Country
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Nate Smith banks his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Feb. 4) with his freshman entry, “Whiskey on You.” The song increased by 10% to 31.2 million impressions in the week ending Jan. 26, according to Luminate.
Smith, from Paradise, Calif., co-authored “Whiskey” with Lindsay Rimes and Russell Sutton. Smith scored early success on social media prior to signing to Sony Music Nashville’s Arista roster in November 2021. He presently boasts 1.4 million TikTok followers.
“When I released ‘Whiskey,’ I wasn’t sure what would happen … I just knew I loved it,” Smith tells Billboard. “First, my fans were super encouraging on social media, and then country radio welcomed the song with open arms, and for that I couldn’t be more grateful. Meanwhile, my dad is just glad I have a job! A huge thank you to country radio, my fans, my team and everyone who has lifted this song up.”
“Whiskey” marks the second initial Country Airplay entry to reign already in 2023, after Jelly Roll’s “Son of a Sinner” (Jan. 14). In 2022, only Bailey Zimmerman reached the penthouse with a first charted title, when “Fall in Love” led in December.
On the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs list (dated Jan. 28), “Whiskey” ranks at No. 12, bolstered by 5.7 million U.S. streams.
Wilson Keeps on ‘Truck’-in’
Lainey Wilson notches her third straight career-opening Country Airplay top 10 as “Heart Like a Truck” rides 11-10 (19.6 million, up 11%). She co-penned the track with Trannie Anderson and Dallas Wilson.
Wilson’s debut hit, “Things a Man Oughta Know,” led Country Airplay for a week in September 2021, followed by “Never Say Never,” with Cole Swindell, a two-week No. 1 last April-May.
Concurrently, HARDY’s “Wait in the Truck,” featuring Wilson, rises 12-11 (19.6 million, up 10%).
First Country is a compilation of the best new country songs, videos & albums that dropped this week.
Zach Bryan and Maggie Rogers, “Dawns”
This slow-burn, angst-filled song finds Bryan and pop stalwart Rogers fighting through anger, sadness and loss, desperate to turn back time and reclaim happier moments. The ache simmering below the lyrical tension is palpable, particularly on lines recalling the passing of a parent, as their illustrious harmonies intertwine on “I lost her last July in a heart attack/ I need one small victory/ Give me my dawns back.”
Cole Swindell, “Drinkaby”
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Swindell follows up his four-week No. 1 Country Airplay hit “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” with his latest, an uptempo, rock-tinged and radio-ready track about drinking away a broken heart. Swindell will release his new project Stereotype Broken on April 28.
Luke Combs, “Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old”
Reigning CMA entertainer of the Year Combs is gearing up to release the followup to his 2022 album, Growin’ Up, on March 24 when he drops his new album, Gettin’ Old. Bridging the two projects is his new song, “Growing Up and Gettin’ Old,” which acknowledges getting older but still knowing how to let loose.
“I spend most of my happy hours here at home … but I can still raise hell all night with the boys when I want to,” he sings, his electrifying-yet-earthy voice soundtracking this time in his life as a husband, father and entertainer at the top of his game.
Struggle Jennings feat. Jelly Roll, “Hard to Hate”
Country-rap artist Jennings is the grandson of Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, while Jelly Roll just notched his first No. 1 Country Airplay hit with “Son of a Sinner.” These two have a long history of collaborations, previously releasing four Waylon & Willie projects. Their latest, a slow-burn, bluesy-rock hybrid, revels in leaving things that no longer serve you in the past and making the most of the days that are ahead.
Jordyn Shellhart, “Who Are You Mad At”
Shellhart is already known for her role writing songs like Little Big Town’s “Sugar Coat” and Cody Johnson’s “I Always Wanted To.” Now, in this song she co-penned with Marc Beeson and Allen Shamblin, she continues her evolution as an artist, with this stellar track showcasing Shellhart as an introspective, mature writer and a skilled vocalist.
Her clear-eyed lyricism chronicles stormy arguments with a hot-headed lover, but she fearlessly delves below the surface — refusing to accept the arrows he’s throwing and drawing out pain she knows is actually aimed at his ex-lover.
Jake Owen, “My Boots Miss Yours”
He’s got a toe-tappin’ way of attempting to convince a lover that one night of spinning around a dancefloor under neon lights together was far from enough. “What ya say we get ’em back together?Make a little trail of clothes and leather,” he sings, his warm, mellow vocal delivery a good foil for the understated flirtatiousness the song demands.
