Massive Start for Garth Brooks’ “All Day Long” Is Another Sign of Honky Tonk Resurgence
Are you tired of reading about Garth Brooks? Well tough, because all of a sudden he’s making major moves that could have a big impact on country music, and in a positive manner. Two weeks ago, Saving Country Music prophesied,
“Right now there is a rising tide of honky tonk artists from the independent realm to the mainstream finding traction with the sort of late 80’s traditional country sound Garth Brooks and others championed at the time. Now that Garth has his radio strategy figured out a bit better, a big honky tonk song from him could give the emerging movement a big boost.”
And that’s exactly what his current single is doing, and in ways nobody could have predicted, even the bloated ego of Garth Brooks. His new undeniably country song “All Day Long” was not just the most added song on country radio this week, Garth’s most country-sounding song in over two decades was the most added song on country radio in the last nearly three years.
With 135 total adds according to Mediabase, “All Day Long” turns in the best performance for a debut single going back to August of 2015. And appreciate this is during a time when Sam Hunt released a new single, Florida Georgia Line released a new single, Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan have released new singles, and Garth Brooks did better upon debut than all of them, and by a big margin. The performance of “All Day Long” is good enough for a #28 debut on the Mediabase chart, and #21 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.
So the next question is, what’s going on here? How is a 56-year-old that has been considered virtually irrelevant on country radio for 20 years aside from some token singles all of a sudden swept in to potentially dominate the landscape? Perhaps the public, and country radio programmers are starved for actual country music. And while some love to chide Garth for his incredibly-antiquated digital music strategy, perhaps his limiting of access to the song created the right appetite for people to actually call up their stations and request new Garth since they haven’t heard it yet, and those requests were actually heard.
In a music environment where everyone expects instant gratification, Garth is trying something different, and it seems to be working. By limiting access, it brings back the magic of hearing a song for the first time, or waiting eagerly for a song to come on the radio. What is the importance of hearing a song played on a radio station when you can access it via Spotify any time on your smartphone?
Now granted, “All Day Long” is not a great song. But it’s decent, and it’s country. But it’s important to look big picture here. That’s what Garth did. There’s something going on right now ranging from the deepest of the underground all the way to the top of mainstream radio where a major appetite for authentic, late 80’s honky tonk country is emerging. New artists like Randall King—who Garth has confirmed is the songwriter behind his upcoming concert opener “The Road I’m On”—all the way up to Garth himself are finding traction with this 30-year-old style of country.
And as we know, country music is a copycat business. Whatever works will be replicated. That’s why we saw so many Sam Hunt and Florida Georgia Line clones crop up in the last few years. Will this now happen with twangy, honky-tonk country music? We’ll just have to see.
And don’t forget, Garth Brooks is the reigning 2-time Entertainer of the Year. People are overlooking him as an influencer, and perhaps he overlooked himself as one as well. But if Garth Brooks wants to exude some leadership in a honky tonk direction, it’s all right there in front of him.
A wild-eyed prediction that Garth may help usher in a honky tonk resurgence has all of a sudden become a bona fide working theory. Add the recent success of acts like Midland and Jon Pardi, Chris Stapleton finally experiencing a #1 single on radio, and a whole slew of hungry, younger artists who’ve embraced a honky tonk sound waiting in the wings, and we could have something serious brewing here.
Stay tuned.
June 27, 2018 @ 9:12 am
In light of some of this I’d love to see some sort of list or shootout type article about the artists out there now doing more mainstream/90’s style country.
June 27, 2018 @ 9:41 am
Yeah I may do something like that soon, but I hate doing lists because they invariably devolve into folks complaining about what’s not on it instead of using it has a forum for discovery. There are a ton though, and I’ve been reviewing them left and right. Jay Bragg, Mike and the Moonpies, Randall King, Shotgun Rider, Courtney Patton, Josh Ward, Tim Culpepper. Those are just some of the albums I’ve review recently that fall into this category.
