Country Update

Country Update
BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 1 OF 19
INSIDE
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE
Tom.Roland@billboard.com
Alabama On The
Boom Box, Baby —
And The Chart
>page 4
Johnny Cash’s ‘Sunday Morning’
Coming Up Again In Modern Country
Remembering
Fan Clubhouse CEO
Sharon Eaves
>page 8
Rogers Retires,
Strait Returns
>page 9
Taylor, Kacey, FGL
Bring Extra Muscle
>page 9
Makin’ Tracks: Rascal
Flatts’ ‘I Like The
Sound Of That’
>page 13
Stark Report:
Thomas Rhett Talks
Pressure, Sunshine
>page 14
A dozen years after Johnny Cash’s death, he has become something
of a mythical figure. Heidi Newfield’s “Johnny and June,”
Jason Aldean’s “Johnny Cash,” George Strait’s album cut
“House of Cash” and Rainey Qualley’s current single “Me
and Johnny Cash” all owe an obvious debt to the Man in Black.
So in an era when upbeat party songs have reigned in the
genre, it wouldn’t be out of the norm to expect songwriters who
want to reference a Cash song would turn to his rabble-rousing
“Folsom Prison Blues,” the devotional pledge “I Walk the Line”
or the cheery-sounding “Ring of Fire.”
Instead, three songs released in 2015 have engaged the dour
“Sunday Morning Coming Down,” in which a hungover single
male looks at the world around him and wallows
in loneliness.
CASH
“It’s a song of desolation,” says Johnny
Cash Museum founder Bill Miller. “It’s a
song of somebody being down and out and
in search of things, and it does seem out of
step with what’s going on in today’s contemporary
country music lyrics.”
The title made its first appearance this year
in the Keith Urban/Eric Church duet “Raise
’Em Up” — currently nominated for Country
Music Association (CMA) musical event of the
year — in the setup to a funeral: “Black umbrellas
in the pourin’ rain/Sunday morning
coming down, Amazing Grace.”
Urban recycled the reference in his current
“John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” (No. 2, Country Airplay),
mentioning “Sunday Morning” and its author, Kris Kristofferson,
amid such iconic cultural landmarks as John Wayne,
Superman and Don McLean’s “American Pie.”
Then there’s Michael Ray’s “Real Men Love Jesus” (No. 48,
Country Airplay), which contrasts “Saturday nights out on the
town” with “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” pointing to the
complex mix of hard exterior and vulnerable sensitivity that’s
a hallmark of a developed 21st-century male.
“There’s been a thing happening with that song, ‘Sunday
Morning Coming Down,’ ” concedes Ray, “but it’s because it’s
the truth. That’s what country music is — it’s honesty. It’s truth.”
Released during an era when the 45-rpm
single was king, “Sunday Morning” has a double
45th anniversary in October. It topped the
Billboard country singles chart dated Oct. 10,
1970, then earned Kristofferson song of the
year honors from the CMA four days later. It’s
the only time in history that a song reached
those two peaks in such a short span of time.
But in some ways, its accomplishments have
been overshadowed by the mystique of its presentation.
For starters, it has been connected to a rift
between Kristofferson and management at the
Columbia Recording Studios, where he worked
as a janitor. Songwriters had been banned from
attending artists’ sessions, which prevented him
from pitching songs to Cash when the Man in

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 2 OF 19
Black visited the studio. So Kristofferson — according to the legend — flew a helicopter
to Cash’s home to deliver the “Sunday Morning” demo in person.
“That’s true,” Cash told Musician magazine in the 1980s. “He fell out of
that helicopter with a beer in one hand and a tape in the other, and said, ‘By
God, I’m gonna get a song to you one way or another.’ ”
However, record producer-author John Carter Cash says Kristofferson
disputes that story.
“Kris did land a helicopter in my dad’s yard, gave my dad a song, and Kris
was rather drunk when he did it,” says John Carter. “And Kris will tell the story
right now that it was not ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down,’ and that the song
he gave my dad was not very good. It’s become this great myth.”
But another piece of the “Sunday Morning” folklore is indisputable. The
single came from an ABC taping of The Johnny Cash Show at Nashville’s Ryman
Auditorium, and network censors told Cash that one line in the song — “Lord,
I wish that I was stoned” — needed to be changed. They suggested he replace
the word “stoned” with “home.”
Instead, Cash sang “stoned,” delivering it with added emphasis while gazing
into the Ryman balcony where Kristofferson was seated. Cash was, in effect,
taking a stand for artistic integrity, putting himself on the line in a way
that impressed Kristofferson immensely.
“He’s got that combination of [Abraham] Lincoln and total wild man, a
very spiritual guy who’s about to explode any moment,” said Kristofferson
in 2005. “So the tension, I think, is what made him so powerful onstage.”
The tension in “Sunday Morning” is part of why the song has become an
ideal reference point for modern country songs. Cash and Kristofferson are
both iconic Country Music Hall of Fame members, and the performance itself
embraces both the bitter and the sweet. An orchestra — complete with
strings, a horn section and a tinkly bell tree — provides a sense of structure,
while Cash’s deep, powerful voice lends an ominous weight to the isolation
that the song’s character is experiencing.
“It’s such a personal insight into one’s life and one’s emptiness,” notes John
Carter. “And of course, my dad became known for looking at himself and being
able to expose himself and not lose his dignity. This is a forerunner for a song
like ‘Hurt’ where my dad could say, ‘This is who I am, and I’m not ashamed
of it,’ and then suddenly people relate to it. Dad had that nearly supernatural
ability to do that, and there’s not many artists who can.”
Meanwhile, the “Sunday Morning” references will likely stop. All three of
the songs that call attention to it — “Raise ’Em Up,” “John Cougar, John Deere,
John 3:16” and “Real Men Love Jesus” — were written before any of them appeared
on the radio, so none of the writers knew that anyone else was mentioning
“Sunday Morning.” But now that the phrase is out there, it’s no longer unique.
“There’s a record rep we had that called me one Sunday morning drunk
from a parking lot, and he was listening to ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down’
over and over again in his car,” says “Real Men” songwriter Brad Warren.
“I was like, ‘Man, that song means a lot to some people.’ But I think we’ve
reached our limit on how often you can say ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down.’ ”
George Strait surprised America’s Morning Show by appearing in
person for a Sept. 25 guest slot instead of doing a phone interview.
From left are AMS co-hosts Ashley Figueroa and Chuck Wicks, Strait
and AMS co-host Blair Garner.
Jerrod Niemann huddled with WDXB Birmingham personnel when he
played a show in the city. From left are iHeartMedia/Alabama senior
vp of programming Tom Hanrahan, iHeartMedia/Alabama marketing
director Lacey Walker, WDXB personality Madison, Niemann and
iHeart/Birmingham market manager Ray Quinn.
Rick Monroe visited the KTTS Springfield, Mo., morning show during
a stop on the Jagermeister Country series of concerts. From left are
KTTS morning co-host Summer Stevens, Monroe and KTTS morning
co-host Rick Moore.

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 4 OF 19
ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER jim.asker@billboard.com
Alabama’s Southern Drawl Charts Swift
Progress; Strait Makes A Country Airplay ‘Run’
Alabama’s Southern Drawl (TGA/BMG), the band’s first album of original
songs since 2001’s When It All Goes South, opens at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top
Country Albums chart (dated Oct. 10) with 21,000 copies sold in the week
ending Sept. 24, according to Nielsen Music. No. 1 belongs to Luke Bryan,
whose Kill the Lights (Capitol Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville)
rises 2-1 (up 1 percent to 27,000) for a sixth total week on top.
Drawl marks Alabama’s best rank and sales sum on Top Country Albums since
Songs of Inspiration became the act’s 11th No. 1 on Nov. 11, 2006 with 44,000
first-week copies sold. Alabama’s core members, cousins Randy Owen, Teddy
Gentry and Jeff Cook, steer the new album, the group’s 44th on Top Country
Albums. The band first charted with 1980’s My Home’s in Alabama, which
reached No. 3. Alabama has notched 33 No. 1s on Hot
Country Songs, the most among groups; Drawl’s lead
ALABAMA
single, “Wasn’t Through Lovin’ You Yet,” has not yet
reached the chart.
Drawl was sold through traditional outlets, as well
as Cracker Barrel stores, whose version includes two
exclusive songs (“Backwoods Boogie” and “I’ve Got
Some Lovin’ “), and QVC.
“I’m thankful,” Owen tells Billboard. “It’s
amazing happiness on a huge scale. I appreciate
everyone’s hard work from management, label,
agency and public relations. This means a lot to us,
[that] after 40 years people still enjoy Alabama.”
ALSO ARRIVING Debuting at No. 3 on Top Country
Albums is the self-titled album by Turnpike Troubadours
(Bossier City/Thirty Tigers) (19,000).
Their lone prior entry, 2012’s Goodbye Normal Street, peaked at No. 14 (8,000).
While no single is marked for commercial country radio, Thirty Tigers president
David Macias is focusing on the music. “We have been with these guys a
long time [since 2010]. We’ve been building their fan base since the beginning,
and for this album we wanted to make sure they knew about it. We did aggressive
pre-release campaigns in several places, including iTunes.”
Also on Top Country Albums, a cappella group Home Free’s Country Evolution
(Columbia) bows at No. 4 (10,000). It’s the third and strongest showing
on the survey for the group that won the 2013 season of NBC’s The Sing-Off.
Crazy Life and Full of Cheer, both released in 2014, reached Nos. 8 and No. 12,
respectively.
ANOTHER WEEK FOR ‘DAY’ Kenny Chesney’s “Save It for a Rainy Day”
(Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville) reigns for a second week, up 6 percent to
50.9 million audience impressions. It’s the first song to hold the top position
for at least two weeks since Blake Shelton’s “Sangria” (Warner Music Nashville)
(July 11 and July 18). In between, 10 songs spent a week each at No. 1.
‘BEER’ RUN At his Sept. 22 press conference,
George Strait announced his 2016 Strait to Vegas
concert dates. He also unveiled a brand new single
and album, that proved to be almost complete surprise
to most in the industry beforehand. Cold Beer
Conversation (MCA Nashville) was released Sept.
25, along with the title cut, which soars onto Country
Airplay at No. 35 (4.5 million). The bow is Strait’s
highest since “Here for a Good Time” rolled in at
No. 29 on June 25, 2011.
With Strait’s career having brought countless
milestones, the launch of the new album and single
marks another coup, says MCA vp promotion Katie
Dean. “Prior to the press conference, very few people
knew the launch plan for the project. It was a true
integrated team effort.”
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW Finally, a new feature joins the Billboard
Country Update, the Coda, which will close each edition with a noteworthy
highlight from more than 70 years of Billboard country chart history.
Go to page 19 for the first Coda (based on the Billboard magazine feature),
spotlighting the 1990 debut of Garth Brooks’ landmark No Fences album.
NOW, ONE WEEKLY EDITION,
EVERY MONDAY
Country
UPDATE
Sign up for FREE delivery every Monday
www.billboard.com/newsletters
The country music industry’s must-have
source for news, charts, analysis and features.
• Airplay, album sales, track sales and streaming
charts, as well as the all-encompassing Hot
Country Songs chart.
• Expert commentary and insights by
Tom Roland, Phyllis Stark and Jim Asker.

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 5 OF 19
Country Airplay
AIRPLAY
MONITORED BY
WKS
AUDIENCE (IN MILLIONS)
PLAYS
THIS LAST ON
WEEK WEEK CHART TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist THIS WEEK +/– THIS WEEK +/– RANK
l1 1 15 SAVE IT FOR A RAINY DAY Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville HH No. 1 (2 weeks) HH Kenny Chesney 50.877 +2.807 8321 441 2
2 2 16 JOHN COUGAR, JOHN DEERE, JOHN 3:16 Hit Red/Capitol Nashville Keith Urban 50.813 +3.489 8579 585 1
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3 4 23 LOSE MY MIND Atlantic/WMN Brett Eldredge 45.922 +1.242 7902 124 3
4 6 8 STRIP IT DOWN Capitol Nashville Luke Bryan 41.206 +4.370 6900 871 4
5 7 16 ANYTHING GOES Republic Nashville Florida Georgia Line 34.914 +2.431 6012 378 5
6 11 35 BREAK UP WITH HIM RCA Nashville Old Dominion 33.901 +3.956 5515 554 10
7 9 6 SMOKE BREAK 19/Arista Nashville Carrie Underwood 33.571 +3.004 5501 330 11
8 8 47 GONNA WANNA TONIGHT Dack Janiels/Columbia Nashville Chase Rice 32.662 +0.766 5733 129 7
9 3 22 BUY ME A BOAT Warner Bros./WAR Chris Janson 32.478 -14.364 5853 -2388 6
l10 12 25 LET ME SEE YA GIRL Warner Bros./WMN Cole Swindell 31.849 +2.805 5548 430 8
11 10 36 FLY Dot Maddie & Tae 31.347 +0.954 5530 176 9
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12 13 32 NOTHIN’ LIKE YOU Warner Bros./WAR Dan + Shay 29.386 +2.747 5029 473 12
13 14 10 GONNA Warner Bros./WMN Blake Shelton 28.449 +2.176 4549 264 13
14 15 18 I’M COMIN’ OVER RCA Nashville Chris Young 24.495 +2.990 4124 457 14
15 20 9 GONNA KNOW WE WERE HERE Broken Bow HH Airpower HH Jason Aldean 21.423 +3.735 3760 601 17
16 18 8 TOP OF THE WORLD McGraw/Big Machine Tim McGraw 20.851 +1.002 3776 189 16
17 19 14 BURNING HOUSE Arista NashvilleCam 20.169 +1.009 3834 166 15
18 17 18 REAL LIFE RCA Nashville Jake Owen 16.977 -2.908 3204 -403 19
l19 21 26 STAY A LITTLE LONGER EMI Nashville Brothers Osborne 15.705 +0.580 3061 241 21
20 23 34 ALREADY CALLIN’ YOU MINE Stoney Creek HH Airpower HH Parmalee 15.246 +1.144 3182 196 20
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21 22 37 RUN AWAY WITH YOU B$R/New Revolution Big & Rich 15.212 +0.789 3349 127 18
22 24 13 DIBS Black River Kelsea Ballerini 12.848 +1.143 2686 235 22
23 25 31 I LOVE THIS LIFE ReviverLoCash 11.704 +0.971 2253 238 24
24 26 31 I GOT THE BOY Elektra Nashville/WAR Jana Kramer 11.223 +0.942 2454 163 23
25 27 19 21 Atlantic/WMN Hunter Hayes 9.877 +1.020 2060 71 25
26 32 4 COUNTRY NATION Arista Nashville HH Breaker HH Brad Paisley 7.462 +2.532 1373 401 29
27 28 7 LIVE FOREVER Republic Nashville The Band Perry 6.464 +0.398 1493 154 28
28 31 17 WE WENT Stoney Creek Randy Houser 6.217 +1.094 1662 230 26
29 30 24 LITTLE BIT OF YOU Red Bow Chase Bryant 6.051 +0.320 1587 122 27
30 29 13 (THIS AIN’T NO) DRUNK DIAL Republic Nashville A Thousand Horses 5.854 +0.076 1253 63 31

