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This week’s crop of new tunes features Jelly Roll in collaboration with Alexandra Kay for a song included on the soundtrack Twisters: The Album. Meanwhile, Joe Nichols brings a sunny new tune and Old Dominion’s Brad Tursi offers some top-shelf songwriting on a solo outing and Caylee Hammack teams with Foy Vance for a soulful collaboration.
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Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of the best country songs of the week below.
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Jelly Roll feat. Alexandra Kay, “Leave the Light On”
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Jelly Roll contributed a pair of songs to Twisters: The Album, the soundtrack to the recently-released movie sequel Twisters. Backed by a choir, Jelly leans slightly more into bluesy territory than his rock-fueled radio hits, as he sings of finally finding a love that feels peaceful after sabotaging many of his past relationships. He welcomes “Best Worst Ex” hitmaker Alexandra Kay, whose feathery voice offers a foil for his full-force, angsty tones. The intertwining of raging guitar, a gospel-tinged choir backing vocals, and their voices provide this track with plenty of torque. Jelly Roll wrote the track with Hillary Lindsey, Jesse Frasure, Blake Pendergrass and Jessie Jo Dillon. Kay also joins Jelly on his Beautifully Broken tour, beginning in August.
Joe Nichols, “Bottle It Up”
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In a society that often feels chaotic on numerous fronts, including politically and economically, one of country music’s most steadfast neo-traditional torchbearers offers a light-hearted moment of respite. Written by Josh Kear, Dan Isbell and Paul Sykes, with production from Mickey Jack Cones and Derek George, this song doubles down on etching Americana scenes of small-town living, with imagery of children catching fireflies in a backyard, as adults visit with family members, and prepare for dinner filled with chicken and pecan pie. A perfect song for a summer soundtrack, “Bottle It Up” is included on Nichols’ upcoming 11th career studio album, and his second project for Quartz Hill Records.
Denitia, “Gettin’ Over”
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This Texas-born singer, a member of CMT’s 2024 Next Women of Country class, also spent a decade working in Brooklyn’s music scene before relocating to Nashville. Denitia’s latest is an anthem for anyone who’s overworked, underpaid and worrying about paying bills and paying dues. Packed with steel guitar, muted percussion and a plucky melody that feels reminiscent of a bygone era of country music — one of homespun, unvarnished songs aimed at connecting with the heartaches and hopes of the working class– the song is infused with Denitia’s relaxed vocal rendering, which heightens potent lyrics of work-weary escapism. Denitia’s new album, Sunset Drive, releases Sept. 6.
Caylee Hammack with Foy Vance, “The Hill”
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In her career thus far, “Small Town Hypocrite” singer and Georgia native Hammack has consistently displayed a depth of creativity and unshackled musical exploration that is rare in Music Row circles. She finds a vocalist capable of matching her free-spirited passion in Northern Irish singer-songwriter Vance. Together, they elevate this song that centers on someone wise in the ways of romantic relationships, someone who knows that at times, winning the war for enduring love means surrendering in a temporary battle. Weaving in strands of Celtic and bluegrass influences with fiddle and stomping rhythms, “The Hill” highlights Hammack’s ceiling-scraping, soulful warble with Vance’s craggy, full-throttle vocal. Hammack wrote the song with Tenille Townes and Logan Wall, with production from Brothers Osborne’s John Osborne.
Brad Tursi, “Church Bells and Train Whistles”
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Old Dominion member Tursi makes his first solo outing on the new project Parallel Love. Several songs on this succinct album, culled from a decade of writing and recording, are solo writes from Tursi, in addition to tracks that found him collaborating with writing peers including Stephen Wilson Jr., Dan Isbell and Jessi Alexander. Among the standouts here is the earnest, softly rendered “Church Bells and Train Whistles,” in which Tursi tenderly muses on the craving for the comforts of home, while simultaneously being drawn to the freedoms and wanderlusts of the road. Tursi has always been an essential component of OD’s success, with the group winning Country Music Association’s vocal group of the year honors each awards since 2018. But his new project puts him squarely in the driver’s seat.
