Country Update BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS NOVEMBER 11, 2019 | PAGE 1 OF 21 INSIDE BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE
[email protected] Lambert, Gilbert, Ell Boyfriend Country Brings Sensitivity Chart Party >page 4 To The Genre — And To The CMA Ballot Love Is In The Air At SESAC When Carrie Underwood, Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire and new artist nominee Cody Johnson (“Nothin’ on You”). >page 10 co-host the 53rd annual Country Music Association (CMA) Additionally, defending entertainer of the year Keith Urban Awards on Nov. 13, the ABC telecast is expected to open runs the boyfriend-country motif through a nostalgic filter in with a blast of 14 female artists, presumably reiterating the “We Were.” importance of women to the genre. “It’s just guys that are writing songs about what their life Adkins, LANCO, Female voices have been woefully underrepresented on is like,” says Combs, noting that the men behind those tunes McCreery Hit Field playlists since the dawn are usually married >page 12 of the bro-country era, or engaged. though they matter Still, it’s a profound as much as ever in the change from the old storylines of the male stereotype of country, Shelton Is artists who dominate when cheating, The People’s Choice the charts. The current heartbreak and drinking >page 12 Country Airplay list FLORIDA to quell broken hearts DAN + SHAY COMBS GEORGIA LINE is loaded with songs were the dominant by men extolling topics. “Times are Makin’ Tracks: the value of their wives or girlfriends, including Russell different,” observes Combs. “I don’t know if people were out Luke Bryan Flips Dickerson’s “Every Little Thing,” Matt Stell’s “Prayed for cheating more in the ’70s.