June 27, 2018 @ 10:54 am
Trigger, For every whiner about what’s not on the list, I bet there’s 9 of us silent folks adding stuff to our playlist ????
June 28, 2018 @ 10:33 am
People love to bitch
….. most of the time just to hear themselves talk
June 27, 2018 @ 10:53 am
I’ve been Drinking More by Jason James is one of my faves.
June 27, 2018 @ 9:16 am
I just find it hard to believe this song was added that quickly all buy itself. I’m sure Garth had to throw alot of money to get it to debit that high. If radio was really listening to listeners and adding songs because they sound country, George, Alan, and others all would have ridiculously high debuts still too.
June 27, 2018 @ 9:46 am
Sure Garth worked the promotional angle, but he always does, and so do the artists he’s competing with. There definitely could be other environmental factors into why it was the most-added song in three years, like how many other major singles were debuting that week, etc. But you don’t get an opening like this without the right chemistry being in play. Garth Brooks has been touring the country, playing his hits, building a new appetite for his music. But again I think this is much bigger than Garth. I think folks are hungry for a honky tonk sound.
Also when it comes to Alan Jackson and George Strait, neither has released a new album in a few years. Alan Jackson did release a single, but it seemed to be more to coincide with his Hall of Fame induction as opposed to a radio play. Since both are due for new singles and new records, who knows what could happen if they select the right song and try to put a little muscle behind it. Garth has proved it’s at least possible, and that may be just as important for the industry to understand as the artists themselves.
June 27, 2018 @ 10:07 am
Like many high-profile singles, Garth received the “on the hour” opening day support from the iHeartMedia Network.
In conjunction with that premiere program, all those stations automatically add the song to their playlists. So that starts the song off with a good baseline add count.
But, again, most of the big country names have similar support from iHeart — so Garth clearly did a better job of getting the non-iHeart stations to confirm the add as well.
It’s also worth noting that Sam Hunt and Carrie Underwood released their new singles on Wednesdays (IIRC) and thus had two extra days to get the stations to report their adds. And they didn’t receive as many as Garth.
So, in short, it would be a stretch to call the add count totally organic. But Garth did receive more organic first-week support than other big names.
Whether they stick with the song remains to be seen.
June 28, 2018 @ 3:01 am
Many of us are so sick and tired of Nashville’s bro-Country and pop-Country they continually push. True country artists can’t get radio air play unless their a powerhouse like Stapleton or Garth. For example, Cody Jinks, Turnpike Turbadours, etc.
June 27, 2018 @ 7:43 pm
Hey you’re talking about the guy who debuted at #1 with “more than a memory” way back when
June 28, 2018 @ 6:22 am
In today’s industry, self promotion is the only way for artists to get their music out there. Sadly, it doesn’t really matter how good the music is. Today the mighty dollar runs the industry. If you want to reach the people you have to promote the hell out of yourself, no one else is gonna do it for you, so Garth has the money and he uses it well. George and Alan do also, but they have strong morals that they stick to, which I applaud.
June 27, 2018 @ 9:36 am
Yes, tired. If he helps then great…but I’ve never owned anything of his & think hes quite disingenuous with his awe shucks act & over the top politeness. Just never bought into what hes up to.
June 27, 2018 @ 4:39 pm
I thought that it was act too. Then I happened to meet him on a business trip to LA. Just walking down a deserted alley in Century City (evidently they exist in LA) and ran into Trisha and him. He shook my hand and asked all sorts of questions about me, my job, and my family. He could have said hello, shook my hand and kept walking. I still would have been impressed. No one else was close so he could have blown me off.
But he had all the time in the world for me. To this day I will never forget how he treated me.
June 27, 2018 @ 5:20 pm
Michael ….if you are absolutely sure that was Garth you met then I’m very surprised and very impressed by his behaviour .
June 28, 2018 @ 8:19 am
100%. I was surprised and impressed too.