Jade Eagleson feat. Jake Worthington, “Do It Anyway”
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Canada native Eagleson and Texas native Worthington may have grown up more than 2,000 miles apart, but musically, their inspirations are excavated from much of the same fertile ground. This collaboration declares its striking country bona fides right from the starting gate, as their swaggering, twangy voices further fuel their reputations as traditional country flag bearers. “They said that sound ain’t coming back/ They said don’t wear that cowboy hat,” Eagleson and Worthington sing, before making it clear that no Music Row gatekeeper is going to stop them from making music their way.
Luke Combs‘ recent concert featured beer-guzzling cameos by the stars Hollywood’s latest blockbuster.
During his Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old tour stop at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Friday (July 19), the country singer was joined onstage by Twisters cast members Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos.
In fan-captured footage posted on social media, the actors are seen carrying beer cans as they walk onto the stage in front of thousands. After reaching Combs, they shotgun the suds alongside the “Cold Beer Calling My Name” singer and then toss the empty containers into the cheering crowd. Edgar-Jones seemed to have trouble finishing the beverage, but handed it off to Powell, who quickly drank it down.
“So this happened,” Edgar-Jones captioned a video of the incident on her Instagram Story, tagging Combs and her Twisters co-stars. Ramos reposted the clip, adding the line, “The most legendary moment.”
Combs also joined in on the fun, sharing a video of the beer chugging on his X (formerly Twitter) account. “Hey Twisters cast, what you say we shotgun one?!” he captioned the post.
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The epic moment was in celebration of the theatrical release of Universal Pictures’ Twisters, which is the sequel to classic 1996 film Twister. The new summer flick is already off to a huge start at the box office, with forecasters predicting a domestic opening of of $74.6 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Twisters cameos at Combs’ N.J. was fitting being that the county star’s original song “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” is featured on the movie’s soundtrack. The muscular track is already No. 10 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart after only nine weeks. Other country music heavyweights featured on the collection include Miranda Lambert, Kane Brown, Lainey Wilson, Shania Twain and Jelly Roll.
Combs’ manager says the singer was enthusiastic about taking part in the soundtrack.
“We wanted to do this because it wasn’t a remake of a classic, but a continuation of the narrative of the film, and we felt the movie was going to be an epic moment to be a part of,” Chris Kappy tells Billboard. “The team at Atlantic and Universal were very professional and fun to work with, and gave Luke full creative control on the song and trusted him — so that makes it easier to let the artist create.”
See Combs chug a beer with the Powell and his Twisters co-stars below.
Congratulations are in order for Rory Feek, who married his 10-year-old daughter Indiana’s teacher, Rebecca — who is also a longtime family friend — in a romantic ceremony on July 14. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The country star opened up about the ceremony on his […]
For the first time in over a year, and only the sixth time in the modern era, half of the top 10 albums on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart (dated July 20) are country albums.
Zach Bryan’s The Great American Bar Scene leads the country party at No. 2 on the July 20-dated Billboard 200, followed by Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time (No. 3) and Dangerous: The Double Album (No. 6), Shaboozey’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going (No. 8) and Bryan’s self-titled album (No. 10).
Country albums are defined as those that have appeared on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. The list began in 1964.
In the modern era – since the Billboard 200 chart began using electronically monitored tracking information from Luminate (then-SoundScan) on the May 25, 1991-dated chart – there have been only six instances where at least half of the top 10 were country titles.
Here’s a look at each of those weeks and the country sets inside the top 10 on the Billboard 200 —
July 20, 2024:No. 2, Zach Bryan, The Great American Bar SceneNo. 3, Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a TimeNo. 6, Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double AlbumNo. 8, Shaboozey, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m GoingNo. 10, Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan
June 10, 2023:No. 2, Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a TimeNo. 5, Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double AlbumNo. 7, Luke Combs, Gettin’ OldNo. 9, Zach Bryan, American HeartbreakNo. 10, Bailey Zimmerman, Religiously. The Album.
