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Billboard Country Airplay and Country Albums Chart (September 19th)

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Billboard Country Airplay

1. Dustin Lynch–“Hell of a Night” (up 1)
2. Thomas Rhett–“Crash and Burn” (up 1)
3. Keith Urban–“John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” (up 2)
4. Chris Janson–“Buy Me a Boat”
5. Sam Hunt–“House Party” (down 4)
6. Kenny Chesney–“Save It for a Rainy Day” (up 2)
7. Brett Eldredge–“Lose My Mind”
8. Luke Bryan–“Strip It Down” (up 5) [biggest gainer]
9. Florida Georgia Line–“Anything Goes” (up 1)
10. Maddie & Tae–“Fly” (down 1)
11. Eric Church–“Like a Wrecking Ball”
12. Chase Rice–“Gonna Wanna Tonight”
13. Cole Swindell–“Let Me See Ya Girl” (up 2)
14. Old Dominion–“Break Up With Him” (up 2)
15. Dan + Shay–“Nothin’ Like You” (up 2)
16. Blake Shelton–“Gonna” (up 2)
17. Carrie Underwood–“Smoke Break” (up 5)
18. Jake Owen–“Real Life” (up 1)
19. Lady Antebellum–“Long Stretch of Love” (up 1)
20. Chris Young–“I’m Comin’ Over” (up 4)
21. Kip Moore–“I’m To Blame”
22. Cam–“Burning House” (up 1)
23. Tim McGraw–“Top of the World” (up 4)
24. Big & Rich–“Run Away With You” (up 1)
25. Brothers Osborne–“Stay a Little Longer” (up 1)
26. Parmalee–“Already Callin’ You Mine” (up 2)
27. Jason Aldean–“Gonna Know We Were Here” (up 2)
28. Kelsea Ballerini–“Dibs” (up 2)
29. LoCash–“I Love This Life” (entering top 30)
30. Jana Kramer–“I Got the Boy” (re-entering top 30)

  • new #1: “Hell of a Night”
  • next week’s #1 prediction: “Crash and Burn”
  • Jana Kramer adds quality to the top 30 with the re-entrance (finally) of “I Got the Boy”
  • this is balanced by LoCash’s “I Love This Life
  • Frankie Ballard’s “Young and Crazy” and Zac Brown Band’s “Loving You Easy” fell from #6 and #15, respectively, to out of the top 30
  • Luke Bryan has hit #8 with “Strip it Down” after only 5 weeks…draw your own conclusions about this

Billboard Top Country Albums

1. Luke Bryan–Kill the Lights
2. Maddie & Tae–Start Here [debut]
3. Sam Hunt–Montevallo
4. Zac Brown Band–Jekyll + Hyde
5. Eric Church–The Outsiders
6. Elvis Presley–Elvis Presley Forever
7. Kip Moore–Wild Ones
8. Florida Georgia Line–Anything Goes
9. Little Big Town–Painkiller
10. Alan Jackson–Angels and Alcohol
11. Brantley Gilbert–Just as I Am
12. Jason Aldean–Old Boots, New Dirt
13. Darius Rucker–Southern Style
14. Luke Bryan–Crash My Party
15. Various Artists–Mud Digger, Volume 6 [debut]
16. Various Artists–Now That’s What I Call Country, Volume 8
17. Kacey Musgraves–Pageant Material
18. Jason Isbell–Something More Than Free
19. Kenny Chesney–The Big Revival
20. Chris Stapleton–Traveller
21. Chase Rice–Ignite the Night
22. Zac Brown Band–Greatest Hits So Far…
23. Michael Ray–Michael Ray
24. Kelsea Ballerini–The First Time
25. Cole Swindell–Cole Swindell

  • Luke Bryan is still at the top of this chart….
  • Maddie & Tae’s excellent Start Here debuts at #2

Source: Billboard

Commentary

The 49th Annual CMA Award Nominees, With Commentary

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The nominees are in, after
the CMA flipped off the entire genre by allowing Steven Tyler and Kelsea Ballerini to announce them this morning on Good Morning America. Here are the nominees, predictions, and some personal commentary.

Musician of the Year

Sam Bush (mandolin) [yes, apparently mandolins are still in country music somewhere, who knew?]
Jerry Douglas (dobro)
Paul Franklin (steel guitar) [see above comment about mandolin]
Dan Huff (guitar)
Mac McAnally (guitar)
Prediction: Mac McAnally–He has won for the past seven years, and I doubt many artists voting have much of an idea what a “mandolin,” “steel guitar,” or “dobro,” is, so Dan Huff is the only one with a shot of defeating him.
Preference: none

Music Video of the Year

Interestingly, this category is female-dominated…I guess in videos, females are okay.