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 6 OF 19
Country Airplay
AIRPLAY
MONITORED BY
WKS
AUDIENCE (IN MILLIONS)
PLAYS
THIS LAST ON
WEEK WEEK CHART TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist THIS WEEK +/– THIS WEEK +/– RANK
l31 44 4 BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN MCA Nashville HH Breaker/Most Added HH Sam Hunt 5.733 +3.168 971 509 36
32 34 14 RISER Capitol Nashville Dierks Bentley 5.046 +0.402 1182 56 33
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33 33 18 SOUTHERN STYLE Capitol Nashville Darius Rucker 4.922 +0.082 1197 7 32
34 37 16 THAT DON’T SOUND LIKE YOU Curb Lee Brice 4.557 +0.473 1366 -10 30
35 NEW COLD BEER CONVERSATION MCA Nashville HH Hot Shot Debut/Breaker/Most Increased Audience HHGeorge Strait 4.450 +4.450 585 585 41
36 36 10 BLUE BANDANA Sea Gayle/Arista Nashville Jerrod Niemann 4.256 +0.003 1110 55 34
37 40 2 I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT Big Machine Rascal Flatts 4.017 +0.768 955 244 37
38 39 17 DRINKIN’ TOWN WITH A FOOTBALL PROBLEM Mercury Billy Currington 3.616 +0.305 845 56 39
39 38 10 YUP Mercury Easton Corbin 3.156 -0.246 641 -14 40
l40 42 14 WHITE LIGHTNING Big Machine The Cadillac Three 2.981 +0.224 930 1 38
41 NEW DIE A HAPPY MAN Valory Thomas Rhett 2.969 +2.247 440 355 51
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42 41 16 TOMORROW TONIGHT Red Bow Craig Campbell 2.951 +0.163 976 26 35
43 50 3 BEAUTIFUL DRUG John Varvatos/Republic/BMLG/Southern Ground Zac Brown Band 2.892 +1.125 552 271 45
44 43 10 AIN’T NO TRUCKS IN TEXAS Nash Icon/Valory Ronnie Dunn 2.493 -0.158 509 -20 47
l45 46 12 BACKROAD SONG Wheelhouse Granger Smith 2.476 +0.241 266 48 -
46 48 5 PAIN KILLER Capitol Nashville Little Big Town 2.287 +0.481 563 74 44
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47 49 3 BOY & A GIRL THING Curb Mo Pitney 2.155 +0.350 402 13 52
48 51 3 REAL MEN LOVE JESUS Atlantic/WEA Michael Ray 2.107 +0.342 527 144 46
49 45 10 HONEY, I’M GOOD. S-Curve/Valory Andy Grammer Duet With Eli Young Band 2.031 -0.389 231 -61 -
l50 47 9 NIGHT’S ON FIRE MCA Nashville David Nail 1.949 +0.063 573 17 43
51 52 6 UNTIL THEY DON’T LOVE YOU Starstruck/Nash Icon/ValoryReba 1.851 +0.168 314 25 58
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52 55 4 STONE COLD SOBER Valory Brantley Gilbert 1.730 +0.469 362 -3 55
53 54 6 HOLE IN A BOTTLE Mercury Canaan Smith 1.496 +0.193 472 43 49
54 59 2 ROLLER COASTER RIDE EMI Nashville Eric Church 1.490 +0.392 178 57 -
55 60 5 BETTER IN BOOTS Columbia Nashville Tyler Farr 1.475 +0.439 496 79 48
56 56 4 I AM INVINCIBLE Republic Nashville Cassadee Pope 1.406 +0.193 351 27 56
57 58 2 SOUTHERN BELLE 19/Interscope/Mercury Scotty McCreery 1.338 +0.213 350 23 57
58 53 11 MOVE ON MCA Nashville Clare Dunn 1.305 -0.019 467 10 50
59 57 8 BAD FOR YOU Big Machine Waterloo Revival 1.221 +0.024 574 31 42
60 NEW I MET A GIRL Warner Bros./WMN William Michael Morgan 0.999 -0.022 296 -9 59
GOING FOR ADDS
SWINDLE: WMN
10
COLE
SWINDELL
Let Me See
Ya Girl
The fourth single from Cole Swindell’s
debut album enters the Country Airplay top
10 (12-10) with a 10 percent increase to
31.8 million audience impressions. On Hot
Country Songs, it steps 15-14 (up 6 percent).
10/5
AMBER HAYES
Hero’s Heart
AOK/GMV Nashville
ERIC PASLAY
High Class
EMI Nashville
GEORGE STRAIT
Cold Beer Conversation
MCA Nashville
GRANGER SMITH
Backroad Song
Wheelhouse
PRESLEY & TAYLOR
While You Were Gone
SMG Nashville
TYLER DIAL
Damn Good Time
Room To Run/WingHorse
10/12
CURTIS BRALY FEAT.
KIMBERLY CALDWELL
Sooner Or Later
Studio Gold Nashville
10/19
CHRIS JANSON
Power Of Positive Drinkin’
Warner Bros./WAR
DYLAN SCOTT
Crazy Over Me
Curb
LINDSAY ELL
By The Way
Stoney Creek

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 7 OF 19
Country Airplay
AIRPLAY
MONITORED BY
MOST ADDED®
TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist ADDS
BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN MCA Nashville Sam Hunt 41
COLD BEER CONVERSATION MCA Nashville George Strait 41
COUNTRY NATION Arista Nashville Brad Paisley 24
DIE A HAPPY MAN Valory Thomas Rhett 19
STAY A LITTLE LONGER EMI Nashville Brothers Osborne 17
BEAUTIFUL DRUG Varvatos/Southern Ground/BMLG/Republic Zac Brown Band 17
I’M COMIN’ OVER RCA Nashville Chris Young 14
GONNA KNOW WE WERE HERE Broken Bow Jason Aldean 10
REAL MEN LOVE JESUS Atlantic/WEA Michael Ray 9
I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT Big Machine Rascal Flatts 8
MOST INCREASED AUDIENCE
GAIN
TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist (IN MIILIONS)
COLD BEER CONVERSATION MCA Nashville George Strait +4.450
STRIP IT DOWN Capitol Nashville Luke Bryan +4.370
BREAK UP WITH HIM RCA Nashville Old Dominion +3.956
GONNA KNOW WE WERE HERE Broken Bow Jason Aldean +3.735
JOHN COUGAR, JOHN DEERE, JOHN 3:16 Hit Red/Capitol Nashville Keith Urban +3.489
BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN MCA Nashville Sam Hunt +3.168
SMOKE BREAK 19/Arista Nashville Carrie Underwood +3.005
I’M COMIN’ OVER RCA Nashville Chris Young +2.990
SAVE IT FOR A RAINY DAY Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville Kenny Chesney +2.807
LET ME SEE YA GIRL Warner Bros./WMN Cole Swindell +2.805
NEW AND ACTIVE
TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist
RECURRENTS
TOTAL
AUDIENCE
TOTAL
STATIONS
HEAD OVER BOOTS Capitol Nashville Jon Pardi 0.983 26 6
MIND READER Broken Bow Dustin Lynch 0.558 7 6
WHISKEY ON MY BREATH Thirty Tigers Love And Theft 0.548 18 0
WHEN I’M GONE Black River Craig Morgan 0.537 9 4
FREAKS LIKE ME Red Bow Joe Nichols 0.411 10 5
STUCK Mercury Nashville Canaan Smith 0.363 2 0
THIS
TOTAL AUD.
WEEK TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist (IN MILLIONS)
1 CRASH AND BURN ValoryThomas Rhett 28.356
2 HOUSE PARTY MCA Nashville Sam Hunt 25.203
3 HELL OF A NIGHT Broken Bow Dustin Lynch 19.862
4 LONG STRETCH OF LOVE Capitol Nashville Lady Antebellum 19.858
5 KISS YOU IN THE MORNING Atlantic/WEAMichael Ray 17.316
6 YOUNG & CRAZY Warner Bros./WAR Frankie Ballard 16.097
7 TONIGHT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU Broken Bow Jason Aldean 14.885
8 HOMEGROWN John Varvatos/Republic/BMLG/Southern Ground Zac Brown Band 14.627
9 SANGRIA Warner Bros./WMN Blake Shelton 14.609
10 LOVE YOU LIKE THAT MercuryCanaan Smith 14.370
ADDS
MOST INCREASED PLAYS
TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist GAIN
STRIP IT DOWN Capitol Nashville Luke Bryan +871
GONNA KNOW WE WERE HERE Broken Bow Jason Aldean +601
JOHN COUGAR, JOHN DEERE, JOHN 3:16 Hit Red/Capitol Nashville Keith Urban +585
COLD BEER CONVERSATION MCA Nashville George Strait +585
BREAK UP WITH HIM RCA Nashville Old Dominion +554
BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN MCA Nashville Sam Hunt +509
NOTHIN’ LIKE YOU Warner Bros./WAR Dan + Shay +473
I’M COMIN’ OVER RCA Nashville Chris Young +457
SAVE IT FOR A RAINY DAY Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville Kenny Chesney +441
LET ME SEE YA GIRL Warner Bros./WMN Cole Swindell +430
BILLBOARD COUNTRY BOXSCORE
Gross Artist Attendance
Ticket Price(s) Venue/Date(s) Capacity Promoter(s)
$796,651 JASON ALDEAN 24,417
$65.50, $25.50 Klipsch Music Center, Noblesville, Ind./Aug. 21 sellout
$790,511 SHANIA TWAIN 8,198
$151, $50.50 Staples Center, Los Angeles/Aug. 20 9,930
$778,225 FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE 24,031
$59.75, $25 XFINITY Theatre, Hartford/Sept. 11 sellout
LIVE NATION
AEG LIVE
LIVE NATION
$756,562 KENNY CHESNEY 12,151 THE MESSINA
$79, $35 Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland/July 9 13,300 GROUP/AEG LIVE
$749,465 SHANIA TWAIN 7,307
$151, $50.50 Honda Center, Anaheim/Aug. 19 9,236
AEG LIVE
Reported worldwide boxscore figures for Country artists. Boxscore figures should be submitted to Bob
Allen by phone (615-891-1976), fax (615-891-2054) or email (bob.allen@billboard.com).
TEXAS REGIONAL RADIO REPORT
WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 27, 2015
THIS LAST WKS ON
TW SPINS THIS LAST WKS ON
TW SPINS
WEEK WEEK CHART TITLE (Label)ARTIST SPINS +/– WEEK WEEK CHART TITLE (Label)ARTIST SPINS +/–
l 10 15 11 PHONE CALLS (BGM) TJ Broscoff 1244 127
l1 2 15 REAL COOL HAND (No Big Deal) HH 1 week at 1 HH Reckless Kelly 1746 183 11 1 25 LIVIN’ THE GOOD LIFE (RROC) Matt Kimbrow 1220 -586
l2 3 13 DOWN HERE (Independent) Turnpike Troubadours 1619 103
l12 16 14 YOU DREAM I’LL DRIVE (Independent) Josh Grider 1187 90
l3 8 18 LIFE COMES AT YOU FAST (Independent) Bart Crow Band 1476 137 13 12 17 WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND (Independent) Kyle Park 1174 -36
l4 6 19 SMILE THAT SMILE (Independent) Curtis Grimes 1466 29
l14 17 14 GIRLS I DATE (Independent) Mike Ryan 1156 87
l5 9 10 DAMN THIS OL’ HONKY TONK DREAM (KF) Kevin Fowler & Deryl Dodd 1425 98 15 7 20 WHILE I WAS AWAY (Independent) Pat Green 1137 -254
l6 13 10 LADY BUG (Independent) Randy Rogers & Wade Bowen 1376 199 16 4 22 EASY (Independent) Cody Canada & The Departed 1131 -330
7 5 22 OLD WITH YOU (Independent) Cory Morrow 1352 -108
l17 18 20 DON’T OWN THE RIGHT (Boo Clap/Thirty Tigers) Uncle Lucius 1066 19
l8 11 17 TEASIN’ ME (Hammer Down) Miles Williams 1337 26
l9 14 10 LOSER (Almost Country) Casey Donahew Band 1278 115
l18 19 15 UNDONE (Independent) Statesboro Revue 1060 55
19 10 27 SHELTER FROM THE RAIN (Independent) Whiskey Myers 1038 -284
l20 20 14 I DON’T (Winding Road) Saints Eleven 1016 18
Texas Regional Radio Report Top 100 is compiled from weekly online playlist reports from 86 radio stations located in Texas and surrounding states, including
reports from specialty shows, internet and satellite radio outlets. Songs are ranked by total plays. For tracking, complete chart methodology and more information,
visit www.texasregionalradio.com, or contact Dave Smith at 817-283-7984. Copyright 2015, Texas Regional Radio Report

