As Zach Top Cools Off, Gavin Adcock Heats Up

Random Notes 24 Comments


Don’t look now, but there has been a dramatic shift in the trajectory of two of country music’s hottest up-and-coming stars, and it doesn’t bode well if you’re advocating for the continuance of country music’s resurgence of rootsier, twangier, more traditional country music.

Zach Top’s most recent album Ain’t In It For My Heath was released a month ago (August 29th), and could have been a catalyst to keep him at the top of the country music consciousness. But that isn’t exactly the case, at least not yet. It was a little disappointing when the 15-song album debuted at #4 in the charts when we were hoping for at least #2 behind Morgan Wallen’s latest. Still, Zach Top is just getting started in his career, and there will be plenty of opportunities for topping the albums charts in the future.

But just as disappointing, Top’s new album continues to enact a rather precipitous slide down the charts as opposed to showing signs of being one of those “sticky” records that sits in the Top 20 for sometimes years before slowly fading off. Last week, Ain’t In It For My Health dropped to #27, losing 26% of the streaming and sales activity from the previous week, which was the biggest percentage drop in the entire Top 100 of the country albums chart.

Where is Zach Top’s previous album Cold Beer & Country Music? Over the last many months, it’s been one of those “sticky” albums at the top of the charts. But for the first time in a long time, it dropped out of the Top 20 to #21 last week, losing 9.4% of sales and streams, making it the biggest percentage loser in the Top 25.

Granted, to have albums at #21 and #27 on the Billboard Country Albums charts would be a fate many country artists would love to have, including contemporary mainstream ones like Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean. Zach Top is still doing quite well comparatively. But it’s inescapable that Zach Top is cooling off.

Why is this? It could be that the new album Ain’t In It For My Health just isn’t being very well-received. Though the reviews were great, and folks hounded Saving Country Music for only giving it an 8.0, the numbers don’t lie. The new album just isn’t resonating like the previous one. And so far, we haven’t seen that super hit like “I Never Lie” was for Zach from the previous album.

This could also be part of a greater trend where listeners are starting to grow a little tired of the whole neotraditional thing that Zach Top embodies so strongly. So if Zach Top isn’t the hot new thing in country music, who is? That would be Gavin Adcock.

As Zach Top is tabling off in the charts, Gavin Adcock continues to rise. Last week, his latest album Own Worst Enemy rose from #11 to #9 in the charts, gaining 6.3% in sales and streams—more than any other title in the Top 25. What’s the bump from? According to Gavin Adock himself, it’s all the controversy he’s stirring.

On September 19th, Gavin took to social media to gloat,

“For all the people out there that’s loved and supported me over the past four years of my career, thank y’all so much. I love y’all. Gonna always stand up and support y’all and do what’s right. For all the sissies out there that I’ve been living rent-free in their head, thank y’all for making this one of the biggest streaming weeks of my career. You fell right into the trap.”

And that’s exactly what this is—a trap. As a troll, the controversial Gavin Adcock feeds off of attention. As controversies have raged between him and Charley Crockett, Zach Bryan, Beyoncé, and others, his name continues to make it into the public consciousness. Even when people pointed out his own fans were criticizing him for backing down from a fight with Zach Bryan recently, it still had more people asking, “Who is Gavin Adcock?”

Nobody would accuse Gavin Adcock of being a traditional, rootsy, or critically-acclaimed country artist. Many of his fans are more fans of the bad boy persona than they are of the music. But the music is slightly better than what they’re used to hearing in the mainstream. It has just enough of that “Outlaw” patina to make people think they’ve just discovered the “real deal” in a world of fake country stars.

Meanwhile, Zach Top’s out there keeping his nose clean as controversies and flame wars ensue between a host of various other artists. This isn’t a recommendation Zach Top start mixing it up with someone just to garner attention. If you’re a neotraditionalist like Zach Top, you’re here to play the long game, not be the next flash in the pan.

What could turn the tide for Top? He’s set up real pretty for the CMA Awards come November, with nominations in multiple major categories. A big night could give him a big boost, because just like Gavin Adcock a few short months ago, most of America still doesn’t even know who Zach Top is.

But with Hudson Westbrook out there collaborating with Marshmello, Ella Langley working with BigXthaPlug, we’re definitely starting to see some of the steam go out of the traditional country resurgence, at least in the mainstream. All of these things work in cycles, and we might be coming to the end of one in real time.

Let’s not count out Zach Top or the other young neotraditionalists just yet. Zach Top is inspiring a whole host of new artists as we speak, and inspiring labels to pay attention to them. The resurgence of country sounds in the mainstream could be just getting started.

But we live in an attention economy, for better or worse. And even without big hits on the radio, and even if he’s losing his battles, Gavin Adcock is winning the war.

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