RIAA
Certifications
LEE BRICE CELEBRATES RIAA
MILESTONE
Photo: Cara Duckworth (RIAA), Lee Brice, Tiki Barber, Brandon Tierney, on stage at Playstation Theater, NYC
(Nashville, Tenn.) October 31, 2017
With a new,
self-titled album out on Nov. 3 (Curb Records), Lee Brice was surprised with a
career sales milestone last week while on stage at the sold-out Playstation
Theater in New York City.
Tiki Barber and
Brandon Tierney (CBS Radio’s “Tiki + Tierney”) joined the RIAA’s Cara Duckworth
on stage with a custom-made plaque that showcased his career Gold and Platinum
highlights, including eight singles that are Gold or higher plus two brand new
GOLD album awards for LOVE LIKE CRAZY
and his most recent album, I DON’T DANCE.
What does this
all mean? It means that every one of Lee’s albums is now officially
certified Gold or higher, and he has reached the rare milestone of more
than 10 million Gold and Platinum career
awards.
“It is truly a rare feat for any artist to
hit the pinnacle 10 million awards mark, and it only shows what a hit machine
Lee is. We look forward to more great music from this talented artist!
Congratulations!” said Cara from stage last Thursday evening (Oct. 19).
In
Brief: Billboard Country Charts (Chart issue week of November 11, 2017)
Country Album
Chart ** No.1 (1 week) LOSING SLEEP Chris Young
Hot Country
Songs ** No.1 (4 weeks) ** “What If’s” Kane Brown feat. Lauren Alaina
Country Airplay
** No.1 (2 weeks) “When it Rains It Pours” Luke Combs
Country Digital
Songs ** No.1 (3 non-consecutive weeks) ** “What If’s” Kane
Brown feat. Lauren Alaina
The
Billboard 200 chart measures multi-metric album consumption, which includes
traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent
albums (SEA).
Niall Horan's
'Flicker' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart
One
Direction joins only The Beatles as acts with three members each with solo No.
1s.
Niall Horan arrived atop the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart (BB200)
with his debut solo album, Flicker. The set, which was released through Capitol
Records on Oct. 20, starts with 152,000
equivalent album units earned in the week ending Oct. 26, according to Nielsen
Music. Of that sum, 128,241 were in traditional album sales.
Horan
is the third member of group One
Direction to notch a solo No.1 album, a feat matched only by The Beatles.
Horan follows fellow One Direction member Harry
Styles (with his self-titled debut earlier in 2017) and former group member
Zayn (with his debut album, Mind of
Mine, in 2016). The Beatles spun off multiple solo No.1s from George Harrison (two No. 1s), John Lennon (three No.1s) and Paul McCartney (six No.1s, including
efforts alongside his band Wings).
Chris Young nabbed his fourth Billboard
200 top 10, as LOSING SLEEP debuted
at No.5 with 39,000 units (31,898 in traditional album sales).
It follows Young’s previous top 10s: I’m Comin’ Over (No. 5 in 2015), A.M. (No.
3, 2013) and Neon (No. 4, 2011). The new album was led by its first single, its
title track, which has so far peaked at No.16 on the Country Airplay chart.
Darius Rucker claimed his fifth top 10
album, as his new set, WHEN WAS THE LAST
TIME, bowed at No. 8 with 34,000
units (30,072 in traditional album sales).
As a soloist (apart from his band Hootie & The Blowfish), he previously
visited the region with SOUTHERN STYLE (No. 7 in 2015), TRUE BELIEVERS (No.2,
2013), CHARLESTON, SC 1966 (No.2, 2010) and LEARN TO LIVE (No.5, 2008).
WHEN
WAS THE LAST TIME was preceded by its hit single “If I Told You,” which
topped the Country Airplay chart in June. The song took a long, slow climb to
the top -- it debuted on the chart dated July 16, 2016, and hit No.1 almost a
year later, on June 24, 2017 -- its 47th week on the chart. (It’s one of only
five songs to take at least 47 weeks to reach No. 1 in the Country Airplay
chart’s 27-year history.) “If I Told You” gave Rucker his seventh No.1 on
the tally, and first since 2013’s “Wagon Wheel.”
Top
Country Albums now ranks the most popular country albums of the week, as
compiled by Nielsen Music, based on multi-metric consumption (blending traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA)).
10 digital track sales from an
album = 1 track equivalent album (TEA)
“sale”
1,500 on demand song streams from
an album to one streaming equivalent album (SEA) “sale”.
Nielsen
Music compiles the sales and streaming data. Billboard continues to publish pure album sales charts (subscription to
billboard biz ), exclusively comprising
Nielsen’s sales data.
Singer-songwriter
Chris Young with
his new album, LOSING SLEEP (RCA
Nashville/Sony Music Nashville), roared in atop Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart (dated Nov. 11), earning
39,000 equivalent album units in its first week ending Oct. 26, according to
Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 31,898 copies were via traditional album sales.
On the all-genre Billboard 200, Losing Sleep arrived at
No.5. “I’m just so excited for Losing
Sleep to debut at the No.1 spot,” Young told Billboard. “I can’t thank everyone enough who has
bought, streamed and listened to this album.”
Concurrently, Losing Sleep’s title-track lead single vaulted 15-8 on Hot Country Songs, becoming Young’s 12th top 10. The song increased by 10% to 21.2 million audience impressions and bulleted at its No.16 high on Country Airplay.
Losing
Sleep, Young’s sixth studio LP, is his second Top Country Albums No.1 among
seven top 10s.