June 27, 2018 @ 7:23 pm
Garth Brooks is an egotistical maniac, every award he received he would reply” it’s all about the numbers”, he said he has more money than his children’s children’s grandchildren could spend! (Who in the hell cares and who in the hell would say something like that??? He has been irrelevant for 20 years and he is trying desperately to compete with these extremely talented young country stars! His writers back in the day made him what he is today, those writers are gone and it is really irritating him that he can’t get hits out there! Leave well enough alone and retire already, many new artists today are way more talented than you Garth Brooks!
June 27, 2018 @ 9:38 am
If there really is a type of honky tonk resurgence, it would be great to see some new George Strait songs on the radio and on popular streaming platforms.
June 27, 2018 @ 9:48 am
And the nimber 2 add last week was Shenandoah “Thats Where I Grew Up”
June 27, 2018 @ 10:00 am
Haven’t heard their new song yet
June 27, 2018 @ 5:08 pm
That’s awesome, Shenandoah was always a super underrated band.
June 27, 2018 @ 9:53 am
Garth was never honky-tonk to begin with, other than a couple songs. He’s unqualified and incapable of leading any proper honky-tonk “resurgence.” Maybe he and David Lee Roth can string up and lead an arena pop/mullet rock resurgence…
June 27, 2018 @ 10:05 am
Yes, there’s NO sonic distinction between Garth Brooks and 80’s hair metal.
BTW, Van Halen >>>> Van Hagar
June 27, 2018 @ 10:33 am
Neither act was about the song, much more about the show. Just like their flying acrobatics, the point went over your head. As far as Van Halen vs. Van Hagar, I agree with you.
June 27, 2018 @ 2:42 pm
Trigger, I’m a bit befuddled by you continuously referring to Garth Brooks as Honky-tonk. I think Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, George Jones, Ray Price, Webb Pierce, etc. But not Garth Brooks.
June 27, 2018 @ 2:52 pm
I’m not referring to Garth Brooks as honky tonk. I’m referring to “All Day Long” as a honky tonk song, which I think is very fair. It has all the elements of a honky tonk song, including prevalent steel guitar and fiddle. That doesn’t make it a good song. I think as a song, it’s fairly mild, and said as much in my review. But that doesn’t make it honky tonk.
Hank Williams and Ernest Tubb have been dead for many decades. I would argue Ray Price and George Jones were never honky tonk. They were more refined than that, barring a few songs. So I’m not sure those are fair comparisons for a modern context. The #1 song on the Hot Country Songs chart since 2017 is a song called “Meant to Be.” That’s a fair modern comparison. Go listen to that, then listen to “All Day Long” and tell me it’s not more apt to call it honky tonk than modern pop country.
June 27, 2018 @ 8:31 pm
Still puzzling that Garth will lead a Honky-tonk resurgence when he’s not Honky-tonk, with just a song or two.
And if George Jones circa Why Baby Why and Ray Price circa Crazy Arms ain’t Honky-tonk, then nothing is.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see it, just not sure Garth is our man.
June 27, 2018 @ 10:17 am
Pretty sure the oh-so-honky-tonk “All Day Long” will not climb much (next week).
The majority of high new entries is dropping to the back of the charts in week 2 & it’s a hard way to return to the Top 20 even for some big names.
I’ll wait for new Alan Jackson & George Strait music.
In the meantime i listen to:
Sam Austin – “Maybe”
Dallas Wayne – “Blame It On The Times” (New Album: Songs The Jukebox Taught Me Vol. 2)
DeWayne Spaw – “History In The Making” (New Album: History In The Making)
Michael Lee Austin – “Ain’t A Horse In Texas” (Album: Labor Pains / released 2005)
Tony Corrales – “Honky Tonks & Cantinas” (New Album: Country Looks Good On You)
Mark Powell – “You Look Like I Could Use A Drink” (Current Album: Breaking Things)
Wesley Michael Hayes – “Sing Pain” (Current EP: American Bigtime)
(Not only for the fans of Alan Jackson & George Strait)
June 27, 2018 @ 10:19 am
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Oh…i get the VIP treatment again?
