Sturgill Simpson Puts 2 Bluegrass Albums in Top of Country Charts
In a pretty unprecedented development for the modern era, there are two separate albums of bluegrass music currently in the Top 15 of the Country Albums chart according to Nielsen Soundscan. Even more unprecedented, they’re both from the same guy. Making matters even more convoluted and unprecedented, the feat comes as a mess of Christmas music dominates the charts due to back catalog streams around the Holiday season.
Sturgill Simpson’s Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 – The Butcher Shoppe Sessions released on October 16th is at #7 on the latest installment of the charts, and his more recent release Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 2 – Cowboy Arms Sessions with a street date of December 11th is at #14. How did the older volume chart better than the newer one? It’s because Sturgill Simpson’s physical pre-orders of Vol. 1 officially shipped during the week, bolstering it in the charts, while Vol. 2‘s physical copies are still on the way, meaning it only had streaming and download data to back its chart position.
Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 got credited for moving 23,230 physical copies this week. Along with the 2.2 million streams the record received, it was good for 25,043 in album sales and equivalents, and the #7 placement. Meanwhile Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 2 didn’t move any physical product, but songs from the album were streamed 4.3 million times, making for the #14 placement. The surprise nature of the releases, and a worldwide slowdown in vinyl production is the reason for the delays in physical copies.
But both records would have been much higher if it wasn’t for the sheer dominance of Christmas music on the charts at the moment. No harm and no foul can be found with Carrie Underwood’s new Christmas album My Gift, which has been legitimately dominating the album charts for the last couple of months, and comes in at #1 this week, or Dolly Parton’s new Christmas album A Holly Dolly Christmas, which is #3.
However, albums from Elvis Presley, Burl Ives, Bobby Helms, Brenda Lee, and Gene Autry all make it into the Top 15 this week solely due to a single classic Christmas tune on the titles being streamed like crazy. Now that song streams count on albums charts, anomalies like this can materialize. If it wasn’t for these titles, Sturgill’s Cuttin Grass Vol. 1 would have been at #5 on the charts this week as opposed to #7, and Vol. 2 would have been at #9 as opposed to #14.
Luke Combs was also at #2 on this week’s chart with What You See Is What You Get, and Chris Stapleton was at #3 with his newest record, Starting Over.
It’s very rare to have any bluegrass record in the Top 20 of the country charts, let alone two. It’s yet another notch in the belt of Sturgill Simpson.
Vinyl copies of Cuttin Grass Vol. 2 are expected to ship out on April 2, 2021.
December 24, 2020 @ 9:40 am
Isn’t there a Garth Brooks Greatest Hits: Cover Tribute Album Vol 1 charting at #8?
December 24, 2020 @ 10:39 am
It’s the iTunes Charts littered with “sound a like artists” and KT Oslin compilations.
December 24, 2020 @ 9:48 am
Is there not a Christmas/holiday chart for Christmas music? I just feel like people like sturgill who release new music in December can get screwed on the charts by that. Just my humble opinion:)
December 24, 2020 @ 2:20 pm
You would think with how popular Christmas music is at this time, it would necessitate its own chart. I don’t have a problem if cohesive albums are included if they’re selling and streaming real well like the Dolly Parton and Carrie Underwood records. But to just name an album the top album in a given week just because it has one classic Christmas song on it seems completely disingenuous and counterintuitive for an albums chart. No offense to Brenda Lee and Burl Ives. Then again, Billboard seems completely asleep at the wheel with all of their charts.
December 24, 2020 @ 11:34 am
Really surprised in the lag time for physical CDs.
I had bought a copy of Vol 1 for my dad last month, assuming it would be in before Christmas.
Just got the shipping notification this week – and we had done Christmas with them this past weekend.
December 24, 2020 @ 4:36 pm
From the same guy nominated for a Grammy in the Rock category….Stu is a badass!
December 25, 2020 @ 7:32 am
It’s very rare to have any bluegrass record in the Top 20 of the country charts, let alone two. It’s yet another notch in the belt of Sturgill Simpson.
True. And Ive thought about this. I know its stating the obvious, but I’ll say it. The sales are likely from the already existing fan base he has. I don’t think a lot of the streaming and/or purchases of these two records are coming from the hardcore bluegrass community. I say this for a few reasons. I know this community fairly well, as I have attended bluegrass fests for years, and have sort of come to understand the mind-set of this community. Many of these folks are suspicious of someone coming along outside of the genre and just releasing a bluegrass album. They see folks like that as interlopers.
Let me say also, I’m not referring to the Jam-Grass Trampled By Turtles, Yonder mountain String Band crowd. ( Thats a different animal entirely, and different scene) I’m referring to the folks who I see at traditional Grass festivals, where you find artists like Russell Moore, Don Rigsby, Grascals, Lonesome River Band, Junior Sisk, Blue Highway, Larry Cordle and the like. I doubt you ever see Simpson at one of these festivals, or even in the conversation among the fans.
So whats my point? Its simple. Simpson made a couple records that are bluegrass, but likely arent going to resonate with the real bluegrass community. Perhaps, if he went all-in like Ricky Skaggs did and stick around for the long haul playing this music, he might get an in-road into this community. But currently, I think its gonna be like the one time Steve Earle made a Grass record, it was loved by his fan-base, but largely ignored by the bluegrass community.
The other possibility is perhaps Simpson goes on the road with a live show of this stuff and turns it into a jam-grass thing. Then maybe you see him gaining traction in that scene.
December 25, 2020 @ 1:49 pm
Kevin,
You speak the truth here.
December 25, 2020 @ 8:44 am
Who in downtown Nashville pissed off the IRA?
December 25, 2020 @ 9:37 am
I’m gonna make a prediction now. Sturgill I’m gonna win a Grammy for best Rock album, then get nominated for best Bluegrass album next year and will win that as well.
December 27, 2020 @ 6:47 am
hahaha. Scammys?
they will nominate their darling(s) no matter what genre is and give em their due. Here’s some of them.
Tori Kelly – origin and nominated first in Pop (Big 4) but won for her Gospel album (it’s Scooter fucking Braun’s)
Sara Bareilles – origin and mostly nominated in Pop and but got her first in Americana category
Hillary Scott a.k.a the Lady A – swept major categories in Christian/Gospel Grammy 2017
Lady Gaga – at her irrekevant period, she still won in Traditional Pop
and the list goes on and on..
but I AM GLADLY WON’T PUT STU IN THIS LIST tho
January 5, 2021 @ 7:32 am
That’s nice I guess. I like the arrangements on both volumes. I really think Sturgill barely scratched the surface of what is possible in country and bluegrass before he kinda jumped ship. Sunday Valley was something special and the only real comparison is shooter jennings. Really, if you look at it, shooter probably did what sturgill was doing first, only instead of a whole album of it he mixed in the “turtles” songs across a few albums. Black Ribbons is a country song if turtles is. I still want sturgill to make an actual follow up to meta. You can be pretty damn good at a whole slew of things or the master of one. I still like “i dont mind” both ways. Seeing people cover what was already a badass song now though just because the album charted.