CHART HISTORY:
His
last LP, I’M COMIN’ OVER, became his
first Top Country Albums leader, debuting atop the Dec. 5, 2015-dated tally
with 57,200 sold.
Young
previously charted with:
His
2006 SELF-TITLED debut LP (No.3; 36,277 copies sold, Oct. 21, 2006)
THE MAN I WANT TO BE (No.6 Country; No.19 BB200 26,354 copies sold, Sept. 19, 2009)
NEON (RCA Nashville; released
July 12, 2011), which brought his biggest one-week sales sum (No.2 Country; No4 BB200; 72,830 copies sold, July 30, 2011)
A.M. (Sept 17, 2013; RCA
Nashville; No.2 Country; No.3 BB200;
52,742 copies sold, Oct. 5, 2013)
IT MUST BE CHRISTMAS (No.4 Country; No.62 BB200 8,209 copies; Nov. 5, 2016 | 9 week total 70,500 at Jan 3, 2017).
Young
co-wrote every song on his new project, which features the current single/title
track “Losing Sleep,” plus tracks including “Holiday,” “Hangin’ On,” “Where I Go When I Drink” and “Woke Up Like This. In addition to
co-penning every track on the 10-song offer, Chris enlisted the help of top
songwriters Chris DeStefano, Josh Hoge, Cary Barlowe, Corey Crowder, Liz Rose
and more. Every album you make as an
artist, you want to continue to grow,” Young explained. “And, you also want people to be in love with
it. That’s such a difficult thing to balance, but I think there’s a little bit
of something for everybody on this record.”
Promoting the album
Country music hitmaker and newest member
of the Grand Ole Opry, Chris Young, recently traveled to Los Angeles in between tour dates for
several TV appearances following Friday’s release of his seventh studio album.
Young performed the smash single and the album’s title track on last
night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC). View the
performance HERE and his post-show
concert on the outdoor stage HERE. NFL Network also welcomed Chris to talk about the Dallas Cowboys’
season and his fantasy football picks on Fantasy Live and
Twitter show #NFLBlitz – check out
his interview HERE. Earlier in the
week, Entertainment Tonight premiered an
exclusive behind-the-scenes look at his induction into the Grand Ole Opry at et.tv/2gxFAwV.
Fans and critics alike are praising Losing Sleep, with Entertainment Weekly calling it one of the week’s “must-listen music releases.”
Fans and critics alike are praising Losing Sleep, with Entertainment Weekly calling it one of the week’s “must-listen music releases.”
“ Losing Sleep finds
Young revving up his rich country baritone like a well-oiled machine...from the
album's opening notes, it's clear that this project is meant to stand apart
from the rest of his catalog.” ~ Rolling
Stone
“Chris Young isn’t afraid to take chances, to go against the mold or to explore new territory, as an artist and as a songwriter…the end result was more freedom, both in song selection and sonically.” ~ The Boot
“His smooth baritone makes him one of the most distinctive voices in today’s country music and his memorable vocals captivate throughout the entirety of his new album…making for one of his most diverse releases.” ~ Sounds Like Nashville
“Chris Young isn’t afraid to take chances, to go against the mold or to explore new territory, as an artist and as a songwriter…the end result was more freedom, both in song selection and sonically.” ~ The Boot
“His smooth baritone makes him one of the most distinctive voices in today’s country music and his memorable vocals captivate throughout the entirety of his new album…making for one of his most diverse releases.” ~ Sounds Like Nashville
Cover
Art: Photo credit: John Shearer
Critical reception for Chris
Young’s Losing
Sleep:
Allmusic (Rating: 4 STARS) He's sensitive and shaded, keeping his eye on the melody, but he leans
into certain phrases so he can emphasize the song's overriding emotions. It's a
subtle skill that suits this soft music, an album that doesn't make a big deal
of its craft but succeeds precisely because of the work behind the scenes.
Every element of Losing Sleep unfolds so easily, it feels inevitable, and it's
so polished it can seem like nothing but mood music, but repeated plays reveal
that this is more than atmosphere: the record endures because the songs work
their way into the subconscious.
Roughstock
(Rating: Positive) …There are usually a
handful of “wow moments” on a Chris Young record and “Where I Go To Drink” is
one such moment on the album. A powerful ballad full of heartache and loss and
has some really clever lyrical turn of phrase that recalls cowriter Trent
Tomlinson’s own work. Album closer “Blacked Out” is another “wow moment” for
Chris Young. it’s another ballad, of course, but it definitely has lyrics which
correlate
Entertainment-focus
(Rating: 4 STARS)....Highlights on the
record include the urgent Hangin’ On, which has all the makings of a bit hit,
the summery sway of Holiday, and the epic Trouble Looking, which is about
falling for a beautiful girl even though you know it’s a recipe for disaster.
Piano ballad Where I Go When I Drink is the standout track and it’s also a bit
of a tear-jerker. Young sings about trying to get over a breakup and ditching
alcohol so he doesn’t got stuck in an endless cycle of emotion. His voice
sounds fantastic on the track and the simple musical arrangement is beautiful.
Your Life In A Song (Rating: Mixed)
…The talent is there, the quality is
there and the voice is there – ‘Where I go When I Drink’ is testament to the
guy’s ability, but on ‘Losing Sleep’ he’s settled for just OK when he could
have pushed himself for so much more.
Sounds Like Nashville (Rating: Positive)...On Losing Sleep, Young continues to prove his staying power as a fan of
traditional country by combining it with a modern day flair. At ease on the
ballads and the upbeat tracks, no singing style is difficult for the vocalist
as he effortlessly croons on the heartbreak numbers as well as the more
rhythmic tracks. An album that embraces diversity, Chris Young’s Losing Sleep
continues to push the singer musically while maintaining the sound fans know
and love from the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry.
