Country Update

Country Update BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS JANUARY 22, 2019 | PAGE 1 OF 20 INSIDE BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE [email protected] T-Rhett’s High-Five Tennessee Tourism Shines A Light For Life Changes >page 4 On The Pathways Of The Stars Aldean, Church, When drivers park their cars in a beat-up lot at the corner of brings more comprehensive and cohesive awareness of the Bryan On The Road Again Eighth and Church in downtown Nashville, few of them even Volunteer State’s significant music-related sites across multiple >page 10 have an inkling that they’re treading on hallowed ground. genres. The goal is to parlay that into greater state pride and For roughly nine years — from the mid-1940s until 1956 longer visits by tourists who discover just how deep Tennessee’s — the Castle Recording Studio occupied space in the Tulane music roots extend. Hotel at that location, hosting Hank Williams’ recordings of “It’s almost surreal when you’re standing in a place where you Tenille Arts’ “Hey, Good Lookin’ ” and “I Saw the Light,” Kitty Wells’ “It know a song was written or recorded,” says Triplett. “Music is Bachelor Sequel Wasn’t God Who Made Honky a universal language. We all can >page 11 Tonk Angels” and other hit- hear a song that takes us to some making sessions by Country point in our lives that we remember Music Hall of Fame members from high school or college. It’s Bill Monroe, Ernest Tubb, Ray important to most of us.” Americana Duo Gets Price and Little Jimmy Dickens. Plenty of the most iconic music Oscar Nod But without any official markers, sites in the state are already >page 11 the property’s connection to designated in some form. The Tennessee’s best-known industry blues-centric Beale Street has a has all but disappeared. W.C. Handy statue and markers Makin’ Tracks: The Tennessee Department celebrating B.B. King, Rufus Brantley Gilbert & of Tourist Development is on a Thomas and Lansky Brothers, Lindsay Ell path to correct that oversight the first fashion store where Elvis at hundreds of music-related Presley bought much of his stage >page 15 LYNCH spots across its 440-mile span. wear. The Birthplace of Country The Tennessee Music Pathways Music Museum occupies the site program, initiated by outgoing TDTD commissioner Kevin in Bristol where Jimmie Rodgers, The Carter Family and Country Coda: Triplett, launched with a September 2018 concert on historic Ernest “Pop” Stoneman recorded the sides that became Loretta’s Beale Street in Memphis, where Dustin Lynch, Elle King, known as the Big Bang of Country Music. And Nashville boasts ‘Back’ Road To No. 1 The Isley Brothers and producer Booker T. Jones (Willie a fair amount of museums and markers, though many of its most >page 20 Nelson, Booker T. & The MG’s) performed in celebration of seminal locations remain undefined. Even TDTD employees the initiative’s website. are often unaware that their building stands in the same place Triplett oversaw the development of the concept, which WSM-AM Nashville used to call home and where Roy Orbison IMAGES GETTY CAMPBELL GREG BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 22, 2019 | PAGE 2 OF 20 cut “Oh, Pretty Woman” at what was then the Fred Foster Sound Studio. Preservation of music history has risen in importance in Nashville as new developers have bought properties in Music Row, taking a wrecking ball to buildings that were central to the creation of heartland culture. The movement was practically shocked into existence when RCA Studio A — a former recording home for George Strait, Bobby Bare and Charley Pride — was nearly torn down and replaced by an apartment complex. “When something becomes endangered, people do get excited about that,” notes Triplett. “What we want is for people to be excited about it consistently enough to where things don’t become endangered.” Under Triplett’s direction, TDTD secured a $4 million budget for the program’s first two years, in which it identified hundreds of physical sites — including recording studios, birthplaces, statues, live venues and cemeteries Chris Young visited KCYY San Antonio on Jan. 14 as he promoted his — with connections to a variety of genres. Using the Pathways website, tourists new single, “Raised On Country.” From left: KCYY personality Beth are able to plot trips to locations of personal interest. Colin Escott (author of Chandler, Young and KCYY personality J.R. Jaus. Hank Williams: The Biography and Good Rockin’ Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock ‘N’ Roll) was tapped to write synopses for the new markers, and efforts were started to obtain permissions to use copyrighted material in the signage, evaluate the best locations for markers and obtain property easements. As many as 10 markers are ready for installation, with the first likely to involve a living honoree