“Biscuits”–Kacey Musgraves, directed by Marc Klasfeld
“Girl Crush”–Little Big Town, directed by Karla Welch and Matthew Welch
“Girl in a Country Song”–Maddie & Tae, directed by TK McKamy
“Little Red Wagon”–Miranda Lambert, directed by Trey Vanjoy
“Something in the Water”–Carrie Underwood, directed by Raj Kapoor
Prediction: “Girl in a Country Song”
Preference: “Girl in a Country Song”

Event of the Year

Django and Jimmie–Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, Legacy Recordings [excellent]
“Lonely Tonight”–Blake Shelton featuring Ashley Monroe, Warner Bros./Warner Music Nashville [again, good job]
“Raise ’em Up”–Keith Urban featuring Eric Church, Hit Red Records/Capitol Records Nashville [decent]
“Smokin’ and Drinkin'”–Miranda Lambert featuring Little Big Town, RCA Nashville [no]
“Wild Child”–Kenny Chesney with Grace Potter, Blue Chair Records/Columbia Nashville [good]
Prediction: “Lonely Tonight”
Preference: Willie and Merle’s album would be a cool winner, but I’d be fine with “Lonely Tonight” as well.

Vocal Duo of the Year

Brothers Osborne [meh]
Dan + Shay [no]
Florida Georgia Line [God no]
Maddie & Tae [yes]
Thompson Square [no]
Prediction: Florida Georgia Line
Preference: Maddie and Tae
Note: This is FGL’s only nomination…bro country really has taken a hit. Too bad that the Sam Hunt style has come behind it.

Vocal Group of the Year

Lady Antebellum [no]
Little Big Town [meh]
Rascal Flatts [no]
The Band Perry [God no]
Zac Brown Band [not bad]
Prediction: Little Big Town
Preference: Blackberry Smoke? Out of these, I suppose Little Big Town will have to do.

New Artist of the Year

Kelsea Ballerini [no]
Sam Hunt [if he wins, I will never watch the CMA Awards again, I swear to you all]
Maddie & Tae [good]
Thomas Rhett [God no]
Chris Stapleton [shocking and good]
Prediction: Sam Hunt
Preference: Maddie & Tae or Chris Stapleton
Notes: Glad to see Stapleton with a nomination here, but if Sam Hunt wins this, as he undoubtedly will, my days of watching the CMA’s are done indefinitely.

Single of the Year

“American Kids”–Kenny Chesney, produced by Buddy Cannon and Kenny Chesney, Blue Chair Records/Columbia Nashville
“Girl Crush”–Little Big Town, produced by Jay Joyce, Capitol Records Nashville
“I Don’t Dance”–Lee Bryce, produced by Lee Bryce, Curb Records
“Take Your Time”–Sam Hunt, produced by Zach Crowell and Shane McAnally, MCA Nashville
“Talladega”–Eric Church, produced by Arturo Buenahora, EMI Nashville
Prediction: “Girl Crush” or “Take Your Time”
Preference: “Girl Crush”
Note: If “Take Your Time” wins here, while it would be insulting to country in general, at least it would be for commercial success. This is the one award that Sam Hunt could win that wouldn’t make me immediately throw up.

Song of the Year

“American Kids”–Rodney Klawson, Luke Laird, and Shane McAnally [no]
“Girl Crush”–Liz Rose, Lori McKenna, and Hillary Lindsey [ok]
“Like a Cowboy”–Randy Houser and Brice Long [no]
“Like a Wrecking Ball”–Eric Church and Kasey Beathard [hell no]
“Take Your Time”–Sam Hunt, Shane McAnally, and Josh Osborne [for the love of all that is holy]
Prediction: “Girl Crush”
Preference: Out of these, “Girl Crush” hands down. While I like all of them except “Take Your Time”–if that wins, above Sam Hunt rules apply–I could have thrown a rock and hit better Song of the Year nominees. Jason Isbell, Alan Jackson, Kacey Musgraves, Ashley Monroe, shall I go on?

