Country Updateis not quite like either of the previous records the award-winning singer-songwriter...

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BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS MARCH 9, 2020 | PAGE 1 OF 17 INSIDE Morris, Brown Top Charts >page 4 Nashville Works Toward Recovery >page 9 Dan + Shay Launch Arena Tour >page 10 Current News: Just LeDoux It >page 10 Makin’ Tracks: Pardi’s Strait Talk >page 14 Country Coda: When The Chicks Nested At No. 1 >page 17 CLARK BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE [email protected] Country Update CHRIS PHELPS Ten seconds into Brandy Clark’s Your Life Is a Record, a languid grunting tone emerges, unconventionally planting a baritone sax into the opening moments of what’s ostensibly a country album. It’s a tad mysterious. In context, it could be a bassoon or a bass clarinet — Clark thought it was a cello the first time she heard it — but it reveals to the listener that Your Life Is a Record, produced by Jay Joyce ( Eric Church, Miranda Lambert), is not quite like either of the previous records the award- winning singer-songwriter has launched in the marketplace. “I said to Jay when I heard that baritone sax thing, ‘Man, I know this is crazy ’cause it’s a slow, sad song. But I feel like that starts the record,’ ” notes Clark. “When I hear that tone, I feel like something’s coming.” That something unfolds gradually as 11 songs in a range of styles — country, folk, traditional pop and torchy R&B — form an emotional narrative within a mostly acoustic framework. Clark is at times smoldering, at times humorous and frequently dark or sarcastic. But by the close, she has worked through all the stages of grief and takes the listener to an expectant conclusion of what turns out to be a breakup album, released by Warner on March 6. “The Past Is the Past,” she declares in that glassy finale, with fragile guitar arpeggios supporting a transitional journey into some unknown future. Putting that upbeat sentiment at the end of the project rather than the beginning was one of the few places where she dug in her heels with the label. “I wanted it that way because to me, ‘The Past Is the Past’ is bittersweet, but it’s hopeful,” she explains. “It’s like, ‘OK, we’ve gone through all this and I’m still sad about it, but I’m letting you go.’ And I’m driving away — like, I literally feel like I’m in the car in that song.” She’s clearly in the driver’s seat in her career after briefly venturing down an artistic road she decided was not her best path. Her debut album, 2013’s 12 Stories, introduced Clark as a songwriter with a traditional-country bent, able to fashion detailed scenarios into meaningful plotlines and convey them through a congenial, every-woman tone. Her sophomore project, 2016’s Big Day in a Small Town, took Brandy Clark Makes A Personal Statement On The Record

Transcript of Country Updateis not quite like either of the previous records the award-winning singer-songwriter...

Page 1: Country Updateis not quite like either of the previous records the award-winning singer-songwriter has launched in the marketplace. “I said to Jay when I heard that baritone sax

BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS MARCH 9, 2020 | PAGE 1 OF 17

INSIDE

Morris, Brown Top Charts

>page 4

Nashville Works Toward Recovery

>page 9

Dan + Shay Launch Arena Tour

>page 10

Current News: Just LeDoux It

>page 10

Makin’ Tracks: Pardi’s Strait Talk

>page 14

Country Coda: When The Chicks Nested At No. 1

>page 17

CLARK

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE [email protected]

Country Update

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Ten seconds into Brandy Clark’s Your Life Is a Record, a languid grunting tone emerges, unconventionally planting a baritone sax into the opening moments of what’s ostensibly a country album.

I t ’s a t a d m y s t e r i o u s . I n context, it could be a bassoon or a bass clarinet — Clark thought it was a cello the f irst time she heard it — but it reveals to the listener that Your Life Is a Record, produced by Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Miranda Lambert), is not qu ite l ike either of the prev ious records t he awa rd-winning singer-songwriter has launched in the marketplace.

“I said to Jay when I heard that baritone sax thing, ‘Man, I know this is crazy ’cause it’s a slow, sad song. But I feel like that starts the record,’ ” notes Clark. “When I hear that tone, I feel like something’s coming.”

T h a t s o m e t h i n g u n f o l d s gradually as 11 songs in a range of styles — country, folk, traditional pop and torchy R&B — form an emotional narrative within a mostly acoustic framework. Clark is at times smoldering, at times humorous and frequently dark or sarcastic. But by the close, she has worked through all the stages of grief and takes

the listener to an expectant conclusion of what turns out to be a breakup album, released by Warner on March 6. “The Past Is the Past,” she declares in that glassy finale, with fragile

guitar arpeggios supporting a transitional journey into some unknown future. Putting that upbeat sent i ment at t he end of the project rather than the beginning was one of the few places where she dug in her heels with the label.

“I wanted it that way because to me, ‘The Past Is the Past’ is bittersweet, but it’s hopeful,” she explains. “It’s like, ‘OK, we’ve gone through all this and I’m still sad about it, but I’m letting you go.’ And I’m driving away — like, I literally feel like I’m in the car in that song.”

She’s clearly in the driver’s seat in her career after brief ly venturing down an artistic road she decided was not her best path. Her debut album, 2013’s 12 Stories, introduced Clark as a

songwriter with a traditional-country bent, able to fashion detailed scenarios into meaningful plotlines and convey them through a congenial, every-woman tone.

Her sophomore project, 2016’s Big Day in a Small Town, took

Brandy Clark Makes A Personal Statement On The Record

Page 2: Country Updateis not quite like either of the previous records the award-winning singer-songwriter has launched in the marketplace. “I said to Jay when I heard that baritone sax

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WSMV-TV Nashville and CMT raised more than $387,000 for the American Red Cross’ tornado-relief efforts on March 5 with a three-hour Rebuilding Tennessee Telethon. From left: WSMV host Tom Reynolds and Lady Antebellum members Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood.

Matt Stell (center) took part Feb. 26 in the WSSL Greenville, S.C., Future Stars & Guitars concert in Spartanburg. He’s flanked by iHeartMedia/Carolina vp programming Kix Layton (left) and WSSL music director Aaron Michael.

Little Big Town performed from Universal Orlando on NBC’s Today. From left are LBT’s Karen Fairchild, Today host Al Roker and LBT’s Phillip Sweet. L

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BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 9, 2020 | PAGE 2 OF 17

on a more commercial attitude, and Warner worked the album through the Nashville office specifically to focus on the mainstream country audience. Big Day in a Small Town’s snarky lead single, “Girl Next Door,” sounded very much like a hit but stalled at No. 39 on Country Airplay. With Your Life Is a Record, her project is being handled by Warner Music Los Angeles (which also worked her debut) as Clark focuses more on satisfying her fan base and her own artistic ambitions than appealing to programmers.

“On the second one, I didn’t even know I was doing that,” she says. “I had gotten signed to Warner, and they had put me with Jay, and I still felt like, ‘Oh, I’m just making my music.’ But I went out and did a radio tour and worked really hard to get played at country radio. For me growing up, that was where I got so much of my music, and so the thought of being on country radio was really a dream for me. I did have, and still do have, supporters there, but when that didn’t work out the way I dreamed it would, I do think it gave me a freedom to be like, ‘I’m just going to make a record that is for me.’ ”

Your Life Is a Record reflects her situation well. The album loosely mirrors the dissolution of a long-term relationship, reaching its deepest moments in tracks five and six: the dreamy “Who You Thought I Was” and the richly textured “Apologies,” as the singer aspires to maturity in the midst of the heartache. Perhaps tellingly, it breaks in track seven — “Bigger Boat,” featuring a guest appearance by lovably craggy Randy Newman — into absurd juxtaposition by lampooning the bratty political climate in which her high-minded split occurs.

The boat in that song is part of a once-unconscious tenet in her writing, which often uses very tangible objects to reveal a key emotion. The record album she portrays in “I’ll Be the Sad Song,” the ring in “Pawn Shop,” the cars in “Bad Car” and “The Past Is the Past” all provide a physical image that helps understand the feelings in the narrative.

“I was just having a conversation with a friend of mine the other day who has just lost a parent,” says Clark. “I lost my dad when I was 25, and I was telling my friend — because, you know, they’re at that point where everybody in the family’s kind of fighting over things — I said, ‘That will go away, but it always happens.’ I think it happens because the person you love touched those things. So you want them because you can’t touch them anymore, and they can’t touch you. But you can touch those things.”

As Clark prepares to embark on a tour on March 29 to support Your Life Is a Record, she has seemingly mastered the art of touching others with sound. That baritone sax at the album’s outset, produced with a human breath, is merely a prelude to the humanity in Clark’s vocal performance. She counts Mariah Carey’s self-titled debut among her favorite albums, but Clark’s approach is different: simple, straight-forward and appropriately personal.

“It’s not about, ‘Oh, I can sing this note’ or how much full voice I can put into this note,” says Clark. “It really is about whether or not what you’re doing vocally connects with somebody else’s heart. And I think to do that, it’s got to connect with your own heart.”

Page 4: Country Updateis not quite like either of the previous records the award-winning singer-songwriter has launched in the marketplace. “I said to Jay when I heard that baritone sax

Maren Morris earns her first No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart as “The Bones” (Columbia Nashville) bumps 2-1 on the March 14-dated survey, which blends airplay, streaming and sales data. It dethrones Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber’s “10,000 Hours” (Warner Music Nashville/WAR), which ruled for 21 weeks, becoming the fourth-longest-leading No. 1 in the list’s history.

“Bones,” which Morris wrote with Jimmy Robbins and Laura Veltz, reigns in its 53rd week on the chart. Only Dan + Shay’s “Tequila” took a longer trip to the top, leading in its 54th frame (Feb. 2, 2019). Pop radio airplay aided both songs in their ascents.

“Bones” b ecame Morris’ four th No. 1 when it top p ed Country Air play for two weeks beginning Feb. 15. It rebounds 5-4 with 28 million audience impressions in the week ending March 8, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. It also ranks at No. 12 on the all-format Radio Songs ranking (56.1 million) as it places at No. 4 on Adult Pop Songs, No. 10 on Adult Contemporary and No. 35 on Pop Songs. In addition, the song drew 11.7 million U.S. streams and sold 6,000 downloads in the week ending March 5.

Morris is the first woman to top Hot Country Songs since Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s “Meant to Be” wrapped its record 50-week reign on Nov. 17, 2018. She also is the first solo woman to rule solo since Kelsea Ballerini’s “Peter Pan” led for its second week on the list dated Oct. 1, 2016.

NO PLACE LIKE NO. 1 Kane Brown achieves his fifth consecutive and total Country Airplay leader as “Homesick” (Zone 4/RCA Nashville) rises 3-1, up 17% to 36.2 million in audience. He wrote the song with Brock Berryhill, Matt McGinn and Taylor Phillips.

“I’m truly grateful to everyone who was a part of making this song a No. 1,” Brown tells Billboard. “That includes, especially, my beautiful wife, Katelyn, who was the inspiration behind it.”

STRIKE UP THE BAND Dixie Chicks’ “Gaslighter” (Columbia) sparks on Country

Airplay at No. 36. It enters with 3 million impressions that were helped by hourly plays at participating iHeartMedia stations on March 5, a day after its release.

It is the trio’s second-highest entrance among 27 total visits, dating to its 1997 debut. “Landslide” opened at No. 32 in September 2002 and reached No. 2 that November. Follow-up “Travelin’ Soldier” became Dixie Chicks’ 14th top 10, and sixth No. 1, in March 2003. Since then, the band hasn’t hit the

top 30, after lead singer Natalie Maines made controversial comments about then-President George W. Bush ahead of the Iraq War, also in March 2003 (see page 17).

The act, which also consists of sibling founders Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer, wrote “Gaslighter” with Jack Antonoff. It’s the title track from Dixie Chicks’ first album (due May 1) since 2006.

“When Dixie Chicks put out new music for the first time in 14 years, it is certainly an event, and we wanted to make sure that we were involved,” says WEBG Chicago PD Lance Houston. “We have had mixed reviews from our listeners but aren’t seeing a ton of blowback from playing them again.”

On Hot Country Songs, “Gaslighter” opens at No. 31. It launches at No. 2 on Country Digital Song Sales after selling 8,000 downloads in its first day.

NEW TOP 10s Jake Owen logs his 11th Hot Country Songs top 10 as “Homemade” (Big Loud) jumps 14-8. It pushes 4-2 on Country Airplay (36.2 million impressions, up 17%) while also boasting 3.9 million streams and 2,000 sold.

Morgan Wallen nets his third top 10 on the former chart as “Chasin’ You” (Big Loud) rises 11-9. It bumps 15-14 on the latter (17.9 million, up 10%) with 7 million streams and 3,000 sold.

And Ingrid Andress’ “More Hearts Than Mine” (Atlantic/Warner Music Nashville/WEA) rises 11-9 on Country Airplay, up 7% to 22.1 million impres-sions. It’s the first top 10 by a solo woman in her first chart appearance in over two years since Carly Pearce’s “Every Little Thing” led the list dated Nov. 25, 2017, and remained in the top tier the following week.

Maren Morris Scores First Hot Country Songs No. 1; Kane Brown Crowns Country

Airplay; Dixie Chicks Return

ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER [email protected]

MORRIS BROWN

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 9, 2020 | PAGE 4 OF 17

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Page 6: Country Updateis not quite like either of the previous records the award-winning singer-songwriter has launched in the marketplace. “I said to Jay when I heard that baritone sax

Country Airplay AIRPLAY MONITORED BY

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 9, 2020 | PAGE 6 OF 17

RANKINGSCountry Airplay is ranked by total audience impressions for the week ending Sunday based on monitored airplay of 148 stations by Nielsen Music. Audience totals on the chart are derived, in part, using certain Nielsen Audio- copyrighted Persons 12+ audience estimates (under license © 2020, Nielsen Audio). The list of all Country Airplay chart reporters can be viewed on Nielsen Music’s platforms.