Oct. 5, 2013:No. 2, Justin Moore, Off the Beaten PathNo. 3, Chris Young, A.M.No. 6, Luke Bryan, Crash My PartyNo. 8, Keith Urban, FuseNo. 10, Billy Currington, We Are Tonight
Oct. 30, 2010:No. 2, Darius Rucker, Charleston, SC 1966No. 4, The Band Perry, The Band PerryNo. 6, Kenny Chesney, Hemmingway’s WhiskeyNo. 8, Zac Brown Band, You Get What You GiveNo. 9, Toby Keith, Bullets in the Gun
Nov. 17, 2007:No. 1, Eagles, Long Road Out of EdenNo. 3, Carrie Underwood, Carnival RideNo. 5, Josh Turner, Everything Is FineNo. 6, Robert Plant / Alison Krauss, Raising SandNo. 10, Rascal Flatts, Still Feels Good
Jan. 23, 1993:No. 2, Garth Brooks, The ChaseNo. 3, Billy Ray Cyrus, Some Gave AllNo. 8, Reba McEntire, It’s Your CallNo. 9, George Strait, Pure Country (Soundtrack)No. 10, Brooks & Dunn, Brand New Man
Currently, the Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. From May 25, 1991 – Dec. 6, 2014, traditional album sales, as electronically monitored and tabulated by Luminate, were the sole measurement to rank albums on the chart. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram
Although Ingrid Andress’ rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” on Monday night drew heavy criticism online, the moment fueled the country singer-songwriter to her best streaming day in nearly 20 months as discussion of the performance spiked interest in her wider catalog.
For July 15-16, the day of and day following the performance, Andress’ song catalog registered a total of 1.2 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to initial data reports submitted to Luminate. The two-day figure marks a 229% surge from her catalog’s 370,000 stream haul on July 13-14, the two days preceding her performance. (“The Star-Spangled Banner” did not contribute to any counts as the song is not available as a recording on streaming services.)
Of those totals, 941,000 streams alone occurred on June 16, the single-best streaming day for Andress’ catalog since it registered 964,000 clicks on Nov. 23, 2022, when she appeared on a pre-Thanksgiving episode of Drinkin’ With on Country Music Television (CMT) and its social channels.
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Andress sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby in Arlington, Texas, on Monday night, and her performance immediately went viral across social media. Many users posted clips referenced some of the competing players appearing to hold back laughter as the cameras cut to them, while others debated technical miscues of pitchiness and questionable runs and likened it to Fergie’s poorly received version of the national anthem from the 2018 NBA All-Star Game.
The next day, Andress posted on her X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram accounts that she was “drunk” during the performance and would voluntarily seek treatment. “I’m not gonna bulls–t y’all,” she wrote, “I was drunk last night. I’m checking myself into a facility today to get the help I need. That was not me last night. I apologize to MLB, all the fans, and this country I love so much for that rendition.”
A day ahead of the Home Run Derby, Andress announced a new single, “Colorado 9,” would be released on July 24. In her career, Andress has landed four tracks on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, with her highest peak belonging to “More Hearts Than Mine,” which reached No. 5 in 2020.
By today (July 19), when Universal Pictures’ Twisters blows into theaters, more than a dozen songs from the all-country soundtrack will have whirled their way onto radio and streaming services.
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Propelled by first single, Luke Combs’ muscular “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma”— which is already No. 10 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart after only nine weeks — the soundtrack includes such new songs from such heavyweights at Miranda Lambert, Kane Brown, Lainey Wilson, Shania Twain and Jelly Roll, as well as burgeoning artists like Bailey Zimmerman, BRELAND, Dylan Gossett, Tucker Wetmore and Tanner Adell. Twenty of the soundtrack’s 29 tracks are featured in the movie.