Darius Rucker with his new set, WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME (Capitol
Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville), began at No.2 (No.8 Billboard 200) with 34,000 units in its opening week (30,072 in pure sales).
Rucker
banks his sixth Top Country Albums top 10 in as many appearances, a history
that includes four leaders:
CHART HISTORY:
LEARN TO LIVE, the first country album for
the Hootie & The Blowfish frontman, having debuted atop the chart dated
Oct. 4, 2008, with 60,000 sold
Charleston, SC 1966 (No.1 Country; No.2 BB200; 100,745 copies sold; Oct. 30, 2010)
TRUE BELIEVERS (No.1 Country; No.2 BB200; 83,409 copies sold; June 8, 2013)
SOUTHERN STYLE (No.1 Country; No.7 BB200; 51,580 copies sold; April 18,
2015).
Home
for the Holidays, Rucker’s 2014 seasonal set, peaked at No.3 with 28K
sales (Debut No.7 Country, No.43 BB200 Debut 8,887 copies sold; in first 9 chart weeks sold 151,000 sales)
Rucker’s
fifth studio album was produced by Ross Copperman and features current single
“For The First Time” and lead single “If I Told You.” Other tracks include “Don’t,”
“Hands On Me” and “Straight To Hell” (with Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Charles
Kelley).
In
the hours before releasing his fifth country album on Capitol Records
Nashville, WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME,
Darius Rucker celebrated the latest milestone and bucket list moment in his
groundbreaking, multi-genre music career from the iconic stage of the Apollo
Theater in New York City. Performing hits spanning his country career – from
his first country No. 1 single “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It”
to his most recent chart-topper off the new album, “If I Told You,” – to a
few classic crowd-favorites from his career as lead singer of Hootie & the
Blowfish, Rucker kept the crowd on their feet all night.
PROMOTION:
Rucker
launched When Was The Last Time with two sold-out shows that speak to the heart
of who he is as an artist – making history at the famed Apollo Theater and a stadium-sized hometown, throw down in
Charleston, S.C. at Volvo Car Stadium.
“I
asked myself, ‘if I could play any song at the Apollo tonight, what would it
be?’,” Rucker marveled midway into his two-hour set. “I knew I had to play this
song tonight because I’ve always been a huge Patsy Cline fan, and for me, this
song, ‘Another Night With You,’ is a true country song,” before launching into
track 9-of-12 on the album that dropped overnight.
With
appearances on CBS Sunday Morning
(10/22; Link), Today
Show (10/24), The View (10/25;
>> YouTube), The
Chew (10/27), Harry (11/1),
Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and more, the 3-time GRAMMY winner’s new album was worth
the wait. USA Today observes, “Rucker is a seriously underrated singer.
Blessed with a rugged but warm timbre, he has a rare ability to invite
listeners into a song rather than keep them at a distance through extraneous,
show-offy display.”
The
first single from When Was The Last Time, “If I Told You” has already achieved
chart-topping success, and second single “For The First Time,” co-written by
Rucker with Derek George and Travis Hill, is available digitally now and
currently climbing the country charts. Rucker shared the behind-the-scenes of
the music video exclusively with PEOPLE.com, here.
Rucker has
always fearlessly followed his own musical muse while cultivating a huge
following of people drawn to his uniquely seductive delivery. He makes it seem
effortless, until you step back and take in the magnitude of the music and the
far-reaching, lasting impact of songs that have become part of popular culture.
Critical
reception for Darius
Rucker’s When Was The Last Time:
USA Today (Rating: Positive) ...Blessed with a rugged but warm timbre, he has a rare ability to invite listeners into a song rather than keep them at a distance through extraneous, show-offy display. He knows what each word, each rise and fall in a tune, is intended to express. He draws consistently on that insight, especially when given material he can
Roughstock (Rating: Positive) ..Deciding he needed a new challenge as an
artist, Darius Rucker turned to award-winning songwriter Ross Copperman as his
new production partner for When Was The Last Time, his fifth country album.
...The choice to work with Ross Copperman has brought a more contemporary “pop”
sound to some of the tracks on When Was The Last Time but that’s not a bad
thing here as it balances the best qualities of Darius Rucker’s music and the
production on quieter moments here showcase why Darius Rucker has a string of
hits to his credit. That’s a string of hits that should continue with When Was
The Last Time.
Sounds
Like Nashville (Rating:
Very Positive) ..When it was announced
that he would be teaming up with Ross Copperman, I was a bit alarmed. Copperman
has made some great records over the years, but I thought that this album would
be a little more progressive than what I loved so much about his last one.
After listening to the
record a number of times, I’ve got to say that I can rest those fears, as
Copperman has surrounded the singer with a production element that focuses on
his strengths as never before, but at the same time, gives radio something
fresh and exciting to play. Tracks such as the title cut, “Bring It On,” and
“Don’t” all have a fun vibe to them that should bounce off the airwaves or the
CD player / phone, and make you want to roll down the windows and sing along –
especially the latter track.
Your
Life In A Song (Rating:
Very Positive) ..‘For the First Time’ is
Darius Rucker’s crowning glory, it is the album he has been moving towards
making for the whole of his career. There is no filler, no wasted songs,
nothing done on the cheap or on the sly. Every song tells a story and every
lyric urges the listener towards living life better, bigger, bolder. It is one
of the most joyous, up-lifting pieces of music I have heard in a long time and
I hope, come awards season, that people realise music can be both fun yet
inspiring, up-beat yet meaningful. For the first time, Darius Rucker has put
himself in contention for ‘album of the year’ accolades with an album that
can’t fail to put a smile on your face and a song in your heart, which, given
the nature of the world in 2017 is something that we all could do with more of.
