Tag Archives: Kip Moore

Billboard Country Airplay and Country Albums Chart (September 26th)

Billboard Country Airplay

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

  • new #1: “Crash and Burn”
  • next week’s #1 prediction: “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16”
  • Eric Church’s “Like a Wrecking Ball” and Kip Moore’s “I’m To Blame” fell from #11 and #21, respectively, to out of the top 30
  • Hunter Hayes’s “21” re-enters the top 30 this week, along with The Band Perry’s terrible new pop single, “Live Forever”
  • at least “Strip it Down” has stalled a little in its ridiculous climb to the top

Billboard Top Country Albums

1. Luke Bryan–Kill the Lights
2. Sam Hunt–Montevallo
3. Maddie & Tae–Start Here
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. Chris Stapleton–Traveller
14. Various Artists–Now That’s What I Call Country, Volume 8
15. Various Artists–Mud Digger, Volume 6
16. Luke Bryan–Crash My Party
17. Kacey Musgraves–Pageant Material
18. Jason Isbell–Something More Than Free
19. Zac Brown Band–Greatest Hits So Far…
20. Chase Rice–Ignite the Night
21. Darius Rucker–Southern Style
22. Cole Swindell–Cole Swindell
23. Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard–Django and Jimmie
24. Kelsea Ballerini–The First Time
25. Carrie Underwood–Greatest Hits: Decade #1

  • Luke Bryan is still at the top
  • Maddie & Tae sit at #3 like beacons of hope…they really have the top country album, because neither Kill the Lights nor Montevallo are country albums
  • Chris Stapleton’s Traveller moved up 7 spots from #20 to #13 this week

Source: Billboard

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

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

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

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

My Top Ten Country Songs (August 2015)

I wrote this list and then looked back and realized how female-dominated it was. This month brought good releases from Lindi Ortega, Maddie & Tae, and Whitney Rose, as well as my discovery of Kasey Chambers (her album actually came out at the end of July.) Kip Moore released some good music, but most of it was rock. I haven’t actually listened to Pat Green’s latest album, Home, yet, as it came out while I was traveling. The other albums I listened to were Luke Bryan’s train wreck Kill the Lights and Michael Ray’s forgettable debut–I didn’t even bother to review this. The result is an August list rife with females.

10. Kip Moore–“Comeback Kid”–His latest was
clearly a rock album, but this song was an honest and personal moment from Kip that I really enjoyed nonetheless.
9. Kasey Chambers–“House on a Hill”–I debated whether or not to include Kasey Chambers on this list because her album actually came out at the end of July, but I didn’t discover her till August, and without her, this list would look entirely different. This duet with her father, Bill Chambers, about an old house which is about to be torn down is just one of the standouts on her
fantastic album Bittersweet.
8. Whitney Rose–“The Devil Borrowed My Boots”–“The devil borrowed my boots last night” is the best excuse for bad behavior I’ve heard in a long time, and
Whitney Rose delivers this with the same enjoyment I have when listening.
7. Kasey Chambers–“Oh Grace”–A beautiful song featuring banjo and Kasey’s remarkable voice telling us the story, from his point of view, of a man with nothing to offer Grace except his life.
6. Lindi Ortega–“Half Moon”–A lyrically brilliant song in which Lindi reflects on the “half moon hanging in the sky” and later compares herself to it. It is
one that needs to be heard to fully appreciate.
5. Kasey Chambers–“Heaven or Hell”–Another lyrically brilliant song in which Chambers speculates on where we go when we die, calls out hypocrites, and later reflects on her own standing with God.
4. Kasey Chambers–“Too Late to Save Me”–This song about a prostitute coming to terms with her life and actions is my favorite on Kasey’s album. Featuring great instrumentation, honest songwriting, and up-front lyrics like “they call me late, they call me whore,” this song is a must-listen.
3. Maddie & Tae–“Shut Up and Fish”–I’m sure you all were wondering where Maddie & Tae were, and that’s because they made it so far down on the list.
“Shut Up and Fish” is an excellent song in which the girl gets tired of an overly clingy date and ultimately pushes him in the lake. Please let this be a single.
2. Lindi Ortega–“Ashes”–There are other songs on here that are better lyrically, but Lindi’s voice sells this and puts it so high on the list. Her voice soars through this heartbreak song perfectly, and not only is it the best song on Faded Gloryville, it’s my favorite Lindi Ortega song to date.
1. Maddie & Tae–“After the Storm Blows Through”–Lindi was at the top all month until this song blew “Ashes” out of the water. I originally wrote that I thought these ladies were singing to each other, but a commenter on another site wrote that this was written about Maddie’s friend, whose father passed away. This beautiful song of friendship features great country instrumentation and chilling harmonies. It’s another must-listen.

Honorable Mentions

  • Lindi Ortega’s “I Ain’t the Girl” and “Someday Soon”
  • Kip Moore’s “Come and Get It” (I actually love this song, but it’s not country, so it doesn’t qualify.)
  • Maddie & Tae’s “Waitin’ on a Plane” and “Smoke”
  • Whitney Rose’s “Heartbreaker of the Year”
  • Kasey Chambers and Bernard Fanning’s “Bittersweet”

I’d love to hear your favorite songs from August!