A soundtrack totally devoted to country songs is still a rarity and when they have occurred, they have usually been for country-themed movies, including 1980’s Urban Cowboy, 1992’s Pure Country, 2010’s Crazy Heart or 2011’s Country Strong.
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Twisters, which stars Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones as storm chasers, is a standalone sequel to 1996’s $495 million domestic-grossing Twister, which featured a rock soundtrack. The one artist from that soundtrack who makes a return as a fun Easter egg for fans is Twain, who duets with BRELAND on “Boots Don’t.” “She had a big song [“No One Needs to Know”] from the first soundtrack, and we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if she did one for this one,’” says Mike Knobloch, president of NBCUniversal Music and Publishing.
“We weren’t trying to recreate [the original soundtrack]. In the same way that the movie is different, we treated this initially like its own project,” he continues. “We worked closely with [director] Isaac Chung to conceive a music soundscape for the film that would be organic and authentic to where the story takes place, which is in Oklahoma,” Knobloch says. “We got to do something we don’t typically do, which is not just dabble in country music, but really lean in in an authentic way to work with Nashville writers and country artists. And not just for a song or two, but for the entire film.”
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Universal and the filmmakers met with several labels about the soundtrack, but ultimately chose to work with Atlantic’s west coast president Kevin Weaver, who was coming off the tremendous success of the Barbie soundtrack, over a Nashville-based record company, and had worked on such soundtracks and original cast albums as Hamilton and The Greatest Showman.
“We know from past experiences that Kevin and his team, like us, are super-competitive and uncompromising perfectionists,” Knobloch says. “They want to take big swings like we do. It just felt like Atlantic as a partner had the right attitude. Everyone on the core team [at Atlantic] has great Nashville relationships.”
Like many labels based in New York or Los Angeles, Atlantic has been signing more country artists as the genre boom continues and Weaver says the timing was perfect. “I’ve been trying to find a really credible good vehicle to come onboard with to curate a project within the country genre,” he says. “So, this was really appealing and attractive to me. That’s how we started the dialogue about how this might make sense for us together.”
A number of Atlantic’s up-and-coming country artists appear on the soundtrack, in addition to BRELAND — including Sam Barber, Nolan Taylor and Morgan Ramsey.
Before Atlantic solicited any artists, Weaver, Chung, Knobloch and Universal Pictures’ executive vp of film music Rachel Levy met several times with Chung picking around up to 20 scenes for which he wanted original songs. Atlantic then began soliciting selected artists to write specifically for their scene based on the visual and a very detailed brief, which included tempo, tone and thematic suggestions.
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“What’s really important to me when doing [soundtracks] is making sure that the music is really a character of the movie, and we’re not just trying to shoehorn songs into something for the purpose of having a soundtrack. We found that that pretty much never works,” Weaver says.
Instead, almost every song was written expressly for the film. One of the few exceptions was BRELAND and Twain’s track. “I already had my song with Shania and was looking for a good opportunity to release it, and it ended up being a good fit for the film,” BRELAND says. “It wasn’t something we were specifically writing for the soundtrack; we were just fortunate that what they were looking for was something we already had.”
BRELAND adds it was a “no-brainer” to get involved in one of the summer’s biggest movies. “I got a taste of what films can do for my career after my appearance in Roadhouse earlier this year, so it was a no-brainer when I heard about Twisters,” he says. “The original movie is a classic, and the trailer for this looked really good, so I was beyond excited when I found out they were interested in one of my songs for the soundtrack.”
One of the first artists to sign on was Wilson. “We started reaching out to artists and their teams in early January, and the momentum was incredible from the get-go,” says Atlantic senior VP of A&R at Atlantic, who worked alongside Weaver and the label’s executive vp/co-head of pop/rock A&R Brandon Davis and senior vp of A&R and marketing Joe Khoury. Within 24 hours of contacting Wilson’s manager, they showed Wilson the clip the next night following a dinner. “By that weekend, Lainey had written ‘Out of Oklahoma,’ and we instantly fell in love with the track. “
While there were artists whose schedules didn’t allow them to participate, word quickly spread in Nashville once the music team started reaching out. “Everyone seemed to be really interested and we didn’t want to leave anybody out. We had this embarrassment of riches in terms of who was answering our calls,” Knobloch says, as the soundtrack swelled to nearly 30 artists.