On the Outside, “Go Broke”
With a sunny sound and pop-country hooks aplenty to further elevate R&B-shaded, stacked harmonies, this five-part group seems poised to pick up Rascal Flatts’ mantle. “Go Broke” has the driving rhythm and glistening instrumentation of Keith Urban’s early work, while the explosive chorus feels like a solid throwback to early 2000s country-pop. Currently working with Jimmy Robbins and Mike Shimshack, the group inked a publishing deal last year with Warner Chappell Music and Mailbox Money Music.
Nickel Creek, “Strangers”
Lauded group Nickel Creek will return with their first album in nine years, when Celebrants drops on March 24. More than two decades after Nickel Creek first broke through with their 2000 self-titled album–and garnered two Grammy nominations in the process, followed by a Grammy win later for their album This Side–the group’s latest song highlights their unfettered harmonies and years-forged, tight-knit playing. The trio’s Chris Thile and siblings Sean and Sara Watkins recorded the album at Nashville’s RCA Studio A.
The video for the track is straightforward, putting the emphasis on the trio’s urgent performance — which conveys the simmering anxieties, wonder and hopes for sustained mutual esteem that come with reuniting with an old friend after a prolonged absence.
Zach Bryan spends a 32nd week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Songwriters chart (dated Jan. 28), surpassing Ashley Gorley for the most weeks spent on top since the chart launched in June 2019.
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Bryan, who has ruled for 24 consecutive weeks, breaks the record on the strength of four writing credits on the Hot Country Songs chart, led by his breakthrough single “Something in the Orange.” The track logs a fourth week at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs, after reaching the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated Jan. 21 (it stands at No. 13 on the latest chart).
The other tracks contributing to Bryan’s Country Songwriters reign are “Burn, Burn, Burn” (No. 29), “Sun to Me” (No. 32) and “The Good I’ll Do” (No. 42). Bryan has sole songwriting credit on all four of his charting hits, helping boost his chart points on Country Songwriters.
Here’s an updated look at the artists with the most weeks spent at No. 1 on Country Songwriters.
Most Weeks at No. 1 on Country Songwriters:
32, Zach Bryan
31, Ashley Gorley
18, Blanco Brown
15, Luke Combs
14, Morgan Wallen
13, Taylor Swift
10, Josh Thompson
9, HARDY
8, Josh Jenkins
7, Josh Osborne
5, Laura Veltz
Bryan concurrently spends a 21st week at No. 1 on Rock & Alternative Songwriters, tying Twenty One Pilots’ Tyler Joseph for the second-most weeks spent on top (after Glass Animals frontman Dave Bayley’s 50), and a 19th week at No. 1 on Rock Songwriters, extending his record for the most weeks at the summit.
On Billboard’s Country Producers chart, Joey Moi continues his record run, as he logs a 92nd week at No. 1. He leads on the strength of seven production credits on Hot Country Songs, via Morgan Wallen’s “You Proof” (No. 3), “Thought You Should Know” (No. 6), “Wasted on You” (No. 8), “One Thing at a Time” (No. 19), “Tennessee Fan” (No. 23) and “Days That End in Why” (No. 40); and HARDY’s “Wait in the Truck,” featuring Lainey Wilson (No. 9).
The weekly Country Songwriters and Country Producers charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot Country Songs chart. As with Billboard’s yearly recaps, multiple writers or producers split points for each song equally (and the dividing of points will lead to occasional ties on rankings).
The full Country Songwriters and Country Producers charts, in addition to the full genre rankings, can be found on Billboard.com.
In retrospect, 2022 will be remembered as the year of Bad Bunny. And while his album Un Verano Sin Ti dominated much of the year after its May 6 release, the boost that it gave to Latin music’s share of the overall market — with the highest growth in percentage year over year of any genre, going from 5.39% in 2021 to 6.33% in 2022, an increase of 28.8% — is not simply a one album, or even one year, phenomenon.
Between 2020 and 2022, Latin music grew 55.29% in album consumption in the U.S., according to Luminate, far outstripping the overall industry’s 21.61%, as well as the growth of the four biggest genres in the U.S. over that time: R&B/hip-hop (12.17%), rock (22.28%), pop (20.64%) and country (19.22%). And Latin isn’t alone: World Music has also made tremendous strides over that time period, growing 47.67% from 2020 through 2022 on the Stateside growth of K-Pop and Afrobeats, among other ex-U.S. genres, and up 25.8% in 2022 over 2021. Both genres have seen over 20% growth in on-demand audio streams dating back to 2019, while the overall industry has grown in that sector in the mid-teens each year during that time.
Those are two of just four genres (of the 15 tracked by Luminate) that grew at a faster rate than the overall music industry in 2022, which increased consumption 9.2% year over year. (The other two were children’s music, at 30.0%, and dance/electronic, at 11.7%; new age grew essentially in line with the business). And it speaks to how significant that growth has been, and could continue to be moving forward as the business becomes increasingly more global.
