Country Update
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Country Update BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS JUNE 22, 2020 | PAGE 1 OF 18 INSIDE BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE [email protected] McCreery Gets Jump Nashville’s Music Row Reflects National On The Pack >page 4 Concern For Social Justice, Racial Parity Songwriter Creates Black lives matter. discovered Warlick online, setting off a chain of events that or- Wheelchair Tech As Americans rallied on June 19 from Boston to Oakland, ganically brought the two together. >page 10 Calif., the date symbolized a dramatic change of awareness. “I told him how little I knew about his genre, and he told me Many white adults had not previously heard of Juneteenth, how little he knew about mine, which really made it special to which marks the anniversary of the last slaves discovering me,” says Smith. they had been freed, yet scores That pairing is one of four bi- Flatts, Turner Prep of Caucasians participated racial tracks being worked that New Releases in the demonstrations, feature a country artist from >page 11 awakened to racial inequality Wheelhouse’s parent com- by a recent series of murders pany, BBR Music Group. The of Black citizens, primarily company also has two Blanco the May 25 killing of George Brown recordings with white Judds, Yearwood Floyd in Minneapolis while in acts — one blended with Par- Take A Walk police custody. malee on the inclusive “Just >page 11 Count the predominantly the Way” and one with EDM BLANCO BROWN SMITH GUYTON white country music industry artist Diplo on the pop/dance among the sensitized. Over 700 track “Do Si Do” — plus a Jim- Makin’ Tracks: people tuned in for the first of two Zoom panels, “A Conversation mie Allen duet with pop singer Noah Cyrus, “This Is Us.” Jordan Davis’ on Being African-American in the Nashville Music Industry,” as All of those cuts had been completed before national events ‘Maybes’ the business observed Blackout Tuesday on June 2. Numerous in the last month turned a spotlight on racial tension, in part >page 15 companies took Juneteenth off to focus on inequality and to because the label already was focused on the problem. BBR ex- stand in solidarity with Black fellow citizens. Capitol Nashville ecutive vp Jon Loba had noticed the successful pairings of Tim released Mickey Guyton’s illuminating “Black Like Me” to radio McGraw and Nelly on “Over and Over” and Jason Aldean and via PlayMPE on June 5, RCA Nashville issued Kane Brown’s Ludacris on “Dirt Road Anthem.” So when he took BBR’s top Country Coda: unifying “Worldwide Beautiful” on June 3, and Wheelhouse label job when BMG acquired the company in 2017, Loba felt Tracy Lawrence’s unveiled a remix of Granger Smith’s “That’s Why I Love Dirt strongly that the Nashville division should have its own Black ‘Tornado’ Roads” — featuring Black Christian rapper Lathan Warlick — artists. Allen, who lived out of his car for several months when >page 18 on June 4. he first moved to Nashville, naturally caught Loba’s attention. The Smith/Warlick collaboration was particularly significant. “As soon as I heard Jimmie’s music, I lost my mind,” says Loba. Neither artist was aware of the other until Smith’s wife, Amber, “I went and saw him perform [and] lost my mind further. And THOMPSON CHELSEA GUYTON: ROY, PHILIP SMITH: KAVIAR, J. BROWN: BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JUNE 22, 2020 | PAGE 2 OF 18 then when I heard his story, it’s like, ‘This is what I want to say as my first of- ficial signing under the BMG label.’ I wanted to say, ‘Things are different.’ ” They certainly have improved. Following harmonica player Deford Bailey’s introduction via the Grand Ole Opry in the 1920s, country waited another 40 years before Charley Pride emerged as its first hit-making Black singer. An- other African-American artist didn’t achieve mainstream success in the genre until Darius Rucker stepped out from Hootie & The Blowfish as a solo artist in 2008. Since then, Allen, Kane Brown and Blanco Brown all have notched legiti- mate hits on the Country Airplay or Hot Country Songs charts, while Billy Ray Cyrus’ pairing with Lil Nas X on “Old Town Road” became a 2019 signature and a Country Music Association Award-winner. But things are still not equal. The country business has only a handful of Black executives, likely a function of long-standing separatism, established when the Brandy Clark (right) interviewed Reba McEntire on June 17 for Clark’s then-fledgling record industry targeted poorer demographics by marketing weekly YouTube series, You Can’t Come Over (But You Can Come In). “hillbilly” music to rural whites and “race records” to Blacks. Those distinc- tions became self-perpetuating cycles, particularly for Black professionals who might not expect