This is Country music at its best – playful, loud, emotional and truthfully
real
The Turnpike Troubadours with A LONG WAY FROM YOUR HEART (Bossier City/Thirty Tigers) rounding
out the Top Country Albums’ top three arrivals when the Oklahoma rootsrock and
country outfit bounded in at No.3 (No.20
BB200; 18,000 units; 16,851 pure sales).
It’s
the band’s third entry on the chart and second top 10. 2012’s GOODBYE
NORMAL STREET debuted and
peaked at No. 14 (No.57 BB200; selling 7,831 copies; May 16, 2012), and the act’s 2015 SELF-TITLED LP started and peaked at No.3 (No.17 BB2200 with 19,397 copies sold).
A LONG WAY FROM YOUR HEART also
launches at No.1 on Americana/Folk Albums, where it’s the band’s first No.1.
If Turnpike Troubadours are playing in your
town, you’ll know it. A block or two from the venue, you’ll see the crowds lining
up. Get closer and you’ll start to hear the music -- rockin’ hard, lashed by
burnin’ fiddle and guitar, maybe a little rough on the edges but with a
deep-rooted soul that's impossible to resist.
And if you make it through the door, you’ll
witness one of the best shows you'll ever see.
Audiences in their home state of Oklahoma and
down in Texas have known this for years. It's no longer news when they draw
5,000-plus at Billy Bob's in Fort Worth, sell out three nights in a
row at Gruene Hall or turn several hundred away at the Legendary Stubb's
Bar-B-Q in Austin.
Critical
reception for Turnpike
Troubadours’ A Long Way from Your Heart: (Bossier City Records)
American Songwriter (Rating: 4/5 STARS) ...Musically, the group coalesces around these
songs with understated rootsy twang featuring just enough fiddle, accordion and
especially Hank Early’s nimble pedal steel to bring out their inherent country.
The music’s not raw enough to be considered outlaw but it’s melodic, sharply
arranged and driven by passion.
That balance makes the
Turnpike Troubadours both one of Americana’s preeminent purveyors and this
album arguably their most accomplished set to date.
Lonestar Music Magazine - The
opening track (and lead-off single) “The Housefire” is a good encapsulation of
what makes the band (and frontman Evan Felker’s songwriting) something special:
in under four minutes, there’s a poignantly sketched vignette that sums up the
anxieties and ultimate triumphs of adulthood and parenting, served up over a
muscular midtempo country grind buoyed by resilient fiddle licks. There’s also
fact that the specifics of the women, guns, vehicles, etc. in this song and
others have already sparked some online speculation about a shared Turnpike
Troubadours universe of characters and incidents; it’s all kind of
tongue-in-cheek, sure, but it does highlight Felker & co.’s knack for
putting out the sort of songs that encourage and reward hanging on every resonant,
finely detailed line.
Farce The Music.com (Rating: Positive) ...But there’s balance, as with all
Troubadours’ records, best exemplified by “Pay No Rent,” a tender friend song
reminiscent of “Down Here” a couple years back. No matter the tempo or time
signature, nearly all of Felker’s songs have a gentle, human touch. If he can
keep his personal life between the ditches, look for the Turnpike Troubadours
to sustain this level of greatness for a good while. Because this album sounds
like it’s almost too easy for these guys.
Former No.1 Kane Brown with his SELF-TITLED album fell 2-4 (#20-24 Billboard 200) selling 7,016 copies (down 14%;
47-week total 239,400)
Former
No.1 Thomas Rhett with LIFE
CHANGES (Valory/Big Machine Label Group) slipped 3-5 (#28-33 Billboard 200) selling 5,436 copies (down 9%; 7-week total 154,700).
Chris Stapleton with TRAVELLER (MERCURY/
UMGN) rose 7-6
(44-39 Billboard 200) selling 6,300 copies
(up 12%; 130-week total 2,097,600). Stapleton’s From a Room: Volume 1 (Mercury/Universal
Music Group Nashville) lifted 10-8
(70-54 BB200) selling 6,511 copies
(up 16%; 25-week total 547,900).
Former No.1 Luke Combs with THIS ONE’S FOR YOU (River House/
Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville) slipped 6-7 (#42-45 Billboard 200) selling 3,869
copies (down 3%; 21-week total 136,000).
Brett Young with self-titled debut (BMLG) fell 8-9
(#59-62 BB200) selling 2,663 copies (36-week
total 149,500).
Former
1-week No.1 Shania Twain with NOW (Mercury/Universal Music Group Nashville) fell 9-10 (#62-74 Billboard 200) selling 7,105
copies (down 12%; 4-week total 163,017).
Outside the
Top 10
Florida Georgia Line with DIG YOUR ROOTS (BMLG) held at 11
(76-82 BB200)
Americana
and country singer-songwriter Margo Price with ALL AMERICAN MADE (Third Man), opened at No.12 on Top Country Albums (No.89 BB200) and No.4 on Americana/Folk Albums (7,000 units) selling 6,849 copies.
The
set follows Price’s rookie set, MIDWEST FARMER’S DAUGHTER, which started and
peaked at No.10 on Top Country Albums and No.5 on Americana/Folk Albums (No.189
BB200; 4,002 copies sold; chart April 16,
2016).
Margo will hit the road in support of ALL
AMERICAN MADE on her Nowhere Fast tour which kicks off January 20th, 2018 in
Louisville, KY.