With so many songs, “we had to work really responsibly,” when it came to keeping the music budget under control, Knobloch says. Though he declined to name the budget, he adds that “pound for pound, country songs have fewer writers and samples than other genres of music, so maybe your dollars go a little bit further when you’re making this kind of music.”
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“We had artists and managers who really leaned into what we were doing,” Weaver says. “One of the other things that was unique about this is [country] artists are not typically getting calls [asking], ‘Do you want to write a song for a $100 million Hollywood blockbuster?’ where pop artists get that call more frequently. This genre hasn’t had this opportunity to this extent in quite some time, if forever. And so, because of that, people really want to be a part of this.”
Combs’ manager says Combs was enthusiastic about taking part. “We wanted to do this because it wasn’t a remake of a classic, but a continuation of the narrative of the film, and we felt the movie was going to be an epic moment to be a part of,” says Chris Kappy. “The team at Atlantic and Universal were very professional and fun to work with, and gave Luke full creative control on the song and trusted him — so that makes it easier to let the artist create.”
Combs song, which his label Sony Music Nashville is working to country radio, is also in the trailer, which helps tie the promotion and the movie together and start what Knobloch calls a “chain reaction” of releases, including Jelly Roll’s song and video, which dropped Thursday (July 18). The marketing campaign of dropping one song a week for the past 10 weeks — plus a song day the week of release –created a long musical runway, as well as fruitful, ongoing social media campaigns. “We have really been activating in every possible way to make as big an impact and as much noise as possible over a longer period of time in the run up to the release of the film than usual,” Knobloch says.
Additionally, with the staggered releases, “more songs have the ability to have their own moment,” Weaver says, “and when they have their own moment, they perform better typically.”
Despite country music’s surging popularity these days, Knobloch stresses the goal was to make a soundtrack that is “broadly accessible,” and appealed way beyond country fans. “There were a lot of times where it didn’t really feel like we were making a country record,” he says. “We were just making great songs with great artists and writers.”
Machine Gun Kelly and Jelly Roll are set to release a new collaborative single, “Lonely Road,” on July 26.
The duo, who have dubbed themselves “KellyRoll,” teased the track on social media on July 19 with a brief video clip that hints at a John Denver-inspired tune.
“Countdown to KellyRoll activated,” the artists wrote on Instagram. “Thanks to John Denver for paving the way.”
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The teaser features MGK and Jelly Roll in black suits at a funeral, with snippets showing MGK being arrested and Jelly Roll kissing his wife, Bunnie XO. The song’s hook, “Lonely road, take me home. Take me home,” clearly nods to Denver’s iconic “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
The collaboration marks MGK’s first release since revisiting his Hotel Diablo album with a deluxe edition earlier this month. For Jelly Roll, it follows his recent appearance on Eminem’s new album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce), where he featured on the emotionally charged track “Somebody Save Me.”
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Interestingly, Jelly Roll’s work with Eminem comes amidst the Detroit rapper’s ongoing feud with MGK. Eminem has taken several shots at MGK over the years, including digs on his latest album.
The collaboration between MGK and Jelly Roll isn’t entirely unexpected. The pair previously shared the stage at CMA Fest’s Spotify House in June, performing duets of Jelly Roll’s hit “Need a Favor” and MGK’s “My Ex’s Best Friend.” During that performance, MGK also covered the Chicks’ “There’s Your Trouble,” hinting at a potential foray into country music.
The upcoming collab could signal another shift in musical direction for MGK, who has already transitioned from rap to pop-punk in recent years. For Jelly Roll, the track follows the release of his song “Dead End Road” from the Twisters soundtrack.