BULLETSl Awarded on Country Airplay to titles gaining audience or remaining flat from the previous week. A song will also receive a bullet if its percentage loss in

audience does not exceed the percentage of monitored station downtime for the format. Titles that decline in audience but increase in detections will also receive a bullet if the total audience erosion for the week does not exceed 3%.

TIESOn Country Airplay, if two songs are tied in total audience, the song with the larger increase in audience is placed first.

RECURRENTSOn Country Airplay, descending titles below No. 10 in either audience or detections are moved to recurrent after 20 weeks, provided that they

are not still gaining enough audience points to bullet or if they rank below No. 10 and post a third consecutive week of (non-bulleted) audience decline, regardless of total chart weeks.

HOT SHOT DEBUTAwarded to the highest-ranking new entry on Country Airplay.

MOST ADDEDThe total number of new adds officially reported to Billboard by each reporting station, or by an automatic-add threshold (seven plays for the first time in a chart tracking week, according to Nielsen Music) for stations that do not report adds.

MOST INCREASED AUDIENCEMost Increased Audience on Country Airplay lists the songs with the greatest week-to-week increases in total audience.

AIRPOWERAwarded on Country Airplay to titles ranking inside top 20 in plays and audience rankings for the first time, with increases in both plays and audience.

BREAKERAwarded on Country Airplay to titles achieving airplay (at least one detection) at 60% of reporting stations for the first time.

© 2020 Prometheus Global Media, LLC

COUNTRY AIRPLAY CHART LEGEND

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

WKS ON

CHART TITLE Imprint/Label ArtistAUDIENCE (IN MILLIONS) PLAYS

THIS WEEK +/– THIS WEEK +/– RANK

l1 3 31 HOMESICK Zone 4/RCA Nashville HH No. 1 (1 week) HH Kane Brown 36.186 +5.311 7830 847 1

l2 4 40 HOMEMADE Big Loud Jake Owen 31.722 +3.658 6923 496 2

3 2 22 KINFOLKS MCA Nashville Sam Hunt 31.720 -1.589 6442 -373 3

l4 5 29 THE BONES Columbia Nashville Maren Morris 28.007 +0.169 5404 96 8

l5 7 20 WHAT SHE WANTS TONIGHT Capitol Nashville Luke Bryan 27.646 +2.819 5966 606 4

l6 10 41 CATCH BMLG Brett Young 25.226 +2.590 5544 653 7

l7 9 46 SLOW DANCE IN A PARKING LOT MCA Nashville Jordan Davis 24.939 +2.514 5737 465 5

l8 8 26 WE BACK Macon/Broken Bow Jason Aldean 24.363 +0.806 5613 194 6

l9 11 37 MORE HEARTS THAN MINE Atlantic/Warner Music Nashville/WEA Ingrid Andress 22.138 +1.481 5255 407 9

10 1 59 MAKE ME WANT TO Stoney Creek Jimmie Allen 21.882 -11.849 4540 -3123 12

l11 13 28 I HOPE Warner Music Nashville/WAR Gabby Barrett 20.910 +3.375 4745 548 10

l12 14 11 BEER CAN’T FIX Valory Thomas Rhett Featuring Jon Pardi 19.610 +2.859 4268 447 13

l13 12 31 I WISH GRANDPAS NEVER DIED BMLG Riley Green 18.394 -0.227 4712 0 11

l14 15 32 CHASIN’ YOU Big Loud Morgan Wallen 17.904 +1.569 4087 304 15

l15 17 7 DOES TO ME River House/Columbia Nashville Luke Combs Featuring Eric Church 17.730 +2.148 3780 411 18

l16 16 22 I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY NOW Curb/Big Machine Carly Pearce & Lee Brice 17.563 +1.237 4166 167 14

l17 19 10 NOBODY BUT YOU Warner Music Nashville/WMN Blake Shelton Duet With Gwen Stefani 17.525 +3.775 3889 711 17

l18 18 52 AFTER A FEW Mercury Travis Denning 15.841 +1.468 3909 197 16

l19 20 27 HOMECOMING QUEEN? Black River Kelsea Ballerini 13.643 +0.643 3566 141 19

l20 23 3 HERE AND NOW Blue Chair/Warner Music Nashville/WEA HH Most Added HH Kenny Chesney 10.566 +4.050 2338 1007 22

l21 21 48 IN BETWEEN Triple Tigers Scotty McCreery 9.322 +0.562 2737 22 20

l22 22 27 MONSTERS EMI Nashville Eric Church 7.876 +0.457 2415 104 21

l23 25 43 ONE BIG COUNTRY SONG Wheelhouse LOCASH 6.935 +1.047 2017 85 25

l24 27 18 DRINKING ALONE Capitol Nashville Carrie Underwood 6.529 +0.977 2082 234 23

l25 24 24 BLESSINGS BMLG Florida Georgia Line 6.401 +0.389 2072 75 24

l26 26 38 HER WORLD OR MINE Warner Music Nashville/WEA Michael Ray 6.078 +0.482 1911 -25 26

l27 30 23 WHY WE DRINK Valory Justin Moore 5.452 +0.835 1775 185 27

l28 29 36 LONELY IF YOU ARE Dack Janiels/Broken Bow Chase Rice 4.844 +0.306 1720 158 28

l29 31 12 BLUEBIRD Vanner/RCA Nashville Miranda Lambert 4.487 -0.123 1455 63 29

l30 32 31 DIE FROM A BROKEN HEART Mercury Maddie & Tae 4.438 +0.811 1378 171 30

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Country Airplay AIRPLAY MONITORED BY

GOING FOR ADDS

The track reenters Country Airplay at No. 58, up 95% to 1 million audience

impressions. It’s the third entry from his LP Tullahoma, following two No. 1s: lead single

“Good Girl” and “Ridin’ Roads.”

58DUSTIN LYNCH

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3/16

JON PARDI Ain’t Always The Cowboy Capitol Nashville

NIKO MOON Good Time RCA Nashville

3/23

AVENUE BEAT Ruin That For Me Tape Room/Valory

JIMMIE ALLEN & NOAH CYRUS This Is Us RECORDS/Columbia/Stoney Creek

3/30

TIFFANY WOYS Loved By You Tiffany Woys

WOYS

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

WKS ON

CHART TITLE Imprint/Label ArtistAUDIENCE (IN MILLIONS) PLAYS

THIS WEEK +/– THIS WEEK +/– RANK

l31 33 24 DROWNING RCA Nashville Chris Young 4.263 +0.730 1185 125 31

l32 35 31 DETAILS Mercury Billy Currington 3.878 +1.122 1004 99 36

33 28 2 GOD WHISPERED YOUR NAME Hit Red/Capitol Nashville Keith Urban 3.682 -1.013 939 202 37

l34 36 15 DONE Warner Music Nashville/WAR Chris Janson 3.655 +0.999 1135 114 32

l35 34 17 ONE NIGHT STANDARDS Atlantic/Warner Music Nashville/WAR Ashley McBryde 3.522 +0.172 1009 75 35

l36 NEW GASLIGHTER Columbia/In2une HH Hot Shot Debut/Breaker HH Dixie Chicks 3.022 +3.022 542 542 48

l37 37 27 FRONT SEAT Legend Entertainment Rayne Johnson 2.443 +0.001 752 29 40

l38 38 26 SHE’S MINE MCA Nashville Kip Moore 2.311 +0.071 1067 71 33

l39 41 16 SOME GIRLS Combustion/River House/Columbia Nashville Jameson Rodgers 2.179 +0.234 856 -32 38

l40 39 7 CHEATIN’ SONGS Big Machine HH Breaker HH Midland 2.164 -0.025 622 8 45

l41 40 22 NOW YOU KNOW 32 Bridge/EMI Nashville Jon Langston 2.114 +0.024 1012 39 34

l42 43 23 BREAK IT IN Valory Eli Young Band 1.905 +0.269 639 26 44

l43 47 16 HEAD OVER HEELS Wheelhouse Runaway June 1.825 +0.502 694 79 42

l44 42 23 I DO FOR YOU Riser House Dillon Carmichael 1.737 +0.073 665 -53 43

l45 48 5 ONE BEER Tree Vibez/Big Loud HARDY Featuring Lauren Alaina & Devin Dawson 1.659 +0.238 526 73 52

l46 46 13 EVERYWHERE BUT ON RECORDS/Arista Nashville Matt Stell 1.576 +0.119 739 59 41

l47 44 21 GETTING GOOD 19/Mercury Lauren Alaina 1.557 +0.075 795 89 39

l48 45 12 FIRE’T UP Valory Brantley Gilbert 1.515 +0.058 581 19 46

l49 60 2 SOME PEOPLE DO RCA Nashville Old Dominion 1.507 +0.717 386 201 58

l50 50 15 BIG, BIG PLANS Big Loud Chris Lane 1.483 +0.259 529 49 50

l51 49 9 PRETTY HEART MCA Nashville Parker McCollum 1.455 +0.222 193 30 -

l52 58 2 HARD TO FORGET MCA Nashville Sam Hunt 1.375 +0.530 335 150 59

l53 53 3 WHAT I’M LEAVING FOR BMLG Lady Antebellum 1.374 +0.290 428 107 54

l54 54 13 OVER DRINKING Capitol Nashville Little Big Town 1.206 +0.168 533 9 49

55 51 13 WHAT I SEE Arista Nashville LANCO 1.120 -0.138 574 -62 47

l56 56 8 DIAMONDS Warner Music Nashville/WEA Morgan Evans 1.067 +0.110 400 23 57

l57 57 12 I DON’T LOVE YOU Stoney Creek Lindsay Ell 1.052 +0.190 527 56 51

l58 RE-ENTRY MOMMA’S HOUSE Broken Bow Dustin Lynch 0.997 +0.484 419 107 56

l59 55 13 THAT’S WHY I LOVE DIRT ROADS Wheelhouse Granger Smith 0.994 -0.017 422 18 55

l60 NEW LOVE YOU LIKE I USED TO Triple Tigers Russell Dickerson 0.916 +0.414 300 157 60

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AIRPLAY MONITORED BYCountry Airplay

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 9, 2020 | PAGE 8 OF 17

MOST ADDED®TITLE Imprint/Label Artist ADDSHERE AND NOW Blue Chair/Warner Music Nashville/WEA Kenny Chesney 52GASLIGHTER Columbia/in2une Dixie Chicks 42GOD WHISPERED YOUR NAME Capitol Nashville Keith Urban 36SOME PEOPLE DO RCA Nashville Old Dominion 13GETTING GOOD 19/Mercury Lauren Alaina 12LOVE YOU LIKE I USED TO Triple Tigers Russell Dickerson 12MOMMA’S HOUSE Broken Bow Dustin Lynch 9DROWNING RCA Nashville Chris Young 8WHAT I’M LEAVING FOR BMLG Lady Antebellum 8HARD TO FORGET MCA Nashville Sam Hunt 8

MOST INCREASED PLAYSTITLE Imprint/Label Artist GAINHERE AND NOW Blue Chair/Warner Music Nashville/WEA Kenny Chesney +1007HOMESICK Zone 4/RCA Nashville Kane Brown +847NOBODY BUT YOU Warner Music Nashville/WMN Blake Shelton Duet With Gwen Stefani +711CATCH BMLG Brett Young +653WHAT SHE WANTS TONIGHT Capitol Nashville Luke Bryan +606I HOPE Warner Music Nashville/WAR Gabby Barrett +548GASLIGHTER Columbia/In2une Dixie Chicks +542HOMEMADE Big Loud Jake Owen +496SLOW DANCE IN A PARKING LOT MCA Nashville Jordan Davis +465BEER CAN’T FIX Valory Thomas Rhett Featuring Jon Pardi +447

MOST INCREASED AUDIENCETITLE Imprint/Label Artist

GAIN(IN MIILIONS)

HOMESICK Zone 4/RCA Nashville Kane Brown +5.311HERE AND NOW Blue Chair/Warner Music Nashville/WEA Kenny Chesney +4.050NOBODY BUT YOU Warner Music Nashville/WMN Blake Shelton Duet With Gwen Stefani +3.775HOMEMADE Big Loud Jake Owen +3.658I HOPE Warner Music Nashville/WAR Gabby Barrett +3.375BEER CAN’T FIX Valory Thomas Rhett Featuring Jon Pardi +2.859WHAT SHE WANTS TONIGHT Capitol Nashville Luke Bryan +2.819CATCH BMLG Brett Young +2.590SLOW DANCE IN A PARKING LOT MCA Nashville Jordan Davis +2.514DOES TO ME River House/Columbia Nashville Luke Combs Featuring Eric Church +2.148

BILLBOARD COUNTRY BOXSCOREGross Artist AttendanceTicket Price(s) Venue/Date(s) Capacity Promoter(s)

$1,447,956 BLAKE SHELTON 18,850 MESSINA TOURING GROUP/AEG PRESENTS$129, $29 Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, Wash./Feb. 14 18,850

$1,081,010 BLAKE SHELTON 12,608 MESSINA TOURING GROUP/AEG PRESENTS$129, $49 Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, Calif./Feb. 22 12,608

$1,063,288 BLAKE SHELTON 12,875 MESSINA TOURING GROUP/AEG PRESENTS$129, $49 Moda Center, Portland, Ore./Feb. 13 12,875

$918,826 BLAKE SHELTON 11,426 MESSINA TOURING GROUP/AEG PRESENTS$129, $39 Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah/Feb. 27 11,426

$892,226 BLAKE SHELTON 10,874 MESSINA TOURING GROUP/AEG PRESENTS$129, $25 Save Mart Center, Fresno, Calif./Feb. 21 10,874

Reported worldwide boxscore figures for Country artists. Boxscore figures should be submitted to Bob Allen by phone (615-891-1976), fax (615-891-2054) or email ([email protected]).