Album of the Year

Old Boots, New Dirt–Jason Aldean, produced by Michael Knox, Broken Bow [no]
Pageant Material–Kacey Musgraves, produced by Kacey Musgraves, Luke Laird, and Shane McAnally, Mercury Nashville [excellent]
Painkiller–Little Big Town, produced by Jay Joyce, Capitol Records Nashville [no]
The Big Revival–Kenny Chesney, produced by Buddy Cannon and Kenny Chesney, Blue Chair Records/Columbia Nashville [no]
Traveller–Chris Stapleton, produced by Dave Cobb and Chris Stapleton, Mercury Nashville [excellent]
Prediction: Painkiller or Pageant Material
Preference: Pageant Material or Traveller
Note: Again, good to see Stapleton with a nomination, as well as Dave Cobb, who produced Jason Isbell and Lindi Ortega’s remarkable albums as well. The CMA might actually get it right here and vote in Pageant Material which would be a great selection, although there are other albums that deserve to be nominated along with it besides these.

Female Vocalist of the Year

Kelsea Ballerini [no]
Miranda Lambert [duh]
Kacey Musgraves [good]
Carrie Underwood [good]
LeeAnn Womack [lol]
Prediction: Miranda Lambert–I’m not an idiot.
Preference: Carrie Underwood
Note: Ashley Monroe should have at least a nomination here, especially if LeeAnn Womack is going to be name-dropped in here to fill a quota.

Male Vocalist of the Year

Dierks Bentley [great job CMA]
Eric Church [ok]
Luke Bryan [at this point, at least Sam Hunt wasn’t here]
Blake Shelton [ok]
Chris Stapleton [interesting]
Prediction: Luke Bryan or Dierks Bentley
Preference: Dierks Bentley–if he won this, I might actually be able to watch the CMA’s again even if Sam Hunt won something.

Entertainer of the Year

Garth Brooks [good]
Luke Bryan [to be expected]
Kenny Chesney [ok]
Eric Church [good]
Miranda Lambert [but she’s 20% of the category, so won’t the viewing audience drop drastically?]
Prediction: Luke Bryan or Garth Brooks
Preference: Garth Brooks

charts

Billboard Country Airplay and Country Albums Chart (September 12th)

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Billboard Country Airplay

1. Sam Hunt–“House Party” (up 1)
2. Dustin Lynch–“Hell of a Night” (up 1)
3. Thomas Rhett–“Crash and Burn” (up 1)
4. Chris Janson–“Buy Me a Boat” (up 1)
5. Keith Urban–“John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” (up 1)
6. Frankie Ballard–“Young and Crazy” (down 5)
7. Brett Eldredge–“Lose My Mind” (up 1)
8. Kenny Chesney–“Save It for a Rainy Day” (up 1)
9. Maddie & Tae–“Fly” (up 3)
10. Florida Georgia Line–“Anything Goes” (up 1)
11. Eric Church–“Like a Wrecking Ball”
12. Chase Rice–“Gonna Wanna Tonight” (up 1)
13. Luke Bryan–“Strip It Down” (up 3)
14. Cole Swindell–“Let Me See Ya Girl” (up 1)
15. Zac Brown Band–“Loving You Easy” (down 8)
16. Old Dominion–“Break Up With Him” (up 1)
17. Dan + Shay–“Nothin’ Like You” (up 1)
18. Blake Shelton–“Gonna” (up 4) [biggest gainer]
19. Jake Owen–“Real Life”
20. Lady Antebellum–“Long Stretch of Love”
21. Kip Moore–“I’m To Blame”
22. Carrie Underwood–“Smoke Break” (up 2)
23. Cam–“Burning House”
24. Chris Young–“I’m Comin’ Over” (up 1)
25. Big & Rich–“Run Away With You” (up 1)
26. Brothers Osborne–“Stay a Little Longer” (up 1)
27. Tim McGraw–“Top of the World” (up 2)
28. Parmalee–“Already Callin’ You Mine”
29. Jason Aldean–“Gonna Know We Were Here” (up 1)
30. Kelsea Ballerini–“Dibs” (re-entering top 30)

  • new #1: “House Party”
  • next week’s #1 prediction: “Hell of a Night”
  • Michael Ray’s “Kiss You in the Morning” fell out of the top 30, only to be replaced by Kelsea Ballerini’s “Dibs”
  • hope for country music exists, as Maddie & Tae are inside the top ten with “Fly”

Billboard Top Country Albums

1. Luke Bryan–Kill the Lights [please, someone take this slot back from this horrendous album]
2. Kip Moore–Wild Ones [debut]
3. Elvis Presley–Elvis Presley Forever
4. Sam Hunt–Montevallo
5. Zac Brown Band–Jekyll + Hyde
6. Eric Church–The Outsiders
7. Florida Georgia Line–Anything Goes
8. Alan Jackson–Angels and Alcohol
9. Little Big Town–Painkiller
10. Brantley Gilbert–Just as I Am
11. Jason Isbell–Something More Than Free
12. Jason Aldean–Old Boots, New Dirt
13. Luke Bryan–Crash My Party
14. Kacey Musgraves–Pageant Material
15. Various Artists–Now That’s What I Call Country, Volume 8
16. Michael Ray–Michael Ray
17. Zac Brown Band–Greatest Hits So Far…
18. Kenny Chesney–The Big Revival
19. A Thousand Horses–Southernality
20. Chase Rice–Ignite the Night
21. Pat Green–Home
22. Kelsea Ballerini–The First Time
23. Cole Swindell–Cole Swindell
24. Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard–Django and Jimmie
25. Chris Stapleton–Traveler

  • Luke Bryan remains at #1…I don’t think I need to explain how thoroughly depressing this is
  • Kip Moore’s pretty good rock album Wild Ones debuts at #2
  • after a debut at #5, Pat Green’s Home falls all the way to #21
  • A Thousand Horses moved up from #29 to #19 with Southernality

Source: Billboard

Female Fridays

Female Fridays: Featuring Maddie & Tae

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Their first full-length album is available today, so today is all about Maddie & Tae. As usual, the album review will come later.

How You Might Know Maddie & Tae

Unlike the others I have featured, most of you probably do know Maddie & Tae, and if you’re just a casual mainstream country listener, you should still know their breakthrough hit “Girl in a Country Song.”

Bio

From Maddie & Tae’s Web site:

“We are Country,” says Maddie. “We love all music, but we’re girls from where Country comes from. It’s who we are; it’s how we live. And that’s the music we want to make. It makes us happy, but like what we write about, it’s also who we are.”

“Honesty’s always the best policy,” says Tae. “We’re telling our stories and hope people can relate.”

Madison Marlow (born July 7, 1995, from Sugar Land Texas), and Taylor Dye (born September 18, 1995, from Ada, Oklahoma), became Maddie & Tae when they met in high school through a mutual vocal coach. After high school, they moved to Nashville and gained a publishing deal with Dot Records, which is, shockingly, an imprint of Big Machine. That’s right, the duo who released “Girl in a Country Song” is on the same label as Taylor Swift and Florida Georgia Line. On St. Patrick’s Day in 2014, Maddie & Tae sat down to write “Girl in a Country Song” after Maddie expressed a heartfelt sympathy for the girls mentioned in bro country songs who are good for little more than sitting on tailgates in cut-off jeans. Together with Aaron Scherz, the duo wrote what would become an anti-bro-country anthem and a breakout hit for Maddie & Tae. It went to #1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in December 2014, becoming the second debut single by a female duo in history to do so.

Maddie & Tae released an excellent EP in November 2014, featuring the songs “Sierra,” “Your Side of Town,” and the current single, “Fly,” which has reached #12 on Billboard Country Airplay and will most likely go recurrent shortly after the album release. It is worth noting that Maddie & Tae came on the scene during a time when I had all but alienated myself from country music. I talked about this in my
Random Thoughts column this week. The Maddie & Tae EP, with its fiddles, banjos being used correctly, and country lyrics, was the thing that started to bring me back to country. I hoped an EP was not all we would get from them, and thankfully, now we have a full-length album. Their long-awaited debut album, Start Here, is finally here today, and a review is coming.

Why Maddie & Tae Belong on Country Radio

I’ll keep this short, since they’ve already had radio success. Mainly, I just want to see that success continue. They deserve to be on country radio because they bring a youthfulness and relatability, the kind that Kelsea Ballerini and Taylor Swift bring. However, Maddie & Tae are actually country, as Maddie points out in her quote. Kelsea Ballerini is “calling dibs” on being the girl in the truck; Maddie & Tae are calling out the bros for their sexist lyrics. Kelsea Ballerini is using slang and straight pop instrumentation; Maddie & Tae are using catchy country lyrics backed by fiddles and mandolins. Most of all, Tae talks about honesty in the above quote, and isn’t that what country is all about? These two are going to be integral in bringing the teenage fan base back to country, and they have the ability to make actual country cool.

Tracks I Recommend

I recommend the entire Maddie & Tae EP. But all those songs are on the album, so just wait for the review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJmYpUKsBuU

Here’s a song which I hope will be a single and which could probably do a lot better at radio than “Fly.”

charts

Billboard Country Airplay and Country Albums Chart (September 5th)

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Billboard Country Airplay

1. Frankie Ballard–“Young and Crazy” (up 1)
2. Sam Hunt–“House Party” (up 1)
3. Dustin Lynch–“Hell of a Night” (up 1)
4. Thomas Rhett–“Crash and Burn” (up 2)
5. Chris Janson–“Buy Me a Boat” (up 2)
6. Keith Urban–“John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” (up 2)
7. Zac Brown Band–“Loving You Easy” (down 6)
8. Brett Eldredge–“Lose My Mind” (up 1)
9. Kenny Chesney–“Save It for a Rainy Day” (up 1)
10. Michael Ray–“Kiss You in the Morning” (down 5)
11. Eric Church–“Like a Wrecking Ball” (up 1)
12. Maddie & Tae–“Fly” (up 1)
13. Chase Rice–“Gonna Wanna Tonight” (up 1)
14. Florida Georgia Line–“Anything Goes” (up 1)
15. Cole Swindell–“Let Me See Ya Girl” (up 1)
16. Luke Bryan–“Strip It Down” (up 7) [biggest gainer]
17. Old Dominion–“Break Up With Him” (up 2)
18. Dan + Shay–“Nothin’ Like You” (down 1)
19. Jake Owen–“Real Life” (down 1)
20. Lady Antebellum–“Long Stretch of Love”
21. Kip Moore–“I’m To Blame”
22. Blake Shelton–“Gonna” (up 4)
23. Cam–“Burning House” (down 1)
24. Carrie Underwood–“Smoke Break” (entering top 30) [most added song this week]
25. Chris Young–“I’m Comin’ Over”
26. Big & Rich–“Run Away With You” (down 2)
27. Brothers Osborne–“Stay a Little Longer”
28. Parmalee–“Already Callin’ You Mine”
29. Tim McGraw–“Top of the World” (re-entering top 30)
30. Jason Aldean–“Gonna Know We Were Here” (entering top 30)

  • new #1: “Young and Crazy”
  • next week’s #1 prediction: “house Party”
  • “Kick the Dust Up” mercifully fell out of the top 30 from #11. I hope I never hear that shit again.
  • Kelsea Ballerini’s “Dibs” fell from #30 to #31
  • Hunter Hayes’s “21” fell from #29 to #33
  • when you look at 13-17, suddenly 13-15 and 17 look like gems thrown in next to the atrocity that is “Strip it Down
  • Carrie Underwood’s “Smoke Break” enters with Jason Aldean’s “Gonna Know We Were Here” to fulfill the “crap must enter with each good song” quota

Billboard Top Country Albums

1. Luke Bryan–Kill the Lights (This makes me want to throw up)
2. Elvis Presley–Elvis Forever [debut]
3. Sam Hunt–Montevallo
4. Zac Brown Band–Jekyll + Hyde
5. Pat Green–Home [debut]
6. Eric Church–The Outsiders
7. Alan Jackson–Angels and Alcohol
8. Jason Isbell–Something More Than Free
9. Little Big Town–Painkiller
10. Florida Georgia Line–Anything Goes
11. Jason Aldean–Old Boots, New Dirt
12. Brantley Gilbert–Just as I Am
13. Various Artists–Now That’s What I Call Country, Volume 8
14. Michael Ray–Michael Ray
15. Luke Bryan–Crash My Party
16. Kacey Musgraves–Pageant Material
17. Zac Brown Band–Greatest Hits So Far…
18. Chase Rice–Ignite the Night
19. Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard–Django and Jimmie
20. Blake Shelton–Bringing Back the Sunshine
21. Cole Swindell–Cole Swindell
22. Kenny Chesney–The Big Revival
23. Carrie Underwood–Greatest Hits: Decade #1
24. Tim McGraw–35 Biggest Hits
25. Miranda Lambert–Platinum

  • Michael Ray follows in the footsteps of Canaan Smith, Kelsea Ballerini, and Easton Corbin, falling from his debut at #4 to #14
  • Texas artist Pat Green’s Home debuts at #5
  • at least Luke Bryan no longer has three albums on this chart

Source: Billboard