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 8 OF 19
NASHVILLE & NATIONAL TOM ROLAND
Blake Shelton made a Sept. 23 stop at iHeartMedia’s The Bobby Bones
Show during several packed days of promotion in Nashville for the Oct.
23 release Reloaded: 20 #1 Hits. He’s pictured with Bones (right).
SHARON EAVES REMEMBERED
Fan Clubhouse CEO Sharon Eaves, who spent 25 years handling fan-services
functions for the likes of Brad Paisley, Gary Allan and Scotty McCreery,
died Sept. 25 from a sudden illness.
Eaves’ company, founded in 1990, provides professional fan club
management, merchandise fulfillment, social media expertise, e-marketing
campaigns and database management services for numerous artists. Separately,
Eaves also handled artist management duties for some of her clients,
including Richie McDonald and Bryan White.
A 15-year member of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s music
industry advisory council, Eaves collapsed during that group’s meeting at a
Nashville hotel Friday morning and could not be revived. She was believed
to have been 58.
Wheelhouse artist Granger Smith visited WIL St. Louis as he
conducted a radio promotion tour behind his label debut, “Backroad
Song.” From left are Wheelhouse vp promotion Teddi Bonadies, WIL
personality Jim Day, Smith, WIL assistant PD/music director Danny
Montana, WIL talent Judi Diamond, Wheelhouse Midwest/Southwest
regional Jennifer Shaffer and WIL personality Bo Matthews.
A tireless supporter of St. Jude, Eaves spearheaded numerous creative fundraising
initiatives involving the artists she worked with and their fans. Those
campaigns raised tens of thousands of dollars for the hospital.
Lonestar reportedly dedicated its song “Just the Rain” to Eaves during the
band’s Sept. 25 concert in Concord, N.C. Most of her other star clients took
to social media to express their sorrow.
Eaves is survived by husband Tom Harding and teenage son Cameron
Harding. A celebration of her life is being planned.
—Phyllis Stark
MOVERS & SHAKERS
The CW has extended its agreement with iHeartMedia to air the annual iHeart-
Radio Music Festival as a TV special. Highlights from 2015’s multigenre lineup,
which included country acts Kenny Chesney and Blake Shelton, air on the
CW Sept. 29-30 … Cox Media hired Laurissa Phillips as chief creative officer/
GM for its new website RareCountry.com. Phillips spent the last two years
as editorial consultant/producer for ABC’s In the Spotlight: All Access Nashville
… Katie Toupal is joining KZPK St. Cloud, Minn., in mornings, leaving a
vacancy on the morning squad at KBLL Helena, Mt. Interested applicants can
send packages to Cherry Creek/Helena operations manager Dale Desmond
here … Tim “JR” Hayes joined KORA Bryan-College Station, Texas, as music
director/afternoon-drive host, replacing Colt Gresham, who left broadcasting
for a teaching position. Hayes was most recently afternoon talent/assistant
production director for KLLL Lubbock, Texas. Reach him here … Alpha Media/
Fredericksburg, Va., promoted Ralph Salierno to market manager from director
of sales. The cluster’s outlets include country WFLS … KSTZ HD-2 Des
Moines, Iowa, launched Sept. 24 as a classic-country station, KCCI-TV Des
Moines reported … Forever Media is purchasing two stations in York, Pa., including
country WGTY, from Times and News Publishing Company, according
to The Hanover (Pa.) Evening Sun. No personnel changes are expected … CBS
Radio/Minneapolis-St. Paul market manager Mick Anselmo will retire at
the end of the year, InsideRadio.com reported. The three-station cluster includes
country KMNB … Marc Radio/Gainesville, Fla., tapped Dave Cobb as
GM, according to RadioInfo.com. Among the seven stations in his jurisdiction
are classic country WDVH. Cobb was most recently vp strategic planning
for media company Local Voice … Also from RadioInfo.com: iHeartMedia/
Louisville (Ky.) market president Bill Gentry left his position. The eight-station
cluster includes country WAMZ.
’ROUND THE ROW
Republic Nashville promoted Phoenix-based Lois Lewis to senior director of
regional promotion from director. Reach her here … Thirty Tigers added Traci
Gholson as regional director of promotion, based in Richmond, Va. She was formerly
East Coast manager
of promotion for Quarterback.
Reach her here …
Nashville-based Brian
Mansfield joins Shore Fire
Media as content director
on Oct. 13, developing
social-media strategies
and material for the
company’s roster, which
includes multiple genres
LEWIS MANSFIELD
and non-music clients. He
was senior music writer for USA Today … Kay Waggoner has joined Absolute
Publicity as senior publicist … Four songwriters inked publishing deals, including
Neil Thrasher (“How Country Feels,” “Night Train”), who re-signed
with peermusic; Aaron Scherz (“Girl in a Country Song”), who inked with
Live Write Play; singer/songwriter Alysa Vanderheym, who joined Major
Bob; and Adam Hambrick, signed to ole and to Jeremy Stover’s Red Creative
Group … The Mountain Fever label signed singer-songwriter Irene Kelley
… Lone Star PR has added Cameran Nelson and the Houston Livestock
Show and Rodeo to its roster … Leadership Music will recognize Reba McEntire,
former Country Music Association executive director Jo Walker-Meador
and Opry Entertainment Group president Steve Buchanan during the annual
Dale Franklin Awards on Nov. 16 in Nashville … The historic RCA Studio A
complex will hold an open house from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Oct. 3.

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 9 OF 19
NASHVILLE & NATIONAL TOM ROLAND
ROGERS: PIPER FERGUSON
MUSIC NOTES
Odd how retirement works in the country music business. Kenny Rogers announced
Sept. 25 that he will retire from the road following his 2016 world
tour. The decision was revealed publicly at a most ironic time. George Strait,
who retired from touring a year ago, released a new album, Cold Beer Conversation,
on Sept. 25 with only three days’ notice — the same time he announced
plans to play a minimum of
four shows in Las Vegas in 2016. Meanwhile,
Garth Brooks — who returned
to the road in 2014 after retiring from
touring for more than a decade to raise
his daughters — is currently a Country
Music Association nominee for entertainer
of the year.
Surprises abounded on the concert
stage during the last week. Kacey
Musgraves’ Sept. 23 show at Nashville’s
Ryman Auditorium included a
walk-on by unannounced guest Sheryl
Crow during “If It Makes You Happy.”
Taylor Swift’s two-night stand at the
ROGERS
Bridgestone Arena included drop-ins by
Kelsea Ballerini (“Love Me Like You
Mean It”), Steven Tyler (“I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”), Alison Krauss
(“When You Say Nothing at All”), Leona Lewis (“Bleeding Love”) and Mick
Jagger (“Satisfaction”). And Florida Georgia Line’s performance in St. Louis
on Sept. 26 closed with a guest shot by Nelly on “Cruise.” Finally, Blake Shelton
had a handful of Warner Music Nashville labelmates in the wings during
his free Sept. 23 appearance on Music Row, including Hunter Hayes, Brett
Eldredge and Dan + Shay’s Dan Smyers.
Mac Davis will be recognized as a BMI Icon during the performing rights
organization’s annual country awards on Nov. 3 in Nashville. In addition to
his own successes as an artist, he wrote such notable titles as Elvis Presley’s
“In the Ghetto,” The First Edition’s “Something’s Burning” and Bobby
Goldsboro’s “Watching Scotty Grow.” Davis joins such BMI Icon company
as Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson and Tom T. Hall.
Pandora puts the focus on women in country with a free concert for customers
on Oct. 14 at the Altman Building in New York. The event features Martina
McBride, Cassadee Pope and RaeLynn, and brings attention to the T.J.
Martell Foundation and breast cancer research.
GOOD WORKS
They’re raising money for a good cause, and it’s a safe bet they won’t doctor
the results.
The Frontmen of Country — three lead singers who front hit-making
bands — will team with blues artist Keb’ Mo’ on Nov. 10 for Healing Hands
Helping Heroes, an event that aids registered nurses and veterans. The Frontmen
include Lonestar vocalist Richie McDonald, Little Texas co-founder Tim
Rushlow and Restless Heart lead Larry Stewart, and they’ll run through a
number of their familiar titles at the Rosewall in Nashville.
Eight-seat tables are $3,800, and four-seaters are $1,900. Proceeds go to
the Middle Tennessee chapter of PeriOperative Registered Nurses and Reboot
Combat Recovery.
Go here for details.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Ever contemplate how a 1960s TV series would play in the 21st century? Southern
comedian Larry the Cable Guy (@GitRDoneLarry) has:
“If Art Linkletter were still alive I wonder if he’d have a show called ‘kids
tweet, Instagram, email, blog and FaceTime the darnedest things’”
To follow BCU, go to Twitter.com/bbcountryupdate.
ON THIS DATE IN COUNTRY MUSIC
Sept. 28
• 2010 — BNA releases the Kenny Chesney album Hemingway’s Whiskey.
Sept. 29
• 2014 — Arista releases Carrie Underwood’s
“Something in the Water” to radio.
Sept. 30
• 1990 — Oak Ridge Boys sing the national
UNDERWOOD
anthem before the last game ever played at the
Chicago White Sox’s original Comiskey Park. The Sox edge the Seattle
Mariners, 2-1.
• 1985 — Steve Earle records “Guitar Town” at Nashville’s Sound Stage.
Oct. 1
• 2011 — “Live from New York”: Lady Antebellum sings “We Owned
the Night” and “Just a Kiss” on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
• 2005 — Dierks Bentley is inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, performing
“Come a Little Closer” after being introduced by Marty
Stuart.
Oct. 2
• 2012 — Taylor Swift spends the day shooting the “Begin Again”
video in Paris.
Oct. 3
• 1995 — Dwight Yoakam halts his rehearsal for the Country Music
Association Awards at the Grand Ole Opry House to watch the verdict
in the O.J. Simpson trial be handed down on TV. Simpson is found
not guilty, and Yoakam goes back to work.
• 1945 — Ten-year-old Elvis Presley sings in public for the first time
at a talent contest, taking second place with “Old Shep.” He wins $5.
Oct. 4
• 2000 — Dixie Chicks win four honors at the 34th annual Country
Music Association Awards at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House,
including entertainer of the tear; vocal group; album, for Fly; and
music video, for “Goodbye Earl.”
• 1975 — Willie Nelson picks up his first No. 1 single as an artist on
the Billboard country chart with “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.”
Source: RolandNote.com, the Ultimate Country Music Database
CMT Instant Jam: Hunter Hayes debuted Sept. 26. From left at the taping
in Lexington, Ky., are Switched On Entertainment executive producer
John Hamlin, CMT senior vp music strategy and talent Leslie Fram,
Hayes and CMT vp music and event production Margaret Comeaux.
JEREMY COWART
RICK DIAMOND/GETTY IMAGES

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 10 OF 19
Hot Country Songs
SALES, AIRPLAY &
STREAMING DATA
COMPILED BY
TWO
WEEKS
AGO
THIS
WEEK
LAST
WEEK
WKS ON
CHART
TITLE
PRODUCER (SONGWRITER)
Artist
IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED
l 1 1 5 10 STRIP IT DOWN HH No. 1 (2 weeks)/Airplay Gainer HH Luke Bryan
J.STEVENS,J.STEVENS (L.BRYAN,J.M.NITE,R.COPPERMAN)
CAPITOL NASHVILLE
l 2 2 4 17 JOHN COUGAR, JOHN DEERE, JOHN 3:16 Keith Urban
D.HUFF,K.URBAN (S.MCANALLY,R.COPPERMAN,J.OSBORNE)
HIT RED/CAPITOL NASHVILLE
HOUSE PARTY
Sam Hunt
3 4 1 40
Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,Z.CROWELL,J.FLOWERS) MCA NASHVILLE
1 1
l 4 5 6 23 LOSE MY MIND Brett Eldredge
4
R. COPPERMAN,B.ELDREDGE (B.ELDREDGE,H.MORGAN,R.COPPERMAN,B.BURTON,T.D.CALLAWAY,G.F.REVERBERI,G.P.REVERBERI) ATLANTIC/WMN
l 5 7 7 14 SAVE IT FOR A RAINY DAY Kenny Chesney
B.CANNON,K.CHESNEY (A.DORFF,M.RAMSEY,B.TURSI)
BLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE
BUY ME A BOAT
Chris Janson
6 3 2 23
C.JANSON,C.DUBOIS,B.ANDERSON (C.JANSON,C.DUBOIS) WARNER BROS./WAR
0 2
7 6 3 25
CRASH AND BURN
Thomas Rhett
D.HUFF,J.FRASURE (J.FRASURE,C.STAPLETON) VALORY
0 2
l 8 12 13 6 SMOKE BREAK HH Digital Gainer HH Carrie Underwood
J.JOYCE (C.UNDERWOOD,C. DESTEFANO,H.LINDSEY)
19/ARISTA NASHVILLE
5
l 9 10 12 29 BREAK UP WITH HIM Old Dominion
S.MCANALLY (M.RAMSEY,T. ROSEN,B.TURSI,G.SPRUNG,W.SELLERS)
RCA NASHVILLE
9
10 8 8 16
BURNING HOUSE
Cam
8
J.BHASKER,T.JOHNSON (C.OCHS,T.JOHNSON,J.BHASKER)
ARISTA NASHVILLE
l 11 11 11 22 ANYTHING GOES Florida Georgia Line
J.MOI (F.MCTEIGUE,C.G.TOMPKINS,C.WISEMAN) REPUBLIC NASHVILLE
0 11
l 12 13 14 20 I’M COMIN’ OVER Chris Young
C.CROWDER,C.YOUNG (C.YOUNG,C.CROWDER,J.HOGE)
RCA NASHVILLE
l 13 15 15 24 LET ME SEE YA GIRL Cole Swindell
M.CARTER (C.SWINDELL,M.CARTER,J.STEVENS)
WARNER BROS./WMN
l 14 16 16 26 NOTHIN’ LIKE YOU Dan + Shay
C. DESTEFANO (D.SMYERS,S.MOONEY,A.GORLEY,C. DESTEFANO) WARNER BROS./WAR
l 15 17 17 38 GONNA WANNA TONIGHT Chase Rice
C. DESTEFANO (S.MCANALLY,J.M.NITE,J.ROBBINS) DACK JANIELS/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE
l 16 18 21 9 GONNA Blake Shelton
S.HENDRICKS (L.LAIRD,C.WISEMAN)
WARNER BROS./WMN
l 17 NEW 1 DIE A HAPPY MAN HH Hot Shot Debut HH Thomas Rhett
D.HUFF,J.FRASURE (THOMAS RHETT,S.DOUGLAS,J.SPARGUR)
VALORY
REAL LIFE
Jake Owen
18 19 20 18
S.MCANALLY,R. COPPERMAN (R.COPPERMAN,A.GORLEY,S.MCANALLY,J.OSBORNE)
RCA NASHVILLE
l 19 21 22 25 STAY A LITTLE LONGER Brothers Osborne
J.JOYCE (J. OSBORNE,T.J. OSBORNE,S.MCANALLY)
EMI NASHVILLE
l 20 22 25 8 TOP OF THE WORLD Tim McGraw
B.GALLIMORE,T.MCGRAW (J.ROBBINS,J.M.NITE,J.OSBORNE)
MCGRAW/BIG MACHINE
LOVING YOU EASY
Zac Brown Band
21 20 18 23
Z.BROWN (Z.BROWN,N.MOON,A.ANDERSON)
JOHN VARVATOS/REPUBLIC/BMLG/SOUTHERN GROUND
l 22 24 24 32 I GOT THE BOY Jana Kramer
S.HENDRICKS (T.NICHOLS,C.HARRINGTON,J.L.SPEARS)
ELEKTRA NASHVILLE/WAR
23 23 23 14
LONG STRETCH OF LOVE
Lady Antebellum
N.CHAPMAN,LADY ANTEBELLUM (D.HAYWOOD,C.KELLEY,H.SCOTT,J.KEAR)
CAPITOL NASHVILLE
l 24 27 31 9 GONNA KNOW WE WERE HERE Jason Aldean
M.KNOX (B.BEAVERS,BRETT JAMES)
BROKEN BOW
l 25 30 30 24 BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN Sam Hunt
Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY) MCA NASHVILLE
0 25
PEAK
POSITION
1
2
5
8
13
14
15
16
17
17
19
20
4
22
23
12
ALAINA: JOSEPH LLANES; ALDEAN: JIM WRIGHT
26
JASON
ALDEAN
Gonna
Know We
Were Here
In its 10th week on Hot Country
Songs, the fourth single from Old Boots,
New Dirt kicks 27-26, up by 22 percent in
overall activity. It’s bolstered by a 21
percent increase on Country Airplay
(20-15) to 21.4 million in audience.
41
LAUREN
ALAINA
Next
Boyfriend
The first single from her Oct. 2 self-titled
EP debuts at No. 41 on Hot Country Songs
and No. 22 on Country Digital Songs
(10,000 downloads sold). She last graced
Hot Country Songs with “Barefoot and
Buckwild” (No. 34) in 2013.