Come on…
June 27, 2018 @ 10:46 am
Your quote of Garth’s song title was flagged for potential plagiarism and copyright infringement.
Garth is watching…
June 27, 2018 @ 10:35 am
No, it was Luke Bryan’s “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset”.
June 27, 2018 @ 10:41 am
This will not compete with Cody Jinks, Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Whitey Morgan or Tyler Childers for legitimate honky think music.
June 27, 2018 @ 10:42 am
I am not a fan of Garth Brooks for a number of reasons, but he is one of the few people with the appropriate heft to get things moving in the right direction, so I’m rooting for him.
June 27, 2018 @ 10:43 am
Garth is a true megastar. He has so many fans, and they will seek out his stuff, and demand it, at such volume that even the country hating country music industry doesn’t dare get in the way.
I’d love for this move by Garth to lead to massive stardom for guys like Cody Jinks and Whitey Morgan. They’ve more than earned it. I just don’t see how that happens because of this song.
I’m sure the corporate sheep will follow Garth’s lead here, but Garth is a massive outlier in this business. He can do whatever he wants and come up aces. The popsters will try to emulate him and fail miserably, and they’ll be right back to talk-singing over computers.
Likely upside here would be that at least we might have a radio fad where something resembling actual country music takes over the airwaves for a bit.
June 27, 2018 @ 11:32 am
Cody Jinks and Whitey Morgan don’t need help from Garth Brooks, and trust me, they don’t want it either. They’re doing fine on their own. If Cody Jinks plays his cards right, he might be selling out amphitheaters this time next year. The people this could impact are artists like Randall King, who just released an album, and Dillon Carmichael who is about to. These young, late 80’s sounding honky tonkers have an opportunity to impact the mainstream—and possibly with the help of Garth—that they may otherwise not have without the heft of a superstar behind them.
Most or all those adds Garth accrued last week on radio came directly out of the pocket of pop artists who have little or no resemblance or history with country music. Cody Jinks may sell out arenas, and that’s great for Cody and his fans. But for country music to be saved, balance has to return to mainstream radio as well. Garth just took a big step in that direction.
June 27, 2018 @ 10:46 am
The Randall King album is good news for me and I hope others. Good to hear someone new doing it so well, and hopeful that it might make others pull out those old Joe Diffie, Mark Chesnutt, Tracy Lawrence, etc CDs.
June 27, 2018 @ 10:48 am
My favorite Garth song will always be “Two Of A Kind Working on a full House”.
June 27, 2018 @ 11:11 am
No matter what this man does, there will always be folks out there who mistakenly continue to bash him because of his flirtation with rock, despite 3 decades of a very public affinity for real country music.
Despite that, it’s obvious by reading the comments from many in the recent SCM articles about Garth that so many are determined to hold fast to their belief that any and everybjngbGarth does Ian either garbage or some “marketing ploy”. The man is an open book and despite some pretty poor material from his last two albums, he has never tried T.J. be anything other than who he is. You can choose not to like it, but it’s authentic—it’s Garth.
It’s pure lazy thinking to place the blame squarely on him for “ruining” country music when in reality, it was executives, radio heads, and other artists all trying to replicate his success and appeal that doomed mainstream country after the late 90’s. It’s also a little petty to poo poo every current move Garth makes because the material isn’t the second coming of “No Fences”. Take a breath and take a pragmatic approach for a second. The song may not be a 10, but it’s solid and most assuredly country. We should sit tight and enjoy the ride because Trig is right—it’s quite possible only Garth has the clout and influence to pull off a widespread return to an era (Class of ‘89) that is dear to many hearts.
June 27, 2018 @ 11:53 am
“he has never tried T.J. be anything other than who he is.”
What’s that? Chris Gaines is on the line and wants to chat with SteelMcFiddle?
June 27, 2018 @ 12:34 pm
WTF spelled backwards is “For The Win!”
June 27, 2018 @ 4:39 pm
Chris Gaines was a character for a movie with the album intended to help generate buzz ahead of the release. Then the movie fell through. That story is well known by now and pretending it’s something beyond that is disingenuous.