With 2023 fully underway, here are four more trends to watch this year:
How Big Is a Hit?
Children’s music (1.38%) overtook holiday music (1.26%) as the ninth-biggest genre in the U.S. this year due to the runaway success of Encanto, which helped boost the genre by 30% in consumption year over year (35.5% in on-demand streams). How significant was the effect of that hit? Growth for the genre year over year was 6.7% in 2020, and actually declined -3.7% in 2021, with on-demand streaming dropping 2.8% in each of those years. The growth is almost certainly unsustainable, but it shows the value of a surprise mainstream hit. For a related analog, comedy was the only genre to actually decline year over year, due to the sector coming back down to earth after the huge gains from Bo Burnham’s Inside (The Songs) album in 2021. From 2020 to 2021, overall comedy consumption ballooned 27.3%, with total on-demand streams growing 28.4%; those numbers fell to -11.3% and -5.0% in 2022, as the effect of the album receded.
Major Genres Shrinking in Share
As a statement of fact, year over year the four biggest, most dominant genres in the U.S. all declined in terms of their share of the overall market: R&B/hip-hop (from 27.72% in 2021 to 26.82% in 2022), rock (20.01% in 2021 to 19.95% in 2022), pop (13.05% in 2021 to 12.68% in 2022) and country (8.09% in 2021 to 7.76% in 2022). But there are a few ways of looking at that.
The first is that, when a genre is as dominant as R&B/hip-hop, for example, maintaining the same percentage growth gets harder every year. And the growth is still huge: the top four genres accounted for 67.21% of the market in 2022, even if down slightly from the 68.87% they held in 2021, and just shy of 50% of the gains year over year. And rock and R&B/hip-hop saw the two biggest increases in raw consumption numbers over 2021, with the former claiming 19.37% of the growth in 2022 over the year prior and the latter 17.13% of it.
The other way to look at it is that the market is, slowly but steadily, diversifying. Latin, the fifth-biggest genre in the country, was third in percentage of growth in the market, up 16.38% year over year; less than 1 million units separated its increase from R&B/hip-hop’s in 2022. Pop was fourth (8.67% of industry growth), but world music — the seventh-biggest genre overall — claimed the fifth-highest share of the market’s growth, at 5.53% year over year. And country, which claimed 4.17% of the growth, was run a close race by Dance/Electronic, at 4.14%. Just three years ago, in 2020, Latin made up 4.95% of the overall market and World Music 1.88%. That doesn’t seem like regular fluctuation, but a true growth trend.
R&B/Hip-Hop Report
Over the last few years, there has been an accepted fact of the marketplace: In a streaming world that reflects not just what people are buying, but what people are continuing to stream and listen to, R&B/hip-hop dominates. That is still, unquestionably, the case. But lately there has been some hand-wringing about the slowing growth of the genre and what that could mean for the broader marketplace, a fair question for others to answer.
Here are some facts: R&B/hip-hop is now 26.82% of consumption. It’s been growing consistently — up around 6% per year the last few years — though not as much as the marketplace overall for several years now percentage-wise. And its share of total on-demand streams dropped from 30.11% in 2021 to 28.61% in 2022. In raw numbers it’s still growing massively, though, second only to rock in share of the industry’s total unit growth in 2022. And compared to 2017 — the year that Luminate predecessor Nielsen first declared that R&B/hip-hop had become the biggest genre in the industry — it still claims a higher share of the market. So while it displays a higher variance year to year than some other genres, the sky isn’t falling just yet.
R&B/Hip-Hop Share of Consumption By Year:2017: 24.52%2018: 25.94%2019: 28.62%2020: 29.07%2021: 27.72%2022: 26.82%
Country Streaming Sputters, Rock’s Resilience
Country’s streaming growth is slowing down. After big gains in audio on-demand streaming the past two years (22.1% in 2020 and 16.5% in 2021) as more of its audience began to embrace the format, that figure slipped below the audio streaming growth of the overall industry in 2022, 11.1% vs. 12.2%, respectively. And total on-demand Country streaming (audio plus video) grew at 9.8%, compared to 12.2% for the overall industry. (Yes, overall and audio on-demand streaming grew at the same rate.) That isn’t the end of the world — R&B/hip-hop on-demand audio streaming has grown less than the overall market percentage-wise in the past few years, though its raw numbers are still massive — but it’s worth noting that the growth is slowing year over year after outpacing the market recently, and its percentage of the growth in on-demand streaming in 2022 was just 6.01%, by far the lowest of the five biggest genres. In total consumption, country grew just 4.8%, slightly over half the rate of growth of the overall industry (9.2%), with its share of the market slipping from 8.09% in 2021 to 7.76% in 2022.