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 11 OF 19
SALES, AIRPLAY &
STREAMING DATA
COMPILED BY
THIS LAST
TWO
WEEKS WKS ON TITLE
Artist
WEEK WEEK AGO CHART PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED
l 26 25 26 7 DIBS Kelsea Ballerini
F.G.WHITEHEAD,J.MASSEY (K.BALLERINI,J.KERR,R.GRIFFIN,J.DUKE)
BLACK RIVER
27 26 27 25
ALREADY CALLIN’ YOU MINE
Parmalee
NV (M.THOMAS,S.THOMAS,B.KNOX,P.O’DONNELL,W.KIRBY)
STONEY CREEK
l 28 29 28 7 RUN AWAY WITH YOU Big & Rich
J.RICH,B.KENNY (J.D.RICH,MICHAEL RAY)
B$R/NEW REVOLUTION
l 29 28 29 19 21 Hunter Hayes
D.HUFF,H.HAYES (D.DAVIDSON,K.LOVELACE,A.GORLEY,H.HAYES)
ATLANTIC/WMN
l 30 31 32 19 I LOVE THIS LIFE LoCash
L.RIMES,P.BRUST,C.LUCAS (D.MYRICK,C.JANSON,C.LUCAS,P.BRUST)
REVIVER
l 31 33 37 6 LIVE FOREVER The Band Perry
REDONE,D.HUFF (N.KHAYAT,C.J.HARRIS, JR.,K.PERRY,R.PERRY,N.PERRY,J.ANDREWS,K.O.KJELLHOLM)
REPUBLIC NASHVILLE
l 32 34 38 17 WE WENT Randy Houser
D.GEORGE (J.WILSON,M.ROGERS,J.KING)
STONEY CREEK
l 33 35 40 13 THAT DON’T SOUND LIKE YOU Lee Brice
J.STONE,L.BRICE (L.BRICE,R.AKINS,A.GORLEY)
CURB
l 34 42 44 4 COUNTRY NATION HH Streaming Gainer HH Brad Paisley
L.WOOTEN,B.PAISLEY (B.PAISLEY,C.DUBOIS,K.LOVELACE)
ARISTA NASHVILLE
l 35 36 35 13 RISER Dierks Bentley
R. COPPERMAN (S.MOAKLER,T.MEADOWS) CAPITOL NASHVILLE
l 36 37 42 5 LITTLE BIT OF YOU Chase Bryant
D.GEORGE,C.BRYANT (C.BRYANT,D.GEORGE,A.GORLEY)
RED BOW
SMOKIN’ AND DRINKIN’
Miranda Lambert Featuring Little Big Town
37 32 33 14
F.LIDDELL,C.AINLAY,G.WORF (N.HEMBY,L.LAIRD,S.MCANALLY)
RCA NASHVILLE
l 38 43 47 6 SOUTHERN STYLE Darius Rucker
F.ROGERS (D.RUCKER,R.RUTHERFORD,T.JAMES)
CAPITOL NASHVILLE
l 39 NEW 1 NEXT BOYFRIEND Lauren Alaina
BUSBEE (L.ALAINA,E.WEISBAND,M.MCVANEY)
19/INTERSCOPE/MERCURY
l 40 40 46 5 (THIS AIN’T NO) DRUNK DIAL A Thousand Horses
D.COBB (M.HOBBY,C.CROWDER,N.MASON,C.DODDS)
REPUBLIC NASHVILLE
BLUE BANDANA
Jerrod Niemann
41 41 45 5
J.L.SLOAS,J.L.NIEMANN (B.GOLDSMITH,C.J. SOLAR,A.S.WILLS)
SEA GAYLE/ARISTA NASHVILLE
l 42 44 48 11 WHITE LIGHTNING The Cadillac Three
D.HUFF,J.NIEBANK (J.JOHNSTON)
BIG MACHINE
l 43 49 39 3 T-SHIRT Thomas Rhett
D.HUFF,J.FRASURE (A.GORLEY,L.LAIRD,S.MCANALLY)
VALORY
l 44 47 — 3 DRINKIN’ TOWN WITH A FOOTBALL PROBLEM Billy Currington
D.HUFF (A.HENNINGSEN,B.HENNINGSEN,C.HENNINGSEN,E.MCDAVID ELKINS,V.A.OLIVAREZ)
MERCURY
l 45 NEW 1 I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT Rascal Flatts
J.DEMARCUS,RASCAL FLATTS (M.TRAINOR,J.FRASURE,S.MOONEY)
BIG MACHINE
l 46 48 — 2 YUP Easton Corbin
C.CHAMBERLAIN (S.MINOR,P.O’DONNELL,W.KIRBY)
MERCURY
l 47 RE-ENTRY 5
LET IT GO
George Strait
C.AINLAY,G.STRAIT (G.STRAIT,B.STRAIT,K.GATTIS)
MCA NASHVILLE
l 48 2 BEAUTIFUL DRUG Zac Brown Band
Z.BROWN (Z.BROWN,N.MOON)
JOHN VARVATOS/REPUBLIC/BMLG/SOUTHERN GROUND
l 49 NEW 1 FREAKS LIKE ME Joe Nichols
M.J.CONES (L.HUTTON,M.CRISWELL,J.THOMPSON)
RED BOW
l 50 RE-ENTRY 17
SPEAKERS
Sam Hunt
Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,B.HOOD,K.SACKLEY)
MCA NASHVILLE
The week’s most popular country songs, ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen Music, sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music and streaming activity data from online music sources tracked by
Nielsen Music. Descending titles below No. 25 are moved to recurrent after 20 weeks.
PEAK
POSITION
25
26
28
28
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
32
38
39
40
41
42
39
44
45
46
29
45
49
40
Year-Over-Year Album Sales
’14
’15
DIGITAL TRACKS SALES
’14
’15
21.3 million
19.6 million
000.0 103.5 million
86.6 million
For week ending September 24, 2015. Figures are rounded. Compiled
from a national sample of retail store and rack sales reports collected and
provided by Nielsen Music.
COUNTRY MARKET WATCH
A Weekly National Music Sales Report
Weekly Unit ’14 Sales
’13
ALBUMS
DIGITAL
ALBUMS*
DIGITAL
TRACKS
This Week 420,000 139,000 1,670,000
Last Week 419,000 145,000 1,717,000
Change 0.2% -4.1% -2.7%
This Week Last Year 555,000 170,000 2,233,000
Change -24.3% -18.2% -25.2%
*Digital album sales are also counted within album sales.
YEAR-TO-DATE
Overall Unit Sales
2014 2015 CHANGE
Albums 21,270,000 19,612,000 -7.8%
Digital Tracks 103,528,000 86,575,000 -16.4%
Sales by Album Format
2014 2015 CHANGE
Physical 14,128,000 12,476,000 9.0%
Digital 7,142,000 7,136,000 -0.1%
For inquiries about any Nielsen Music data, please contact Josh Bennett at 615-807-1338 or josh.bennett@nielsen.com

