Country Update BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS APRIL 26, 2021 | PAGE 1 OF 22 BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE [email protected] INSIDE The Marfa Tapes Bring Jon Randall Back THIS From Behind The Scenes To The Microphone ISSUE When Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall and Jack Ingram conveys a level of comfort and makes it easy to embrace the conclude their stripped-down version of “Tin Man” on the heartache and turmoil that inform his material, whether he’s Fans ‘Heart’ Eric forthcoming album The Marfa Tapes (May 7, Sony Music working as an artist, a songwriter, a musician or a producer. Church Nashville), the quiet desert air “I grew up a bluegrass kid, so at >page 4 eventually gives way to giggles and 6 years old, I’m singing every lyric then to a debate over whether or not to ‘Little Sadie,’ where he kills his the performance was good enough. lover and throws her in the river,” “My string was buzzin’,” protests says Randall. “You know, they sound New Reliant Lambert. “My capo was crooked.” happy, but they’re all dark songs. Booking Agency “That was your brain buzzin’,” So I’ve always been drawn to those >page 11 counters Ingram. darker melodies and the darker lyrics. “That sounded great,” Randall as- ‘Whiskey Lullaby’ [which Randall sures them. co-wrote with Bill Anderson] is a One of the stumbling blocks great example of that in my mind. Makin’ Tracks: among creatives is the uncertainty All that internal, artistic stuff that I Dillon Carmichael’s of the work. A gravedigger knows he dig around in, it can be pretty dark.” ‘Hot Beer’ has done the job when a box fits six Ironically, as America crosses its >page 19 feet underground. An accountant fingers about emerging from a year can clock out when the books are of COVID-19 bleakness, Randall’s balanced. But in entertainment, fortunes look rather bright. He every rule is breakable, and every produced the current Pa r ke r standard is subject to the whims of McCollum single, “To Be Loved Country Coda: RANDALL Brooks & Dunn’s the audience. by You” (No. 46, Country Airplay); 6-Week Reign It feeds an unending sense of vul- directed a forthcoming Chase nerability among the creative class, and that’s one of the reasons Bryant album, Upbringing, that finds the singer-songwriter in >page 22 the Academy of Country Music named “Tin Man” — penned by commanding voice after a 2018 suicide attempt; is in the middle the three Marfa artists — song of the year in 2019: It exposes of production on Lambert’s and Dierks Bentley’s next solo the ultra-fragile nature of the human heart. projects; released his own EP, Neon Texas, on April 2; and has a It’s also one of the reasons that many of Nashville’s musical full album arriving this summer. And there’s a spare track, “Keep creators turn frequently to Randall. His soothing, reedy voice On Moving,” that exudes the Random McNally wandering spirit TOMLINS JESS BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE APRIL 26, 2021 | PAGE 2 OF 22 of a creative soul following his own compass, even if it leads to a lonely place. “When I am in a dark spot or depressed, whatever we call that, I really want to be left alone,” explains Randall. “Before I was married and had kids and all that, it was not uncommon for me to just disappear, and no one had any idea where I was for a couple of days. I wasn’t in a hotel room getting all drunk and weird. I’d just get in the car and disappear.” That sense is deep in The Marfa Tapes, recorded by Randall, Ingram and Lambert with producer-engineer Brandon Bell (Zac Brown Band, Steep Canyon Rangers) in remote Marfa, Texas, midway between El Paso and Del Rio. It was in that isolated getaway that the trio penned “Tin Man” during a shadowy valley in Lambert’s life, and the 15-track collection — cut with at- mospheric wind gusts and border patrol aircraft authenticating its mostly outdoor locale — conveys a sense of weighty experience. When the guitars PATTON TRAE stop and the silence overtakes them, the artistic uncertainties flare up again Blake Shelton (left) welcomed guest mega mentor Snoop Dogg during in some of the post-performance chatter. the April 19 telecast of NBC’s The Voice. “I loved keeping a lot of that stuff in there just because that’s how we are with each other,” says Randall. “[We’re] letting everybody kind of see just how our groove is and how our friendship rides musically, and [that] our friendship and our music go together.” Randall’s national introduction came through his membership in Emmylou Harris’ former band, The Nash Ramblers, a stellar ensemble that included mandolinist Sam Bush and bassist Roy Huskey Jr. A 1992 appearance at the then-dilapidated Ryman Auditorium inspired the building’s renovation. Har- ris, whose career has been marked by sharp artistic turns and unpredictable choices, encouraged Randall’s individuality. “I learned to be very open-minded musically,” he says of his time in The Nash Ramblers. “She gave me a great piece of advice: ‘You just have to make your music the way you make your music and let it live or die. It’ll find where it’s supposed to go. And if it doesn’t, at least you did it on your terms.’ ” Randall admits he didn’t always follow that advice, but the looming wave Big Machine Music GM Mike Molinar (left) was inducted into of releases — solo work, the Marfa trio and his productions — show his adapt- the Middle Tennessee State University College of Media and ability to a range of song styles and collaborators. He operates as a leader on Entertainment Wall of Fame by MTSU department of recording his own material, a friend in his collaborations and an advisor in his produc- industry chair John Merchant during an April 14 event at the tion efforts, which occasionally feature background contributions from his institution’s Chris Young Café. wife, singer-songwriter Jessi Alexander (“I Drive Your Truck,” “Drink on It”). Now that it appears that pandemic isolation may be heading to a close, Ran- dall’s associates are all itching to hit the road, and the breadth of his recent creative efforts are coming in a wave as they start launching music to support their live dates. For Randall, his projects provide an overriding sense that he is now following Harris’ model, making music that reflects his personal journey through the emotional tumbleweeds of an uncertain occupation. “Getting to put music out on my own again after kind of helping a lot of other people do it, it’s been really good,” he says. “I feel like I’ve been given the go-ahead by the universe and by my great artist friends. I mean, all of these NBC people I’m working with are fans of my music, and they’re like, ‘Man, you’ve Brandi Carlile appeared on the April 20 edition of NBC’s Late Night got to put that out.’ It feels good to have that permission.” With Seth Meyers in support of her autobiography, Broken Horses. AUTHORITATIVE INTELLIGENCE. DELIVERED DIGITALLY. CLICK HERE FOR FREE DELIVERY DIGITAL NEWSLETTERS BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE APRIL 13, 2020 | PAGE 4 OF 19 ONBILLBOARD THE CHARTS COUNTRY JIM ASKER UPDATE [email protected] APRIL 26, 2021 | PAGE 4 OF 22 ON STHEa CHARTSmH JIMunt ASKER’ [email protected] Southside Rules Top Country AEriclbu ms;Church’s Brett YHeartoung Opens ‘Catch ’-esOn TopFifth Country Airplay LeaAlbums;der; Travis Gabby Denning Barrett’s Makes ‘Good’ History Run Continues Atop Airplay Chart Sam Hunt’s second studio full-length, and first in over five years, Southside sales (up 21%) in the tracking week. On Country Airplay, it hops 18-15 (11.9 mil- (MCAEric Nashville/Universal Church nabs his ninth Music top Group 10 on Nashville), Billboard’s debuts Top Country at No. 1 onAlbums Billboard chart’s lionOn audience the Nov. impressions, 28, 2015-dated up 16%). Billboard 200, Chris Stapleton’s Traveller Topas Country Heart (EMI Albums Nashville/Universal chart dated April Music 18. 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