June 27, 2018 @ 7:58 pm
What? There was going to be a Chris Gaines movie???
June 27, 2018 @ 10:19 pm
Waylon said it best when it comes to Garth Brooks if you catch my drift.
June 28, 2018 @ 5:59 pm
You can’t prove that he didn’t either. Anyhow it’s pretty much true regardless.
June 27, 2018 @ 12:37 pm
If this is considered honky tonk, then what the hell is a guy like Whitey Morgan considered? Calling them both honky tonk is an insult to Morgan and all those like him.
June 27, 2018 @ 1:09 pm
My feelings exactly.
June 27, 2018 @ 12:42 pm
If this is honky tonk, then what the hell happened to honky tonk?
June 27, 2018 @ 1:10 pm
Ive never been a huge fan of him or anything, but hes got my attention with this one. Heard it on radio yesterday and I thought it was a song from the mid 90’s till I saw this article. Garth really does not give a flying shit what anybody thinks, he does what he wants to do and has the money to do it. If someone as powerful as him in the radio business can land this kind of REAL country music at good chart positions, its a good chance we will see a couple artists follow. Who knows, maybe he heard Midland’s “Drinkin Problem” and saw how good it did on the charts and decided to take a risk on this song. Looks like its paying off. Good job, Garth…keep it up, keep it country!!!
June 27, 2018 @ 1:13 pm
I will love it. Honestly, I feel like the radio is only getting worse. Half of the songs sound exactly like mainstream pop or popular music. Not even a token banjo.
June 27, 2018 @ 1:37 pm
Well, there often is a token banjo, but it’s something likely created in GarageBand.
June 27, 2018 @ 2:24 pm
Randall King’s debut is really good, hopefully it gains traction and gets the attention it deserves. All Day Long is pretty good, if not great. I’d love to hear more like it on my local country stations.
June 27, 2018 @ 7:46 pm
Every 10 years, for as long as I can remember, country music had adapted to a new style going into the next decade. Its nearly 2020 Maybe this is honkytonk, honest to god real country music returning to relevance.
June 27, 2018 @ 8:55 pm
I might get bashed with my question but I’m just wondering why some traditionalists continue throwing hate and shade against mainstream country artists even if they’re on to something good, like releasing country-sounding songs or doing something good for the country music community? Is it grudge or something? And if so, why? Is forgiveness not a thing or you just can’t stand mainstrean acts enough to hate them constantly? This is saddening. But I’m in no place to judge them because I’m just a new country music fan and I don’t know what they’ve been through to act like that.
June 27, 2018 @ 10:40 pm
Fuck Streaming. Good on Garth for that.
Buy a physical copy of your music. Listen to albums and stop being such a pussy.
June 28, 2018 @ 10:06 am
Are you suggesting that I’m a pussy because I usually buy albums on itunes rather than buying a physical cd or record?
June 28, 2018 @ 4:55 am
While I agree with a lot of yall, I think I’m siding with Trig-o on this one. Garth has the ability to move big units, as in product. Music Row imbeciles love the smell of those Franklins.There are precious few that can generate the level of sales Garth can. That’s a fact.
If he can put actual country back on the air, that’s a huge positive. Is he honky tonk? Meh…
But he has it in him if he desires. Don’t get me wrong, Whitey and Cody are pretty great, but neither stands to effect a change in radio as near as I can tell. Wish they could believe me.
Let’s see where this goes.
June 28, 2018 @ 10:01 am
There are a ton of traditional country folks who see Garth’s name and have an immediate negative reaction, and I totally get that. He’s earned it over the years, and then some. I don;t even blame folks who want to have nothing to do with his music, past or present. And even though I think this is putting an undue limitation on your music enjoyment, I get that as well. But if you’re truly going to approach the effort to “save country Music” objectively, you have to look big picture, and beyond your personal fandom. That may not be right for everybody. Some folks just want to get turned on to some cool new music and move on with their lives, and I get that. But with the charge of this website, it would be irresponsible to not point out that a song with prevalent fiddle and steel guitar from an artist in his 50’s who’s been around for 30 years is the most added song on the radio. This is kind of a big deal. Where it goes from here, we’ll have to see, but it shows a lot of promise, and not just for Garth, but for all music that features prevalent steel guitar and fiddle, and has an undeniably country vibe.