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 12 OF 19
TOP COUNTRY ALBUMS
SALES, AIRPLAY &
STREAMING DATA
COMPILED BY
COUNTRY
DIGITAL SONGS
SALES, AIRPLAY &
STREAMING DATA
COMPILED BY
THIS
WEEK
LAST
WEEK
2 WEEKS
AGO
WEEKS
ON CHT
ARTIST
Title
IMPRINT & NUMBER / DISTRIBUTING LABEL
LUKE BRYAN Kill The Lights
l1 2 1 7 CAPITOL NASHVILLE 022813/UMGN
l2 NEW
ALABAMA Southern Drawl
1 TGA 53816215/BMG
l3 NEW
TURNPIKE TROUBADOURS Turnpike Troubadours
1 BOSSIER CITY 3*/THIRTY TIGERS
l4 NEW
HOME FREE Country Evolution
1 COLUMBIA 514112
5 1 — 2
6 3 2 48
7 5 5 85
8 4 4 22
9 6 8 50
10 8 9 49
11 7 3 4
12 10 12 51
13 9 10 10
14 11 11 71
15 15 14 16
16 13 17 14
17 12 7 5
18 14 13 21
19 19 20 58
20 17 19 46
BRETT ELDREDGE Illinois
ATLANTIC 549782/WMN
SAM HUNT Montevallo
MCA NASHVILLE 021502/UMGN
0
ERIC CHURCH The Outsiders
EMI NASHVILLE 019402*/UMGN
1
ZAC BROWN BAND JEKYLL + HYDE
JOHN VARVATOS/SOUTHERN GROUND/BMLG 022962/REPUBLIC
0
FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE Anything Goes
REPUBLIC NASHVILLE /BMLG
0
LITTLE BIG TOWN Pain Killer
CAPITOL NASHVILLE 021360*/UMGN
MADDIE & TAE Start Here
DOT/REPUBLIC 023172/BMLG
JASON ALDEAN Old Boots, New Dirt
BROKEN BOW 7105/BBMG
1
ALAN JACKSON Angels And Alcohol
ACR/EMI NASHVILLE 022814/UMGN
BRANTLEY GILBERT Just As I Am
VALORY BG0200A/BMLG
0
VARIOUS ARTISTS NOW That’s What I Call Country, Volume 8
SONY MUSIC/UNIVERSAL 023341/UME
KACEY MUSGRAVES Pageant Material
MERCURY 022816*/UMGN
KIP MOORE Wild Ones
MCA NASHVILLE 019941/UMGN
CHRIS STAPLETON Traveller
MERCURY 019405*/UMGN
CHASE RICE Ignite The Night
COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 22573/DACK JANIELS
ZAC BROWN BAND Greatest Hits So Far...
ROAR/SOUTHERN GROUND/ATLANTIC 546369/AG
JASON ISBELL
21 18 18 10 SOUTHEASTERN 9986*/THIRTY TIGERS
Something More Than Free
CARRIE UNDERWOOD
l22 23 25 42 19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 500876/SMN
Greatest Hits: Decade #1
0
ELVIS PRESLEY
23 16 6 6 USPS/RCA 512373/SONY COMMERCIAL MUSIC GROUP
Elvis Presley Forever
COLE SWINDELL Cole Swindell
24 22 22 84 WARNER BROS. 541372/WMN
ALABAMA Angels Among Us: Hymns & Gospel Favorites
l25 43 48 36 CRACKER BARREL/TGA/GAITHER 49013/CAPITOL CMG
The week’s most popular country albums, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music. Albums are
defined as current if they are less than 18 months old or older than 18 months but still residing in the Billboard
200’s top 100. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2015, Prometheus
Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.
CERT.
THIS
WEEK
LAST
WEEK
WKS ON
CHART
TITLE
ARTIST (IMPRINT/LABEL)
l1 1 10
STRIP IT DOWN
LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
l2 NEW
DIE A HAPPY MAN
THOMAS RHETT (Valory/BMLG)
l3 2 14
BURNING HOUSE
CAM (Arista Nashville/SMN)
l4 7 5
SMOKE BREAK
CARRIE UNDERWOOD (19/Arista Nashville/SMN)
5 3 23
6 4 16
7 6 25
BUY ME A BOAT
CHRIS JANSON (Warner Bros./WMN)
JOHN COUGAR, JOHN DEERE, JOHN 3:16
KEITH URBAN (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
CRASH AND BURN
THOMAS RHETT (Valory/BMLG)
8 5 26
HOUSE PARTY
SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)
l9 9 20
BREAK UP WITH HIM
OLD DOMINION (RCA Nashville/SMN)
10 8 33
l 11
LIKE A WRECKING BALL
ERIC CHURCH (EMI Nashville/UMGN)
11 20
I’M COMIN’ OVER
CHRIS YOUNG (RCA Nashville/SMN)
12 10 19
KICK THE DUST UP
LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
l13 14 22
LOSE MY MIND
BRETT ELDREDGE (Atlantic/WMN)
l14 15 11
SAVE IT FOR A RAINY DAY
KENNY CHESNEY (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville/SMN)
15 12 19
ANYTHING GOES
FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)
l16 17 48
TAKE YOUR TIME
SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)
17 13 40
GIRL CRUSH
LITTLE BIG TOWN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
l18 16 15
STAY A LITTLE LONGER
BROTHERS OSBORNE (EMI Nashville/UMGN)
l19 21 36
BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN
SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)
l20 31 5
GONNA
BLAKE SHELTON (Warner Bros./WMN)
21 18 19 FLY
MADDIE & TAE (Dot/Republic/BMLG)
l22 NEW
NEXT BOYFRIEND
LAUREN ALAINA (19/Mercury/Interscope/UMGN)
l23 25 15
GONNA WANNA TONIGHT
CHASE RICE (Dack Janiels)
24 20 10
NOTHIN’ LIKE YOU
DAN + SHAY (Warner Bros./WMN)
l25 26 19 LET ME SEE YA GIRL
COLE SWINDELL (Warner Bros./WMN)
THIS
WEEK
LAST
WEEK
WKS ON
CHART
TITLE
ARTIST (IMPRINT/LABEL)
I GOT THE BOY
l26 28 32
JANA KRAMER (Elektra Nashville/WMN)
27 27 9 DIBS
KELSEA BALLERINI (Black River)
28 29 18
REAL LIFE
JAKE OWEN (RCA Nashville/SMN)
l29 NEW
FREAKS LIKE ME
JOE NICHOLS (Red Bow/BBMG)
30 33 26 SANGRIA
BLAKE SHELTON (Warner Bros./WMN)
31 32 10
SMOKIN’ AND DRINKIN’
MIRANDA LAMBERT FEAT. LITTLE BIG TOWN (RCA Nashville/SMN)
l32 40 5
TOP OF THE WORLD
TIM MCGRAW (McGraw/Big Machine/BMLG)
LET IT GO
l33 RE-ENTRY
GEORGE STRAIT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)
34 19 28
TONIGHT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU
JASON ALDEAN (Broken Bow/BBMG)
l35 38 9
WE WENT
RANDY HOUSER (Stoney Creek/BBMG)
l36 48 6
LIVE FOREVER
THE BAND PERRY (Republic Nashville/BMLG)
l37 44 3
T-SHIRT
THOMAS RHETT (Valory/BMLG)
38 23 23
LOVING YOU EASY
ZAC BROWN BAND (John Varvatos/Southern Ground/BMLG/Republic)
l39 NEW
WAKE UP WHEN IT’S OVER
CLARE BOWEN & SAM PALLADIO (ABC Studios/Lions Gate/Big Machine/BMLG)
l40 42 5
I LOVE THIS LIFE
LOCASH (Reviver)
l41 NEW
ANGEL EYES
BARRETT BABER (Republic)
42 22 19
HELL OF A NIGHT
DUSTIN LYNCH (Broken Bow/BBMG)
43 36 3
CRAZY OVER ME
DYLAN SCOTT (Curb)
THAT DON’T SOUND LIKE YOU
l44 RE-ENTRY
LEE BRICE (Curb)
45 41 29
l46 RE-ENTRY
47 45 94
ONE HELL OF AN AMEN
BRANTLEY GILBERT (Valory/BMLG)
GONNA KNOW WE WERE HERE
JASON ALDEAN (Broken Bow/BBMG)
PLAY IT AGAIN
LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
48 50 115
WAGON WHEEL
DARIUS RUCKER (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
l49 RE-ENTRY
WHITE LIGHTNING
THE CADILLAC THREE (Big Machine/BMLG)
50 46 37 HOMEGROWN
ZAC BROWN BAND (John Varvatos/Southern Ground/BMLG/Republic)
Top-selling paid download country songs compiled from sales reports collected and provided by Nielsen
Music. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2015, Prometheus
Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.
COUNTRY
STREAMING SONGS
STREAMING DATA
COMPILED BY
DUNN: CARLOS RUIZ
31
CLARE
DUNN
Clare
Dunn (EP)
After a round of touring with Miranda
Lambert, Dunn notches her first Top
Country Albums entry (with all five songs
on the set co-written by the singer-writerguitarist).
It bows at No. 31 with 1,000 sold.
THIS
WEEK
LAST
WEEK
WKS ON
CHART
TITLE
ARTIST
HOUSE PARTY
SAM HUNT
1 1 18
STRIP IT DOWN
l2 4 7
LUKE BRYAN
I’M COMIN’ OVER
l3 10 15
CHRIS YOUNG
4 2 39
5 7 15
6 8 20
7 6 10
8 5 18
TAKE YOUR TIME
SAM HUNT
JOHN COUGAR, JOHN DEERE, JOHN 3:16
KEITH URBAN
CRASH AND BURN
THOMAS RHETT
LOSE MY MIND
BRETT ELDREDGE
KICK THE DUST UP
LUKE BRYAN
BUY ME A BOAT
9 9 13
CHRIS JANSON
l10 14 7
BURNING HOUSE
CAM
THIS
WEEK
LAST
WEEK
WKS ON
CHART
TITLE
ARTIST
11 13 20 SANGRIA
BLAKE SHELTON
12 3 9 FLY
MADDIE & TAE
LIKE A WRECKING BALL
ERIC CHURCH
13 12 25
GIRL CRUSH
l14 15 31
LITTLE BIG TOWN
BREAK UP WITH HIM
l15 16 6
OLD DOMINION
PLAY IT AGAIN
l16 18 79
LUKE BRYAN
ANYTHING GOES
l17 17 6
FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE
BOTTOMS UP
l18 20 92
BRANTLEY GILBERT
THIS IS HOW WE ROLL
l19 21 83
FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. LUKE BRYAN
l20 22 4
SAVE IT FOR A RAINY DAY
KENNY CHESNEY
Country Streaming Songs -The week’s top Country streamed radio songs, on-demand songs and videos
on leading online music services. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright
2015, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 13 OF 19
MAKIN’ TRACKS TOM ROLAND tom.roland@billboard.com
Rascal Flatts Turns To Dan + Shay,
Meghan Trainor For New ‘Sound’
The trio has racked up a cool 6.8 million “Likes” on Facebook. But the “like”
Rascal Flatts is most excited about these days is its new single, “I Like the
Sound of That.”
With its big, sing-along chorus; smart harmonies; and an identifiable hook,
there’s plenty to like about its chances of a long chart life. It doesn’t hurt, either,
that there’s a marketable personality behind it. Two of the title’s three songwriters
are successful artists in their own right: Nashville-based pop singer
Meghan Trainor and Dan + Shay lead vocalist Shay Mooney. Both are major
Rascal Flatts fans — particularly Mooney, whose tenor resonance and phrasing
have drawn frequent comparisons to Flatts
frontman Gary LeVox since “19 You + Me”
introduced Dan + Shay nationally in 2013.
“To get a song with [them], and then to actually
have one of those songs as a single is
definitely a personal goal,” says Mooney. “I
can knock that one off the bucket list.”
Mooney’s similarities to LeVox were advantageous.
Mooney, Trainor and co-writer
Jesse Frasure (“Crash and Burn,” “Sun Daze”)
actually landed two songs on Flatts’ Rewind
album — “I Like the Sound of That” and “DJ
Tonight” — in part because Mooney’s performances
eliminated any questions about the
material’s compatibility.
“When Shay had his vocal on the demo,
the picture was painted perfectly as to what it
would sound like with Gary on it,” says Flatts
producer-bassist Jay DeMarcus.
RASCAL FLATTS
It’s safe to say the band liked the sound of
those demos.
The seeds for “Like” were actually sown a year or two before when Frasure
and Trainor became musical pen pals. Still living in Nantucket, Mass., at the
time, Trainor had garnered attention from Big Yellow Dog owner/GM Carla
Wallace, who lined up some long-distance co-writers, including Frasure,
whose pop sensibilities were a good match for the “All About That Bass” singer.
“She wrote to a few of my pop tracks and then sent me the vocals to mix
them and they were awesome — full-blown [background vocals], great tracks,
great hooks,” says Frasure. “We wrote via email for quite a while. Then she
started coming to town for prolonged periods of time, and we started doing
some collaboration.”
Trainor and Frasure co-wrote with Mooney for the first time on June 18,
2013, banging out “DJ Tonight” a year before “All About That Bass” was released
and three months before Dan + Shay launched publicly. The writing
trio reconvened Jan. 22, 2014 — a month before Trainor signed with Epic —
and Mooney played a big part in laying the groundwork for that day’s efforts.
He and Frasure arrived at Major Bob Music on Nashville’s 17th Avenue before
Trainor made it in, and Mooney concocted an upbeat guitar groove. Frasure,
in turn, started building a track on his laptop that they could use to sustain the
tempo and energy in the room, and when Trainor arrived with her ukulele,
they all flipped through lists of potential titles on their phones for one with
the right mood. Mooney had logged “I Like the Sound of That” months earlier.
“I wrote it down because it’s something I say all the time,” remembers
Mooney. “I always would say, ‘Hey, man, I like the sound of that.’ ”
It didn’t take long before they found the right angle to make it work, focusing
on the household sounds in the morning that one associates with a significant
other, beginning with the splatter of a shower.
“It’s just the kind of noises that go down when you’re not alone in the
house, those routines that you get used to but would kind of miss if they were
gone,” notes Frasure. “I think it was the shower scene that really opened up
the whole thing.”
The second verse moved on to the sonics of the evening, hinting strongly
at a love-making session. In contrast, the chorus focused on the noises — or
silence — of separation. By 6 p.m. that day, the writers had finished both the
song and the demo.
“You have Shay and Meghan singing their asses off, and you aren’t touching
the Auto-Tuner, ever,” says Frasure. “You just have them sing a couple passes,
so we built that thing up and it was done, out the door.”
Neither Trainor nor Mooney had the song
in mind for their own careers as artists, so
Razor & Tie vp music publishing/creative
Brad Kennard (a Big Yellow Dog exec at
the time) got the song to Big Machine Label
Group senior vp A&R Allison Jones, who in
turn passed it to DeMarcus. LeVox and Flatts
guitarist Joe Don Rooney bought into it, too,
though the original lyrics in the second verse
— which suggested the couple’s love sounds
were so loud that they annoyed the neighbors
— were over the line for the band.
The writers softened that allusion and
replaced an alcohol reference with lighted
candles, and Flatts indeed liked the sound of
that. DeMarcus convened a session at the Grip
Studio in his home, and the night before, he
spent some preparation time with a bouzouki,
a Greek stringed instrument that’s similar in
tone to a mandolin. He developed a hook for
the intro and taught it the next morning to Ilya
Toshinsky, and the band created a slow-building arc that hit its full groove in
the second chorus. Getting there took some effort.
“The first few times we tracked, it [felt] a little stoppy and starty,” says
DeMarcus.
Drummer Dorian Crozier tried a disco beat, but that was too much. Eventually,
the key was lightly thumping quarter notes from DeMarcus on bass,
offset by Crozier playing 16th notes on the high hat.
Once the foundation was set, additional pieces were added — including
steel and a couple extra guitar parts — and the focus turned to vocals. LeVox
contributed his typically wavy phrasing and made another lyrical change, altering
a line about “Motown bumpin’ ” to “Timberlake bumpin’.” DeMarcus
and Rooney’s background parts filled out the sound nicely.
“We always like to refer to it as ‘Flatterizing’ a track,” says DeMarcus.
“Gary’s voice is so distinctive, but once you get our unique blend on there
and the counter melodies I think that we’re known a little bit for, it starts to
come to life.”
“I Like The Sound of That” was considered for the second single from Rewind,
but it was held for the fourth slot and finally released to radio via Play
MPE on Aug. 31. It debuted at No. 40 on the Country Airplay chart dated
Oct. 3 and moves to No. 37 in week two.
“It’s the familiar old sound of Rascal Flatts mixed with fresh new production,”
surmises DeMarcus. “I think it’s a perfect blend between what you love
about Rascal Flatts and where Rascal Flatts is headed in the future.”
It has, however, created one small issue for Mooney. He still says “I like
the sound of that” in his daily speech, and the pattern has begun to sound
self-referential.
“Now when I say that,” he notes, “my girlfriend is like, ‘Are you quoting
your own song? That’s weird.’ I’ve got to stop.”

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 14 OF 19
THE STARK REPORT PHYLLIS STARK phyllis.stark@billboard.com
Thomas Rhett Heads Down His
Own Lane With Tangled Up
After scoring the first two of the three major hits from his debut album, Thomas
Rhett worried that he might become pigeonholed as someone who was making
music “in the same vein as a lot of what a lot of my buddies were doing
too.” He decided he wanted to break away from that.
“I wanted to be in my own lane and be my own artist, [so] when people hear
a song of mine they know exactly who it is,” he says.
With the support of his label, the Valory Music Co., Rhett made a left-field
choice for the album’s fifth and final single, “Make Me Wanna.” And when
that song also became a hit, it gave him the courage he needed to make a
sophomore album that’s now being lauded for confidently venturing outside
the typical parameters of country music.
That album, Tangled Up — released Sept. 25 — had already yielded the fourth
No. 1 of Rhett’s career, “Crash and Burn.” He calls the project “super different
and super diverse ... It’s definitely going to make us stand out among the
crowds.” The Country Music Association new artist of the
year nominee chats below about the album, its unusual
duet partners, life on the road with Florida Georgia Line
and why wife Lauren needs her own fan club.
How was the process of recording the second album
compared with the first now that you have these
hits under your belt?
There was more freedom. The first one, I think, I was
searching a lot. I don’t think I fully knew exactly who I
was yet. I was just starting to play a bunch of shows, and I
was doing these different tours and seeing how [different
people make] records, and how they do their production
onstage. I learned a lot over the course of the first record
RHETT
[so] that I knew more on the second.
My producer game was way more dialed-in on the second
record. The first record was produced by, like, seven different people ...
This one, Dann Huff and Jesse Frasure came in and did a fantastic job. It
was such a free process. Literally every song I wanted on the record was OK’ed
[by Valory]. What made this record so fun to make is that the label was having
just as much fun watching us make it as we were actually making it.
You’re coming off an album that had three No. 1 hits. Do you feel pressure
to match that success, or beat it?
There’s a little bit of pressure. I hope we can get four off this one, or five. But
I think as long as we’re putting out good songs that the people are loving and
they’re requesting at radio and downloading, we’re going to be all right.
As established as you are now as a songwriter — with hits for Jason
Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, Lee Brice and yourself — you surprisingly
only wrote about half the songs on this album. What does that say
about the pool of available songs in Nashville?
We have the best. One of the biggest things that changes when you do have hits
is that the big, top-dog songwriters are pitching you some of their best stuff
… Could I have written the entire record with my name on every song? Yes,
but I’m such a big believer in the best song wins, whether I wrote it or [not]. If
I didn’t write it, I have to feel a connection with that song, almost like where
I feel like I was a part of that writing process.
You grew up in a musical household watching your dad, Rhett Akins,
make a living as an artist, then have a long career lull, and then come
back as a major hit songwriter. What are some of the key things you
learned in that environment?
You have to learn how to take no a lot of different ways. A lot of criticism is
constructive. That’s something that Dad had to learn a lot. You definitely get
the answer no more times in this business than you do yes. It’s what you do
with those no’s that makes your success either great or not.
I’ve learned a ton of patience from Dad. You watch somebody go from being
pretty much up here to down here to then back to being one of the best songwriters
in Nashville, you have to learn to be super patient and know when your
time has come. For him, that was songwriting. I just feel so blessed to be at the
point where I’ve had success as an artist and I’m still getting booked to play
shows and people are still asking me to be on their tours. We’re on this steady
climb, and I really enjoy the steady climb.
It seemed like “your time” came really fast.
Some people have fast success, and some people it takes them some time. I
cannot believe we’ve sold as many downloads as we have, [or that] we can
go to the middle of nowhere Nebraska and sell 2,000 or
3,000 tickets. That blows my mind that the awareness of
our brand is that big at this point in our career. Hopefully
we can keep building those fans one by one.
You’re still on Florida Georgia Line’s Anything Goes
Tour. Does it live up to the title?
It definitely does. Their show is the most crazy thing I’ve
ever seen in my life, minus going to a dubstep concert.
It’s the biggest party in the world. From the moment the
lights go down and they come onstage, it’s just epic. So
for us to be out there playing in front of their fans — and
thank goodness for them letting us play in front of a soldout
crowd every night — I feel like we’ve made huge leaps
and strides as far as studying a headliner and knowing
what it means and takes to be a headliner.
How did the album’s duet with Jordin Sparks come to be?
We wrote this song called “Playing With Fire,” me and my dad and Ashley
Gorley. We knew we wanted a big female powerhouse on the song, but we didn’t
know who. Our label president, Scott Borchetta, he had just met Jordin and
her whole management team out in L.A. and said she was super nice. So we
reached out to her team. They said yes and flew to Nashville, and she was the
nicest person in the world and got in there and knocked the song out in, like,
30 minutes. I didn’t know this, but she had always wanted to make a country
record, so I think singing on my record was kind of a bucket-list thing for her.
How about the collaboration with Lunch Money Lewis?
Lunch sings this huge song in the hip-hop and pop world called “Bills.” I wrote
this song called “I Feel Good” with two guys in L.A. that work with him pretty
regularly. I literally wrote this song two weeks before the record had to be
turned in. Lunch was playing a show in Miami and put down the bridge [to the
song] on his bus and sent it back to us, and we decided we wanted it to be on
the record. It’s pretty cool to have someone like that — a rapper/hip-hop guy
that isn’t a huge name but somebody I believe will be a huge name one day.
You’ve talked about how your wife, Lauren, needs her own fan club,
and now she’s starring in your music video for new single “Die a Happy
Man.” Why is she so popular with your fans?
She’s just a ray of sunshine. Lauren has never met a stranger. There will be
a bunch of girls that come through a meet-and-greet, and they’ll say, “I love
your music, but I really just wanted a picture with your wife,” which is pretty
hilarious. She’s a very happy person, and her energy is amazing around people
she’s never met. I think that’s why people gravitate toward her so much.

