When it comes to the hottest acts in mainstream country music at the moment, it’s the tale of three names: Kane Brown, Dan+Shay, and Luke Combs. And as a conscientious country music fan, if you had to root for one of them to succeed above the others, without hesitation you would have to go with Luke Combs.
The release of the Rodeo Houston main stage lineup is always a highly-anticipated event in Texas and beyond, and this year Oklahoma’s Turnpike Troubadours have earned an opportunity to play on arguably the biggest stage in Texas, and native Texan Kacey Musgraves has been selected to open the rodeo in 2019.
Here we are with a nice, tidy little bow wrapped around 2018, with the barrage of end-of-year lists finally published and in the past, the confetti from New Year’s celebrations all swept up, and the promise of an exciting new year of country music on the way. But how good or bad really was country music in 2018?
It was a good night for Chris Stapleton, Kacey Musgraves, Carrie Underwood, and Keith Urban, who all picked up significant trophies. But the ratings for the 52nd Annual CMA Awards took a nosedive in the overnight numbers, dropping over 1/3rd from the previous year among key audience numbers, and falling to the lowest head count […]
The 2nd Annual Party in the Pines Festival scheduled to occur in White Springs, Florida October 19th and 20th at the Bienville Plantation has been abruptly cancelled just 10 days before gates were set to open, leaving fans and artists in the lurch and looking for refunds and explanations.
Kane Brown and Luke Combs couldn’t be more different. But they are both a new style of country star who made their ascent into mainstream stardom 100% during the streaming era, and due to the streaming era specifically. Last week, both artists announced their own arena tours.
There’s nothing new about staring at the “New Artist” nominees for a country music industry awards show and being bewildered at the names you see. It’s an annual exercise. This year the names included in the CMA’s “New Artist of the Year” category were no different.
“Beautiful Crazy” is much more similar to what we were hoping from Luke Combs when he first emerged on a major label. Full of steel guitar and fiddle, and ramping up to be a quality showcase for his barrel-chested country voice, “Beautiful Crazy” is easy to love regardless of your country music alignment.
The effrontery of whomever is really responsible for compiling these five songs together and presenting it as an expression of Randy’s tastes or desires is appalling. This is ridiculous, and everyone involved in the perpetration of this ruse must think we are all incredibly gullible, and should be called out publicly.
This week the country music world was shocked when a pop star named Bebe Rexha and her song “Meant To Be” featuring Florida Georgia Line debuted at the very top spot of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. But looking deeper into the numbers, something didn’t seem to add up.
Chris Stapleton’s torrid sales pace continues, and is now stretching to almost two calendar years where the country star has single-handedly dominated the Billboard Country Albums chart. Along with being a perennial name at the top of the chart, Chris Stapleton’s last two records have just surpassed significant sales plateaus.
Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Backroad” has now topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for 17 straight weeks. Meanwhile, “Body Like a Backroad” continues to pick up crossover spins. Unfortunately for Miranda Lambert, her current single “Tin Man” is headed in the opposite direction.
The fact that Luke Combs can write a good song, and can find a genuine country sound when he wants to isn’t the reason we should look at ‘This One’s For You’ through rose-colored glasses, it’s the reason you should be disappointed. But let’s also give credit where credit is due.
Sometimes the effort to save country music feels like one step forward, two steps back. Last week at this time we were all gaga over the fact that Chris Stapleton’s stripped-down new single “Either Way” was the most added single at country radio and debuted at a surprisingly #26 on the charts, but “Either Way” took a proverbial dive during its second week.
As we continue to ponder what country radio might look like after the impending implosion of iHeartMedia and corporate radio as we know it, some very interesting developments emerged on the country radio charts this week.
As time has gone on, I find myself disliking these dudes more and more because I can’t beat back the obvious reality that we’re being misled about these guys. Midland is a machination of the big Music Row industrial complex, no different than most major label artists.
Wonder why pretty much every mainstream country single sounds ostensibly the same? It’s probably because they all pretty much do. Lill illustrates how nine songs on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart all employ the same exact drum beat, and within the same 15 or so beats per minute.
You want to like Luke Combs. He one of us, not one of them. At least that’s what you think, or that’s what you thought, or that’s what you want to think. Let’s face it, he’s no matinee idol. He’s a big ol’ corn fed boy from North Carolina with a scruffy Amish beard and a cheap haircut tucked under a properly-aligned baseball cap.