TEXAS REGIONAL RADIO REPORTWEEK ENDING MARCH 8, 2020

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

WKS ON CHART TITLE (Label) ARTIST

TW SPINS

SPINS +/–

l1 2 17 ONE NIGHT IN TULSA (Independent) HH 1 Week at 1 HH Kylie Frey 2079 325

l2 3 21 I CAN GIVE YOU ONE (Independent) David Adam Byrnes 1945 249

l3 5 18 SHE LOVES HORSES (Independent) William Clark Green 1765 134

l4 4 19 MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE (One Chord Song) Stoney LaRue 1699 17

l5 6 26 EVERY DAY KIND OF LOVE (Independent) Kyle Park 1655 64

l6 8 11 ONE MORE SHOT OF WHISKEY (Independent) Josh Ward 1519 58

l7 10 21 DEAR COUNTRY MUSIC, (Independent) Mike Ryan 1494 124

l8 9 18 COME BACK DOWN (Independent) Flatland Cavalry 1463 53

l9 13 21 I FOUND YOU (Independent) Robert Ray 1285 64

10 7 22 STRAIT TO JONES (Independent) Clay Hollis 1266 -233

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

WKS ON CHART TITLE (Label) ARTIST

TW SPINS

SPINS +/–

l11 16 20 DANCING IN THE RAIN (Independent) Darrin Morris Band 1202 61

12 1 17 WHISKEY’S WORKIN’ WELL (Independent) Jamie Richards 1201 -651

l13 19 7 RIVER ROAD DREAM (Independent) Curtis Grimes 1192 153

l14 20 8 SHE GONE (Independent) Randall King 1176 149

15 11 22 BARROOM BUDDIES (Independent) Dos Borrachos 1153 -148

l16 21 9 DROVE ME TO THE WHISKEY (Almost Country) Casey Donahew 1122 128

l17 18 23 ROAD TO YOU (Independent) Micky & The Motorcars 1060 4

18 17 22 REAL SMALL TOWN (Independent) Adam Hood 1035 -41

l19 22 16 UNRUNG (Independent) Turnpike Troubadours 994 42

20 15 22 PRETTY HEART (Independent) Parker McCollum 989 -210

RECURRENTSTHIS

WEEK TITLE Imprint/Label ArtistTOTAL AUD.

(IN MILLIONS)1 EVEN THOUGH I’M LEAVING River House/Columbia Nashville Luke Combs 22.966

2 10,000 HOURS Warner Music Nashville/WAR Dan + Shay & Justin Bieber 20.604

3 ONE MAN BAND RCA Nashville Old Dominion 20.419

4 RIDIN’ ROADS Broken Bow Dustin Lynch 17.638

5 HEARTACHE MEDICATION Capitol Nashville Jon Pardi 15.562

6 WHISKEY GLASSES Big Loud Morgan Wallen 15.316

7 PRAYED FOR YOU Wide Open/RECORDS/Good Company/Arista Nashville Matt Stell 13.849

8 WHAT IF I NEVER GET OVER YOU BMLG Lady Antebellum 13.709

9 GOOD VIBES Warner Music Nashville/WAR Chris Janson 11.614

10 I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU Big Loud Chris Lane 11.513

NEW AND ACTIVETITLE Imprint/Label Artist

TOTAL AUDIENCE

TOTAL STATIONS ADDS

SOMEBODY LIKE THAT 19th & Grand/Reviver Tenille Arts 0.901 52 2

FOR MY MONEY EMI Nashville Brandon Lay 0.817 27 0

NOBODY Curb Dylan Scott 0.550 25 7

ONLY TRUCK IN TOWN Night Train/Broken Bow Tyler Farr 0.478 19 4

MY TEXAS Pretty Damn Tough Josh Abbott Band 0.444 0 0

FOR MY DAUGHTER RCA Nashville Kane Brown 0.426 2 0

Texas Regional Radio Report Top 100 is compiled from weekly online playlist reports from 86 radio stations located in Texas and surrounding states, including reports from specialty shows, internet and satellite radio outlets. Songs are ranked by total plays. For tracking, complete chart methodology and more information, visit www.texasregionalradio.com, or contact Dave Smith at 972-252-8777. Copyright 2020, Texas Regional Radio Report

Page 9: Country Updateis not quite like either of the previous records the award-winning singer-songwriter has launched in the marketplace. “I said to Jay when I heard that baritone sax

NASHVILLE DIGS OUTThe country music business took it on the chin at home and on the road over the last week as the genre’s home base suffered a devastating tornado on March 3 and the coronavirus outbreak caused cancellations in other markets.

The tornado destroyed numerous private planes at the John C. Tune Airport; decimated Donelson Christian Academy, where Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott attended school; and hit a Kroger grocery store that numerous road bands use to board their tour buses. Dierks Bentley rolled up his sleeves and pitched in to help clear the wreckage at the home of his drummer, Steve Misamore, as several sections of the city and its suburbs — particularly East Nashville, the Donelson/Hermitage area and Mt. Juliet — took on the most damage.

Even as the city reeled from that first jab, the spreading coronavirus began to encroach on the country industry. Old Dominion canceled a U.K. tour, and the Nashville Songwriters Association International postponed its annual Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival March 24-28. That rescheduling occurred as airline and cruise line bookings are slumping, Austin’s South by Southwest Conference was canceled, and numerous entertainment stocks dropped dramatically to their lowest levels in a year.

Nashville reacted quickly with a series of tornado-relief events and donations. WSMV-TV and CMT pulled together a three-hour telethon on March 5 with Cassadee Pope, Blanco Brown, Devin Dawson, Travis Denning and Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood helping out by answering phones and chatting on camera. The telethon raised more than $387,000, with Kid Rock donating $50,000 and Big Machine Label Group chipping in $100,000.

Apart from the TV show, Chris Young donated $50,000, and Taylor Swift and Dan + Shay gave $100,000 apiece. The Dan + Shay gift was timely; it was given the same week the duo launched its first arena-headlining tour with two concerts at Bridgestone Arena.

Two competing benefits were set for March 9: a Marathon Music Works concert featuring Ashley McBryde, Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, Brothers Osborne and Sheryl Crow, among others, and a Whiskey Row bill that includes Mitchell Tenpenny, HARDY, Adam Doleac and Jessie James Decker.

Other events the week of March 9 include:• Mark Wills will assist ORCA as the company delivers cooler care packages

on March 10.• Buddy Miller, Mary Gauthier, Sierra Hull, Vanessa Carlton and Rob

Ickes are part of a bulging lineup that will perform March 10 at City Winery for an emergency response fund.

• Ray Stevens is donating the proceeds from the March 12 opening of the new concert season at his CabaRay theater.

• The Country Music Association/SESAC office is providing a dropoff spot for supplies from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. through March 13.

• Gibson Guitars is working to replace lost instruments for affected musicians. Email requests here.

• The Academy of Country Music extended the voting deadline for its awards to 7 p.m. CT on March 11.

Additionally, two organizations are selling T-shirts to aid the recovery. Soundstripe has a More Than Music shirt available here, and I Believe in Nashville shirts can be purchased here. The latter design mirrors a logo that

has become a symbol for the tragedy. Much of Basement East was torn apart, but a wall was left intact with that inspirational message: “I believe in Nashville.”

RADIO & RECORDS®Universal Music Group Nashville promoted Rachel Fontenot to vp marketing and artist development. She joined the company as a senior director in spring 2019 … Entercom COO Weezie Kramer was added to the chain’s board of directors as she prepares to retire later this year after nearly two decades with the company. Entercom/New York market manager/regional president Susan Larkin will step into the COO position on May 5, with Kramer taking an advisory role … Tower Road Media reached a deal to buy WDUX-AM/FM Waupaca, Wis., from Laird Broadcasting owner Bill Laird, pending Federal Communications Commission approval … KEEY Minneapolis-St. Paul rehired Levi Jessen as director of promotions, InsideRadio.com reported. He left the station’s assistant PD role in January during a national wave of iHeartMedia staff reductions … KKWF Seattle PD Drew Bland is set to leave the station at the end of March and take an undisclosed music position in Nashville, according to InsideRadio.com. Music director Alex Halverson will fill his role on an interim basis after Bland’s departure … KPLX Dallas installed Brian Moote and Tara Ward as the new morning team, RadioInk.com reported. Moote segues from mornings at top 40 KAMP Los Angeles; Ward arrives from the same daypart at adult contemporary KDMX Dallas … WBAM Montgomery, Ala., shifted married personalities J.T. and Leanne Thompson to mornings, according to RadioInk.com. The couple started at the station on Oct. 1, 2019, with Leanne covering middays and J.T. working evenings … Cumulus/New Orleans hired Brad Steiner as PD of three stations, including country WRKN, Talkers.com reported. He was previously PD for top 40 WDOD Chattanooga, Tenn. … The Country Radio Seminar website has audio, video and handouts from the February convention available for registrants.

’ROUND THE ROWPublicist Taryn Pray joined the staff at Monarch Publicity, which represents Chris Young and Craig Morgan, among others. She started an indie PR firm in 2013 after several years in record-label media departments. Reach

Pray here. … Sony/ATV Music P ubl i sh i n g Na shv i l le h i red Anna Weisband as vp creative. She was most recent ly THiS Music v p … Universal Music Publishing Nashville promoted Cyndi Forman to senior v p A&R from vp creative … Warner C h a p p e l l N a s h v i l l e a d d e d director of A&R Spencer Nohe. He segues from BMI Nashville creative director … Indie act Southern Halo shrunk from a trio to a duo with the departure of Hannah Morris. Remaining are Natalia Morris and Christina Morris … The Country Music Association’s charity wing, the CMA Foundation, will recognize 30 instructors from 10 states with its fifth annual Music Teachers of Excellence Awards on May 5. Kelsea Ballerini will host.

NASHVILLE & NATIONAL TOM ROLAND

Blake Shelton greeted KNCI Sacramento, Calif., staff when he performed Feb. 22 at the Golden 1 Center. From left: Warner Music Nashville West Coast manager of radio and streaming Justin Newell, KNCI music director Sonia Jimenez, Shelton and Bonneville/Sacramento vp programming Chad Rufer.

Ryan Hurd (center) welcomed radio executives when his Platonic tour arrived at Joe’s in Chicago on Feb. 27. With him are WUSN assistant PD/music director Marci Braun and WSIX Nashville assistant PD/music director Ryan McKiddy.

Niko Moon (right) spent time with WNSH New York PD John Foxx during a March 4 tour stop at the Gramercy Theatre.

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 9, 2020 | PAGE 9 OF 17

Page 10: Country Updateis not quite like either of the previous records the award-winning singer-songwriter has launched in the marketplace. “I said to Jay when I heard that baritone sax

MUSIC NOTESDan + Shay launched their first arena-headlining tour with back-to-back shows March 6-7 at Nashville’s B r i d g e s t o n e A r e n a , clearly moved by dramatic juxtapositions. The March 3 tornadoes that hit Music C it y t o u c h e d do w n i n the same East Nashville neighborhood where Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney first met at a December 2012 party, and that contrasted with the personal triumph of selling out the same venue where they have won trophies. The duo made great use of the plus sign from its name, incorporating it into footage and the layout of a satellite stage. The music was relentlessly melodic, and D+S showed musical community spirit. The Band Camino, a dynamic Nashville pop/rock group, made its arena debut as a setup act, and opener Ingrid Andress performed her hit “More Hearts Than Mine”during her opening slot and again when Dan + Shay brought her back for an unrehearsed acoustic collaboration. At an afterparty, the pair received a platinum plaque for its Justin Bieber collaboration, “10,000 Hours.”

Fifteen years after his death, Chris LeDoux is featured in a Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit, “American Currents,” which opened March 6. LeDoux, who died March 9, 2005, is linked in a section titled “Unbroken Circle” with Cody Johnson, a modern act who, like LeDoux, played the rodeo circuit before becoming a singer. Meanwhile, Garth Brooks — who brought LeDoux to national attention — will set a precedent in a major rodeo town, Las Vegas, when he becomes the first artist to perform at a new NFL venue, Allegiant Stadium, which will house the Las Vegas Raiders. Brooks appears Aug. 22.

Two acts with 1990s roots will introduce albums on May 1. Kenny Chesney — whose first top 10 single, “Fall in Love,” was released in March 1995 — drops Here and Now on May Day. The same day, the Dierks Bentley-produced Hot Country Knights — whose name is derived from ’90s TV show Hot Country Nights — issues its debut album, The K Is Silent. Meanwhile, My Sister, My Brother — the trio of Sean McConnell, Garrison Starr and Peter Groenwald — released a self-titled EP March 6; Travis Denning’s debut EP, Beer’s Better Cold, is due May 15; and Gone West’s first album, Canyons, is due June 12.

Mitchell Tenpenny will headline Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium for the first time on Oct. 10. Proceeds from the show will benefit his 10Penny Fund for cancer charities.

DAN + SHAY

Midland raised $11,000 for ACM Lifting Lives during a two-night stand at Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth. From left: Midland’s Cameron Duddy, Billy Bob’s marketing director Keitha Spears, Midland’s Mark Wystrach, Billy Bob’s GM Marty Travis and Midland’s Jess Carson.

ON THIS DATE IN COUNTRY MUSIC

March 10 • 2010 — Lady Antebellum headlines for t he f irst t ime at

Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. The band’s set list includes “American Honey,” “Hello World” and the Hank Williams classic “Lost Highway.”

• 2006 — Columbia releases the Dixie Chicks single “Not Ready to Make Nice” to radio.