this spring. Triplett, who was appointed by Gov. Bill Haslam in 2015, announced his resignation when newly elected Gov. Bill Lee designated new TDTD commissioner Mark Ezell, whose first day in office was Jan. 22. A former Dean Foods executive, Ezell brings to the department a branding/marketing expertise, best illustrated by a role in the familiar “Got Milk?” mustache campaign. Despite the change in administration, the Pathways program is “not in any jeopardy of going away,” says TDTD assistant commissioner of marketing Brian Wagner. BMI and SESAC held a No. 1 party on Jan. 16 to celebrate Russell The program was inspired in part by tragedy. A memorial in Benton County Dickerson’s “Blue Tacoma,” which topped the Country Airplay chart designates the spot where a plane crashed in 1963, killing Patsy Cline, dated Oct. 13, 2018. From left: “Tacoma” songwriters Casey Brown, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Cowboy Copas, and people still regularly visit the Dickerson and Parker Welling. location. Tennessee Music Pathways recognizes a host of burial sites for artists such George Jones, Dottie West and Chet Atkins, but also acknowledges more upbeat locations including Memphis’ Royal Studios, where Bruno Mars recorded “Uptown Funk!”; the Nashville Palace, a key developmental venue for Randy Travis and Alan Jackson; and the WIVK Knoxville, Tenn., studio where Dolly Parton made her radio debut. By design, Tennessee Music Pathways is intended to help visitors create physical pathways to meaningful properties. But like any good marketing scheme, its deeper motivation is to create an emotional pathway that links visitors to Tennessee by helping them stand in the same spots where their heroes have tread — whether that’s at a functioning concert venue or at a parking lot that once was a space where “Your Cheatin’ Heart” was captured for posterity. “When [people] are happy, they play music,” says Triplett. “When they’re Randy Houser visited ABC’s Good Morning America on Jan. 11 as he grieving, they listen to music. Music is the connector, and we want to connect promoted his new album Magnolia. From left: ABC host Cecilia Vega, people to it.” Houser and ABC hosts Ginger Zee and Michael Strahan. LOWRY STEVE : DICKERSON FOR YOUR ACM CONSIDERATION NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR RIAA BILLBOARD’S NO. 1 OVER 2 BILLION FIRST SOLO COUNTRY ® ARTIST TO SCORE PLATINUM TOP COUNTRY STREAMED CAREER ON-DEMAND FOUR CONSECUTIVE CERTIFIED ALBUM ALBUM AUDIO & VIDEO CAREER-OPENING THIS ONE’S FOR YOU OF 2018 OF 2018 STREAMS NO. 1 HITS SINGLE OF THE YEAR “BEAUTIFUL CRAZY” RIAA PLATINUM® CERTIFIED FIRST COUNTRY SINGLE SHIPPED TO RADIO ALREADY PLATINUM-CERTIFIED SINCE TAYLOR SWIFT’S “RED” © 2019 Sony Music Entertainment. BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 22, 2019 | PAGE 4 OF 20 ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER [email protected] Thomas Rhett’s ‘Sixteen’ Becomes Fifth Life Changes Single To Top Country Airplay Chart Thomas Rhett’s “Sixteen” (Valory) ascends 3-1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay Jordan Davis’ “Take It From Me” (MCA Nashville) also bumps into the Country chart (dated Jan. 26), up 6 percent to 40.2 million audience impressions in Airplay top 10, lifting 12-10 (23.4 million, down 1 percent). He earns his second the week ending Jan. 20, according to Nielsen Music. top 10 in as many appearances: His debut hit, “Singles You Up,” topped the Co-written by Rhett, “Sixteen” is his 12th leader on the chart and the fifth tally for a week in April 2018. from his album Life Changes. The set debuted at the summit of the Top Country Albums and all-genre Billboard 200 charts in September 2017, becoming his DOUBLING UP For a second straight week, Luke Combs simultaneously first No. 1 on both rankings. charts two songs, unaccompanied by another artist, Each Life Changes single has topped Country in the Country Airplay top 15, a feat that has not been Airplay. “Sixteen” follows the Maren Morris-assisted achieved in over a dozen years. “She Got the Best of Me” “Craving You,” which led the list dated July 22, (River House/Columbia Nashville), which led for four 2017; “Unforgettable” (Nov. 18, 2017); “Marry weeks starting Oct. 27, 2108, dips 6-7 (28.5 million, Me” (March 10 and 17, 2018); and the title track down 14 percent), while follow-up single “Beautiful (Sept. 8, 2018). Crazy” climbs 15-12 (20.6 million, up 18 percent). Luke Bryan holds the record with six Country Prior to Combs, no artist had logged such a double Airplay No. 1s from one album: 2015’s Kill the Lights. since George Strait, whose “It Just Comes Natural” and Prior to Life Changes, three other albums generated five “Give It Away” ranked at Nos. 12 and 13, respectively, such No. 1s apiece: Brad Paisley’s 5th Gear (2007-08), on Nov.

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