Colter Wall Once Again Does The Remarkable with RIAA Certs


When the song “Feathered Indians” by Tyler Childers was officially Certified Gold by the RIAA on February 21st, 2020, it symbolized a new era in country music when non mainstream-supported artists could generate enough economic activity on their own to end up with those Gold and Platinum records you see in studios and museums.

“Feathered Indians” ended up just being the very starting point of this paradigm shift, ultimately opening up the flood gates for Tyler Childers, then Cody Jinks, then Whiskey Myers and now a host of independent-minded country artists earning not just Gold, but Platinum, Double Platinum, and even Triple Platinum certs from the RIAA. At this point, we aren’t even shocked when a song or an album earns such an achievement. It rarely even makes the news.

But Cowboy & Western artist Colter Wall earning RIAA Gold and Platinum certifications feels like it takes the phenomenon to an entirely new level. On May 10th, the RIAA didn’t just certify one of Colter Wall’s songs Gold. He earned five Certified Gold songs, another Gold certification on his debut album Imaginary Appalachia (2015), while his song “Sleeping On The Blacktop” was Certified Platinum.

To see this level of commercial success on songs that are no stretch to call old cowboy songs and Western reels is what makes all of this just that much more remarkable. And it’s not like Colter Wall is out there tearing across the United States on endless tours to promote his music. He’s likely to play less than 25 shows this year, while spending the vast majority of his time in rural Saskatchewan working on the ranch.

The song “Cowpoke” is an old Stan Jones song originally recorded in 1951. Stan Jones died in 1963. And here Colter Wall is making it into a Certified Gold hit in the age of A.I. and electric cars. But most of Colter’s new certifications are for his early original songs, including “The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie,” “Caroline (feat. Belle Plaine),” as well as the aforementioned “Sleeping on the Blacktop” going Platinum, all from Imaginary Appalachia.

Colter also receives a Gold record for the murder ballad “Kate McCannon,” as well as “Fraulein (feat. Tyler Childers) off of his 2017 self-titled album. Gold certifications are for sales and streaming equivalents totaling 500,000, and Platinum certifications mark 1 million in sales and streaming equivalents.

Expect this to be just be the start of Colter Wall’s RIAA certs. He already has multiple other songs that are right on the brink of Gold certification, while a song like “The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie” is already knocking on the door of Platinum status with nearly 124 million plays on Spotify alone.

In a previous era, the powers that be in country music would tell you that there was no appetite for old Western songs, or a young guy who sounds like he’s in his 70s. But it’s Colter Wall’s passion for the music, and his authenticity that has made him such a folk hero in the contemporary era. In a world of cosplay cowboys, Colter is the real deal.

Congratulations to Colter and his label LaHonda Records.

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