I’m so excited to share what the band and I have been working on this
past year. My full-length album, ALL AMERICAN MADE, will be out October 20th,
2017 on Third Man Records and was recorded in Memphis, Tennessee at Sam
Phillips Recording.
These songs (written both by myself and with my husband) were born while
traveling America - between the highways and hotel rooms, in the crowded
airports and all-night diners and occasionally, on the green grass of our
Tennessee home
The cover photograph was taken by
my friend, Danielle Holbert, after I climbed into a field of buffalo on a farm
outside of Cookeville, TN. - Margo
Critical
reception for Margo
Price - All American Made:
Country Music People (Rating: 4 STARS) This is still infinitely preferable to just about anything out there
though
Mojo (Rating: 8/10) All American Made maintains Price's status as honky-tonk's most compelling
new flame
New Musical Express (Rating: 8/10) By adding a decent dose of 2017 into her classic sound, Price creates
something truly great.
MN Music News (Rating: 4 STARS)...Unafraid, unashamed and a dynamic musical
force to be reckoned with, Margo Price is not attempting to reclaim country for
country's sake, she is simply sharing her truth in the best way she knows how.
This does not try to tick boxes for the audience's sake, but it will most
certainly leave you in awe and wanting to see her live in an intimate setting
before she becomes a stadium only artist.
www.shugarecords.com - A prolific writer with a knack for
candid self-reflection, Price has never had to look too far for inspiration,
and on ‘All American Made,’ she and her songwriting partner/ husband, Jeremy
Ivey, continue to depict the trials of everyday life with un inching honesty,
painting poetically plainspoken portraits of men and women just trying to get
by. Highs and lows, long nights and hard days, wild women and cocaine cowboys,
politics and sexism, it’s all in there, singularly filtered through Price’s
wry, no-bullshit perspective. Throughout the album, her contemporary take on
classic sounds is at once familiar and daring, an infectious blend of Nashville
country, Memphis soul, and Texas twang that tips its cap to everyone from
Waylon and Willie (who makes a guest appearance) to Loretta and Dolly, all
while flipping a middle finger to the cookie-cutter pop that dominates modern
country radio. Rich with swirling pedal steel, honky-tonk rhythms, and Price’s
stop-you-in-your-tracks vocals, ‘All American Made’ is deeply reverent of
tradition even as it challenges conventions, a nuanced exploration of
conflicted emotions for our deeply conflicted times.
The Guardian (Rating: 4 STARS) - All American Made isn’t a celebratory title.
As on her debut, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, Margo Price’s America is a country
in which life is hard; specifically, it’s a country in which life is hard for
women. She tackles the dry subjects of news reporting with humour and vim: the
idea of a song about sex discrimination in wages doesn’t sound like fun on
paper, until you notice Price’s sharp eye for a killer line – “We’re all the
same in the eyes of God, and the eyes of rich white men” – and get to relish
the lightness of touch in the Tex-Mex musical colouring. The equally scabrous
Cocaine Cowboys rides along on a 1970s soft-rock groove, with Price excoriating
the men “coming from New York, LA and Seattle, they don’t have to rope no
cattle”. Willie Nelson duets on Learning to Lose, and the highest praise for
Price is that he sounds very much like the second most talented person on
another beguiling album.
Variety.com - On
her second album, “All American Made,” the farmgirl-turned-honky-tonk-heroine
doesn’t deviate too drastically from the well-studied traditionalism that
brought her to the dance last year with the acclaimed “Midwest Farmer’s
Daughter.” In the words of one
Allmusic (Rating: 4 STARS) Price is particularly drawn to laid-back slow, going so far as to set
"Cocaine Cowboys" to a lackadaisical funk beat. She hasn't abandoned
country -- the album opens with the rockabilly of "Don't Say It,"
which is quickly countered by the barroom swing of "Weakness," while
Willie Nelson later swings by to sing on "Learning to Lose" -- which
means All American Made winds up drawing an expansive portrait of American
roots music, one that touches on R&B, Tex-Mex, girl group pop, spacy indie
rock, and even Glen Campbell's trippiest moments.
Uncut (Rating: 8/10): But All
American Made marks both a hardening and a deepening of Price’s sound. You
could say it sounds more Memphis than Nashville. Certainly there are soul notes
on it, and some Stax-like musical punctuation. Lester Snell, who arranged Shaft
while in Isaac Hayes’ band, projects deep colours over the brisk, declamatory
“A Little Pain”. And (sounding Memphis, but hailing from Nashville), the gospel
quartet the McCrary Sisters add depth to the sultry “Do Right By Me”, a
hardscrabble soul tune about a young woman with a cotton-picking farmer who has
to leave her one-horse town to follow her dreams. “All I ever wanted was my own
song to sing,” Price declaims
Consequence Of Sound (Rating: B) Margo Price – All American
Made: Price delivers a wonderful new record with poise and self-possession But there’s still something unabashedly throwback
about Price. After years of smoothing out her vocal timbre as a member of
Buffalo Clover, the ‘70s rock-influenced group she was in with husband Jeremy
Ivey, she’s let the twang take the lead. And much like the Nashville grinders
who turned that Tennessee town into Music City U.S.A., she’s not letting this
wave of buzz and momentum go to waste, hurrying out her second album, All
American Made, only 19 months after her debut (last year’s Midwest Farmer’s
Daughter). Mostly, it’s the sound of Price’s albums that have given her art an
old-school air. She and Ivey (who co-wrote many of the songs on both LPs) are
clearly steeped in the ‘60s and ‘70s outlaw country aesthetic, which brought
elements of psychedelia, blues, and soul into tales of romantic and personal
hardship....Otherwise, she and the band stick comfortably to their chosen lane,
setting the folksy shuffle of “Heart of America” next to the Willie
Mitchell-like groove of “Do Right by Me” and the doleful ballad that is
“Loner”. She even pays a small tribute to her idols by inviting Nelson in to
duet and drop a jazzy acoustic solo on “Learning to Lose”....The modern updates
to this vintage sound go beyond the music. Price does give the kiss off to a
useless beau on “Don’t Say It” and sings about finding her way in the world on
“Do Right”, among other tried-and-true country tropes, but what’s striking
about this album is her lyrical focus on larger societal ills.
