him performing the song live and we thought, ‘How cool would it be to have Luke record the song with us?’” Shenandoah lead singer Marty Raybon tells Billboard in a statement.
They joined Combs in the studio over the summer, and according to Raybon, “he sang the florist bill off of it. It appears ‘Two Dozen Roses’ is as big as it ever was and having Luke’s vocal on there just proves the timelessness of what folks have felt about this song for years.”
The song, released by 8 Track Entertainment, was produced by Noah Gordon and recorded at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, the same Alabama stomping grounds where Shenandoah recorded the original version of the song. “Two Dozen Roses” was written by Mac McAnally and Robert Byrne.
The song comes at a time when covers and interpolations using classic songs are abounding, including the CMA Award-winning Cole Swindell hit “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” (which interpolates the Jo Dee Messina hit “Heads Carolina, Tails California”), Combs’ own rendition of the 1988 Tracy Chapman hit “Fast Car” (Combs’ version raced to the No. 2 spot on the all-genre Hot 100 chart), and an upcoming tribute album to The Judds.
Meanwhile, Kane Brown’s latest song pays homage to the Phil Collins classic “In The Air,” while Chris Young’s recent track is a nod to David Bowie’s classic “Rebel Rebel.” Americana artist Joshua Ray Walker’s recent album What Is It Even? features cover versions of a slew of female pop hits.
Shenandoah formed in Muscle Shoals in 1984, and issued their self-titled debut in 1987. In the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, Shenandoah notched five chart-topping Hot Country Songs hits (including “Two Dozen Roses” and “Next to You, Next to Me,” among others), and 15 top 10 hits on the same chart, with hits including the Grammy-winning Alison Krauss duet “Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart,” as well as “Church on the Cumberland Road,” “Ghost in this House,” and “I Want to Be Loved Like That.”
Hear Combs and Shenandoah’s collaboration of “Two Dozen Roses” below:
[embedded content]
Jimmy Buffett’s posthumously released single “Bubbles Up” debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Rock Digital Song Sales chart with 8,000 downloads sold in the U.S. Sept. 8-14, according to Luminate.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Buffett, who died Sept. 1 at age 76, replaces himself atop Rock Digital Song Sales, where his signature song, 1977’s “Margaritaville,” led the Sept. 16-dated ranking (16,000 sold, up 8,415%, Sept. 1-7). The latter ranks at No. 3 on the latest list with 3,000 sold.
“Bubbles Up” is Buffett’s second career No. 1 on a Billboard songs chart as the only credited artist on a newly released song: “Margaritaville” led the Adult Contemporary chart dated May 28, 1977. He last topped Billboard album charts with new music thanks to his most recent LP, Life on the Flip Side, in 2020.
“Bubbles Up” is joined by “My Gummie Just Kicked In” (No. 5; 3,000 sold) and “Like My Dog” (No. 6; 2,000) as new Buffett tunes on Rock Digital Song Sales. All three songs arrived Sept. 8 and are set to be on Equal Strain on All Parts, Buffett’s 32nd studio album, due Nov. 3.
Buffett music accounts for eight of the Rock Digital Song Sales chart’s 25 positions. In addition to the four tunes noted above, classics “A Pirate Looks at Forty” (No. 12; 1,400 sold), “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” (No. 16; 1,100), “Cheeseburger in Paradise” (No. 18; 1,000) and “Son of a Son of a Sailor” (No. 22; 1,000) also place on the Sept. 23 tally.
“Bubbles Up” additionally begins at No. 2 on Country Digital Song Sales and No. 4 on the all-format Digital Song Sales chart, while its sales and 908,000 official U.S. streams send it to a No. 47 debut on the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs survey.
Fans flocked to the icon’s trademark feel-good sound following his passing of complications from skin cancer. In the Sept. 1-7 tracking week, his song catalog surged by 1,476% to 78.6 million official on-demand streams and 7,022% to 103,000 paid downloads in the U.S.
Kane Brown — who is currently nominated for the CMA Awards’ musical event of the year trophy alongside his wife Katelyn Brown for their duet “Thank God” — announced a new slate of 29 tour dates on Wednesday (Sept. 20) for 2024, including stops in Las Vegas, Atlanta and Arlington, Texas.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Brown’s In The Air Tour will launch March 28 at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va., and will wrap with five stadium shows, including his return to Fenway Park in Boston, where Brown earlier this year made history as the first Black artist to sell out a headlining show in the venue’s 100-year history. The tour concludes with a Sept. 14 headlining concert at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Joining Brown as openers on various dates on the tour are Tyler Hubbard, Jon Pardi, Chris Young, Bailey Zimmerman, Cole Swindell, Parmalee, LOCASH and RaeLynn.
Brown was saluted with the international award during the ACM Honors celebration in Nashville, and earlier this year wrapped the international leg of his Drunk or Dreaming Tour, which visited cities including Sydney, London, Amsterdam and Berlin.
The “Famous Friends” singer just notched his 10th Country Airplay No. 1 hit with “Bury Me in Georgia,” and is gearing up to release his new single, “I Can Feel It,” on Sept. 21. The song samples Phil Collins’ drum solo from his 1981 top 20 Billboard Hot 100 hit “In The Air Tonight.” Collins is credited alongside Brown, Gabe Foust and Jaxson Free as a writer on “I Can Feel It.”
“I was playing Stagecoach and doing interviews there on-site about what would be amazing and unexpected performances you’d want to see happen,” Brown said in a statement, noting his 2023 headlining performance at Stagecoach Country Music Festival. “I think I surprised a lot of interviewers with my answers- which were ‘Cher, Phil Collins…’ and the next day I was writing in Canada and went into the write with those Icons on my mind and just love the way the song came out. I immediately knew I wanted it as my next single.”
See the full list of In The Air tour dates below.
Singer-songwriter Maren Morris is putting her money where her mouth is when it comes to standing up for the LGBTQ community. On Wednesday (Sept. 20), Morris announced a special show to celebrate the release of her new EP The Bridge, featuring singles “The Tree” and “Get the Hell Out of Here.” Taking to the first […]
Eric Church, Jelly Roll and Parker McCollum are set to headline WE Fest when the three-day festival returns to Detroit Lakes, Minn., on Aug. 1-3, 2024. Also on the lineup are Carly Pearce, Koe Wetzel, Elle King, Trace Adkins, Lauren Watkins, Warren Zeiders, Tanner Adell and more. Additional artists set for the July 31 pre-concert […]