“Lonely Road” is set to drop on July 26 and will be available on all major streaming platforms. You can check out the teaser below.
Former Florida Georgia Line member Brian Kelley is teasing a new, potentially politically-charged song after his performance during the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night (July 17). Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news While sharing a photo on Instagram from his performance of “American Spirit” during the Republican […]
In the closing moments of Mitchell Tenpenny’s “Not Today” video, the singer is strapped into an electric chair, waiting for the lightning bolt that ends his existence.
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The mini-film is dark, frenetic and a bit chilling. That mirrors Tenpenny’s experience on the set.
“We finally sit down in the chair to film that, and I had to act like I’m getting electrocuted,” he remembers. “I don’t even know the word for it. It was wild. It was emotional.”
The video draws in part from the movie The Green Mile, while the song itself is a bit of a remake, too. Tenpenny recorded a ballad called “Just Not Today” for a 2014 album, Black Crow, released prior to his affiliation with Riser House and Columbia Nashville. It’s not a shock to discover the original idea came from a college-era breakup that led to a year of hard emotions. The whole premise of “Just Not Today” was to accept those feelings in the moment, fully expecting a positive change would arrive at a later date.
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“I always loved the idea of owning the hurt,” he says. “I’m going to move on. I’m going to figure it out. But not today. Today, I’m going to wear this for a little bit.”
Tenpenny revisited the idea in May 2023 during a writing session at the home of songwriter-producer Chris DeStefano (Chris Young, Chase Rice) with Claire Douglas and Michael Whitworth. And since Tenpenny wrote the original song on his own, he underscored to his co-writers that they need not worry about copyright issues.
“I’m not going to sue myself,” he says with a laugh.
Tenpenny and DeStefano started playing guitars at a brisk tempo, establishing a very different attitude from the original, and Tenpenny sang the opening lines, setting up the premise that everyone handles pain their own way. “Not Today” grew in intensity during the pre-chorus, introducing a specific method of addressing the hurt: “I’ma sit my ass in the back of church.”
“That line tickles me to my core,” Douglas says. “I mean, that is Mitchell. It’s both reverent and irreverent at the same time.”
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At the chorus, the melody jumped to a higher level as the singer vows to forget his ex, hammering the same note seven straight times as they unlocked the song’s singalong power. “It initially gets the listener — at least it does for me — instant singability,” Whitworth says. “You can catch on because it’s a very simple melody, but it’s anthemic and passionate, so that it just immediately grabs you.”
If the chorus’ first line solidified the musical tone of “Not Today,” the next one cinched the storyline. Tenpenny tossed in three ways to erase a memory: “a bottle, a Bible or a mistake,” the latter representing a one-night stand or a rebound relationship. Verse two brought those methods all together on a common bar stool. The protagonist orders a drink, sends up a prayer and scours the club for a potential partner — literally employing the bottle, the Bible and the mistake in a single moment. “That second verse felt kind of like the stars lined up,” Douglas says.
To finish writing, they kicked in a bridge, reusing the pre-chorus and slipping the “ass in the back of church” line in a second time. By re-singing lyrics from an earlier part of the song, it offered the listener familiarity, though they also freshened the section three different ways: They broke into a halftime tempo, Tenpenny took some melodic liberties, and the underlying chords got a slight, ascendant revision.
“What makes it cool to me is the music changes, and it does this sort of building, like a walk up,” Whitworth says. “It’s kind of this triumphant sort of approach to it instead of just the chord progression on the verse.”
DeStefano produced the demo, applying an aggressive drum part and encouraging Tenpenny not to hold back. “I approach demo vocals like I approach record vocals,” DeStefano says. “There’s literally nothing different that I would do. It’s exactly the same. This particular day, you know, we just caught the lightning.”
The writers were ecstatic about the results. Douglas took photos and videos to document the occasion — not a usual part of her writing experience — and they all hit DeStefano’s billiard room for a round of tequila, almost as if they were sharing a winning locker room. “We all did a shot,” he says. “And we’re like, ‘This feels so good, guys.’ This was a magical day. Everybody just brought their A game. It was like, ‘This is NHL right here.’ It felt pretty good.”