March 11 • 2015 — Maren Morris writes “My Church” and records the final

vocals the same day in Los Angeles with songwriter-producer busbee. • 1970 — “A Boy Named Sue” is a double-winner during the 12th

annual Grammy Awards, bringing Johnny Cash best country vocal performance, male, and songwriter Shel Silverstein best country song.

March 12 • 2011 — Jason Aldean and Kelly

Clarkson begin a three-week ride at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with “Don’t You Wanna Stay.”

• 1990 — Mark Chesnutt begins recording his first album, Too Cold at Home.

March 13 • 2018 — Florida Georgia Line snags a quadruple-platinum single

from the RIAA for “H.O.L.Y.”

March 14 • 1995 — Garth Brooks goes to Washington, D.C., with Michael

Bolton and Kenny G to protest cuts in arts funding. Brooks later tells Billboard that, based on their lack of passion, if politicians were in his employ, they “wouldn’t be working for long.”

March 15 • 2005 — Epic releases Miranda Lambert’s f irst major-label

album, Kerosene.

March 16 • 1974 — The Grand Ole Opry gives its first performance at the new

Grand Ole Opry House. President Richard Nixon appears at the event. Roy Acuff, who gives Nixon a yo-yo demonstration, is the first performer, doing “Wabash Cannonball.” The rest of the Opry cast appears alphabetically, beginning with Bill Anderson.

Source: RolandNote.com, the Ultimate Country Music Database

ALDEAN

NASHVILLE & NATIONAL TOM ROLAND

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BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 9, 2020 | PAGE 10 OF 17

Page 11: Country Updateis not quite like either of the previous records the award-winning singer-songwriter has launched in the marketplace. “I said to Jay when I heard that baritone sax

Hot Country SongsSALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BYHot Country Songs

CR

ED

IT T

KB

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 9, 2020 | PAGE 11 OF 17

VELTZ

The weekly Country Songwriters and Country Producers charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot Country Songs chart. As with Billboard’s yearly recaps, multiple writers or producers split points for each song equally (and the dividing of points will lead to occasional ties on rankings).

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

TWO WEEKS

AGOWKS ON CHART

TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL

COUNTRY AIRPLAY

RANKPEAK

POSITION

l1 2 2 53 THE BONES HH No. 1 (1 week) HH Maren Morris G.KURSTIN (M.MORRIS,J.ROBBINS,L.J.VELTZ) COLUMBIA NASHVILLE

4 1

2 1 1 23 10,000 HOURS Dan + Shay & Justin Bieber D.SMYERS (D.SMYERS,S.MOONEY,J.J.DILLON,J.REYNOLDS,J.D.BIEBER,J.BOYD) WARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE/WAR RC 1

l3 4 5 50 HOMESICK HH Airplay Gainer HH Kane Brown D.HUFF (K.BROWN,B.BERRYHILL,M.J.MCGINN,T.PHILLIPS) ZONE 4/RCA NASHVILLE

1 3

4 3 3 22 KINFOLKS Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL (S.L.HUNT,Z.CROWELL,J.FLOWERS,J.OSBORNE) MCA NASHVILLE 3 3

5 5 4 49 ONE MAN BAND Old Dominion S.MCANALLY (M.RAMSEY,T. ROSEN,B.F.TURSI,J.OSBORNE) RCA NASHVILLE RC 2

l6 6 6 45 I HOPE Gabby Barrett R.COPPERMAN (Z.KALE,J.M.NITE,G.BARRETT) WARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE/WAR 11 6

l7 10 10 12 NOBODY BUT YOU Blake Shelton Duet With Gwen Stefani S.HENDRICKS (T.L.JAMES,R.COPPERMAN,S.MCANALLY,J.OSBORNE) WARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE/WMN 17 6

l8 14 18 25 HOMEMADE HH Streaming Gainer HH Jake Owen J.MOI,D.COHEN (B.GOLDSMITH,J.MULLINS,D.PARKER,B.PINSON) BIG LOUD

2 8

l9 11 16 29 CHASIN’ YOU Morgan Wallen J.MOI (J.MOORE,M.WALLEN,C.WISEMAN) BIG LOUD 14 9

l10 9 11 20 WHAT SHE WANTS TONIGHT Luke Bryan J.STEVENS,J.STEVENS (L.BRYAN,R.COPPERMAN,H.LINDSEY,J.M.NITE) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 5 9

l11 15 17 33 SLOW DANCE IN A PARKING LOT Jordan Davis P.DIGIOVANNI (J.DAVIS,L.L.FOWLER) MCA NASHVILLE 7 11

l12 13 15 35 MORE HEARTS THAN MINE Ingrid Andress S.ELLIS,I.ANDRESS (I.ANDRESS,S.ELLIS,D.SOUTHERLAND) ATLANTIC/WARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE/WEA 9 12

13 8 14 26 WE BACK Jason Aldean M.KNOX (B.D.WARREN,B.WARREN,T.HUBBARD,J.M.SCHMIDT) MACON/BROKEN BOW 8 8

14 12 13 31 I WISH GRANDPAS NEVER DIED Riley Green D.HUFF (R.GREEN,L.BONDS,B.GREEN) BMLG 13 12

l15 18 19 36 CATCH Brett Young D.HUFF (B.YOUNG,R.COPPERMAN,A.GORLEY) BMLG 6 15

l16 16 12 21 I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY NOW Carly Pearce & Lee Brice BUSBEE (C.PEARCE,L.COMBS,R.MONTANA,J.SINGLETON) CURB/BIG MACHINE 16 12

l17 20 22 8 DOES TO ME HH Digital Gainer HH Luke Combs Featuring Eric Church S.MOFFATT (L.COMBS,R.M.L.FULCHER,T.M.REEVE) RIVER HOUSE/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE

15 17

18 19 20 26 HOMECOMING QUEEN? Kelsea Ballerini J.ROBBINS (K.BALLERINI,J.ROBBINS,N.GALYON) BLACK RIVER 19 14

l19 21 23 10 BEER CAN’T FIX Thomas Rhett Featuring Jon Pardi D.HUFF,J.BUNETTA,THOMAS RHETT (THOMAS RHETT,J.BUNETTA,Z.SKELTON,R.B.TEDDER) VALORY 12 19

l20 23 24 21 AFTER A FEW Travis Denning J.S.STOVER (T.DENNING,K.ARCHER,J.WEAVER) MERCURY 18 20

l21 NEW 1 GOD WHISPERED YOUR NAME HH Hot Shot Debut HH Keith Urban K.URBAN,D.MCCARROLL (C.AUGUST,M.CARTER,SHY CARTER,J.T.SLATER) HIT RED/CAPITOL NASHVILLE

33 21

l22 25 25 17 BETTER TOGETHER Luke Combs S.MOFFATT (L.COMBS,D.ISBELL,R.MONTANA) RIVER HOUSE/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE - 14

l23 24 26 17 BLESSINGS Florida Georgia Line J.MOI,FLORIDA GEORIGA LINE (T.HUBBARD,B.KELLEY,T.DOUGLAS,J.FRASURE,J.M.SCHMIDT,E.K.SMITH) BMLG 25 23

24 22 — 2 HERE AND NOW Kenny Chesney B.CANNON,K.CHESNEY (C.WISEMAN,D.L.MURPHY,D.A.GARCIA) BLUE CHAIR/WARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE/WEA 20 22

25 26 27 27 LONELY IF YOU ARE Chase Rice C. DESTEFANO,C.RICE (C.RICE,L.RIMES,H.PHELPS) DACK JANIELS/BROKEN BOW 28 25

1 #1 2 WKS JIMMY ROBBINS

2 JOSH OSBORNE

3 ROSS COPPERMAN

TIE 4 LAURA VELTZ

TIE 4 MAREN MORRIS

6 JON NITE

7 LUKE COMBS

TIE 8 JORDAN DAVIS

TIE 8 LONNIE FOWLER

10 CRAIG WISEMAN

1 #1 31 WKS DANN HUFF

2 JOEY MOI

3 GREG KURSTIN

4 DAN SMYERS

5 ZACH CROWELL

6 SCOTT HENDRICKS

7 SHANE MCANALLY

8 ROSS COPPERMAN

9 SCOTT MOFFATT

10 JAY JOYCE

COUNTRY PRODUCERSTMCOUNTRY SONGWRITERSTM

Page 12: Country Updateis not quite like either of the previous records the award-winning singer-songwriter has launched in the marketplace. “I said to Jay when I heard that baritone sax

Hot Country Songs SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 9, 2020 | PAGE 12 OF 17

The week’s most popular country songs, ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen Music, sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music and streaming activity data from online music sources tracked by Nielsen Music. Descending titles below No. 25 are moved to recurrent after 20 weeks.

Hot Country SongsTHIS

WEEKLAST WEEK

TWO WEEKS

AGOWKS ON CHART

TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL

COUNTRY AIRPLAY

RANKPEAK

POSITION

l26 27 30 14 BLUEBIRD Miranda Lambert J.JOYCE (M.LAMBERT,L.DICK,N.HEMBY) VANNER/RCA NASHVILLE 29 26

l27 29 31 33 DIE FROM A BROKEN HEART Maddie & Tae J.ROBBINS,D.WELLS (M.MARLOW,T.DYE,J.SINGLETON,D.RUTTAN) MERCURY 30 27

l28 28 28 16 MONSTERS Eric Church J.JOYCE (E.CHURCH,J.HYDE) EMI NASHVILLE 22 28

l29 30 29 18 IN BETWEEN Scotty McCreery F.ROGERS (S.MCCREERY,F.ROGERS,J.L.ALEXANDER,J.SINGLETON) TRIPLE TIGERS 21 27

l30 31 33 24 DROWNING Chris Young C.CROWDER,C.YOUNG (C.A.YOUNG,C.CROWDER,J.HOGE) RCA NASHVILLE 31 18

l31 NEW 1 GASLIGHTER Dixie Chicks J.M.ANTONOFF,DIXIE CHICKS (M.MAGUIRE,E.STRAYER,N.MAINES,J.M.ANTONOFF) COLUMBIA/IN2UNE 36 31

l32 32 32 19 HER WORLD OR MINE Michael Ray S.HENDRICKS (J.PAULIN,T.DENNING,B.BEAVERS) WARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE/WEA 26 31

l33 34 35 17 DRINKING ALONE Carrie Underwood D.GARCIA,C.UNDERWOOD (C.UNDERWOOD,D.A.GARCIA,BRETT JAMES) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 24 33

l34 33 34 10 ONE BEER HARDY Featuring Lauren Alaina & Devin Dawson J.MOI,D.WELLS (M.W.HARDY,H.LINDSEY,J.MITCHELL) TREE VIBEZ/BIG LOUD 45 33

l35 36 43 4 MY TRUCK Breland KAL V,T.TAYLOR (D.BRELAND,T.TAYLOR,K.AUSTIN,D.BARTON,T.ZEIGLER) BAD REALM/ATLANTIC - 35

36 35 38 10 ONE NIGHT STANDARDS Ashley McBryde J.JOYCE (A.MCBRYDE,S.MCANALLY,N.HAYFORD) ATLANTIC/WARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE/WAR 35 35

l37 38 40 12 ONE BIG COUNTRY SONG LOCASH 770 PRODUCTIONS (J.FRASURE,A.GORLEY,M.W.HARDY) WHEELHOUSE 23 36

l38 40 39 14 WHAT COULD’VE BEEN Gone West J.KENNEY (C.CAILLAT,J.K.YOUNG,J.REEVES,D.J.REEVES,J.KENNEY) TRIPLE TIGERS RC 38

39 37 37 21 BIG, BIG PLANS Chris Lane J.MOI (J.DURRETT,C.LANE,E.K.SMITH) BIG LOUD 50 33

l40 43 48 5 WHY WE DRINK Justin Moore J.S.STOVER,S.BORCHETTA (J.MOORE,C.BEATHARD,D.L.MURPHY,J.S.STOVER) VALORY 27 40

l41 41 41 18 COVER ME UP Morgan Wallen J.MOI,D.COHEN (M.J.ISBELL) BIG LOUD - 35

42 39 — 4 GETTING GOOD Lauren Alaina D.GARCIA (E.L.WEISBAND) 19/MERCURY 47 39

l43 42 50 5 FAMOUS Adam Doleac A.SKIB (A.DOLEAC,B.HAMRICK,A.SKIB) ARISTA NASHVILLE - 42

l44 45 45 3 JUST THE WAY Parmalee x Blanco Brown D.FANNING (M.THOMAS,K.BARD,N.W.SIPE) STONEY CREEK - 44

l45 46 42 4 HARD TO FORGET Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,L.LAIRD (S.L.HUNT,A.GORLEY,L.LAIRD,S.MCANALLY,J.OSBORNE,A.GRISHAM,M.J.SHURTZ,R.HULL) MCA NASHVILLE 52 41

l46 44 46 9 THIS BAR Morgan Wallen J.MOI (M.W.HARDY,J.MORGAN,J.SCOTT,E.K.SMITH,R.VOJTESAK,M.WALLEN) BIG LOUD - 29

l47 49 — 2 DETAILS Billy Currington M.TRUSSELL (M.TRUSSELL,N.GALYON,S.L.OLSEN) MERCURY 32 47

l48 50 — 2 DONE Chris Janson C.JANSON,T.CECIL (C.JANSON,M.OGLESBY,J.PAULIN,M.ROY) WARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE/WAR 34 48

l49 NEW 1 SHE’S MINE Kip Moore K.MOORE (K.MOORE,D.COUCH,S.STEPAKOFF) MCA NASHVILLE 38 49

l50 NEW 1 HOLE IN A BOTTLE Kelsea Ballerini J.FRASURE,K.BALLERINI (K.BALLERINI,S.JONES,H.LINDSEY,J.FRASURE,A.GORLEY) BLACK RIVER - 50

For inquiries about any Nielsen Music data, please contact Josh Bennett at 615-807-1338 or [email protected]

COUNTRY MARKET WATCHA Weekly National Music Sales Report

ALBUM CONSUMPTION

AUDIO ON-DEMAND

VIDEO ON-DEMAND

This Week 1,110,000 1,458,588,000 284,313,000

Last Week 1,064,000 1,135,036,000 281,128,000

Change 4.3% 28.5% 1.1%

This Week Last Year 969,000 935,551,000 254,339,000

Change 14.6% 55.9% 11.8%

WEEKLY UNIT COUNT

All data measures U.S. activity as of the week ending March 5, 2020. All units counts are rounded to the nearest thousand. Album consumption units — also known as albums plus TEA plus SEA — consists of album sales; track-equivalent album (TEA) sales whereby 10 tracks equal one consumption unit; and stream equivalent albums (SEA) whereby 1,250 paid and/or 3,750 ad-supported audio on-demand streams (OAD) equal one consumption unit.