It’s notable compared to the fortunes of rock music. For all the “Rock Is Dead” talk, the format is essentially keeping pace with industry trends overall (up 9.0% in consumption, 14.3% in on-demand streams) and actually grew its share of overall on-demand streaming year over year, from 16.30% in 2021 to 16.62% in 2022, while continuing to flat-out dominate in sales (43% of the market). Again, rock was the genre that showed the most growth in 2022 over 2021: at 19.37%, it outpaced R&B/hip-hop (17.13%) and Latin (16.38%) for the biggest share of growth year over year.
Tyler Hubbard is sporting new ink. On the back of his hand are five butterflies of assorted sizes. The “Georgia” half of Florida Georgia Line got the tattoos in November after “5 Foot 9,” the first single from his self-titled debut solo album, reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
“The butterflies represent my family,” he says, one each for Hubbard, his wife and their three children. “But also this new season and rebirth and new life and new energy. After the song went to No. 1, that’s one of the ways we celebrated. Just channeling that next chapter.”
After being half of one of the most successful duos in country music, Hubbard and FGL’s Brian Kelley hit pause following a decade-long run that included 13 No. 1s on Country Airplay, including “Cruise,” “Dirt,” “H.O.L.Y.” and “Long Live,” Hubbard is eager to show a different, more personal side of himself. Tyler Hubbard, out today (Jan. 27) through EMI Music, follows an August EP that introduced six songs from the 18-track album and gave Hubbard material to perform while he opened for Keith Urban last fall. Second single “Dancin’ in the Country” is already climbing Country Airplay, standing at 31 on the chart dated Jan. 28.
Hubbard talked to Billboard about making the new album, how educating himself during the pandemic affected him as a husband, human and artist, whether Kelley has heard his new music and the future of FGL.
When FGL went on pause, you thought about becoming a full-time songwriter — given that you’ve had songs recorded by Kane Brown, Jason Aldean and Zac Brown, among others. How long before you realized you also wanted to continue as an artist?
I did that for six or eight months. I love songwriting more than any part of the process. I realized pretty quickly, “This is fun, I do love being able to be home with the family and work 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. as a songwriter,” but I definitely felt like there was a missing piece: Part of who I am as an artist and part of who I am as someone who wants to connect with people and make records and go on tour and do all that stuff. I’m excited that now I get to do both again.
How hard was it for you to wrap your head around going from a “we” to a “me?”
There are a lot of pluses, there are a few negatives. I have to take full responsibility for every decision, full responsibility for my own destiny, which is really a plus. I don’t have anybody else to blame anything on. There’s a lot of freedom in stepping into this new season, especially after 12 years of being a “we,” and now having more of an individuality and ultimately connect with people on a more personal level. You can go even deeper when it’s just you personally, and so it’s been really fun to step into and experience that.
That shows on songs like “Miss My Daddy,” which is probably not a song you would have done on an FGL album.
Yes. You take that song, you take “Me for Me,” “Small Town Me,” you can even take “Way Home” — they’re very autobiographical, very on-the-head personal, telling my story almost directly. Those types of songs I’ve never had the opportunity to explore writing, just due to the dynamic of being in a band, and so it’s a cool opportunity that I really didn’t expect or see coming.
That’s because Brian was the first to say he wanted to release solo material, right?
I actually understand more fully why BK had the calling and the urge to initiate this, because he felt the same way that I felt a year later. It took me a minute to wrap my head around it. But once I did, I fully got it, and felt like, “Now I want to do that. I have a voice. I have a story. I’m an individual and I’m more than just Georgia.”
Is FGL on just a pause or a stop?
Well, it’s hard to say. If we have learned anything over the last three years, it’s that we can’t predict the future, right? But for me, it’s a stop. I’d never say never, and I’ll continue to say that because I feel like you never know. But I’ll follow that up by saying I’m extremely happy and fulfilled in the role that I’m in. This is not a one-off for me. This is a long play. This is a career shift.
Have you sent BK the new album?
I haven’t.
You wrote or co-wrote all 18 tracks, some of which are very personal. Was it hard to make yourself that vulnerable?
I think so, but also necessary and really important. I’ve found over the years that it’s easier to connect on our struggles and our weaknesses than it is on our strengths. I wanted to channel some of that. In “Tough,” I wanted to talk about [how] it’s been rough lately. It was 2021 [when] I wrote that song, and we were all going through a hard time and didn’t know the future. Instead of always talking about having a good time and things I enjoy, it’s nice to be really authentic and showcase more than just a few sides of who I am.
When “5 Foot 9” went to No. 1 in November, did you breathe a sigh of relief that fans were accepting you as a solo artist?