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 15 OF 19
WKS
ON
CHART
Country Indicator
PLAYS
AUDIENCE
(IN MILLIONS)
THIS LAST
WEEK WEEK TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist THIS WEEK +/– THIS WEEK
l1 2 15 SAVE IT FOR A RAINY DAY Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville HH No. 1 (1 week) HHKenny Chesney 4691 +142 5.765
2 5 8 STRIP IT DOWN Capitol Nashville Luke Bryan 4299 +377 5.339
l
l
3 3 23 LOSE MY MIND Atlantic/WMN Brett Eldredge 4287 +45 5.393
4 1 16 JOHN COUGAR, JOHN DEERE, JOHN 3:16 Hit Red/Capitol Nashville Keith Urban 4275 -303 5.489
l5 6 16 ANYTHING GOES Republic Nashville Florida Georgia Line 3841 +294 4.605
6 7 24 LET ME SEE YA GIRL Warner Bros./WMN Cole Swindell 3479 +250 3.796
l
l
l
7 11 6 SMOKE BREAK 19/Arista Nashville Carrie Underwood 3341 +290 3.888
8 8 41 GONNA WANNA TONIGHT Dack Janiels/Columbia Nashville Chase Rice 3301 +131 4.453
9 9 38 FLY Dot Maddie & Tae 3092 -3 3.727
10 4 21 BUY ME A BOAT Warner Bros./WAR Chris Janson 3086 -877 4.148
l11 13 9 GONNA Warner Bros./WMN Blake Shelton 2964 +119 3.462
12 14 20 BREAK UP WITH HIM RCA Nashville Old Dominion 2808 +293 3.179
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
13 16 27 NOTHIN’ LIKE YOU Warner Bros./WAR Dan + Shay 2669 +192 3.437
14 18 19 I’M COMIN’ OVER RCA Nashville Chris Young 2621 +208 2.971
15 19 8 TOP OF THE WORLD McGraw/Big Machine Tim McGraw 2574 +216 3.216
16 17 13 BURNING HOUSE Arista Nashville Cam 2555 +139 2.960
17 21 8 GONNA KNOW WE WERE HERE Broken Bow HH Most Increased Plays HHJason Aldean 2299 +396 2.897
18 20 27 STAY A LITTLE LONGER EMI Nashville Brothers Osborne 2134 +155 2.182
19 22 11 DIBS Black River Kelsea Ballerini 1896 +131 1.784
20 23 7 LIVE FOREVER Republic Nashville The Band Perry 1675 +124 1.474
21 24 33 ALREADY CALLIN’ YOU MINE Stoney Creek Parmalee 1485 +67 1.708
22 25 14 RISER Capitol Nashville Dierks Bentley 1474 +65 1.414
23 27 29 I GOT THE BOY Elektra Nashville/WAR Jana Kramer 1294 +96 1.364
24 31 4 COUNTRY NATION Arista Nashville Brad Paisley 1222 +259 1.316
25 28 14 (THIS AIN’T NO) DRUNK DIAL Republic Nashville A Thousand Horses 1122 +78 1.037
26 29 18 WE WENT Stoney Creek Randy Houser 1068 +28 1.020
l 27 RE-ENTRY SOUTHERN STYLE Capitol Nashville Darius Rucker 1046 +14 1.027
28 30 18 21 Atlantic/WMN Hunter Hayes 1045 +50 1.086
l
l
29 35 28 I LOVE THIS LIFE Reviver LoCash 975 +238 1.045
30 32 16 DRINKIN’ TOWN WITH A FOOTBALL PROBLEM Mercury Nashville Billy Currington 916 -1 0.639
BILLBOARD COUNTRY INDICATOR PANEL — 106 STATIONS
Abilene, Texas
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Westwood One HOT COUNTRY
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THE HIGHWAY

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 16 OF 19
WKS
ON
CHART
Country Indicator
PLAYS
AUDIENCE
(IN MILLIONS)
THIS LAST
WEEK WEEK TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist THIS WEEK +/– THIS WEEK
l31 33 9 BLUE BANDANA Sea Gayle/Arista Nashville Jerrod Niemann 905 +70 0.842
32 26 16 SMOKIN’ AND DRINKIN’ RCA Nashville Miranda Lambert Feat. Little Big Town 868 -423 0.782
l33 34 19 THAT DON’T SOUND LIKE YOU Curb Lee Brice 853 +70 0.695
34 36 5 PAIN KILLER Capitol Little Big Town 723 +27 0.491
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35 37 9 YUP Mercury Easton Corbin 675 +70 0.393
36 46 2 BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN MCA Nashville Sam Hunt 635 +303 0.556
37 38 17 YOU PART 2 Big Spark Olivia Lane 582 +38 0.256
38 39 13 SHINE A LITTLE LOVE Blue Light Brian Collins 547 +37 0.214
39 40 13 LITTLE BIT OF YOU Red Bow Chase Bryant 546 +63 0.481
40 47 2 I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT Big Machine Rascal Flatts 499 +181 0.522
41 42 10 NIGHT’S ON FIRE MCA Nashville David Nail 479 +15 0.354
42 41 12 JIM AND JACK AND HANK ACR/EMI Nashville Alan Jackson 419 -51 0.077
l43 43 13 MOVE ON MCA Nashville Clare Dunn 413 +12 0.205
44 48 3 STONE COLD SOBER Valory Brantley Gilbert 340 +38 0.291
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45 45 15 GREAT MINDS DRINK ALIKE MRG Rick Monroe 339 +4 0.118
46 58 2 BEAUTIFUL DRUG Varvatos/Southern Ground/BMLG/Republic Zac Brown Band 336 +124 0.493
47 NEW COLD BEER CONVERSATION MCA Nashville HH Hot Shot Debut/Most Added HHGeorge Strait 333 +333 0.399
48 44 8 AIN’T NO TRUCKS IN TEXAS Nash Icon/Valory Ronnie Dunn 322 -17 0.245
l49 49 11 TOMORROW TONIGHT Red Bow Craig Campbell 309 +16 0.300
50 56 2 HEAD OVER BOOTS Capitol Nashville Jon Pardi 297 +72 0.249
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51 53 3 SOUTHERN BELLE 19/Interscope/Mercury Scotty McCreery 281 +30 0.111
52 NEW DIE A HAPPY MAN Valory Thomas Rhett 270 +230 0.288
53 50 8 SUMMER GIRLS Supergroup/Nine North/Turnpike/Edgehill Music Nashville Boone 270 -6 0.107
l54 52 5 BETTER IN BOOTS Columbia Nashville Tyler Farr 266 +8 0.108
55 51 5 HOLE IN A BOTTLE Mercury Canaan Smith 262 +3 0.127
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56 55 6 DIME STORE COWGIRL Mercury Nashville Kacey Musgraves 251 +21 0.097
57 54 4 CRAZY ENOUGH Willing Nashville Bobby Wills 248 +8 0.029
58 NEW REAL MEN LOVE JESUS Atlantic/WEA Michael Ray 236 +73 0.170
59 59 6 I’M MAKING MINE GTR Erica Nicole 223 +12 0.048
60 60 4 ME AND JOHNNY CASH Cingle/Star Farm Nashville Rainey Qualley 198 -3 0.072
RANKINGS
Country Airplay is ranked by
total audience impressions
for the week ending Sunday
based on monitored airplay of
150 stations by Nielsen BDS.
Audience totals on the chart are
derived, in part, using certain
Arbitron Inc. copyrighted
Persons 12+ audience
estimates (under license ©
2015, Arbitron Inc.) Country
Indicator is tabulated using
reported playlists and Nielsen
BDS-monitored airplay at 106
stations, ranked by total plays.
BULLETS
l Awarded on Country Airplay
to titles gaining audience or
remaining flat from the previous
week. A song will also receive
a bullet if its percentage loss
in audience does not exceed
the percentage of monitored
station downtime for the format.
Titles that decline in audience
but increase in detections will
also receive a bullet if the total
audience erosion for the week
does not exceed 3%. Bullets are
awarded on Country Indicator to
titles gaining plays or remaining
flat from the previous week.
TIES
On Country Airplay, if two songs
are tied in total audience, the song
with the larger increase in audience
is placed first. On Country Indicator,
if two songs are tied in total plays,
the song with the larger increase in
plays is placed first.
RECURRENTS
On Country Airplay, descending
titles below No. 10 in either
audience or detections are moved
to recurrent after 20 weeks,
provided that they are not still
CHARTS LEGEND
gaining enough audience points
to bullet or if they rank below No.
10 and post a third consecutive
week of (non-bulleted) audience
decline, regardless of total chart
weeks. On Country Indicator,
descending, non-bulleted titles
below No. 10 are moved to
recurrent after 20 weeks or if they
post a third consecutive week of
decline in plays after 10 weeks.
HOT SHOT DEBUT
Awarded to the highest-ranking
new entry on Country Airplay and
Country Indicator, respectively.
MOST ADDED
The total number of new adds
officially reported to Billboard by
each reporting station, or by an
automatic-add threshold (seven plays
for the first time in a chart tracking
week, according to Nielsen BDS) for
stations that do not report adds.
MOST INCREASED AUDIENCE/
PLAYS
Most Increased Audience on
Country Airplay and Most
Increased Plays on Country
Indicator list the songs with the
greatest week-to-week increases
in total audience or plays,
respectively.
AIRPOWER
Awarded on Country Airplay to
titles ranking inside top 20 in
plays and audience rankings for
the first time, with increases in
both plays and audience.
BREAKER
Awarded on Country Airplay
to titles achieving airplay (at
least one detection) at 60% of
reporting stations for the first
time.
© 2015 Prometheus Global Media, LLC