As a traditional country fan, it’s so easy to focus on the negative, because it’s all over the place. But when something positive happens, it’s important to celebrate it, support and champion it, in hopes that positive momentum for the music spreads.
June 28, 2018 @ 6:05 pm
You must be high if you think Garth is going to lead any kind of country radio revolution. Even in his heyday he was barely country.
Whitey and Cody are more country than Garth Brooks could ever hope to be.
June 28, 2018 @ 7:39 am
I get the reason behind Garth & his music strategy but I literally never have heard the song, and I can’t find it anywhere. So I would imagine people lose interest in what could be a great song. I’d be willing to bet that money shoved this to its current chart position, and this will never see top 10. Just my opinion.
June 29, 2018 @ 5:50 am
Garth Brooks is a great entertainer! I know because I’ve seen him 3 times in concert. Most successful solo artist of all time. Grew up in a big family last of 6 kids. His mom and dad didn’t have a lot of money. Garth had to work very hard to get where his now! Went to Oklahoma state and got his advertising degree while on weekends playing music in bars-honky tonks. Most of all his band member have been with him since the early nineties. That speaks volumes about him as a person considering he took so much time off from playing music. Garth has the record for most hours signing autographs. He sells out concerts as fast as or faster than any artist ever in the business. Pretty amazing what he’s accomplished. Kept all his ticket prices low including front row tickets. Same price as nose bleed seats. Does free concerts sometimes. He cares about other people and the world we live in.
June 28, 2018 @ 9:11 am
My two cents on this is I think like many today. Especially us who stream music from Apple or Spotify. Garth has an agreement with Amazon and his music is not streamed to most of us. I do not listen to radio much anymore. The music they play and call country to me is pop. I left pop music back in 1980. Streaming allows me to stay on the leading edge of what I call real or traditional country music. My playlist is often similar to Saving Country Music playlist, except my tastes are slightly more traditional in some cases. Back in the 80’s and 90’s I would buy nearly every single CD released each week at Best Buy or other music stores. And that included a lot of Garth music. But streaming changed all that and Garth’s need to control everything about his releases has caused me to basically ignore his music. It’s not in my world. I am not adverse to spending the money to buy music and support artists. But I am not going to go out of my way to listen to all day long garbage on the radio just to hear one Garth song. I wish Garth the best hope his music does bring some better country back to the radio especially female artists. There is a plethora of great music out there right now to stream, the Wild Feathers, Joshua Hedley, Josh Ward, Justin Eady, Chris Hennessee, Mark Powell, Jacki Stone, Rhyan Sinclair and many more. Sorry Garth but for this Old Boy I just won’t hear it for a long time and can’t add it to my playlist without hearing it first.
June 28, 2018 @ 8:37 pm
If the idea is to make traditional/honky tonk country popular with younger generations, I think his strategy won’t work well. Younger people (including me, and I’m 37), stream on Youtube and Spotify and download from iTunes. His song isn’t on any of those, so the young generations aren’t being exposed to it except on the radio. And frankly, a lot of younger people including me consider radio kind of an outdated thing now except when we’re driving (and even then, radio is inferior to Spotify, songs on our phones, etc).
June 29, 2018 @ 4:45 am
This is country radio payola at work again. There will be no honky tonk revival on commercial radio. Garth’s music is the aural equivalent of Wal Mart, so they are ideal corporate partners.
June 30, 2018 @ 2:19 am
Man ya’ll done been bamboozled! This guys reel name is Chris Gaines! We gotta buncha copies of his cd down at my pawn shop. This country schtick aint never gonna last!! KISS ARMY 4EVA!!!!!!!!