YEAR-OVER-YEAR

2019 2020 CHANGE

Album Consumption 8,385,000 9,324,000 11.2%

Album Sales 1,702,000 1,487,000 -12.6%

Audio On-Demand 8,110,670,000 9,813,779,000 21.0%

Video On-Demand 2,458,716,000 2,171,084,000 -11.7%

YEAR-TO-DATE

ALBUM CONSUMPTION’19

’20

TOTAL ON-DEMAND STREAMS’19

’20

10.28 billion

8.38 million

12.27 billion

9.32 million

Page 13: Country Updateis not quite like either of the previous records the award-winning singer-songwriter has launched in the marketplace. “I said to Jay when I heard that baritone sax

TOP COUNTRY ALBUMS COUNTRY DIGITAL SONG SALES

SALES, DATA COMPILED BY

COUNTRY STREAMING SONGS

STREAMING & SALES DATA COMPILED BY

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 9, 2020 | PAGE 13 OF 17

The week’s top-streamed and top-selling paid download country songs, respectively, from sales reports collected and provided by Nielsen Music. Charts update weekly on Tuesdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2020, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.

Top Country Albums 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, and streaming equivalent albums). Copyright 2020, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.

Americana/Folk Albums ranks the most popular Americana/folk albums of the week, as compiled by Nielsen Music, based on multi-metric consumption (blending traditional album sales, track equivalent albums, and streaming equivalent albums). Copyright 2020, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.

AMERICANA/ FOLK ALBUMS

THIS

W

EEK

LAST

W

EEK

2 W

EEKS

A

GO

WEE

KS

ON

CH

T

ARTIST TITLEIMPRINT & NUMBER / DISTRIBUTING LABEL

CERT

.

PEA

K

POS.

l1 1 1 17 LUKE COMBS WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GETRIVER HOUSE/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 595687*/SMN 1

l2 2 2 144 LUKE COMBS THIS ONE’S FOR YOURIVER HOUSE/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 538883*/SMN 3 1

l3 3 4 92 MORGAN WALLEN IF I KNOW MEBIG LOUD DIGITAL EX 0 3

l4 4 3 12 BLAKE SHELTON FULLY LOADED: GOD’S COUNTRYWARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE 607343/WMN 1

l5 5 7 69 KANE BROWN EXPERIMENTZONE 4/RCA NASHVILLE /SMN 0 1

l6 6 8 52 MAREN MORRIS GIRLCOLUMBIA NASHVILLE 590186*/SMN 1

l7 7 5 253 CHRIS STAPLETON TRAVELLERMERCURY 019405*/UMGN 4 1

8 8 9 89 DAN + SHAY DAN + SHAYWARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE 570796/WMN 1 1

9 9 10 19 OLD DOMINION OLD DOMINIONRCA NASHVILLE 589183*/SMN 1

l10 10 11 15 JASON ALDEAN 9MACON/BROKEN BOW/BMG 32944*/BBMG 1

l11 11 13 170 KANE BROWN KANE BROWNZONE 4/RCA NASHVILLE 530947*/SMN 1 1

12 12 15 40 THOMAS RHETT CENTER POINT ROADVALORY TR0400A*/BMLG 1

l13 13 14 51 ELVIS PRESLEY THE ESSENTIAL ELVIS PRESLEYRCA/SONY STRATEGIC MARKETING GROUP 89048*/LEGACY (25.98) 1 12

14 14 17 239 ZAC BROWN BAND GREATEST HITS SO FAR...ROAR/SOUTHERN GROUND/ATLANTIC 546369/AG 3

l15 17 19 99 JASON ALDEAN REARVIEW TOWNMACON/BROKEN BOW/BMG 538375642*/BBMG (538375730) 0 1

16 15 16 96 KACEY MUSGRAVES GOLDEN HOURMCA NASHVILLE 027921*/UMGN 0 1

17 16 21 55 FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE CAN’T SAY I AIN’T COUNTRYBMLG FGL0400* 0 1

l18 20 20 228 BLAKE SHELTON RELOADED: 20 #1 HITSWARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE 551788/WMN 2

l19 24 30 87 JORDAN DAVIS HOME STATEMCA NASHVILLE 028014/UMGN 6

20 18 18 7 DUSTIN LYNCH TULLAHOMABROKEN BOW/BMG 85625/BBMG 4

l21 23 23 201 GEORGE STRAIT 50 NUMBER ONESMCA NASHVILLE 000459/UMGN (25.98) 7 1

22 21 25 194 JON PARDI CALIFORNIA SUNRISECAPITOL NASHVILLE 024744*/UMGN 1 1

l23 25 24 210 TIM MCGRAW NUMBER ONE HITSCURB 79205 (13.98) 1 6

24 22 28 23 RILEY GREEN DIFFERENT ‘ROUND HEREBMLG BMXRG0100C VS EX 11

l25 27 29 160 BRETT YOUNG BRETT YOUNGBMLG BY0100A* 1 2

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l1 1 12 NOBODY BUT YOU BLAKE SHELTON DUET WITH GWEN STEFANI

l2 NEW GASLIGHTER DIXIE CHICKS

l3 2 27 I HOPE GABBY BARRETT

l4 4 29 THE BONES MAREN MORRIS

l5 NEW GOD WHISPERED YOUR NAME KEITH URBAN

6 5 22 10,000 HOURS DAN + SHAY & JUSTIN BIEBER

l7 20 2 TAKE ME HOME RESTLESS ROAD & KANE BROWN

l8 7 31 I WISH GRANDPAS NEVER DIED RILEY GREEN

l9 10 5 DOES TO ME LUKE COMBS FEAT. ERIC CHURCH

l10 6 38 ONE MAN BAND OLD DOMINION

l11 8 14 I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY NOW CARLY PEARCE & LEE BRICE

l12 11 18 HOMESICK KANE BROWN

l13 12 24 MORE HEARTS THAN MINE INGRID ANDRESS

l14 NEW WINE, BEER, WHISKEY LITTLE BIG TOWN

15 9 34 EVEN THOUGH I’M LEAVING LUKE COMBS

l16 15 5 CHASIN’ YOU MORGAN WALLEN

l17 NEW HOLE IN THE BOTTLE KELSEA BALLERINI

18 14 49 GOD’S COUNTRY BLAKE SHELTON

19 13 214 TENNESSEE WHISKEY CHRIS STAPLETON

l20 24 4 BEER CAN’T FIX THOMAS RHETT FEAT. JON PARDI

l21 19 19 KINFOLKS SAM HUNT

l22 21 41 BEER NEVER BROKE MY HEART LUKE COMBS

l23 22 7 BETTER TOGETHER LUKE COMBS

l24 25 83 BEAUTIFUL CRAZY LUKE COMBS

25 18 12 HEARTLESS DIPLO PRESENTS THOMAS WESLEY FEAT. MORGAN WALLEN

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1 1 22 10,000 HOURS DAN + SHAY & JUSTIN BIEBER

l2 2 35 THE BONES MAREN MORRIS

3 3 28 ONE MAN BAND OLD DOMINION

4 4 29 HEARTLESS DIPLO PRESENTS THOMAS WESLEY FEAT. MORGAN WALLEN

5 5 19 I HOPE GABBY BARRETT

l6 7 55 WHISKEY GLASSES MORGAN WALLEN

7 6 20 KINFOLKS SAM HUNT

l8 8 10 HOMESICK KANE BROWN

9 10 152 TENNESSEE WHISKEY CHRIS STAPLETON

10 9 96 BEAUTIFUL CRAZY LUKE COMBS

l11 11 9 CHASIN’ YOU MORGAN WALLEN

12 14 119 MEANT TO BE BEBE REXHA & FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

13 12 43 BEER NEVER BROKE MY HEART LUKE COMBS

14 16 6 NOBODY BUT YOU BLAKE SHELTON DUET WITH GWEN STEFANI

15 15 85 SPEECHLESS DAN + SHAY

16 17 35 ONE THING RIGHT MARSHMELLO & KANE BROWN

17 19 4 MAKE ME WANT TO JIMMIE ALLEN

18 18 16 HOMECOMING QUEEN? KELSEA BALLERINI

19 13 12 HEARTACHE MEDICATION JON PARDI

20 20 4 I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY NOW CARLY PEARCE & LEE BRICE

l21 NEW SLOW DANCE IN A PARKING LOT JORDAN DAVIS

22 23 102 TEQUILA DAN + SHAY

23 25 6 MORE HEARTS THAN MINE INGRID ANDRESS

24 22 8 I WISH GRANDPAS NEVER DIED RILEY GREEN

25 21 4 WE BACK JASON ALDEAN

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l2 1 1 199 CHRIS STAPLETON TRAVELLERMERCURY NASHVILLE 019405*/UMGN 4 1

l3 12 4 25 THE LUMINEERS IIIDUALTONE 5127* 1

4 2 3 101 KACEY MUSGRAVES GOLDEN HOURMCA NASHVILLE 027921*/UMGN 0 1

l5 4 8 51 TYLER CHILDERS PURGATORYHICKMAN HOLLER 001*/THIRTY TIGERS 4

6 3 6 245 HOZIER HOZIERRUBYWORKS 309996*/COLUMBIA 2 1

7 6 5 162 SIMON & GARFUNKEL SIMON AND GARFUNKEL’S GREATEST HITSCOLUMBIA 31350/LEGACY 3

8 5 7 204 THE LUMINEERS CLEOPATRADUALTONE 1738* 1 1

l9 8 9 129 JAMES TAYLOR GREATEST HITSWARNER BROS. 78094/RHINO (11.98) 7

10 9 11 156 JACK JOHNSON IN BETWEEN DREAMSJACK JOHNSON/BRUSHFIRE /REPUBLIC (13.98) 2 6

Bluegrass Albums ranks the most popular bluegrass albums of the week, as compiled by Nielsen Music, based on album sales. Copyright 2020, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.

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l2 NEW 1 KRISTY COX NO HEADLIGHTSMOUNTAIN FEVER 200100 2

3 1 2 23 BILLY STRINGS HOMEROUNDER 610063*/CONCORD 1

4 2 1 4 THE STEELDRIVERS BAD FOR YOUROUNDER 610080*/CONCORD 1

l5 NEW 1 CHOSEN ROAD APPALACHIAN WORSHIP: DELUXE EDITIONSONG GARDEN 1255 5

l6 4 4 21 THE DEAD SOUTH SUGAR & JOYSIX SHOOTER 129* 1

l7 8 — 46 STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN DEEPER ROOTS: WHERE THE BLUEGRASS GROWSSCSEE 0930* 1

l8 7 6 22 OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW LIVE AT THE RYMANCOLUMBIA NASHVILLE 98*/OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW 1

9 5 7 57 MANDOLIN ORANGE TIDES OF A TEARDROPYEP ROC 2638* 1

l10 9 8 13 CHE APALACHE REARRANGE MY HEARTCHE APALACHE 0094*/FREE DIRT 2

Page 14: Country Updateis not quite like either of the previous records the award-winning singer-songwriter has launched in the marketplace. “I said to Jay when I heard that baritone sax

Women may be out of the running for president, but when six females — including Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Kamala Harris — chased the Democratic nomination this year, they became a symbol among America’s women, who are tackling power in a way that was previously reserved for men.

Jon Pardi has noticed the big-picture trend, and that increasing feminine boldness plays a major role in his new single, “Ain’t Always the Cowboy.”

“The girls are out there raising hell these days,” he says with enthusiasm. “The females are fighting. They’re saying they’re strong, you know, and it’s great. So it was cool [that] this [song] is about girls kind of doing their own thing.”

Released to radio by Capitol Nashville on March 2 via PlayMPE, “A in’t A lways the Cowboy” isn’t just a song of female emp ower ment wed ged i nto a brea k up storyline. It figuratively turns a classic on its ear since the full hook — “It ain’t always the cowboy that rides away” — is a clever twist on a 35-year-old hit that plays with the silver-screen cowboy archetype: the elusive good guy who inevitably leaves women behind to chase another adventure. Listeners don’t need to know the original to appreciate Pardi’s song, but those who do will f ind a deeper, richer meaning in the experience.

“ ‘The Cowboy Rides Away’; it’s a George Strait career song,” notes Pardi, “so you take that and kind of f lip it, it takes on a whole different perspective.”

That flipped perspective occurred during a brainstorming session around the title. Josh Thompson (“Any Ol’ Barstool,” “I’ll Name the Dogs”) brought the “Ain’t Always the Cowboy” phrase into a cowrite with Brandon Kinney (“Drowns the Whiskey,” “Love You Too Late”) on Feb. 1, 2017, at Kinney’s second-floor peermusic office. The guy, they surmised, isn’t always the one who ends a relationship.