Essential Tracks: “All
American Made”, “Don’t Say It”, and “Do Right by Me”
"Our voices are all we have right now, and
it's important to use them," says performer of writing for 'All American
Made'
I think it's important to voice your
opinion and, regardless of people who tell me otherwise, I think that's what
makes our country beautiful ... our freedom to express our thoughts and views.
Our voices are all we have right now, and it's important to use them."
Jon Pardi with CALIFORNIA SUNRISE fell 12-14
(#88-101 BB200) selling 1,367 1,578 copies
(70-week total 190,400).
Sam Hunt with MONTEVALLO (MCA Nashville | UMGN) fell 10-13 (#86-92 BB200).
In
his seventh frame Dustin Lynch with CURRENT MOOD (Broken Bow/Broken Bow Music Group) fell 14-16 (#106-119 Billboard 200) selling 1,793 copies (down 16%; 7-week
total 47,200).
In
her second week Carly Pearce with EVERY LITTLE THING (Big Machine | BMLG)
fell 4-17 (#32-124 Billboard 200) selling 3,039 copies in pure sales (down
69%; 2-week total 12,731). It was the 63rd bestselling album in America this
chart frame
The legendary Willie Nelson with the 12 track Willie and the Boys: Willie’s Stash, Vol. 2
(Legacy; Amazon UK
- UK iTunes - Amazon.com) debuted at No.19 (#134
BB200; 6,000units; 5307 copies
sold).
The set, a collaboration among Nelson and sons
Lukas and Micah, is the second of the Willie’s Stash series of archival
recordings. They perform a selection of well-loved American country
music standards and classics, including seven penned by the immortal Hank
Williams Sr.
The
first in the series, 2014’s December Day: Willie’s Stash, Vol. 1, with sister
Bobbie Nelson, debuted and peaked at No. 26.
The
Willie's Stash series will present a variety of archival releases, each
personally curated by Willie Nelson, culled from decades of recording and
touring, providing unique perspectives on one of America's most vital musical
forces.
Outside the Top 25
In
their second chart frames last week’s No.1 Jessie James
Decker with
SOUTHERN GIRL CITY LIGHTS (Epic)
fell 1-29 selling 2,946 copies (down 83%, fell of
top BB200; No.65 Top Album Sales; 2-week total 20,673).
Russell Dickerson with
his first full-length, YOURS (Triple
Tigers/ Sony Music
Entertainment) fell 5-30 falling off the Billboard Top 200 from #39 selling around 800 copies
(down 90%; 2-week total 8,400).
FALLING
SHORT of Top 50:
On the Country Album Sales list (pure sales;
old methodology)
Béla Fleck
& Abigail Washburn with their
11-track set ECHO IN THE VALLEY (New
Rounder; Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com)
made a debut at No.22 on Country Album Sales (No1 Bluegrass
Album Chart dated Nov 11 ;No.128 Top Album sales) selling 1,787 copies.
In 2017, Washburn and her
husband collaborated with the dance theater troupe Pilobus for an original work
commissioned by the American Dance Theater entitled Echo in the Valley. The
title, as well as some of the material, adorned Washburn's and Fleck's second
duo offering. The album features the pair performing on seven different banjos
"ranging from a ukulele to an upright bass banjo." With an emphasis
on three-finger and clawhammer styles, the arrangements reflect the necessity
of being performed live. Outside of a few adaptations of traditional tunes,
including Clarence Ashley's "My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge
Mountains" (transformed into a blues here) and a studio recording of their
oft-played live medley "Sally in the Garden"/"Molly Put the
Kettle On," the remainder of the material was co-written by Washburn and
Fleck and reflects various narrative points of view and historical and topical
concerns.
Tyminski with the 13 track SOUTHERN GOTHIC (Mercury/ Decca (UMO); Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com)
made a debut at No.23 (No.141 Top
Album Sales) selling 1,691 copies.
Dan
Tyminski, a 14-time Grammy winner and member of Alison Krauss’ Union Station,
cowrote all 13 tracks to pitch to other artists, but decided to record them
himself. He described the album, produced by Jesse Frasure, as “holding up a
mirror to society without judgment or opinions.”
Tyminski appeared
on CBS-TV's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Monday night (Oct 23). Watch
"Southern Gothic" here.
Mike Ryan with his 7 track Country/Pop set BLINK YOU'LL MISS IT (Rock & Soul; Amazon UK
- UK iTunes - Amazon.com)
Made
a debut at No.31
Charlie Daniels with the 14 track Walmart exclusive MEMORIES, MEMOIRS AND MILES: Songs of a Lifetime made a debut at No.46.
The
album is the musical companion to his forthcoming memoir ‘Never Look At The
Empty Seats’ which will be available everywhere books are sold on October 24 (Amazon UK
– Amazon.com)
The
12-track project features two bonus tracks, “Long Haired Country Boy”
and “Still
In Saigon,” and is dedicated to the man and friend who taught him his
first guitar chord, Russell Palmer.