Album Review: Maddie & Tae–Start Here

Rating: 10/10

If you have read Female Fridays, you already know how I felt about Maddie & Tae up to this point. They are one of the main reasons I came back to country after losing all hope for the genre. I have recently become a reviewer of country music, but I am a fan first–those of us on independently-run sites are–and as a fan, I confess I had a lot of hopes for this album. I hoped it would be full of the country I heard on the EP. I could not bear to see another beacon of light for country become a singer of EDM (Zac Brown Band, talking about you), or some other trend. I am so glad to say this album reinforced my faith in Maddie & Tae and even gave me a shred of hope for country music.

The album opens with “Waitin’ on a Plane,” which is about a girl leaving town to chase her dreams. She’s sitting in seat 7A waiting for the plane to leave, thinking of the life she’s leaving and the future. Immediately I’m reminded of the Dixie Chicks’s “Ready to Run.” It’s not just the type of song, it’s their harmonies and style as well. People who said we’ll never hear anything like the Dixie Chicks again, think again, it’s here in Maddie & Tae. Next is their hit “Girl in a Country Song,” the anti-bro country anthem that put Maddie & Tae on the map. I wasn’t reviewing when this song came out, so I’ll say it now; this song is brilliant, and even more so in the context of an album. At the time of its release, many wondered why Maddie & Tae used hip-hop influences in their song and whether they would really be as “traditional” as they claimed. This song is the only one on the album with this type of influence, proving that along with the excellent, witty lyrics–which name-drop songs in clever, as opposed to obnoxious, ways–the instrumentation is there on purpose. They adopted the style to make fun of the trend while at the same time appealing to radio; if that song had been rife with steel guitar, it would never have gotten to radio, much less hit #1.

“Smoke” is a love song in which they are comparing a guy to “smoke.” I can’t help but think of the song by A Thousand Horses with the same name. In that song, a girl is “like smoke” because she is an addiction; in Maddie & Tae’s song, the “smoke” metaphor comes from this as well, but also lines like “You’re just like smoke blowin’ on the wind, one minute you’re by my side, and then you’re gone again.” This song has much better songwriting and paints a better picture of the guy described. “Shut Up and Fish” is one of my personal favorites; here, the narrator is fishing with “a city guy,” but all he wants to do is make out. He’s interrupting her while she’s trying to fish, saying, “It don’t get any better than this.” She responds, “Yeah, it could, if you would shut up and fish.” She ends up pushing him in the lake. I have unashamed bias toward this song because I am a female who both hates clinginess in guys and loves fishing. This song would be a great single.

The three other songs from the Maddie & Tae EP follow. “Fly,” their current single, is a nice inspirational song about not giving up and learning to fly. The lyrics could be a little better, but their harmonies are excellent, and this song should really connect with young girls everywhere. “Sierra” will connect with them as well–it’s a song where Maddie & Tae vent their frustration on a girl who ditches her friends, breaks boys’ hearts without caring, and generally acts like she’s better than everyone else. This might seem like just another song written by some teenage girls, but compare “Sierra, Sierra, life ain’t all tiaras” to Kelsea Ballerini’s “you can take your new blonde out to get your drink on” and tell me who writes better lyrics. “Sierra” would be a nice third single. “Your Side of Town” is an upbeat song with prominent country instrumentation that I could see as a single as well. It’s a song where they are telling some guy who broke one of their hearts to stay on his side of town and stay away from them.

“Right Here Right Now” has a little pop influence and is a youthful love song about taking the first step “right here right now tonight.” I love that I can write “a little pop influence”–it seems Maddie & Tae understand the difference between pop country and straight pop, an area in which the bros in their thirties and forties could take a lesson. “No Place Like You” is the actual country version of Kip Moore’s “Lipstick.” It actually tells the story of going to different places but still missing home and the one you love. This is actually country and does not go too far with the name-dropping, but rather balances out the place names with other details. “After the Storm Blows Through” is the most country song on the album and easily the best. This song about being there for a friend “after the storm blows through” features fiddles, acoustic guitars, and chilling harmonies. I feel like Maddie & Tae are singing to each other here, but I could be wrong. At any rate, this song gave me chills every time I listened to it and is one you definitely need to hear. The album closes with “Downside of Growing Up,” which is just that–an honest look at growing up that will be relatable to many young people.

Start Here is an excellent album. I have never heard anything resembling Dixie Chicks harmony and style before, but I hear it now in Maddie & Tae. The first country group I ever liked was the Dixie Chicks. I remember Wide Open Spaces was one of the first country albums I ever owned, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. That’s what Maddie & Tae can do. They can bring young people back to country. They can bring the ones who think of “country” as Sam Hunt and Kelsea Ballerini back to real country music. Pop makes an occasional appearance on this album, but mostly, we hear fiddles, acoustic guitars, and mandolins. Their songwriting is excellent, especially for a debut album–they co-wrote each of these tracks. Maddie & Tae have brought hope to country music, and Start Here is one of the best albums of 2015.

Listen to Album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qnOuh_BIO0