Yeah, that was in the back of my head. And it felt really, really good. It really took me back to 2012. I felt like a brand new artist again — and I do still at times. It’s re-energizing. I didn’t expect it to feel so much like it did at the beginning. I’ve found out that I really enjoy the build in the journey almost more than then reaching the goal.
Are there other things you’re realizing this time around that you may not have appreciated when FGL was climbing?
I realized multiple things, [including] that the stars have to align so much for this type of stuff to happen — and so I have a new gratitude for every little piece of success. I’ve reminded myself the second go-round to slow down and really celebrate the little victories, and not just think about the ultimate goal, or see how quickly I can get to stadiums. It’s like, “Let’s enjoy this ride, because it’s the fun part.” I feel like I’m a little more mature than I was at 25 years old, so to get to have that life experience — and to get to come home to three beautiful kids and a wife — it’s just a really sweet spot I’m in in life right now.
What has it been like figuring out how to command a stage by yourself?
I feel like it’s been surprisingly easy, easier than maybe I expected, to adjust to just being me on stage. I don’t have BK with me on stage, but I do have an incredible band, guys that I love that have been with me forever, so there’s still that comfortable commonality. It feels slightly different without BK, but I’ve gotten used to it and I’m really enjoying it.
What FGL songs are you doing in your set?
I don’t know if I’ll ever not be able to sing “Cruise,” because it’s such a big part of why I’m even here today and I love taking fans back 10 years and listening to them sing. So, I’ll probably always incorporate that, “Meant to Be”, and songs that I’ve written that have really been impactful in my career.
After George Floyd’s murder, you posted on your Instagram about systemic racism and about “becoming more educated around racism and the social injustices in our communities.” Talk about that work and where it’s led you.
For me, the last few years have been big growth years, personally, emotionally, mentally. I really dove into doing a lot of personal work, mental work, emotional work, work on my marriage, work on being a dad and just trying to be more culturally aware. I feel like the last few years have been so divisive and so polarizing and so hard to understand. So, for me, I did want to understand as much as I could and try to wrap my head around it and then try [to] make an effort from my heart to potentially bring people back together.
But I had to become educated on what it is that divides people. Why are we having these silly conversations? Why are these conversations being taken so seriously and literally dividing families, even my own family? And so I wanted to become more educated, aware.
Did that education inform this album in some way? There’s nothing on here that obviously addresses the division like your 2020 song with Tim McGraw, “Undivided.”
Yeah, I think so. Deep down, I think it’s made me a more aware person — and probably a better songwriter, if for no other reason of just being aware how certain words may be interpreted by certain people, or may be offensive or not offensive. My wife has really helped me become more aware of things where I’ll say something and she’s like, “Tyler, you can’t say that,” and I’m like, “You’re right. That wasn’t very thoughtful or conscious of the situation.”
So, between the culture we’re in these days, having an incredible wife and the desire and open-mindedness to want to educate myself, I’ve learned a lot and I’ve grown a lot. And I do think it comes through the music as well.
Though your Instagram account is still very active, you turned it over to your team to handle in September. Why did you make the decision to leave social media?
There are multiple layers. I’m extremely addicted to it when it is on my phone. It consumes a lot of my time, and so I’m like, “This is not healthy.” I want to connect with my fans, but now I finally have an incredible team that can help me run my socials without me having to do it all myself or have it on my phone. It’s been several months and I feel a lot more freedom and a lot more creativity … I’m not scrolling, looking at a bunch of people and comparing myself and judging other social posts and all that anymore like I used to. Now the only time I interact with people is in person.
There are no collaborations on this album. Why?
it was intentional. If it were up to me, I’d probably always make music with friends, but I felt like it was important if I wanted to introduce myself to the world as an artist and an individual to be an individual. I have always made music with a partner, so it was a unique thing for me. For this first project, I want to introduce Tyler Hubbard by myself, to give the fans a clearer perspective and a clear introduction. And then after that, I can get back into what I love so much in doing collaborations and features. It was hard for me. I had to say no to a lot of friends and to a lot of great songs. I was just like, “Give me a year and a half. I’ve really got to stick to the strategy here.”
Since her 2014 breakthrough, the Grammy-nominated “Ex’s and Oh’s,” Elle King has blazed her own trail with determined ferocity, melding elements of punk, rock, country and folk through hits like the banjo-fueled “America’s Sweetheart” and “Shame.”
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Her music has topped Billboard charts in four genres — but now, she’s building upon her two previous Billboard Country Airplay chart-toppers with her country debut album, Come Get Your Wife, out Friday (Jan. 27) on RCA Records/Columbia Nashville.