Also of note
Dori Freeman with her 10 track album LETTERS NEVER READ (MRI; Amazon UK
- Amazon.com) made a debut at No.9 on the Bluegrass
Album Chart
Critical
reception:
NPR
- Freeman's new album, Letters Never Read
— the second she's recorded with Teddy Thompson producing — is even more
fetching in its finessing of contradictions than its
American
Songwriter (Rating: 3.5/ 5 STARS) ..This set is again produced by Teddy Thompson, who notably helmed her
previous one, but now the budget seems slightly bigger. Guests such as Aoife
O’Donovan, guitarist Neil Casal and Kacy & Clayton speak to Freeman’s
newfound respect among her Americana peers. Thompson calls in legendary dad
Richard to contribute occasional guitar. Freeman’s sympathetic cover of his
1974 UK folk rocker “I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight” takes it to the
mountains with fiddles adding homespun sweetness.
Love songs, even ones
likely about unrequited feelings such as the lovely opening “If I Could Make
You My Own” (“I would give you the blood from my veins/ If I could make you my
own”) and the disquieting ballad “Cold Waves” (“There’s something living in and
weighing down my lungs/ There’s something bitter and it’s tying up my tongue”),
speak to uncertainty about life and romance.
Freeman shifts into
unexpected subtle jazz noir complete with vibes on “Turtle Dove” and keeps the
instrumentation stripped down to jaunty militaristic skeletal drums on a
surprising cover of Jim Reeves’ “Yonder Comes a Sucker,” substantially changing
the arrangement.
Year-To-Date Albums
16,182,000 (Physical sales 10,809,000
(down -14.3%) + Digital sales 5,372,000 (down -19.0%) which is 16.0% down at the same point in 2016 (19,253,000 sales)
Year-To-Date Digital Tracks
55,753,000 down 23.7% at the same point in 2016
(73,094,000)
On Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart - which
blends:
a) All-format airplay, as monitored by BDS
b) Sales, as tracked by Nielsen SoundScan and
c) Streaming, (tracked by
Nielsen BDS from such services as Spotify, Muve, Slacker, Rhapsody, Rdio and
Xbox Music, among others) according to BDS it results in:
Kane Brown with “What Ifs” featuring Lauren Alaina (Zone
4/RCA Nashville) topped the chart for a fourth week in its 46th frame. It also
continued to head Country Streaming Songs (dated Nov 11, 2017).
Brett
Young earned his third top 10 as “Like
I Loved You” (BMLG Records) as it pushed 13-9. It rolled 14% to 22.3 million impressions and lifted 15-14 on
Country Airplay
Hot County
Songs
** No.1 (4 weeks)
** “What Ifs” Kane Brown feat. Lauren
Alaina
**
Airplay Gainer” No.7 “Every Little Thing” Carly
Pearce
** Digital
Gainer ** No.8 “Losing Sleep” Chris
Young
** Hot Shot Debut ** No.26 “Millionaire” Chris Stapleton
Debut
No.28 “Miss Me More” Kelsea Ballerini
**
Streaming Gainer ** No.35 “Up Down” Morgan
Wallen feat. Florida Georgia Line
Debut
No.42 “For The First Time” Darius Rucker
Debut
No.47 “I Won't Back Down” (Live From Saturday Night Live) Jason Aldean
Luke Combs with When
It Rains It Pours”
(River House/Columbia Nashville) held
at No.1 for a second week on Country Airplay.
Country
Airplay
***
No.1 (2 weeks)/ Most Increased Audience *** "When it Rains It Pours” Luke Combs 47.642 million audience (+4.191
million) / 8,479 radio plays (+607) / +4.191 million audience gain
** Most
Added ** No.36 “The Rest Of Our Life” Tim
McGraw & Faith Hill
** Hot
Shot Debut ** No.53 “I’d Be Jealous Too” Dustin
Lynch
Debut
No.59 “Wild As You” Cody Johnson
Debut
No.60 “Kiss Somebody” Morgan Evans
Billboard Country Digital
Singles Chart
Kane Brown feat. Lauren Alaina with
“What
If’s” rose 2-1 (#18-19 Digital Songs) to lead the chart
for a third non-consecutive week.
It was 18
places behind "Gorgeous," the third song released so far from Taylor Swift's album Reputation, due Nov. 10, blasted
in at No.1 on Billboard's Digital Song Sales chart (dated Nov. 11), with 68,000
downloads sold in the tracking week ending Oct. 26, according to Nielsen Music.
The song soars
in at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, which blends streaming, airplay and sales
data, as, powered by its official audio clip, it also bows at No. 16 on the
Streaming Songs chart with 16.9 million U.S. streams. (While not a radio focus
single, it additionally drew 3.6 million in all-format airplay audience in the
tracking week.)
With the
chart-topping start of "Gorgeous" on Digital Song Sales, Swift ties
Rihanna for the most No.1s in the list's history: 14 each. Swift also
extends her record for the most No. 1 debuts to 13.
Chris Stapleton with his new pre-order track “Millionaire”
made a debut at No.2 (#20 Digital Songs)
LANco with “Greatest Love Story” (Arista
Nashville) held at No.3 (#24-22 Digital
Songs).
Kelsea Ballerini with her latest album pre-grat track “Miss
Me More” made a debut at No.4
(#26 Digital Songs)
Luke Combs with “When It Rains It Pours”
(River House | Columbia Nashville) fell 4-5
(#28-33 Digital Songs).