to be welcome on Music Row. “If they don’t see themselves, why would they want to work there?” asks Guy- ton rhetorically. “I think if more applied, they would get jobs here.” Efforts are being made to level the proverbial playing field. BMG has man- dated a diversity program, and Loba predicts an increase in minority hires in Nashville’s business over the next three years. “There will be mechanisms in place to fix that,” he says. “I think the country community’s really good about doing the right thing, and I think there will be focus there now.” The synergy is already there at Sony Music Nashville. RCA Inspiration se- nior vp/GM Phil Thornton — while speaking on a June 17 Zoom panel, “The Sounds of Social Justice,” presented by Music Biz — noted enthusiastically that SMN president/CEO Randy Goodman sought his involvement for an upcom- ing event involving an unspecified TV network. Thornton appreciated “being a part of that conversation and not being limited to just, ‘You can only do gospel’ — They’re like, ‘No, come into country music. You have valuable input,’ ” he said. “To see that input now being implemented, it’s inspiring. It’s encouraging.” Corporate initiatives and increased sensitivity may not be the only reason country sees more racial overlap in the future. The National Museum of African- Cole Swindell discussed his new release, “Single Saturday Night,” with American Music is set to open this fall across the street from the historic Ryman media during a virtual round table on June 17. Clockwise from top left: Auditorium, and the venue aims to be a bridge between the R&B community Premiere Radio Networks senior producer Rosemary Young, freelance and other sectors, including the city of Nashville, Music Row and the American journalist Tricia Despres, Swindell and Billboard contributor Deborah music business in general. Evans Price. “Our job is social change. Our job is to communicate to the community. Our job is to tell stories in ways other than producing records and putting out music,” said NMAAM president/CEO H. Beecher Hicks III in the Music Biz panel. “What we’re doing right now is trying to figure out how we build that bridge, what it looks like and how we can be the best partner.” The most important aspect in building that bridge might simply be making the connection. Racism is ingrained in the American psyche through decades of marketing, law-making and cultural stereotypes. Its presence was reinforced on June 21 when a noose was found in the garage of Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s lone black driver, in Talladega, Ala. And yet when Blanco Brown broke one of those stereotypes, as a black fan attending country shows before he signed his BBR deal, he never felt threatened or out of place. “I remember going to Sam Hunt concerts and Luke Combs concerts, and when I walked in the crowd, I just felt comfortable to the point that I forgot about the fact that there was hatred in the world,” he says. “I didn’t have to think like that.” Mary Chapin Carpenter (right) chatted about her forthcoming album, Following the rash of recent racially charged murders — of Ahmad Arbery The Dirt and the Stars, with correspondent Amna Nawaz during the in Glynn County, Ga.; of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky.; and of Rayshard June 16 edition of PBS NewsHour. Brooks in Atlanta — a June Pew Research Center poll showed that two-thirds of Americans support the Black Lives Matter movement. A bundle of acts — including Lady A, Maren Morris and Thomas Rhett — have voiced their support, though Guyton would like to see more chime in. “I’ve been really trying to push for country artists to openly state that they support Black lives,” she says. “It is so important for people to know that racism is not accepted in country music.” Still, nothing makes that statement more obviously than hiring a Black ex- ecutive, signing a Black artist or collaborating with one, as Smith demonstrated with the “Dirt Roads” remix. “To be an activist in my way, I just want to show love,” he says. “I want to show that we are all inclusive, that me and Lathan can love each other as broth- Gabby Barrett and husband Cade Foehner performed her current ers, that we could share in creativity, and we could share in emotion. We could single, “The Good Ones,” for media during a June 18 Zoom Q&A share in the deepest levels of humanity because we’re both human beings.” conducted by Red Light Management head of marketing Tom Lord. BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JUNE 22, 2020 | PAGE 4 OF 18 ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER [email protected] Scotty McCreery’s ‘In Between’ Makes Biggest Jump To No. 1 On Country Airplay Since 1991; Kenny Chesney Lands 53rd Top 10 Scotty McCreery notches his third consecutive and total No.