“I didn’t have the flip part,” recalls Thompson. “I just had the ‘Ain’t Always the Cowboy.’ Just sitting there messing around with it, ‘It ain’t always the cowboy that rides away,’ that came out real soon. And once you have a hook like that, it was like, ‘OK, you know, it should write itself.’ Our job now was to not screw it up.”

The hook was so good that Kinney decided it deserved a reward; he popped across the street to Virginia’s Market and picked up a 12-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon. They wrote the rest of the day the cowboy way: over the buzz of a few cold brews.

“That wasn’t the only day,” admits Kinney with a laugh.They launched into the chorus first, recognizing a woman who has “got no

settle-down in her boots.” Once they had a good start, they shifted back to the beginning, using conversational phrasing to set up a traditional final scene, with the couple clasping hands as the woman cries.

“We wanted it to be kind of elusive in the beginning,” says Kinney. “The way I was seeing it, you don’t really see that she’s the one leaving.”

Once they finished the opening verse, they returned to the chorus, and the setup line near the end of that stanza put a poetic spin on her departure: “leavin’ love in the dust of a midnight Chevrolet.” Then in the second verse, the jilted guy faces the sobering moment with a bit of admiration; he sees

her embodying his cowboy approach to life, and his reaction is much like the singer in Strait’s “She’ll Leave You With a Smile.”

“She’s the restless one in this song,” says Kinney. “That’s what I love about it. And that’s why he relates to her, too. It’s just like it says — ‘Can’t keep from smiling/’Cause damn, that girl can fly.’ ”

A two-line bridge provided a short respite, with elongated phrasing and just enough western imagery to put a bow on the story.

“That was Brandon’s line: ‘Tumbleweed heart, chasing that wind,’ ” says Thompson. “And we ended up wrapping [with], ‘Going too far, wherever that is.’ It was the perfect little piece of cowboy. We didn’t need a whole lot more than that.”

Kinney produced a demo, and Thompson, who was out of town at the time, sang the vocal when he returned. They didn’t pitch it to Strait — “I didn’t even think that that was an option,” says Thompson — but Kinney did send it to his cousin, Bart Butler, who produces Pardi. Butler did not act immediately on it. Instead, he highlighted the email in his inbox, where it sat for three or four months. He opened it a couple of days before a Pardi session at Blackbird Studios in September 2017, then sent Kinney an emergency text around 2:30 a.m. saying, “Please tell me it’s still available.”

Another artist had the song on hold, but Kinney had a hunch that the person would end up passing on it, so he told Butler it was up for grabs. Butler and co-producer Ryan Gore made just a few minor tweaks.

“The demo wasn’t too far from the record,” notes Butler. “We just had to kick it up a notch, and we put a little more fiddle and steel on to country it up a little bit more. But tempo-wise, I think I went up at least four clicks to six clicks. I mean, [the demo] was draggin’.”

The production flips the script in a manner that mimics the lyric since a female fiddler, reigning Country Music Association musician of the year Jenee Fleenor, plays the intro. Guitarist Rob McNelley delivered a fuzz-tone solo much like Tony Peluso’s work on The Carpenters’ 1972 single “Goodbye to Love.”

Pardi knocked out the final lead vocal at a studio they had built on his mother’s property in Northern California the weekend before the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2018.

“It has definitely got its belting moments,” he says. “It’s not an easy song to sing. You have to be used to it ’cause it’s got a lot of notes.”

Background vocalist Russell Terrell added to the Strait effect when he overdubbed the harmonies, recalling the sound of backup singers Curtis Young and Liana Manis on such Strait singles as “Blue Clear Sky,” “Round About Way” and “Check Yes or No.”

“There are times — and I probably said it for this song — where I’ll say, ‘Can you put the Liana Manis part on it?’ ” says Butler. “Russell can get up in the girly parts.”

The title track from Pardi’s Heartache Medication was the album’s first single, landing at No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart dated Feb. 8. “Ain’t Always the Cowboy” goes for adds on March 16, and Pardi is optimistic that while it pays homage to Strait, it also will be a source of pride for ascendant women.

“It’s not why I’m putting it out there, but it’s like whatever way that helps, here’s some more power,” he says. “Girls, go get it.”

Jon Pardi’s ‘Ain’t Always The Cowboy’ Offers Strait Talk To Women

MAKIN’ TRACKS TOM ROLAND [email protected]

PARDI

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 9, 2020 | PAGE 14 OF 17

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Page 15: Country Updateis not quite like either of the previous records the award-winning singer-songwriter has launched in the marketplace. “I said to Jay when I heard that baritone sax

Country Airplay IndexTITLE Publishing-Licensing Org. (Songwriter) Chart Position

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 9, 2020 | PAGE 15 OF 17

A

AFTER A FEW I’m About To Go RED On Ya Music, BMI/Travis Denning Music, BMI/ole, BMI/Crack The Glass Songs, BMI/Stars And Stripes And Maple Leaf Music, BMI/Downtown DMP Songs, BMI/Sound Wagon Songs, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Music Of The Corn, ASCAP (T.Denning, K.Archer, J.Weaver) 18

B

BEER CAN’T FIX EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Cricket On The Line, BMI/Music Of Big Family, BMI/Dragon Bunny Music, BMI/Patriot Games Publishing, ASCAP/Write Me A Song Publishing, GMR/Downtown Global Two, GMR (Thomas Rhett, J.Bunetta, Z.Skelton, R.B.Tedder) 12

BIG, BIG PLANS Magic Mustang Music, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Big Loud Mountain, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Tree Vibez Music, LLC, BMI/Ern Dog Music, BMI (J.Durrett, C.Lane, E.K.Smith) 50

BLESSINGS Big Loud Mountain, BMI/T Hubb Publishing, BMI/Pranch Ringle Music, BMI/Round Hill Works, BMI/Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/Tomdouglasmusic, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Telemitry Rhythm House Music, BMI/Songs Of Roc Nation Music, BMI/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Freshy Music, ASCAP/We-Volve Music, ASCAP/Ern Dog Music, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Tree Vibez Music, LLC, BMI (T.Hubbard, B.Kelley, T.Douglas, J.Frasure, J.M.Schmidt, E.K.Smith) 25

BLUEBIRD Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Pink Dog Publishing, BMI/Emileon Songs, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/Little Louder Songs, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Wrucke For You Publishing, BMI (M.Lambert, L.Dick, N.Hemby) 29

THE BONES International Dog Music, BMI/Downtown DMP Songs, BMI/Jammy Rabbins Music, ASCAP/Round Hill Songs Jimmy Robbins, ASCAP/Extraordinary Alien Publishing, ASCAP/Oh Denise Publishing, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Big Music Machine, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Heroes And Halos Music, BMI (M.Morris, J.Robbins, L.J.Veltz) 4

BREAK IT IN Plaid Flag Music, BMI/McCarty And Blake, LLC, BMI/South By Sea Music Publishing, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/Big Music Machine, BMI/Florida Songs Vibez, BMI/I Finally Got Some Publishing, BMI/Riser House Tunes, SESAC (B.Davis, B.Day, D.Ross, M.Whitworth) 42

C

CATCH Super Big Music, ASCAP/Caliville Publishing, ASCAP/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Plain Jane Songs, BMI/Rezolant Music, BMI/Round Hill Songs II, ASCAP/Combustion Engine Music, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP (B.Young, R.Copperman, A.Gorley) 6

CHASIN’ YOU BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/Team Destiny, ASCAP/JMZL Music, ASCAP/Big Loud Mountain, BMI/Round Hill Songs BLS JV, ASCAP/Big Loud Proud Songs, ASCAP/Red Toe Rocker, ASCAP (J.Moore, M.Wallen, C.Wiseman) 14

CHEATIN’ SONGS WC Music Corp., ASCAP/TipTop Music, ASCAP/Tropical Cowboy Publishing, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Kitt Cass Publishing Corporation, BMI/Smack Hits, GMR/Smack Songs LLC, GMR/Kobalt Music Group Ltd., GMR/Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing, ASCAP/Smackville Music, ASCAP/Smack Songs LLC, ASCAP/Kobalt Songs Music Publishing LLC, ASCAP (J.Carson, C.Duddy, M.Wystrach, S.McAnally, J.Osborne) 40

D

DETAILS WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Future Heartbeat Publishing, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/A Boy Named Ford, BMI/Slo Circus Music, ASCAP/Roc Nation Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Rhythm House Red, ASCAP (M.Trussell, N.Galyon, S.L.Olsen) 32

DIAMONDS Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/SongsbyME, BMI/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/CDS Words And Music, ASCAP/That Was EZ, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI (M.Evans, C. DeStefano, E.K.Bogart) 56

DIE FROM A BROKEN HEART Super Big Music, ASCAP/Seven Red Brids Publishing, ASCAP/Big Music Machine, BMI/Jehovah Nissi Music, BMI/Jett Music, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Thankful For This Music, ASCAP/Doc And Maggie Music, SOCAN/Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing, ASCAP (M.Marlow, T.Dye, J.Singleton, D.Ruttan) 30

DOES TO ME Big Music Machine, BMI/50 Egg Music, BMI/Straight Dimes Publishing, BMI/Works Of RHA, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Larkin Hill Publishing, BMI/Kirbfinder’s Mucho Love Music, BMI (L.Combs, R.M.L.Fulcher, T.M.Reeve) 15

DONE ole Red Vinyl Music, BMI/Buckkilla Music, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Songsfortatum Publishing, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs US, BMI/Rounding Third Publishing, BMI/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Mitchell Marlow Music, ASCAP/KJM Music Publishing, ASCAP (C.Janson, M.Oglesby, J.Paulin, M.Roy) 34

DRINKING ALONE Carrie-Okie Music, BMI/Universal Music - Brentwood-Benson Songs, BMI/D Soul Music, ASCAP/Capitol CMG Genesis, ASCAP/Songs Of Brett, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP (C.Underwood, D.A.Garcia, Brett James) 24

DROWNING Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/They’ve Gone To Plaid Publishing, BMI/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Big Crowd Publishing, ASCAP/Georgia Song Vibez, ASCAP/Universal Tunes, SESAC/Songs For Owen Music, SESAC (C.A.Young, C.Crowder, J.Hoge) 31

E

EVERYWHERE BUT ON Sony/ATV Accent, ASCAP/Pedal Down Music, ASCAP/W.C.M. Music Corp., SESAC/Presley Jake Music, SESAC (M.Stell, P.Sikes, L.Miller) 46

F

FIRE’T UP Indiana Angel Music, BMI/Songs Of Rhythm House, BMI/Songs Of Roc Nation Music, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Songs Of Peer, BMI/Sound Wagon Songs, ASCAP (B.Gilbert, B.Day, J.Weaver) 48

FRONT SEAT Totally Awesome Music, BMI (J.Jordan) 37

G

GASLIGHTER Woolly Puddin’ Music, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/Scrapin’ Toast, ASCAP/Kobalt Songs Music Publishing LLC, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Songs LLC, BMI/Ducky Donath Music, BMI (M.Maguire, E.Strayer, N.Maines, J.M.Antonoff) 36

GETTING GOOD Weistribe Publishing, ASCAP/Thankful For This Music, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP (E.L.Weisband) 47

GOD WHISPERED YOUR NAME BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/Gold Leaf Pages, ASCAP/Micah Carter Publishing Designee, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs US, BMI/You Want How Much Of What Publishing, BMI/Worldwide EMG Music B, BMI/Bro 2 Bro Publishing, BMI (C.August, M.Carter, Shy Carter, J.T.Slater) 33

H

HARD TO FORGET Universal Music Corp., ASCAP/Between the Pines, LLC, ASCAP/Caleb’s College Fund, ASCAP/Round Hill Songs II, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Story Music Publishing, GMR/We Are Creative Nation, GMR/Suzanne James Songs, GMR/Unichappell Music, Inc., BMI/Smackstreet Music, GMR/Warner Geo Met Ric Music, GMR/Influence Media Music SPV, LLC, GMR/Sony/ATV Accent, ASCAP/Smackborne Music, ASCAP/Jamie Music Publishing Co., BMI (S.L.Hunt, A.Gorley, L.Laird, S.McAnally, J.Osborne, A.Grisham, M.J.Shurtz, R.Hull) 52

HEAD OVER HEELS Magic Mustang Music, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs US, BMI/Songwriters of Platinum Pen Publishing, BMI/Legends Of Magic Mustang Music, SESAC/BMG Silver Songs, SESAC/Music Of Platinum Pen, SESAC/Hatchoo Music, SESAC/Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/Songs Of XO, BMI/We In Good Company, BMI/Big Deal Beats, BMI (H.Mulholland, J.Wayne, N.Cooke, T.Cecil, J.Mullins) 43

HERE AND NOW Round Hill Songs BLS JV, ASCAP/Big Loud Proud Songs, ASCAP/Red Toe Rocker, ASCAP/Old Desperados, LLC, ASCAP/N2D Publishing Company, Inc., ASCAP/Spirit Two Nashville, ASCAP/4TheKidz Music, ASCAP (C.Wiseman, D.L.Murphy, D.A.Garcia) 20

HER WORLD OR MINE Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/I’m About To Go RED On Ya Music, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs US, BMI/Music Of Big Deal, BMI/Stalefish Music, BMI (J.Paulin, T.Denning, B.Beavers) 26

HOMECOMING QUEEN? Sony/ATV Accent, ASCAP/Round Hill Songs II, ASCAP/JRM3, ASCAP/Muse Magic, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/A Boy Named Ford, BMI (K.Ballerini, J.Robbins, N.Galyon) 19

HOMEMADE BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/Songs Of Big Deal, ASCAP/Go For The Goldsmith, ASCAP/Mullins It Over Music, BMI/Tree Vibez Music, LLC, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Works Of RHA, BMI/Oak Tree Swing Publishing, BMI/New Writers Of Sea Gayle Music, BMI/Not A Track Guy Music, BMI (B.Goldsmith, J.Mullins, D.Parker, B.Pinson) 2