“I came from the rock and pop and alternative world and was brought into country when I was singing with Dierks [Bentley] — but from the beginning, I was like, ‘This is more rock n’ roll than rock n’ roll,’” King tells Billboard, seated onstage at Nashville’s “Mother Church,” the historic Ryman Auditorium. “I’m addicted to country, because it’s the most fun and rock n’ roll ever. Even the way I dress — like ‘50s Western and rockabilly — that still seems rock n’ roll to me.”
Her previous country chart leaders also signify a co-sign from two of the genre’s most respected artists: 2016’s “Different for Girls” with Bentley (which won a CMA Awards for vocal event of the year) and 2021’s “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” with Miranda Lambert. The latter became the first female-only collaboration to ascend to the pinnacle of the Country Airplay chart since 1993.
“Drunk” is included on this album, while she also reunites with Bentley on “Worth a Shot,” a song King says Bentley had initially considered for his own album. (King and Bentley are both managed by Red Light’s Mary Hilliard Harrington.)
“I would never want to give anything less than 110% to making music, let alone country music that I care so much about and that has brought so much great joy to my life,” King says of the Ross Copperman-produced project. “I asked my team to send me some songs, and a bunch of stuff got sent to me that was written for women and I didn’t necessarily connect with it. I said, ‘Send me songs written for men … send me songs Dierks didn’t cut,’ just kind of jokingly.”
“Ross said, ‘Well, Dierks just finished his album and ‘Worth a Shot’ didn’t make the record.’ I said, ‘Great, ‘cause it’s for me!’” she says with a laugh. “I couldn’t put out a country album and not at least have something on there that is a nod to Dierks, or to give respect to the person who changed my life and who showed me the most rock n’ roll I’ve ever seen in my life, which is country music. Country music has given me these incredible opportunities.”
She co-produced the project with Copperman and co-wrote eight of the album’s dozen tracks. King calls the album “a love letter” to her childhood Ohio roots (most notably on the opening track “Ohio”) — or as she recalls, “just being that strange, awkward, funny girl who loves to sing and doesn’t really fit in.”
Though King is the daughter of Hollywood actor Rob Schneider and model London King, she primarily spent her childhood in Ohio with her mom and stepfather. She began writing songs at age 13, inspired by the music of Hank Williams and Otis Redding. She fell in love with the banjo after seeing a local folk band utilizing the instrument to create a propulsive, decidedly non-bluegrass sound.
That swirl of influences permeates the new album. “Tulsa” (featuring Brothers Osborne’s John Osborne on guitar and Ashley McBryde on background vocals) offers a brash rebuff to a cheating lover, set against a freewheeling, swampy rhythm. She showcases her bluegrass leanings in the tight-knit harmonies, mandolin and fiddle of “Blacked Out.”
Alongside bawdy rockers, the album also includes the song “Lucky,” inspired by her son, Lucky Levi, whom she and her partner Dan Tooker welcomed just over a year ago.
“Becoming a mother has rocked my world,” King says. “My son is just this beautiful ball of light and energy. Becoming a parent has made me grow in gratitude and empathy. I have a lot more forgiveness for the world, but also a lot more things I demand from the world. I’m proud that we get to call Nashville home. There is this sense of community with so many artists and creatives.”
King says her previous work with Lambert and Bentley helped ease her transition into the genre. “You know what’s crazy? I have such bad anxiety, and country music has just really helped me,” she says. “I didn’t have anxiety around making the country record. I had full confidence in my experience, in my voice, in the narrative. I’m finally comfortable and open about being vulnerable.
She says the notion of crafting a music video with reigning ACM entertainer of the Year (and ACM Triple Crown winner) Lambert helped her approach music videos differently.
“In the past, music videos for me were kind of a big level of anxiety and absolute dread, personally. I put a lot of pressure on myself on how I looked, how my body looked. [For the ‘Drunk’ video] I knew I wanted it to be fun, and Miranda is one of the funniest, most amazing people I’ve ever met. So I said, ‘Let’s play characters.’ I can only speak for me, but I know if I don’t have this pressure of being ‘Elle King,’ and like drinking water for three days to try and make my face look skinny so I can get one , it’s just insane the amount of pressure that people put on themselves. So I said, ‘If we play characters, I guarantee you’ll get a wild performance out of us and you guys will love the video.’ And we won video of the year at the ACMs.”
The video for “Try Jesus,” directed by The Righteous Gemstones’ Edi Patterson, continues that creative bent, set in a discount store and featuring King again portraying a range of characters in some pretty outrageous scenarios (including in a scene covered in baked beans) — but also striving to fight against various insecurities to find happiness.