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 17 OF 19
Country Airplay Index
TITLE Publishing-Licensing Org.
(Songwriter) Chart Position
21 EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Two Chord Georgia Music, BMI/EMI
April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Didn’t Have To Be Music Publishing, ASCAP/
External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Southside Independent
Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Atlas Music
Publishing, ASCAP/Ogden Avenue Publishing, BMI/Songs Of Universal,
Inc., BMI (D.Davidson, K.Lovelace, A.Gorley,
H.Hayes) 25
A
AIN’T NO TRUCKS IN TEXAS Warner-Tamerlane
Publishing Corp., BMI/Fonde Moutian Music, BMI/Sony/ATV Tree Publishing,
BMI/Casa Jaco Music, BMI/Songs Of Peer Ltd., ASCAP/Team Thrash, ASCAP
(W.Mobley, T.Martin, N.Thrasher) 44
ALREADY CALLIN’ YOU MINE 27861 Music, BMI/Revelry
Music, BMI/Gallo And Landers Music LLC, BMI/Sixteen Stars Music, BMI/
HoriPro Entertainment Group, Inc., BMI/Rooster Pecked Music, BMI/
Steel Wheels Music, BMI/Big Loud Bucks, BMI/Kirbtone Music, BMI (M.
Thomas, S.Thomas, B.Knox, P.O’Donnell,
W.Kirby) 20
ANYTHING GOES Rusty Muffler Songs, ASCAP/Kobalt Music
Publishing America, Inc., ASCAP/Big Loud Songs, ASCAP/Play Animal,
ASCAP/Big Loud Shirt Industries, ASCAP/Round Hill Songs, ASCAP/Red
Toe Rocker, ASCAP (F.McTeigue, C.G.Tompkins,
C.Wiseman) 5
B
BACKROAD SONG Climbing Windmills, BMI/House Of Sea Gayle
Music, ASCAP (G.Smith, F.Rogers) 45
BAD FOR YOU Raincreek Publishing, ASCAP/C.R. Cooper Publishing,
ASCAP/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Songs By Red Room, BMI/EMI
April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Jon Mark Nite Music, ASCAP (G.Birge,
C.Cooper, R.Copperman, J.M.Nite) 59
BEAUTIFUL DRUG Day For The Dead Publishing, SESAC/
Southern Ground, SESAC/Reach Music Tunes, SESAC (Z.Brown,
N.Moon) 43
BETTER IN BOOTS Legends Of Magic Mustang Music,
SESAC/W.B.M. Music Corp., SESAC/This Is Magic Mustang Music, ASCAP/
WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Music Of Platinum Pen, SESAC/Hatchoo Music,
SESAC/Thunder Cookie, SESAC (J.Wilson, D.Pittenger,
N.Cooke) 55
BLUE BANDANA Go For The Goldsmith, ASCAP/House Of Sea
Gayle Music, ASCAP/ClearBox Rights, ASCAP/Living Wills, BMI/Sony/
ATV Countryside, BMI (B.Goldsmith, C.J. Solar,
A.S.Wills) 36
BOY & A GIRL THING Mike Curb Music, BMI/She’s My Darlin
Music, ASCAP/House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP (M.Pitney,
D.Sampson) 47
BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN Universal Music
Corporation, ASCAP/Three Mules Music, ASCAP/External Combustion Music,
ASCAP/Who Wants To Buy My Publishing, ASCAP/Songs Of Southside
Independent Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/Smack Ink, ASCAP (S.
Hunt, Z.Crowell, S.McAnally) 31
BREAK UP WITH HIM Sonic Geo Music, ASCAP/Calhoun
Enterprises, ASCAP/Music Of RPM, ASCAP/HoriPro Entertainment
Group, Inc., ASCAP/ReHits Music, Inc., ASCAP/Smacktown Music, ASCAP/
Wrensong Publishing Corp., ASCAP/Songs Of Big Deal, ASCAP/BMG
Rights Management (US) LLC, ASCAP/Sharkules Music, ASCAP/Tiny
Handstand, ASCAP (M.Ramsey, T. Rosen, B.Tursi,
G.Sprung, W.Sellers) 6
BURNING HOUSE Marvelous Oaks Records, ASCAP/One Year
Yesterday Publishing, BMI/Jeff Bhasker Publishing Designee, BMI/Sony/ATV
Songs LLC, BMI/Way Above Music, BMI (C.Ochs, T.Johnson,
J.Bhasker) 17
BUY ME A BOAT Buckkilla Music, BMI/Red Vinyl Music, Inc., BMI/
House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP (C.Janson, C.DuBois) 9
C
COLD BEER CONVERSATION International Dog Music,
BMI/Bucked Up Music, BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Tar-Cam-Knox Music,
ASCAP/Thankful For This Music, ASCAP/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/
Great Day At This Music, BMI/Beatyville Music, BMI (A.Anderson,
B.Hayslip, J.Yeary) 35
COUNTRY NATION House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP/
Making The Turn Music, BMI/Do Write Music, LLC, BMI (B.Paisley,
C.DuBois, K.Lovelace) 26
D
DIBS Songs Of Black River, ASCAP/KNB Music, ASCAP/DHM Administration,
ASCAP/Nyssa Music, ASCAP/Jason Duke Music, ASCAP (K.Ballerini,
J.Kerr, R.Griffin, J.Duke) 22
DIE A HAPPY MAN EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Cricket On
The Line Music, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Eastman
Pond Publishing, BMI/Music Of Big Deal, BMI/Nice Life, BMI/Frederic And
Reid Music, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs, BMI (Thomas Rhett,
S.Douglas, J.Spargur) 41
DRINKIN’ TOWN WITH A FOOTBALL
PROBLEM EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Line In The Sand,
BMI/Taste Of Crow Music, BMI/Your Ears Will Never Go Hungry, BMI/
Archenland Music, BMI/Gypsy Girl Music, BMI (A.Henningsen,
B.Henningsen, C.Henningsen, E.McDavid
Elkins, V.A.Olivarez) 38
F
FLY Super Big Music, ASCAP/Not Your Average Girl Music, ASCAP/Silva
Tone Music, ASCAP (M.Marlow, T.Dye, T.Vartanyan)
11
G
GONNA Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Creative Nation Music, BMI/
Twangin And Slangin Songs, BMI/Big Loud Shirt Industries, ASCAP (L.
Laird, C.Wiseman) 13
GONNA KNOW WE WERE HERE BMG Platinum Songs,
BMI/BMG Rights Management, BMI/Music Of Big Deal, BMI/Stalefish
Music, BMI/BMG Rights Management (US) LLC, ASCAP/WB Music Corp.,
ASCAP/Songs Of Brett, ASCAP/External Combustion Music, ASCAP (B.
Beavers, Brett James) 15
GONNA WANNA TONIGHT Universal Music Corporation,
ASCAP/Smack Ink, ASCAP/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Jon Mark Nite Music,
ASCAP/Extraordinary Alien Publishing, ASCAP (S.McAnally,
J.M.Nite, J.Robbins) 8
H
HOLE IN A BOTTLE BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/Skinny Fat
Nashville Music, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs, BMI/Music Of Big Deal, BMI/
Stalefish Music, BMI/Songs From The Couch, BMI (C.Smith,
B.Beavers, D.Couch) 53
HONEY, I’M GOOD. Ladder Soul Music, BMI/S-Curve Songs
Worldwide, BMI/Chrysalis Songs, BMI/Sony/ATV Tunes LLC, ASCAP/Nolan
W. Sipe Music, ASACP/Margetts Road Music, ASCAP (A.Grammer,
N.W.Sipe) 49
I
I AM INVINCIBLE Brett Boyett Music, BMI/Harmony - HLO Music,
BMI/Nashty Music, BMI/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI (B.Boyett,
N.Overstreet) 56
I GOT THE BOY Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/
Nichols Boys Music, BMI/Made For This Music, BMI/All For This Music, BMI/
Sweet Jamie Music, Inc., BMI (T.Nichols, C.Harrington,
J.L.Spears) 24
I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT Year Of The Dog Music,
ASCAP/Rio Bravo Music, Inc., BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.,
BMI/Shay Mooney Music, ASCAP (M.Trainor, J.Frasure,
S.Mooney) 37
I LOVE THIS LIFE Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Red Vinyl Music,
Inc., BMI/Round Hill Works, BMI (D.Myrick, C.Janson,
C.Lucas, P.Brust) 23
I’M COMIN’ OVER EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Goodbye Pants
Music, BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Songs From The Rose Hotel, ASCAP/
EMI Foray Music, SESAC/Write 2 Be Free Music, SESAC (C.Young,
C.Crowder, J.Hoge) 14
I MET A GIRL ReHits Music, Inc., ASCAP/Smacktown Music, ASCAP/
Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/Three Mules Music, ASCAP/Smack Ink,
ASCAP (T. Rosen, S.Hunt, S.McAnally) 60
J
JOHN COUGAR, JOHN DEERE, JOHN 3:16 Smack
Hits, GMR/Kobalt Music Group Ltd., GMR/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/
Songs By Red Room, BMI/Songs Of Black River, ASCAP/One Little Indian
Creek Music, ASCAP (S.McAnally, R.Copperman,
J.Osborne) 2
L
LET ME SEE YA GIRL Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/243 Music,
ASCAP/Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing, ASCAP (C.Swindell,
M.Carter, J.Stevens) 10
LITTLE BIT OF YOU Orbison Music, LLC, BMI/BMG Rights
Management, BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Funky Friar Music, ASCAP/
Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP/Combustion Engine Music, ASCAP (C.
Bryant, D.George, A.Gorley) 29
LIVE FOREVER Sony/ATV Songs LLC, BMI/Songs Of RedOne,
BMI/Songs By Team Red, SESAC/Lionheart Music Group, SESAC/Sony/
ATV Countryside, BMI/Pearlfeather Publishing, BMI/When I Go To The
Moon Music, BMI/Famdamily Music, BMI/SONGS Music Publishing, LLC,
ASCAP/Songs Of SMP, ASCAP (N.Khayat, C.J.Harris,
Jr., K.Perry, R.Perry, N.Perry, J.Andrews,
K.O.Kjellholm) 27
LOSE MY MIND Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/Paris Not France Music,
BMI/Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Songs
By Red Room, BMI/Universal Music Italia, srl/Killer Tracks, BMI/Warner/
Chappell Music Publishing Ltd., PRS/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.,
BMI/BMG Chrysalis Music, ASCAP/BMG Rights Management (US) LLC, ASCAP
(B.Eldredge, H.Morgan, R.Copperman,
B.Burton, T.D.Callaway, G.F.Reverberi,
G.P.Reverberi) 3
M
MOVE ON BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/Leer Jet 87 Publishing, ASCAP/BMG
Rights Management (US) LLC, ASCAP/Rio Bravo Music, Inc., BMI/Telemitry
Productions, BMI (C.Dunn, J.Frasure) 58
N
NIGHT’S ON FIRE Super Big Music, ASCAP/Jett Music, ASCAP/WB
Music Corp., ASCAP/Doc And Maggie Music, SOCAN/Thankful For This Music,
ASCAP (J.Singleton, D.Ruttan) 50
NOTHIN’ LIKE YOU WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Beats And Banjos,
ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Shay Mooney Music,
ASCAP/Highly Combustible Music, ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP/
EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Sugar Glider Music, ASCAP (D.Smyers,
S.Mooney, A.Gorley, C. DeStefano) 12
P
PAIN KILLER Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Little Big
Town, BMI/Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC, BMI/Internal
Combustion Music, BMI/Kickin’ Grids Music, BMI/HillarodyRathbone
Music, ASCAP/BMG Chrysalis Music, ASCAP (K.Fairchild,
J.Westbrook, B.Daly, H.Lindsey) 46
R
REAL LIFE EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Songs By Red Room, BMI/
Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Combustion Engine Music, ASCAP/WB Music
Corp., ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP/Smack Hits, GMR/Kobalt Music
Group Ltd., GMR/Songs Of Black River, ASCAP/One Little Indian Creek Music,
ASCAP (R.Copperman, A.Gorley, S.McAnally,
J.Osborne) 18
REAL MEN LOVE JESUS EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/
Sagequinnjude Music, BMI/Famlove Songs, BMI (B.Warren,
B.Warren, L.Miller, A.Sanders) 48
RISER Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/Nan Jam
Music Publishing, BMI/She And I, LLC, BMI/It’s Killer Music, BMI (S.
Moakler, T.Meadows) 32
ROLLER COASTER RIDE Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/
Longer And Louder Music, BMI/Bug Music, Inc., BMI/Mammaw’s Cornbread
Music, BMI/Little Louder Songs, BMi/ole, BMI/Purple Cape Music, BMI (E.
Church, J.Hyde, R.Tyndell) 54
RUN AWAY WITH YOU J Money Music, ASCAP/Kobalt Music
Publishing America, Inc., ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI
(J.D.Rich, Michael Ray) 21
S
SAVE IT FOR A RAINY DAY Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/
Endorffin Music, BMI/Sonic Geo Music, ASCAP/Calhoun Enterprises, ASCAP/
Music Of RPM, ASCAP/HoriPro Entertainment Group, Inc., ASCAP/Songs Of
Big Deal, ASCAP/BMG Rights Management (US) LLC, ASCAP (A.Dorff,
M.Ramsey, B.Tursi) 1
SMOKE BREAK Carrie-Okie Music, BMI/EMI April Music, Inc.,
ASCAP/HillarodyRathbone Music, ASCAP/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP (C.
Underwood, C. DeStefano, H.Lindsey) 7
SOUTHERN BELLE BMG Platinum Songs, BMI/Gravity Gone
Songs, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Little Beluga Music,
BMI (J.Saenz, S.McConnell) 57
SOUTHERN STYLE Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/Cadaja
Publishing, ASCAP/Memphianna, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing
Corp., BMI/T-Bird’s Music, BMI (D.Rucker, R.Rutherford,
T.James) 33
STAY A LITTLE LONGER WB Music Corp., ASCAP/All The Kings
Pens, ASCAP/Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/Smack Ink, ASCAP (J.
Osborne, T.J. Osborne, S.McAnally) 19
STONE COLD SOBER Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/
Indiana Angel Music, BMI/External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Songs Of
Brett, ASCAP/Atlas Music Publishing, ASCAP/Yawyer Three Music, ASCAP
(B.Gilbert, Brett James, D.Layus) 52
STRIP IT DOWN Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Peanut Mill
Songs, BMI/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Jon Mark Nite Music, ASCAP/EMI
Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Songs By Red Room, BMI (L.Bryan,
J.M.Nite, R.Copperman) 4
T
THAT DON’T SOUND LIKE YOU Mike Curb Music, BMI/
EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Brooks County Boy Music, BMI/External
Combustion Music, ASCAP/Out Of The Taperoom Music, ASCAP/Songs Of
Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/WB Music Corp.,
ASCAP (L.Brice, R.Akins, A.Gorley) 34
(THIS AIN’T NO) DRUNK DIAL Warner-Tamerlane
Publishing Corp., BMI/Carolina June Publishing, BMI/Greatshakin Music,
BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Crowder Taylor Publishing, BMI/
Nettwerk One Music, BMI/Revelry Music, BMI/Nevada House Music, BMI/
Nettwerk One Music Limited Canada, SOCAN/Cale Dodds Publishing,
ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP (M.Hobby, C.Crowder,
N.Mason, C.Dodds) 30
TOMORROW TONIGHT Legends Of Magic Mustang Music,
SESAC/W.B.M. Music Corp., SESAC/Skabetti Bowl Of Songs, SESAC/
Nineteen64 Music, BMI (C.Campbell, J.Wilson,
V.McGehee) 42
TOP OF THE WORLD Extraordinary Alien Publishing, ASCAP/
Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Jon Mark
Nite Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Black River, ASCAP/One Little Indian Creek
Music, ASCAP (J.Robbins, J.M.Nite, J.Osborne) 16
U
UNTIL THEY DON’T LOVE YOU Universal Music
Corporation, ASCAP/Smack Ink, ASCAP/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/
Hoodie Songs, BMI/One Little Indian Creek Music, ASCAP/Songs Of
Black River, ASCAP (S.McAnally, L.McKenna,
J.Osborne) 51
W
WE WENT Legends Of Magic Mustang Music, SESAC/W.B.M. Music
Corp., SESAC/ole Canalco Publishing, ASCAP/Ole Ole, ASCAP/Songs Of
Razor And Tie Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Black River, ASCAP (J.Wilson,
M.Rogers, J.King) 28
WHITE LIGHTNING Sony/ATV Harmony, ASCAP/Texa Rae Music,
ASCAP (J.Johnston) 40
Y
YUP Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Code Six Charles Music, BMI/Sixteen
Stars Music, BMI/Rooster Pecked Music, BMI/HoriPro Entertainment Group,
Inc., BMI/Round Hill Works, BMI/Kirbtone Music, BMI (S.Minor,
P.O’Donnell, W.Kirby) 39