Sam Hunt with
his 31 non-consecutive week No1 “Body Like a Back Road” (MCA
Nashville) held at No.6 (#35 Digital Songs)
Thomas Rhett with “Unforgettable” (Valory)
fell 5-7 (#32-39 Digital Songs).
Previous week’s
No.1 Carly
Pearce with
Every Little Thing (Big
Machine/Big Machine Label Group), fell 1-8 (15-40 Digital Songs).
Walker
Hayes with “You
Broke Up With Me“ (Monument) slipped 8-9 (#44 Digital
Songs).
Brett Young with “Like I Loved You“ (BMLG)
held at No.10 (#49-48 Digital
Songs).
Outside
the Top 10
Blake Shelton with “I'll Name The Dogs” (Warner
Bros) fell 7-11 (#43-50 Digital Songs).
Russell Dickerson with “Yours” (Triple Tigers) fell
9-14..
Jason Aldean, who was onstage at the
Route 91 Harvest Festival on Oct. 1 in Las Vegas when a gunman opened fire,
began NBC’s Saturday Night Live on Oct. 7 with his cover of Tom Petty’s “I
Won’t Back Down” as a tribute to victims (and Petty, who died Oct 2). After
its Oct. 20 release, it debuted on Country Digital Song Sales at No.15 (8,000 sold). All proceeds will
benefit victims of the shooting.
Devin Dawson with “All On Me” made a debut
at No.23
Country Aircheck MEDIABASE
Chart
30
Oct 2017
Luke Combs Is #1 With
'When It Rains It Pours'
Congrats to Luke Combs,
Steve Hodges, Shane Allen and the Columbia
and River House teams on securing
this week’s No.1 with “When It Rains It Pours” The song is Combs’ second
chart-topper from his debut album THIS
ONE’S FOR YOU. Songwriters are Ray Fulcher, Jordan Walker and Combs. This
marks Combs' second consecutive #1, following the success of his debut single,
"Hurricane," which spent
two weeks at the top (May 22).
“When It Rains It Pours” (River House/Columbia) logged 9,302 radio spins (+967)
and 61.308 million audience
impressions (+6.67 million) with 27635 Total Points (+2982) from 159 tracking stations for the tracking week October
22 to October 28, 2017 and published chart October 30th 2017.
Brad Paisley Is Most-Added
With 'Heaven South'
Kudos to
Arista’s Josh Easler and team on landing 28
adds for Brad
Paisley’s “Heaven South”. The song topped the "Most Added"
board this chart week.
Mediabase
Adds (Selective)
Artist/Title (Label) TW Total Historic
Adds
BRAD PAISLEY/Heaven South (Arista) 28 31
JON PARDI/She
Ain't In It (Capitol) 17 69
OLD DOMINION/Written
In The Sand (RCA) 16 124
SHANIA TWAIN/We
Got Something They Don't (Mercury) 15 22
CHRIS LANE f/T.
KELLY/Take Back Home Girl (Big Loud) 14 94
DUSTIN
LYNCH/I'd Be Jealous Too (Broken Bow) 14 56
JAMES BARKER
BAND/Chills (UMGC/New Revolution) 11 23
MIDLAND/Make A
Little (Big Machine) 10 130
ASHLEY
MCBRYDE/A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega (Atlantic/WAR) 9 36
MORGAN
EVANS/Kiss Somebody (Warner Bros./WEA) 8 34
RUNAWAY
JUNE/Wild West (Wheelhouse) 4 54
WALKER
HAYES/You Broke Up With Me (Monument/Arista) 4 150
DANIELLE
BRADBERY/Sway (BMLGR) 3 72
KELSEA
BALLERINI/Legends (Black River) 3 154
LAUREN
ALAINA/Doin' Fine (19/Interscope/Mercury) 2 108
CAM/Diane
(Arista) 1 1
LINDSAY
ELL/Waiting On You (Stoney Creek) 1 80
STEPHANIE
QUAYLE/Selfish (Rebel Engine) 1 6
For a detailed report check out Country Aircheck Weekly Issue 574 - Oct 30, 2017 [PDF File] Magazine View
Billboard Boxscores (Selective Country
concerts)
Rank
Artist: #32
Event
Venue City/State: Jimmy Buffett XFINITY Center Mansfield, Mass.
Dates:
Aug. 19, 2017 Gross Sales: $1,539,075 Attend:
19,850/ 19,876
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/0 (26 unsold tickets) Prices: $130,
$30
Promoters: Live Nation
Rank
Artist: #35
Event
Venue City/State: All In For The Gambler: Kenny
Rogers' Farewell Concert Celebration
with Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Chris Stapleton, Lady Antebellum, Little Big
Town, Alison Krauss, The Judds & others Bridgestone
Arena Nashville, Tenn.
Dates:
Oct. 25, 2017 Gross Sales: $1,317,867 Attend:
15,530/ 15,530
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices:
$299.50, $49.50
Promoters: Outback Concerts
Rank
Artist: #128
Event
Venue City/State: Lady Antebellum, Brett Young,
Kelsea Ballerini Bridgestone
Arena Nashville, Tenn.
Dates:
Sept. 9, 2017 Gross Sales: $486,004 Attend:
11,073/ 11,073
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices:
$65.50, $35
Promoters: Live Nation
Rank
Artist: #173
Event
Venue City/State: Cody Jinks, Whitey Morgan Victory Theatre Evansville, Ind.
Dates:
Oct. 1, 2017 Gross Sales: $31,285 Attend:
685/ 1,759
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/0 (1,074 unsold tickets) Prices:
$75, $20
Promoters: AEG Live
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.