“There was a great layer of intent put into every layer of this,” she says. “I wanted to play different characters, because ultimately, every relationship is a mirror. I’ve always felt that the biggest hurdle blocking my own success or my joy or a healthy relationship, even a healthy relationship with self, was me. The last year and a half, I’ve been trying to work through the layers of doubt, guilt. Now, I feel more comfortable to take a layer off and show myself more. I do like to stay up late. Yes, I talk shit and run my mouth. But I’m also a warm, loving person.”
King is also still recovering after a slip on a set of stairs in November that left her with a concussion and forced the cancellation of some radio shows.
“I’m doing so much better,” she says. “I feel like I was forced to take a bit of time and slow down. I tried to play some shows and it was overwhelming. It was a really scary experience. With brain injuries, like any injury, you need time to heal. I’m 100% on the mend. I’m doing physical therapy and I’ve had so much support, but I’m doing so much better.”
In recent years, she’s become known not only for her unvarnished truth-telling, both onstage and on record, but also for her bold fashion sense, hitting the stage and red carpets in an array of bright colors, fringe, attention-grabbing hats and plenty of sparkle. “I love old-school, outlaw country, crazy appliqué stuff,” she says, adding that fashion, too, has been part of her creative and emotional journey.
“I didn’t think about it until now, but maybe I felt that if I dress so loudly, I’m actually kind of hiding behind it in a way, that I’m protecting myself. It was being another character, like in my videos. Until recently, that character is someone I felt like I had to turn up to help me overcome the anxiety of, ‘You don’t look like them. How are you gonna stand next to them? You have to stand next to Miranda. She’s so beautiful, she looks good in anything.’ But there is no one size that you have to be to express yourself in clothes or with fashion. You can be absolutely any size and find something that makes you feel beautiful. Me being bold with some of my outfits helped me find comfort in my body.”
As she gears up for her A-Freakin-Men Tour to launch next month, King says fans can still expect the electric personality, full-throttle vocals and bold stage wear she’s known for.
“I’ll still wear wild things. I love the showmanship of it — the rhinestones and fringe — that is all part of the stuff that sucks you into a performance.”
See King’s video interview with Billboard below:
Luke Combs fans finally have a name and album cover for his upcoming project, out March 24. The country singer revealed the album’s title, Gettin’ Old, on social media on Thursday (Jan. 26) and the new project essentially serves as as sequel to his previous album, the June 2022-released Growin’ Up.
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The two album titles, taken together, create the name of a song Combs will release on Friday (Jan. 27), titled “Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old.” Last year, Combs shared an acoustic snippet of the song on his social media.
While the cover for Growin’ Up featured a packed bar scene and one half of the six-time Grammy nominee’s face, Gettin’ Old features the other half of his face alongside a scene of a home in a nighttime, calm rural setting. The two album covers create a full photo of Combs’ face when placed side by side.
“This album is about the stage of life I’m in right now,” Combs said via Instagram. “One that I’m sure a lot of us are in, have been through, or will go through. It’s about coming of age, loving where life is now but at the same time missing how it used to be, continuing to fall for the one you love and loving them no matter what, living in the moment but still wondering how much time you have left, family, friends, being thankful, and leaving a legacy. Me and so many others have poured their hearts and souls into this record and I hope you love it as much as we do.”
The upcoming set will mark the reigning Country Music Association entertainer of the year’s fourth full-length studio album.
Meanwhile, Growin’ Up is nominated for best country album at the upcoming Grammy Awards on Feb. 5, which are slated to be held at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. He’s also nominated for best country duo/group performance, for “Outrunnin’ Your Memory” with Miranda Lambert, as well as best country song (“Doin’ This,” which he wrote with Drew Parker and Robert Williford). Growin’ Up also landed on Billboard‘s list of the best albums of 2022, as well as Billboard‘s list of the best country albums of 2022.
See Combs’ tweet — and listen to the unreleased version of “Growing Up and Gettin’ Old” — below.
This album is about the stage of life I’m in right now. One that I’m sure a lot of us are in, have been through, or will go through. pic.twitter.com/D1QFneTMtD— Luke Combs 🎤 (@lukecombs) January 26, 2023
Luke Bryan and Dustin Lynch are “all good,” they both say, after Bryan received criticism from fans for his sarcastic introduction of the “Party Mode” singer during a performance at Bryan’s annual Crash My Playa festival in Mexico.
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Bryan noted that “obviously, some people” were offended by his introduction, which included jokes about Lynch taking STD tests and partaking in drugs and alcohol.
“No one has drank more liquor, no one has vomited more, no one has taken more drugs, no one has taken more IVs, no one has passed more STD tests than this next gentleman,” the “One Margarita” singer had said during the introduction prior to Lynch taking the stage. Videos of the “Country On” crooner’s intro began proliferating TikTok, leading him to make a public apology.
In an Instagram Stories video posted on Wednesday (Jan. 25), Bryan said, “I saw where people are starting to chat about my introduction of Dustin Lynch. Dustin Lynch is one of my dearest friends on the planet. No one respects him more than I do, and that night at Playa, Sunday night, last night, I get everybody out, and my introduction of him was complete sarcasm. Those words that I used were so absurd, I figured everybody would take it as sarcasm. Obviously, some people didn’t.”
He added, “I’ve spoke to Dustin, I love him, he and I are all good, and I apologize to anybody that doesn’t understand my humor and sarcasm. It’s been going on like that down there for years. We’ll see y’all next year.”
He also encouraged fans to get Lynch’s new single, “Stars Like Confetti.”
Meanwhile, Lynch shared Bryan’s video on his own Instagram Stories, and commented, “Thx for the call, love ya bro,” adding a heart emoji. “All good. We had a lot of fun down there again with the pirates.”
The Crash My Playa festival was held Jan. 19-22, with a performance lineup that also featured Chris Stapleton, Cole Swindell, Ashley McBryde and Carly Pearce.
Margo Price is not shy about her taste for the sticky icky. So it makes perfect sense that the singer has teamed up with the cannabis brand Dad Grass to announce a new line of Mom Grass products that officially drop today (Jan. 26). Timed to coincide with Price’s mind-expanding new album, Strays, the joint-project features pre-rolled CBD joints and tins of flower, as well as a limited-edition run of merch that leans into the psychedelic vibe of the album, which mixes country, rock and songs inspired by magic mushroom adventures.
The run includes handmade, limited-edition “Margo Grass” embroidered hats and small batch natural indigo tie-dyed shirts to compliment the federally legal Mom Grass flower and joints made with CBG. According to a release, the products feature low-dose organic hemp packed with CBG, which contains less than 0.3% THC, which won’t get you Snoop-level high and is federally legal to have delivered to your home.
“I have battled insomnia, menstrual cramps, migraines, back pain, depression, hangovers, writer’s block and boredom with cannabis that’s high in CBG, and I want to help remove the stigma around this beautiful plant,” Price said in a statement.
Among the items in the collection are the Mom Grass x Margo Price special edition pack in 5 or 10-joint versions with pre-rolls in a trippy sleeve designed in collaboration with the singer that nods to the mushroom jumpsuit she wears on the album’s cover and lyrics from her song “Been to the Mountain.”
The Price collection is the follow up to last year’s George Harrison-inspired “All Things Must Grass” collection honoring the late Beatles’ iconic 1970 triple-LP solo album.
Check out some of the products below.
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Courtesy Photo
Courtesy Photo
Concord Music Publishing has acquired the majority of country songwriter-producer Corey Crowder‘s catalog and signed him to a co-publishing deal that also includes his future works. He was formerly signed to Tree Vibez.
The acquisition of Crowder’s catalog includes Chris Young’s two-times platinum single “Famous Friends” (featuring Kane Brown) and other hits from Young, Florida Georgia Line and Chase Rice, among many others.
“Corey is a proven, consistent, country hit-maker,” says Brad Kennard, senior vp of A&R at Concord Music Publishing in Nashville. He adds that the signing and acquisition represent “a big leap forward for Concord’s footing within the active country market. We are committed to representing significant real estate in the format. Further evidenced by locating Concord global headquarters here, we aim to continue our aggressive growth in Nashville.”
Kennard adds that Crowder’s catalog “stacks up with the best of the best and fits perfectly” alongside the company’s existing roster of country songwriters, including Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Andy Albert, Josh Miller and Russell Dickerson.
Crowder, a Georgia native, relocated to Nashville in 2010 and has built a catalog of songs that also includes Young’s Billboard Country Airplay chart-toppers “I’m Comin’ Over” and “Think of You” featuring Cassadee Pope (neither of which is included in the acquisition). He’s also a co-writer on the Florida Georgia Line hits “Long Live” and “I Love My Country,” as well as the duo’s Rice collaboration “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.” In 2022, Crowder earned the Country Music Association’s Triple Play award for his role in writing three chart-topping songs within a 12-month period. He’s spent a total of four weeks atop Billboard‘s Country Songwriters chart.
As a producer, Crowder’s credits include work on Florida Georgia Line’s Life Rolls On album, Justin Bieber‘s “Yummy (Country Remix),” LoCash‘s “One Big Country Song” and the Chris Tomlin/Lady A collaboration “Who You Are to Me.” He’s also enjoyed placements on TV shows including Nashville, One Tree Hill and The Real World.
“The Concord team has such a great vision and passion for great songs and songwriters,” adds Crowder in a statement. “I’ve known a lot of the team and their writers for some time now. So, it felt like a natural fit.”