HOMESICK Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Kane Brown Music, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Don’t Be A Gypsy, BMI/Smackworks Music, SESAC/Kobalt Group Music Publishing, SESAC/Smack Blue, LLC, SESAC/TDP Publishing, BMI (K.Brown, B.Berryhill, M.J.McGinn, T.Phillips) 1

I

I DO FOR YOU Riser House Tunes, SESAC/Golden Walls Music, SESAC/The Song Factory LLC, SESAC/Double Gobble Music, BMI/Me Gusta Music, BMI (M.D.Carmichael, J.Melton) 44

I DON’T LOVE YOU Ole Red Cape Songs, ASCAP/Anthem Entertainment, ASCAP/Red Like The Sunset Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Yamomma, ASCAP/Alrighty Den Music, BMI/Songs Of Mojo Two, ASCAP/Songs Of A Carl Music, ASCAP (A.Hambrick, M.Fuller, N.A.Medley) 57

I HOPE Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/Revinyl House, BMI/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Nite Writer Music, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI (Z.Kale, J.M.Nite, G.Barrett) 11

I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY NOW BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/For The Kids Gold, ASCAP/Redfeather Publishing, ASCAP/Big Music Machine, BMI/50 Egg Music, BMI/Straight Dimes Publishing, BMI/Super Big Music, ASCAP/Jett Music, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Sullivan S Guns Music, BMI (C.Pearce, L.Combs, R.Montana, J.Singleton) 16

IN BETWEEN Dagum Music, BMI/Austintatious Tunes, BMI/Spirit Cataloge Holdings, S.A.R.L./Spirit Two Nashville, ASCAP/House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP/Party Of Five Music, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Super Big Music, ASCAP/Jett Music, ASCAP (S.McCreery, F.Rogers, J.L.Alexander, J.Singleton) 21

I WISH GRANDPAS NEVER DIED Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Riley Green Publishing Designee, BMI (R.Green, L.Bonds, B.Green) 13

K

KINFOLKS Universal Music Corp., ASCAP/Bentween The Pines, LLC, ASCAP/Spirit Two Nashville, ASCAP/Miller Crow Music, ASCAP/Kyler’s Kinda Night, ASCAP/Twelve6 Dogwood, ASCAP/JFlow Records & Tapes, ASCAP/Downtown DLJ Songs, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Accent, ASCAP/Smackborne Music, ASCAP (S.L.Hunt, Z.Crowell, J.Flowers, J.Osborne) 3

L

LONELY IF YOU ARE Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/Dack Janiels Publishing, BMI/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Koala T Tunes, BMI/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Who Wants To Buy My Publishing, ASCAP (C.Rice, L.Rimes, H.Phelps) 28

LOVE YOU LIKE I USED TO BMG Platinum Songs US, BMI/Kailey’s Dream, BMI/Blue Corolla Oklahoma, SESAC/Feel Your Creative Pulse Music, SESAC/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Songs Of Home Team Music, BMI/Tunes Of TrailerParker, BMI (R.Dickerson, C.Brown, P.Welling) 60

M

MAKE ME WANT TO Red Lining Music, SESAC/Sony/ATV Lakeview, SESAC/Amplified Hour Songs, SESAC/Pedal Down Music, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Accent, ASCAP/Sounds Of Soperman Music Publishing, ASCAP/Curb Songs, ASCAP/Dreamark Publishing, ASCAP (J.Allen, P.Sikes, J.Denmark) 10

MOMMA’S HOUSE Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing, ASCAP/Two Black Dogs, ASCAP/ole Music Of Parallel, BMI/Lucky Mic Publishing, BMI/Round Hill Compositions, BMI/Ford Drives A Chevy, BMI/Shirt At Work, BMI/Legends Of Magic Mustang Music, SESAC/BMG Cicada, SESAC (D.Schneider, M.Lotten, R.Clawson, J.T.Wilson) 58

MONSTERS Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Longer And Louder Music, BMI/Mammaw’s Fried Okra Music, BMI/Little Louder Songs, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI (E.Church, J.Hyde) 22

MORE HEARTS THAN MINE What Is An Ingrid, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Straight From The Art Music, BMI/Songs For A Stone Heart, BMI/Universal Music Corp., ASCAP/Happy Rock Publishing, ASCAP (I.Andress, S.Ellis, D.Southerland) 9

N

NOBODY BUT YOU EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Rezolant Music, BMI/Smack Hits, GMR/Smack Songs LLC, GMR/Influence Media Music SPV, LLC, GMR/Kobalt Music Group Ltd., GMR/Sony/ATV Accent, ASCAP/Smackborne Music, ASCAP/Still Working For The Man Music, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI (T.L.James, R.Copperman, S.McAnally, J.Osborne) 17

NOW YOU KNOW Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Mandy’s Favorite Songs, BMI/Murphy The Wolf Music, BMI/Five Miles West Songs, BMI/Don’t Be A Gypsy, BMI (J.Langston, B.Clawson, B.Berryhill) 41

O

ONE BEER Relative Music Group, BMI/BIRB Music, ASCAP/New Writers Of Sea Gayle Music, BMI/West Pass Music, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP (M.W.Hardy, H.Lindsey, J.Mitchell) 45

ONE BIG COUNTRY SONG Songs Of Roc Nation Music, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Telemitry Rhythm House Music, BMI/Round Hill Songs II, ASCAP/Caleb’s College Fund, ASCAP/Relative Music Group, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI (J.Frasure, A.Gorley, M.W.Hardy) 23

ONE NIGHT STANDARDS Canned Biscuit Songs, BMI/Smack Hits, GMR/Influence Media Music SPV, LLC, GMR/Kobalt Music Group Ltd., GMR/I Love RHA, SESAC/Smackworks Music, SESAC/Smack Blue, LLC, SESAC (A.McBryde, S.McAnally, N.Hayford) 35

OVER DRINKING W.C.M. Music Corp., SESAC/Songs Of Rhythm House Black, SESAC/Bennett’s Dad’s Songs, SESAC/Roc Nation US Music, SESAC/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Songs Of Roc Nation Music, BMI/Telemitry Rhythm House Music, BMI/Round Hill Songs II, ASCAP/Caleb’s College Fund, ASCAP/Vistaville Music, ASCAP/Steph Jones Who Music, ASCAP/Big Deal Hits, ASCAP/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP (C.R.Barlowe, J.Frasure, A.Gorley, S.Jones, H.Lindsey) 54

P

PRETTY HEART Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Parkermac Publishing, BMI/Sullivan S Guns Music, BMI (P.McCollum, R.Montana) 51

S

SHE’S MINE Music Of Stage Three, BMI/Songs Of Cornman, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs US, BMI/Songs From The Couch, BMI/Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing, ASCAP (K.Moore, D.Couch, S.Stepakoff) 38

SLOW DANCE IN A PARKING LOT Ole Red Cape Songs, ASCAP/Jordan Davis Music, ASCAP/Amylase Songs ‘N Such, ASCAP/Matching Cowlicks Music, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP (J.Davis, L.L.Fowler) 7

SOME GIRLS Harding Road Music, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/Watsky Music, LLC, BMI/New Writers Of Sea Gayle Music, BMI/West Pass Music, BMI/New House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP (M.W.Hardy, J.Mitchell, C.J. Solar) 39

SOME PEOPLE DO WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Smackville Music, ASCAP/Smack Songs LLC, ASCAP/Kobalt Songs Music Publishing LLC, ASCAP/Telemitry Rhythm House Music, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Songs Of Roc Nation Music, BMI/Smack Hits, GMR/Smack Songs LLC, GMR/Kobalt Music Group Ltd., GMR/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Cricket On The Line, BMI (M.Ramsey, J.Frasure, S.McAnally, Thomas Rhett) 49

T

THAT’S WHY I LOVE DIRT ROADS Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Climbing Windmills Music, BMI/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/CDS Words And Music, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Story Music Publishing, GMR/Spruce Road Publishing, GMR/Nite Writer Music, ASCAP (C. DeStefano, J.M.Nite, B.Rempel, G.Smith) 59

W

WE BACK Songs Of TriScore, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Loyal Feather Music, BMI/Chifforobe Songs, BMI/Free Dive Music, BMI/Big Loud Mountain, BMI/Round Hill Works, BMI/T Hubb Publishing, BMI/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Georgia Song Vibez, ASCAP/We-Volve Music, ASCAP (B.D.Warren, B.Warren, T.Hubbard, J.M.Schmidt) 8

WHAT I’M LEAVING FOR Universal Music Corp., ASCAP/Happy Rock Publishing, ASCAP/BMG Platinum Songs US, BMI/Mason Jar Moonshine Music Publishing, BMI/Big Music Machine, BMI/Never Veltz So Good Publishing, BMI (S.Ellis, M.R.Premnath, L.J.Veltz) 53

WHAT I SEE Sony/ATV Accent, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Neon Cross Music, BMI/Concession 114 Music, BMI/Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/Songs Of Freetown, BMI/Me Gusta Music, BMI (T.Howell, B.Lancaster, C.B.Baldwin, J.N.Spillman) 55

WHAT SHE WANTS TONIGHT Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Peanut Mill Songs, BMI/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Rezolant Music, BMI/BIRB Music, ASCAP/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Nite Writer Music, ASCAP (L.Bryan, R.Copperman, H.Lindsey, J.M.Nite) 5

WHY WE DRINK Big Music Machine, BMI/Double Barrel Ace Music, BMI/Seven Ring Circus Songs, BMI/Little Louder Songs, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/Old Desperados, LLC, ASCAP/N2D Publishing Company, Inc., ASCAP/Carol Vincent And Associates, LLC., ASCAP/Ole Red Cape Songs, ASCAP/Real Big Red Tunes, ASCAP (J.Moore, C.Beathard, D.L.Murphy, J.S.Stover) 27

Page 16: Country Updateis not quite like either of the previous records the award-winning singer-songwriter has launched in the marketplace. “I said to Jay when I heard that baritone sax

Hot Country Songs IndexTITLE Publishing-Licensing Org. (Songwriter) Chart Position

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 9, 2020 | PAGE 16 OF 17

10,000 HOURS Beats And Banjos, ASCAP/Shay Mooney Music, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Big Ass Pile Of Dimes Music, BMI/Big Music Machine, BMI/Buckeye26, ASCAP/Jreynmusic, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Bieber Time Publishing, ASCAP/Universal Music Corp., ASCAP/Poo BZ Publishing Inc., ASCAP/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP (D.Smyers, S.Mooney, J.J.Dillon, J.Reynolds, J.D.Bieber, J.Boyd) 2

A

AFTER A FEW I’m About To Go RED On Ya Music, BMI/Travis Denning Music, BMI/ole, BMI/Crack The Glass Songs, BMI/Stars And Stripes And Maple Leaf Music, BMI/Downtown DMP Songs, BMI/Sound Wagon Songs, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Music Of The Corn, ASCAP (T.Denning, K.Archer, J.Weaver) 20

B

BEER CAN’T FIX EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Cricket On The Line, BMI/Music Of Big Family, BMI/Dragon Bunny Music, BMI/Patriot Games Publishing, ASCAP/Write Me A Song Publishing, GMR/Downtown Global Two, GMR (Thomas Rhett, J.Bunetta, Z.Skelton, R.B.Tedder) 19

BETTER TOGETHER Big Music Machine, BMI/Egg Music, BMI/Straight Dimes Publishing, BMI/Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Sullivan S Guns Music, BMI (L.Combs, D.Isbell, R.Montana) 22

BIG, BIG PLANS Magic Mustang Music, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Big Loud Mountain, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Tree Vibez Music, LLC, BMI/Ern Dog Music, BMI (J.Durrett, C.Lane, E.K.Smith) 39

BLESSINGS Big Loud Mountain, BMI/T Hubb Publishing, BMI/Pranch Ringle Music, BMI/Round Hill Works, BMI/Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/Tomdouglasmusic, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Telemitry Rhythm House Music, BMI/Songs Of Roc Nation Music, BMI/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Freshy Music, ASCAP/We-Volve Music, ASCAP/Ern Dog Music, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Tree Vibez Music, LLC, BMI (T.Hubbard, B.Kelley, T.Douglas, J.Frasure, J.M.Schmidt, E.K.Smith) 23

BLUEBIRD Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Pink Dog Publishing, BMI/Emileon Songs, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/Little Louder Songs, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Wrucke For You Publishing, BMI (M.Lambert, L.Dick, N.Hemby) 26

THE BONES International Dog Music, BMI/Downtown DMP Songs, BMI/Jammy Rabbins Music, ASCAP/Round Hill Songs Jimmy Robbins, ASCAP/Extraordinary Alien Publishing, ASCAP/Oh Denise Publishing, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Big Music Machine, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Heroes And Halos Music, BMI (M.Morris, J.Robbins, L.J.Veltz) 1

C

CATCH Super Big Music, ASCAP/Caliville Publishing, ASCAP/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Plain Jane Songs, BMI/Rezolant Music, BMI/Round Hill Songs II, ASCAP/Combustion Engine Music, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP (B.Young, R.Copperman, A.Gorley) 15

CHASIN’ YOU BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/Team Destiny, ASCAP/JMZL Music, ASCAP/Big Loud Mountain, BMI/Round Hill Songs BLS JV, ASCAP/Big Loud Proud Songs, ASCAP/Red Toe Rocker, ASCAP (J.Moore, M.Wallen, C.Wiseman) 9

COVER ME UP Fame Publishing Company LLC, BMI/Songs Of Emchant, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI (M.J.Isbell) 41

D

DETAILS WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Future Heartbeat Publishing, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/A Boy Named Ford, BMI/Slo Circus Music, ASCAP/Roc Nation Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Rhythm House Red, ASCAP (M.Trussell, N.Galyon, S.L.Olsen) 47