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 18 OF 19
Hot Country Songs Index
TITLE Publishing-Licensing Org.
(Songwriter) Chart Position
21 EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Two Chord
Georgia Music, BMI/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/
Didn’t Have To Be Music Publishing, ASCAP/
External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Songs Of
Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC,
ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Atlas Music
Publishing, ASCAP/Ogden Avenue Publishing,
BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI (D.Davidson,
K.Lovelace, A.Gorley, H.Hayes) 29
A
ALREADY CALLIN’ YOU MINE 27861
Music, BMI/Revelry Music, BMI/Gallo And Landers
Music LLC, BMI/Sixteen Stars Music, BMI/HoriPro
Entertainment Group, Inc., BMI/Rooster Pecked
Music, BMI/Steel Wheels Music, BMI/Big Loud
Bucks, BMI/Kirbtone Music, BMI (M.Thomas, S.Thomas,
B.Knox, P.O’Donnell, W.Kirby) 27
ANYTHING GOES Rusty Muffler Songs,
ASCAP/Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc.,
ASCAP/Big Loud Songs, ASCAP/Play Animal,
ASCAP/Big Loud Shirt Industries, ASCAP/Round
Hill Songs, ASCAP/Red Toe Rocker, ASCAP (F.
McTeigue, C.G.Tompkins, C.Wiseman) 11
B
BEAUTIFUL DRUG Day For The Dead
Publishing, SESAC/Southern Ground, SESAC/Reach
Music Tunes, SESAC (Z.Brown, N.Moon) 48
BLUE BANDANA Go For The Goldsmith,
ASCAP/House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP/ClearBox
Rights, ASCAP/Living Wills, BMI/Sony/ATV
Countryside, BMI (B.Goldsmith, C.J. Solar, A.S.Wills) 41
BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN
Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/Three Mules
Music, ASCAP/External Combustion Music, ASCAP/
Who Wants To Buy My Publishing, ASCAP/Songs
Of Southside Independent Music Publishing,
LLC, ASCAP/Smack Ink, ASCAP (S.Hunt, Z.Crowell,
S.McAnally) 25
BREAK UP WITH HIM Sonic Geo Music,
ASCAP/Calhoun Enterprises, ASCAP/Music Of RPM,
ASCAP/HoriPro Entertainment Group, Inc., ASCAP/
ReHits Music, Inc., ASCAP/Smacktown Music,
ASCAP/Wrensong Publishing Corp., ASCAP/Songs
Of Big Deal, ASCAP/BMG Rights Management
(US) LLC, ASCAP/Sharkules Music, ASCAP/Tiny
Handstand, ASCAP (M.Ramsey, T. Rosen, B.Tursi,
G.Sprung, W.Sellers) 9
BURNING HOUSE Marvelous Oaks Records,
ASCAP/One Year Yesterday Publishing, BMI/Jeff
Bhasker Publishing Designee, BMI/Sony/ATV
Songs LLC, BMI/Way Above Music, BMI (C.Ochs,
T.Johnson, J.Bhasker) 10
BUY ME A BOAT Buckkilla Music, BMI/Red
Vinyl Music, Inc., BMI/House Of Sea Gayle Music,
ASCAP (C.Janson, C.DuBois) 6
C
COUNTRY NATION House Of Sea Gayle
Music, ASCAP/Making The Turn Music, BMI/Do
Write Music, LLC, BMI (B.Paisley, C.DuBois, K.Lovelace)
34
CRASH AND BURN Rio Bravo Music, Inc.,
BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Ken Tucky Music,
ASCAP (J.Frasure, C.Stapleton) 7
D
DIBS Songs Of Black River, ASCAP/KNB Music,
ASCAP/DHM Administration, ASCAP/Nyssa Music,
ASCAP/Jason Duke Music, ASCAP (K.Ballerini, J.Kerr,
R.Griffin, J.Duke) 26
DIE A HAPPY MAN EMI Blackwood Music
Inc., BMI/Cricket On The Line Music, BMI/Warner-
Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Eastman Pond
Publishing, BMI/Music Of Big Deal, BMI/Nice Life, BMI/
Frederic And Reid Music, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs,
BMI (Thomas Rhett, S.Douglas, J.Spargur) 17
DRINKIN’ TOWN WITH A FOOTBALL
PROBLEM EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Line
In The Sand, BMI/Taste Of Crow Music, BMI/Your
Ears Will Never Go Hungry, BMI/Archenland Music,
BMI/Gypsy Girl Music, BMI (A.Henningsen, B.Henningsen,
C.Henningsen, E.McDavid Elkins, V.A.Olivarez) 44
F
FREAKS LIKE ME New House Of Sea Gayle
Music, ASCAP/Vestal Boy Music, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Tree
Publishing, BMI/Dixey Bar Music, BMI/Big Machine
Music, BMI (L.Hutton, M.Criswell, J.Thompson) 49
G
GONNA Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Creative
Nation Music, BMI/Twangin And Slangin Songs, BMI/
Big Loud Shirt Industries, ASCAP (L.Laird, C.Wiseman) 16
GONNA KNOW WE WERE HERE BMG
Platinum Songs, BMI/BMG Rights Management, BMI/
Music Of Big Deal, BMI/Stalefish Music, BMI/BMG
Rights Management (US) LLC, ASCAP/WB Music Corp.,
ASCAP/Songs Of Brett, ASCAP/External Combustion
Music, ASCAP (B.Beavers, Brett James) 24
GONNA WANNA TONIGHT Universal
Music Corporation, ASCAP/Smack Ink, ASCAP/EMI
April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Jon Mark Nite Music, ASCAP/
Extraordinary Alien Publishing, ASCAP (S.McAnally,
J.M.Nite, J.Robbins) 15
H
HOUSE PARTY Universal Music Corporation,
ASCAP/Sam Hunt Publishing, ASCAP/Three Mules
Music, ASCAP/External Combustion Music, ASCAP/
Who Wants To Buy My Publishing, ASCAP/Songs Of
Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/
WB Music Corp., ASCAP (S.Hunt, Z.Crowell, J.Flowers) 3
I
I GOT THE BOY Warner-Tamerlane Publishing
Corp., BMI/Nichols Boys Music, BMI/Made For This
Music, BMI/All For This Music, BMI/Sweet Jamie Music,
Inc., BMI (T.Nichols, C.Harrington, J.L.Spears) 22
I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT Year Of The
Dog Music, ASCAP/Rio Bravo Music, Inc., BMI/Warner-
Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Shay Mooney Music,
ASCAP (M.Trainor, J.Frasure, S.Mooney) 45
I LOVE THIS LIFE Sony/ATV Tree Publishing,
BMI/Red Vinyl Music, Inc., BMI/Round Hill Works, BMI
(D.Myrick, C.Janson, C.Lucas, P.Brust) 30
I’M COMIN’ OVER EMI Blackwood Music Inc.,
BMI/Goodbye Pants Music, BMI/WB Music Corp.,
ASCAP/Songs From The Rose Hotel, ASCAP/EMI Foray
Music, SESAC/Write 2 Be Free Music, SESAC (C.Young,
C.Crowder, J.Hoge) 12
J
JOHN COUGAR, JOHN DEERE, JOHN
3:16 Smack Hits, GMR/Kobalt Music Group Ltd.,
GMR/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Songs By Red
Room, BMI/Songs Of Black River, ASCAP/One Little
Indian Creek Music, ASCAP (S.McAnally, R.Copperman,
J.Osborne) 2
L
LET IT GO Day Money Music, ASCAP/HoriPro
Entertainment Group, Inc., ASCAP/Living For The
Night Music, BMI/HoriPro Entertainment Group, Inc.,
BMI/Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Pioneer Town
Songs, BMI (G.Strait, B.Strait, K.Gattis) 47
LET ME SEE YA GIRL Sony/ATV Tree
Publishing, BMI/243 Music, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Cross
Keys Publishing, ASCAP (C.Swindell, M.Carter, J.Stevens) 13
LITTLE BIT OF YOU Orbison Music, LLC,
BMI/BMG Rights Management, BMI/WB Music Corp.,
ASCAP/Funky Friar Music, ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite
Songs, ASCAP/Combustion Engine Music, ASCAP (C.
Bryant, D.George, A.Gorley) 36
LIVE FOREVER Sony/ATV Songs LLC, BMI/
Songs Of RedOne, BMI/Songs By Team Red, SESAC/
Lionheart Music Group, SESAC/Sony/ATV Countryside,
BMI/Pearlfeather Publishing, BMI/When I Go To
The Moon Music, BMI/Famdamily Music, BMI/SONGS
Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/Songs Of SMP, ASCAP
(N.Khayat, C.J.Harris, Jr., K.Perry, R.Perry, N.Perry, J.Andrews,
K.O.Kjellholm) 31
LONG STRETCH OF LOVE Beards And
Bullets Music, ASCAP/30A Getaway Songs, ASCAP/
Hobbs Hill Publishing, SESAC/Global Dog Music,
ASCAP/Book Of Spells, ASCAP/WB Music Corp.,
ASCAP/W.B.M. Music Corp., SESAC (D.Haywood, C.Kelley,
H.Scott, J.Kear) 23
LOSE MY MIND Sony/ATV Countryside,
BMI/Paris Not France Music, BMI/Sony/ATV Tree
Publishing, BMI/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Songs
By Red Room, BMI/Universal Music Italia, srl/Killer
Tracks, BMI/Warner/Chappell Music Publishing Ltd.,
PRS/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/BMG
Chrysalis Music, ASCAP/BMG Rights Management (US)
LLC, ASCAP (B.Eldredge, H.Morgan, R.Copperman, B.Burton,
T.D.Callaway, G.F.Reverberi, G.P.Reverberi) 4
LOVING YOU EASY Day For The Dead
Publishing, SESAC/Southern Ground, SESAC/Reach
Music Tunes, SESAC/Cash Box Music, BMI (Z.Brown,
N.Moon, A.Anderson) 21
N
NEXT BOYFRIEND Warner-Tamerlane
Publishing Corp., BMI/Lylas Music, BMI/WB Music
Corp., ASCAP/Thankful For This Music, ASCAP/Matt
McVaney Publishing Designee, ASCAP (L.Alaina,
E.Weisband, M.McVaney) 39
NOTHIN’ LIKE YOU WB Music Corp., ASCAP/
Beats And Banjos, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane
Publishing Corp., BMI/Shay Mooney Music, ASCAP/
Highly Combustible Music, ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite
Songs, ASCAP/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Sugar
Glider Music, ASCAP (D.Smyers, S.Mooney, A.Gorley, C.
DeStefano) 14
R
REAL LIFE EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Songs
By Red Room, BMI/Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/
Combustion Engine Music, ASCAP/WB Music Corp.,
ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP/Smack Hits,
GMR/Kobalt Music Group Ltd., GMR/Songs Of Black
River, ASCAP/One Little Indian Creek Music, ASCAP (R.
Copperman, A.Gorley, S.McAnally, J.Osborne) 18
RISER Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America,
Inc., BMI/Nan Jam Music Publishing, BMI/She And I,
LLC, BMI/It’s Killer Music, BMI (S.Moakler, T.Meadows) 35
RUN AWAY WITH YOU J Money Music,
ASCAP/Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., ASCAP/
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI (J.D.Rich,
Michael Ray) 28
S
SAVE IT FOR A RAINY DAY Songs Of
Universal, Inc., BMI/Endorffin Music, BMI/Sonic
Geo Music, ASCAP/Calhoun Enterprises, ASCAP/
Music Of RPM, ASCAP/HoriPro Entertainment Group,
Inc., ASCAP/Songs Of Big Deal, ASCAP/BMG Rights
Management (US) LLC, ASCAP (A.Dorff, M.Ramsey,
B.Tursi) 5
SMOKE BREAK Carrie-Okie Music, BMI/EMI April
Music, Inc., ASCAP/HillarodyRathbone Music, ASCAP/
BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP (C.Underwood, C. DeStefano,
H.Lindsey) 8
SMOKIN’ AND DRINKIN’ EMI Blackwood
Music Inc., BMI/Wruckestrike, BMI/Songs Of Universal,
Inc., BMI/Twangin And Slangin Songs, BMI/Universal
Music Corporation, ASCAP/Smack Ink, ASCAP (N.Hemby,
L.Laird, S.McAnally) 37
SOUTHERN STYLE Universal Music
Corporation, ASCAP/Cadaja Publishing, ASCAP/
Memphianna, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing
Corp., BMI/T-Bird’s Music, BMI (D.Rucker, R.Rutherford,
T.James) 38
SPEAKERS Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/
Three Mules Music, ASCAP/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/
We Jam Writers Group, ASCAP/BMG Platinum Songs,
BMI/Shelia Be Right Music, BMI/Jam Writers Group,
BMI (S.Hunt, B.Hood, K.Sackley) 50
STAY A LITTLE LONGER WB Music Corp.,
ASCAP/All The Kings Pens, ASCAP/Universal Music
Corporation, ASCAP/Smack Ink, ASCAP (J. Osborne, T.J.
Osborne, S.McAnally) 19
STRIP IT DOWN Sony/ATV Tree Publishing,
BMI/Peanut Mill Songs, BMI/EMI April Music, Inc.,
ASCAP/Jon Mark Nite Music, ASCAP/EMI Blackwood
Music Inc., BMI/Songs By Red Room, BMI (L.Bryan,
J.M.Nite, R.Copperman) 1
T
THAT DON’T SOUND LIKE YOU Mike
Curb Music, BMI/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/
Brooks County Boy Music, BMI/External Combustion
Music, ASCAP/Out Of The Taperoom Music, ASCAP/
Songs Of Southside Independent Music Publishing,
LLC, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP (L.Brice, R.Akins,
A.Gorley) 33
(THIS AIN’T NO) DRUNK DIAL Warner-
Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Carolina June
Publishing, BMI/Greatshakin Music, BMI/Songs Of
Universal, Inc., BMI/Crowder Taylor Publishing, BMI/
Nettwerk One Music, BMI/Revelry Music, BMI/Nevada
House Music, BMI/Nettwerk One Music Limited
Canada, SOCAN/Cale Dodds Publishing, ASCAP/
WB Music Corp., ASCAP (M.Hobby, C.Crowder, N.Mason,
C.Dodds) 40
TOP OF THE WORLD Extraordinary Alien
Publishing, ASCAP/Universal Music Corporation,
ASCAP/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Jon Mark Nite
Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Black River, ASCAP/One
Little Indian Creek Music, ASCAP (J.Robbins, J.M.Nite,
J.Osborne) 20
T-SHIRT External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Songs
Of Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC,
ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Atlas Music Publishing,
ASCAP/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Creative Nation
Music, BMI/Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/
Smack Ink, ASCAP (A.Gorley, L.Laird, S.McAnally) 43
W
WE WENT Legends Of Magic Mustang Music,
SESAC/W.B.M. Music Corp., SESAC/ole Canalco
Publishing, ASCAP/Ole Ole, ASCAP/Songs Of Razor
And Tie Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Black River, ASCAP (J.
Wilson, M.Rogers, J.King) 32
WHITE LIGHTNING Sony/ATV Harmony,
ASCAP/Texa Rae Music, ASCAP (J.Johnston) 42
Y
YUP Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Code Six Charles
Music, BMI/Sixteen Stars Music, BMI/Rooster Pecked
Music, BMI/HoriPro Entertainment Group, Inc., BMI/
Round Hill Works, BMI/Kirbtone Music, BMI (S.Minor,
P.O’Donnell, W.Kirby) 46

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 | PAGE 19 OF 19
CODA
25 Years Ago
Garth Brooks
Broke Barriers
With No Fences
The bow of Brooks’ first No. 1
album set him on course for
record career sales
Twenty-five years ago, Garth
Brooks’ assault on music history
kicked into high gear. On the
Sept. 29, 1990 Top Country Albums
chart, the then-28-yearold’s
second set, No Fences, entered
at No. 15. Two weeks later,
it rocketed to No. 1, becoming his
first leader, holding the top spot
for 41 weeks and producing four
classic Hot Country Songs No. 1s:
“Friends in Low Places,” “Unanswered
Prayers,” “Two of a Kind,
Workin’ on a Full House” and “The
Thunder Rolls.”
Brooks has since upped his total
to 14 Top Country Albums No. 1s,
including his latest, 2014’s Man
Against the Machine. His current U.S.
album sales total 70.5 million, the
top sum since Nielsen Music began
tracking sales in 1991. The Beatles
follow at 66.9 million.
In July, the superstar, whose
world tour with wife Trisha Yearwood
rolls on, was named the
top-earning country act of the previous
12 months, according to Forbes,
having taken in $90 million in total
income in that span. —JIM ASKER
REWINDING
THE
COUNTRY
CHARTS
Brooks, circa 1992, after
No Fences had begun
his run of No. 1s on Top
Country Albums.
MARIO RUIZ/THE LIFE IMAGES COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES