Podcast - Country Music Chart Talk for February 2023
Discussing the current trends at country radio for the month of February 2023. I’ll talk about how the slow-climbing nature of songs is affecting the longevity of artists. Plus, the rise in traditional country continues. See how the influx of new artists of today compares to decades past, too.
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Show Notes
As a country music DJ who gets to choose the music I play on my show, I'm finding it to be an overwhelming time in country music right now. Overwhelming because there are so many new acts on the scene and underwhelming because there's not a ton of current songs that I'm really digging right now from these artists. Every day our station is sent songs and if I listen to 30 songs, chances are, only 1 of them is something that I'd play on the station. There are around 14 artists who have only released 1 album or EP that are on this week's charts - and it takes a long time to break these artists on radio.
The country music industry has widened the walls of the genre to fit just about any style that will be commercially successful. The early 2000s saw immense criticism of artists like Shania Twain and Faith Hill when the industry said they were too pop and not country - and the identity crisis that is occurring today is much larger than that.
There's a buzzy word that people like to use when this topic is brought up: evolve.
Of course, I think it's important for artists to express themselves creatively - that should be the number one thing - be authentic - and if that means you have hip hop beats in your song - or maybe you rap - or you are performing bubble gum pop - that's great - just don't call it country when it's not.
And as much as artists and labels are pushing the boundaries, we are seeing some very strong moves being made in country music when it comes to radio. There's much more traditional music than we 've seen on the charts in a very long time.
Parker McCollum's “Handle on You” is one of the best singles I've heard in a long time. Scotty McCreery has a new song out, "It Matters to Her," that I hope continues to climb, because he's someone who has had an incredible streak at radio and is under-recognized for it. Kane Brown is an artist that has shown incredible growth in his writing and musical output in the last few years.
Looking at the charts, Gabby Barrett is once again in the top ten, this time with “Pick Me Up” - which I'd consider country, Luke Combs brings us “Going, Going, Gone.” Lainey Wilson is another artist that listeners are really into with “Heart Like a Truck” and her collaboration with Hardy on "Wait in the Truck.”
Carly Pearce has been the leading female for me for the last two years. “What He Didn't Do” is an excellent song - this one is now in the top ten and I hope it hits number one.
Jimmie Allen with "Down Home" is a great story song.
I'm very excited for Dierks Bentley's next album - “Gold” has been a slow burning song at radio - but I would imagine it would be in the top 5 right about the time the album is released in February.
The Zac Brown Band is another act that I think has given us some great music during the last year - however, it seems that “Out in the Middle” is on its way down the charts after just missing the top ten.
Cody Johnson released "Human" and it's finally in the top twenty. Cody Johnson is one of current country music's greatest assets - I'd like him to get the string of hits at radio that he deserves.
Since it takes a very long time for songs to reach the top of the charts, I'm not certain we'll see artists achieve numbers like we saw in the ‘60s through the early 2000s. Artists like Conway Twitty, George Strait, and Ronnie Milsap - all with over 41 number ones and then you add in the top tens and you've got about 80 memorable songs each from their catalogs.
Cody Johnson's first big radio hit "On My Way To You" was released in 2018 and then four years later "Til You Can't" becomes his first number one. "Human" marks his third single to hit the top twenty. This is a case of an artist who only had one new single on radio for the entire year, compared to decades ago when you had two or three months, and it was done and over and on to the next one. It's really affecting the longevity of these artists - you can go see an artist like Lorrie Morgan or Clay Walker and there's no way they could ever get through half of their hits in a single night - they were releasing 3-4 singles a year back then.
Country Music Superstars
A trend I've noticed for the past year is that some of country music's superstars are not as quick to move up the charts as they had been. Blake Shelton's “Nobody” has been sitting in the ‘20s and ‘30s when just years ago it would've been a quick trip to number one.
Same thing with Carrie Underwood - “Hate My Heart” is at a slow place, it's been steady for Keith Urban's "Brown Eyes Baby" and Eric Church's "Doin' Life with Me."
Kenny Chesney's "Everyone She Knows" disappeared after barely making it in the top twenty.
Miranda Lambert's “Strange” has completely disappeared after being released last spring and not doing much movement on the charts. Maren Morris is in the same boat - “I Can't Love You Anymore” is one of the best songs from her Humble Quest album, but nothing is happening at radio.
Bailey Zimmerman is an example of someone who is really making strides at radio. “Fall in Love” hit the top and then a follow-up “Rock and a Hard Place” just seems like it came out of nowhere and it's already at fifteen on the charts.
There are a lot of bright spots on the charts - Kelsea Ballerini whose song "Heart First" didn't resonate with the country airplay audience, she's got a song that is more stripped down in terms of production and is a great choice for a single - “If I Go Down, You're Goin Down Too” is currently around 49.
Drake Milligan's “Something I'd Do” is an excellent song. Jon Pardi's “Your Heart or Mine” is a good choice. Hailey Whitters is someone I hope continues to climb with "Everything She Ain't" - I've been playing that one for over a year and she's finally broken into the top forty. Randy Houser's “Note to Self” is the best single on the radio right now, hands down. It's nice to see the return of Joe Nichols with "Good Day for Living" because it's a great comeback for him.
Looking at the charts, Joe Nichols is one of the very few rare artists that can say they were on the charts 20 years ago, let alone 10 or 5 years ago.
30-Year Flashback:
Kenny Chesney had released his first album In My Wildest Dreams with “Whatever it Takes” as the lead single in 1993. Toby Keith’s “Should've Been a Cowboy” hit #1 in March of 1993, making Kenny and Toby the only artists that appear on the charts in January of 2023 that were on the radio in 1993, an impressive 30 years ago.
20-Year Flashback:
In 2003, Dierks Bentley released his debut single What Was I Thinkin’ to radio.
Blake Shelton's second album was released and "The Baby" was a huge hit at radio.
Keith Urban was riding the success of his Golden Road triple platinum breakthrough album.
Joe Nichols received Grammy nominations for his Man with a Memory record.
By then, Toby Keith and Kenny Chesney, after hitting the road hard and releasing consistent albums throughout the ‘90s, had become the leading forces at country radio.
In 2013, along with the six artists I just mentioned, you had Justin Moore, Zac Brown Band, Randy Houser, Jason Aldean, Scotty McCreery, Dan & Shay, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Jon Pardi, and Brantley Gilbert, who are all also on this week's charts.
Earlier I mentioned there were 14 acts currently on the charts that have only released one album or EP and I'm going to dive into and see how that compares to years past.
30 Years Ago in 1993:
Confederate Railroad
Billy Ray Cyrus
Radney Foster
Gibson Miller Band
Sammy Kershaw
Tracy Lawrence
Martina McBride
John Michael Montgomery
Wynonna
25 Years Ago in 1998:
Anita Cochran
David Kersh
Lila McCann
Michael Peterson
Jason Sellers
Kevin Sharp
The Chicks
The Kinleys
Kris Tyler
Lee Ann Womack
18 Years Ago in 2005:
Keith Anderson
Dierks Bentley
Big & Rich
Blue Country
Amy Dalley
Shelly Fairchild
Josh Gracin
Miranda Lambert
Blaine Larsen
Sugarland
Jimmy Wayne
Trent Willmon
Gretchen Wilson
Having 14 artists with releases from their debut project stays on the same track as the other time periods I mentioned.
For songs on the charts this month, my personal top 5 would be:
Randy Houser - Note To Self
Carly Pearce - What He Didn't Do
Parker McCollum - Handle on You
Scotty McCreery - It Matters to Her
Drake Milligan - Sounds Like Something I'd Do
For 2023, I hope to see the continued turn towards tradition at radio - I'd love to see more females on the charts with quality songs. We could use some more bands on radio - right now it's only Old Dominion, Parmalee, and the Zac Brown Band.
We are making progress - but we've got a long way to go.