Douglas, to be clear, abstained from the tequila. The others repeatedly coaxed her, but she held firm and didn’t tell them why for several weeks. “I was very, very newly expecting my first baby,” she says. “We weren’t telling people, and I was literally sick as a dog.”
DeStefano’s first demo got the crew excited — Douglas texted, “GET THIS ON THE RADIO,” when she heard it later that same day — but in the ensuing months, he cut two more demos around Tenpenny’s vocals. With the third version, he reduced a danceable vibe and made it a tad more country.
Producer Jordan M. Schmidt (Tyler Hubbard, Cole Swindell) knew they couldn’t beat Tenpenny’s demo vocal, so he got those wave files from DeStefano and had a studio crew record new tracks around them at Blackbird Studio. Drummer Nir Z took the percussion even further than the demo, relentlessly bashing a snare with a modern-rock ferocity. “He had a blast doing it, but by the end, he was like, ‘I can’t do another take,’ ” Schmidt recalls. “He was just exhausted.”
The players heightened the dynamics, particularly at the halftime bridge, which contrasts with an intense final chorus. Johnny Fung gave it a guitar solo that created some extra hooks. “He’s got a very melodic way of playing guitar,” Schmidt says. “It’s not about just shredding for him. It’s about creating moments and parts. You know, I love when guitar players can turn down the ego and just decide, ‘Hey, I want to make a guitar solo that people can sing along to.’ ”
Columbia released the death row “Not Today” video on May 9, and the electric chair was used as a prop for fans to take Tenpenny-themed selfies when the label set up its Camp Sony attraction at Acme Feed & Seed during CMA Fest in June. On June 11, the single was released to country radio via PlayMPE, and it’s targeting adds on July 15. The song may be about coping with the loss of a relationship, but Tenpenny believes it applies to numerous life issues.
“We all have one thing in common,” he says. “We should acknowledge the fact that the pain is there. That’s how you begin to heal.”
Over the past few years, through songs such as “Son of a Sinner,” “Need a Favor” and his latest “I Am Not Okay,” Jelly Roll has served as a chronicler and salvo for many who have faced a number of afflictions, be it depression, addiction, anxiety, broken hearts or shattered dreams. His latest, the hard-charging “Dead End Road,” serves as the most recent release from the 29-track Twisters: The Album soundtrack.
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“I’m just a blood-stained, folded hands/ Throwin’ back the milligrams,” he sings in “Dead End Road,” acknowledging the incessant tug to live life on the edge, regardless of the consequences. Jelly Roll (real name Jason DeFord) wrote “Dead End Road” with Jaxson Free, Taylor Phillips and Brock Berryhill.
Jelly Roll’s newly released contribution to the Twisters: The Album soundtrack follows a steady slate of songs from the country-music-packed soundtrack. Luke Combs launched it earlier this year with the song “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” while artists including Bailey Zimmerman, Miranda Lambert, Conner Smith and Megan Moroney are also featured on the set.
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Twisters, which releases July 19, connects to the ’90s hit movie and centers on a retired tornado chaser/meteorologist who returns to following tornadoes across Oklahoma. The film stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell and Anthony Ramos.
The release of Jelly Roll’s song just before the movie’s release is appropriate, given that the Tennessee native’s ascendance to a top-tier act shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. He’s notched four No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hits, and he’s expanded his 2024 headlining Beautifully Broken Tour, which runs through November and features an array of openers, including Warren Zeiders, Billboard Hot 100-topping artist Shaboozey, Ernest, Alexandra Kay and Allie Colleen. Earlier this year, Jelly Roll also celebrated a Grammy nomination for best new artist, as well as a Grammy nod for best country duo/group performance for “Save Me” with Lainey Wilson.
Watch the video for Jelly Roll’s “Dead End Road” below:
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