Country Update BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS MAY 26, 2020 | PAGE 1 OF 19 INSIDE BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE
[email protected] Combs, Church Baby Talk: How Maturation Is Changing Congregate At No. 1 The Story In Modern Country Music >page 4 Iconic Special Headed To PBS >page 10 Country Reschedules For 2021 >page 11 Alan Jackson Hits YOUNG HARDY OWEN The Drive-In >page 11 When Brett Young inserted the heartbeat from his wife’s first Kid stuff is a timely topic. In the face of a pandemic that has sonogram into the intro of his new single, he created an appro- killed over 97,000 Americans in a scant three months (accord- priate sonic atmosphere for “Lady,” a song that celebrates both ing to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), many Makin’ Tracks: his daughter, Presley, and her mother, Taylor. listeners are reexamining their lives and reprioritizing their Parker McCollum’s But the move also inadvertently emphasized the sound of a families. But the songs at the heart of the baby boom were all ‘Pretty Heart’ new baby boom in country music. Joining Young on the Country recorded before the average American had ever heard the term >page 16 Airplay chart are two titles in which an unplanned pregnancy “COVID-19.” The trend instead reflects a generation of 20- and plays a vital role: Jake Owen’s “Made for You” and HARDY’s 30-something country artists who are building families in a “One Beer,” featuring Devin Dawson and Lauren Alaina. Addi- manner that’s typical for their demographic.