Country Update BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS MARCH 25, 2019 | PAGE 1 OF 19 INSIDE BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE
[email protected] Luke Combs’ ‘Crazy’ Milestone Jake Owen: ‘Greetings’ From >page 4 His Honky-Tonk Trip ACM Tabs New Artist Winners The chorus of Jake Owen’s current top 10 single, “Down to career journey, which has yielded 10 Country Airplay top 10 >page 9 the Honkytonk,” playfully discounts the importance of a spot titles, including seven No. 1s. Instead of the programmed in the Country Music Hall of Fame or on the Hollywood Walk drums and plug-in effects that are fairly standard in modern of Fame: “I might not go down in history/But I’ll go down to country, Owen drapes the album in guitars — biting honky- the honky-tonk.” tonk electrics, ringing acoustics and Paul Franklin’s tangy Brooks & Dunn So it’s ironic that “Down to the Honkytonk” went down in steel — and reconnects with the twang in his Florida-bred Build On Hall history by picking up an Academy of Country Music Award accent and the rich basement tones that dominated his >page 10 nomination for single of the year. (The 54th early recordings. annual event is scheduled for April 7 in Las “He’s a classic-country-song jukebox,” Vegas.) The timing was ideal, bringing him says producer Joey Moi (Florida Georgia attention as “Honkytonk” hits the home Line, Morgan Wallen). “He can sit there Maddie & Tae stretch in its chart climb (it’s at No. 10 on and play any old, old classic country song for On The Way the Country Airplay list dated March 30) and hours and hours and hours, and he sings in >page 10 as his first Big Loud album, Greetings From… this awesome, great baritone country voice, Jake, is released March 29.