DIE FROM A BROKEN HEART Super Big Music, ASCAP/Seven Red Brids Publishing, ASCAP/Big Music Machine, BMI/Jehovah Nissi Music, BMI/Jett Music, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Thankful For This Music, ASCAP/Doc And Maggie Music, SOCAN/Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing, ASCAP (M.Marlow, T.Dye, J.Singleton, D.Ruttan) 27

DOES TO ME Big Music Machine, BMI/50 Egg Music, BMI/Straight Dimes Publishing, BMI/Works Of RHA, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Larkin Hill Publishing, BMI/Kirbfinder’s Mucho Love Music, BMI (L.Combs, R.M.L.Fulcher, T.M.Reeve) 17

DONE ole Red Vinyl Music, BMI/Buckkilla Music, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Songsfortatum Publishing, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs US, BMI/Rounding Third Publishing, BMI/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Mitchell Marlow Music, ASCAP/KJM Music Publishing, ASCAP (C.Janson, M.Oglesby, J.Paulin, M.Roy) 48

DRINKING ALONE Carrie-Okie Music, BMI/Universal Music - Brentwood-Benson Songs, BMI/D Soul Music, ASCAP/Capitol CMG Genesis, ASCAP/Songs Of Brett, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP (C.Underwood, D.A.Garcia, Brett James) 33

DROWNING Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/They’ve Gone To Plaid Publishing, BMI/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Big Crowd Publishing, ASCAP/Georgia Song Vibez, ASCAP/Universal Tunes, SESAC/Songs For Owen Music, SESAC (C.A.Young, C.Crowder, J.Hoge) 30

F

FAMOUS Sony/ATV Accent, ASCAP/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/Sehr Laut, ASCAP/Songs Of Razor And Tie Music, ASCAP (A.Doleac, B.Hamrick, A.Skib) 43

G

GASLIGHTER Woolly Puddin’ Music, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/Scrapin’ Toast, ASCAP/Kobalt Songs Music Publishing LLC, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Songs LLC, BMI/Ducky Donath Music, BMI (M.Maguire, E.Strayer, N.Maines, J.M.Antonoff) 31

GETTING GOOD Weistribe Publishing, ASCAP/Thankful For This Music, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP (E.L.Weisband) 42

GOD WHISPERED YOUR NAME BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/Gold Leaf Pages, ASCAP/Micah Carter Publishing Designee, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs US, BMI/You Want How Much Of What Publishing, BMI/Worldwide EMG Music B, BMI/Bro 2 Bro Publishing, BMI (C.August, M.Carter, Shy Carter, J.T.Slater) 21

h

HARD TO FORGET Universal Music Corp., ASCAP/Between the Pines, LLC, ASCAP/Caleb’s College Fund, ASCAP/Round Hill Songs II, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Story Music Publishing, GMR/We Are Creative Nation, GMR/Suzanne James Songs, GMR/Unichappell Music, Inc., BMI/Smackstreet Music, GMR/Warner Geo Met Ric Music, GMR/Influence Media Music SPV, LLC, GMR/Sony/ATV Accent, ASCAP/Smackborne Music, ASCAP/Jamie Music Publishing Co., BMI (S.L.Hunt, A.Gorley, L.Laird, S.McAnally, J.Osborne, A.Grisham, M.J.Shurtz, R.Hull) 45

HERE AND NOW Round Hill Songs BLS JV, ASCAP/Big Loud Proud Songs, ASCAP/Red Toe Rocker, ASCAP/Old Desperados, LLC, ASCAP/N2D Publishing Company, Inc., ASCAP/Spirit Two Nashville, ASCAP/4TheKidz Music, ASCAP (C.Wiseman, D.L.Murphy, D.A.Garcia) 24

HER WORLD OR MINE Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/I’m About To Go RED On Ya Music, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs US, BMI/Music Of Big Deal, BMI/Stalefish Music, BMI (J.Paulin, T.Denning, B.Beavers) 32

HOLE IN A BOTTLE Sony/ATV Accent, ASCAP/Vistaville Music, ASCAP/Steph Jones Who Music, ASCAP/Big Deal Hits, ASCAP/410 Music, ASCAP/Telemitry Rhythm House Music, BMI/Songs Of Roc Nation Music, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Round Hill Songs II, ASCAP/Caleb’s College Fund, ASCAP (K.Ballerini, S.Jones, H.Lindsey, J.Frasure, A.Gorley) 50

HOMECOMING QUEEN? Sony/ATV Accent, ASCAP/Round Hill Songs II, ASCAP/JRM3, ASCAP/Muse Magic, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/A Boy Named Ford, BMI (K.Ballerini, J.Robbins, N.Galyon) 18

HOMEMADE BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/Songs Of Big Deal, ASCAP/Go For The Goldsmith, ASCAP/Mullins It Over Music, BMI/Tree Vibez Music, LLC, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Works Of RHA, BMI/Oak Tree Swing Publishing, BMI/New Writers Of Sea Gayle Music, BMI/Not A Track Guy Music, BMI (B.Goldsmith, J.Mullins, D.Parker, B.Pinson) 8

HOMESICK Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Kane Brown Music, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Don’t Be A Gypsy, BMI/Smackworks Music, SESAC/Kobalt Group Music Publishing, SESAC/Smack Blue, LLC, SESAC/TDP Publishing, BMI (K.Brown, B.Berryhill, M.J.McGinn, T.Phillips) 3

I

I HOPE Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/Revinyl House, BMI/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Nite Writer Music, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI (Z.Kale, J.M.Nite, G.Barrett) 6

I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY NOW BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/For The Kids Gold, ASCAP/Redfeather Publishing, ASCAP/Big Music Machine, BMI/50 Egg Music, BMI/Straight Dimes Publishing, BMI/Super Big Music, ASCAP/Jett Music, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Sullivan S Guns Music, BMI (C.Pearce, L.Combs, R.Montana, J.Singleton) 16

IN BETWEEN Dagum Music, BMI/Austintatious Tunes, BMI/Spirit Cataloge Holdings, S.A.R.L./Spirit Two Nashville, ASCAP/House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP/Party Of Five Music, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Super Big Music, ASCAP/Jett Music, ASCAP (S.McCreery, F.Rogers, J.L.Alexander, J.Singleton) 29

I WISH GRANDPAS NEVER DIED Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Riley Green Publishing Designee, BMI (R.Green, L.Bonds, B.Green) 14

J

JUST THE WAY Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/JM Thomas Music, BMI/Sony/ATV Tunes LLC, ASCAP/Kevin Bard Music, ASCAP/Margetts Road Music, ASCAP/Nolan W. Sipe Music, ASACP (M.Thomas, K.Bard, N.W.Sipe) 44

K

KINFOLKS Universal Music Corp., ASCAP/Bentween The Pines, LLC, ASCAP/Spirit Two Nashville, ASCAP/Miller Crow Music, ASCAP/Kyler’s Kinda Night, ASCAP/Twelve6 Dogwood, ASCAP/JFlow Records & Tapes, ASCAP/Downtown DLJ Songs, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Accent, ASCAP/Smackborne Music, ASCAP (S.L.Hunt, Z.Crowell, J.Flowers, J.Osborne) 4

L

LONELY IF YOU ARE Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/Dack Janiels Publishing, BMI/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Koala T Tunes, BMI/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Who Wants To Buy My Publishing, ASCAP (C.Rice, L.Rimes, H.Phelps) 25

M

MONSTERS Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Longer And Louder Music, BMI/Mammaw’s Fried Okra Music, BMI/Little Louder Songs, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI (E.Church, J.Hyde) 28

MORE HEARTS THAN MINE What Is An Ingrid, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Straight From The Art Music, BMI/Songs For A Stone Heart, BMI/Universal Music Corp., ASCAP/Happy Rock Publishing, ASCAP (I.Andress, S.Ellis, D.Southerland) 12

MY TRUCK Daniel Preland Publishing Designee, BMI/No Quincydence Music Publishing, BMI/Kalvin Austin, Publishing Designee, BMI/Devon Barton, Publishing Designee, BMI/E.MilesMusic, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Tatiana Zeigler Publishing Designee, BMI (D.Breland, T.Taylor, K.Austin, D.Barton, T.Zeigler) 35

N

NOBODY BUT YOU EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Rezolant Music, BMI/Smack Hits, GMR/Smack Songs LLC, GMR/Influence Media Music SPV, LLC, GMR/Kobalt Music Group Ltd., GMR/Sony/ATV Accent, ASCAP/Smackborne Music, ASCAP/Still Working For The Man Music, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI (T.L.James, R.Copperman, S.McAnally, J.Osborne) 7

O

ONE BEER Relative Music Group, BMI/BIRB Music, ASCAP/New Writers Of Sea Gayle Music, BMI/West Pass Music, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP (M.W.Hardy, H.Lindsey, J.Mitchell) 34

ONE BIG COUNTRY SONG Songs Of Roc Nation Music, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Telemitry Rhythm House Music, BMI/Round Hill Songs II, ASCAP/Caleb’s College Fund, ASCAP/Relative Music Group, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI (J.Frasure, A.Gorley, M.W.Hardy) 37

ONE MAN BAND WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Smackville Music, ASCAP/Smack Songs LLC, ASCAP/Kobalt Songs Music Publishing LLC, ASCAP/Rezsongs, ASCAP/Reehits World, ASCAP/Smacktown Music, ASCAP/Smack Blue, LLC, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing, ASCAP/Unfair Entertainment, ASCAP/MeGusta Music, ASCAP/We’re Really Doin’ It Publishing, ASCAP/Universal Music Corp., ASCAP/Turs And Chorus, ASCAP (M.Ramsey, T. Rosen, B.F.Tursi, J.Osborne) 5

ONE NIGHT STANDARDS Canned Biscuit Songs, BMI/Smack Hits, GMR/Influence Media Music SPV, LLC, GMR/Kobalt Music Group Ltd., GMR/I Love RHA, SESAC/Smackworks Music, SESAC/Smack Blue, LLC, SESAC (A.McBryde, S.McAnally, N.Hayford) 36

S

SHE’S MINE Music Of Stage Three, BMI/Songs Of Cornman, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs US, BMI/Songs From The Couch, BMI/Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing, ASCAP (K.Moore, D.Couch, S.Stepakoff) 49

SLOW DANCE IN A PARKING LOT Ole Red Cape Songs, ASCAP/Jordan Davis Music, ASCAP/Amylase Songs ‘N Such, ASCAP/Matching Cowlicks Music, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP (J.Davis, L.L.Fowler) 11

T

THIS BAR Relative Music Group, BMI/Ransom Quarter Note Music, ASCAP/Pie Cost Publishing, ASCAP/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Torches And Pitchforks Music, BMI/Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Big Loud Mountain, BMI (M.W.Hardy, J.Morgan, J.Scott, E.K.Smith, R.Vojtesak, M.Wallen) 46

W

WE BACK Songs Of TriScore, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Loyal Feather Music, BMI/Chifforobe Songs, BMI/Free Dive Music, BMI/Big Loud Mountain, BMI/Round Hill Works, BMI/T Hubb Publishing, BMI/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Georgia Song Vibez, ASCAP/We-Volve Music, ASCAP (B.D.Warren, B.Warren, T.Hubbard, J.M.Schmidt) 13

WHAT COULD’VE BEEN Maliburrito Music, BMI/Elehala Music, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/MRMD Music, BMI/Songs From Outter Space Music, BMI/WC Music Corp., ASCAP/Carver Music, ASCAP (C.Caillat, J.K.Young, J.Reeves, D.J.Reeves, J.Kenney) 38

WHAT SHE WANTS TONIGHT Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Peanut Mill Songs, BMI/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Rezolant Music, BMI/BIRB Music, ASCAP/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Nite Writer Music, ASCAP (L.Bryan, R.Copperman, H.Lindsey, J.M.Nite) 10

WHY WE DRINK Big Music Machine, BMI/Double Barrel Ace Music, BMI/Seven Ring Circus Songs, BMI/Little Louder Songs, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/Old Desperados, LLC, ASCAP/N2D Publishing Company, Inc., ASCAP/Carol Vincent And Associates, LLC., ASCAP/Ole Red Cape Songs, ASCAP/Real Big Red Tunes, ASCAP (J.Moore, C.Beathard, D.L.Murphy, J.S.Stover) 40

Page 17: Country Updateis not quite like either of the previous records the award-winning singer-songwriter has launched in the marketplace. “I said to Jay when I heard that baritone sax

Dixie Chicks (from left) Strayer, Maines and Maguire in Toronto in April 1999.

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BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 9, 2020 | PAGE 17 OF 17

On March 13, 1999, Dixie Chicks’ “You Were Mine” jumped 4-1 on Hot Country Songs. The ballad was penned by sibling group founders Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer. Lead vocalist Natalie Maines rounds out the trio.

The song was released as the fourth of five singles from Wide Open Spaces, which ruled Top Country Albums for seven weeks. It also generated the Hot

Country Songs No. 1s “There’s Your Trouble” and the title cut.

Dixie Chicks posted 14 Hot Country Songs top 10s, including six No. 1s, through 2002. On March 10, 2003, ahead of the Iraq War, Maines said onstage in London, “We’re ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas,” and the trio’s country radio fortunes subsequently froze. It

didn’t reach the top 10 again until September 2019 when the group was featured on Taylor Swift’s No. 10 hit

“Soon You’ll Get Better.”This week, Dixie Chicks debut at

No. 31 on Hot Country Songs with new single “Gaslighter” (see page 12). It’s the title track from the act’s first album (due May 1) since 2006’s Taking the Long Way. —JIM ASKER

21 Years AgoDixie Chicks Mined Another No. 1 HitThe trio was enjoying a smash career start before politics halted its run