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Chart Roundup – Week of March 2nd, 2013

Hunter Hayes continues (and extends) his renewed strength on the charts this week with hit song ‘Wanted’, potentially due to Billboard’s recent announcement of inclusion of YouTube views (using official audio) in compiling the charts. He remains at #1 on Hot Country Songs, and jumps up to #1 from #5 on Country Digital Songs. In addition, his latest single ‘Somebody’s Heartbreak’ climbs up one place to #9 on Country Airplay, with his self-titled album finding itself two spots higher at #3 this week. Blake Shelton also seems to be affected by the methodology change as well as general popularity, his January release ‘Sure Be Cool If You Did’ now up to #2 on Hot Country Songs, #10 on Country Airplay, and #2 on Digital Country Songs. His new album ‘Based On A True Story’ (due March 26) no doubt will also do well.

However, The Band Perry aren’t letting go of their chart domination just yet. They remain at #1 on Country Airplay with ‘Better Dig Two’ this week, #3 on Hot Country Songs and actually move up the chart to #4 on Country Digital Songs. Their new album, ‘Pioneer’, is due April 2 and no doubt will also shake up the sometimes slow-moving album chart. YouTube plays also seem to have aided Carrie Underwood, the climber of the week, as the plodding climb of ‘Two Black Cadillacs’ for several months has finally sped up to allow the song to find #4 on Hot Country Songs, leap seven places up to #3 on Country Digital Songs, and has also moved up to #8 on Country Airplay. Her album, ‘Blown Away’ is back at #6 on Top Country Albums for its 42^nd week on the chart, with the single of the same name having a new lease of life, jumping back into the top 10 of Hot Country Songs, from last week’s place of #19. It also is now at #5 on Country Digital Songs, seven places higher than it was last week.

Chart Roundup: Week of February 16th, 2013

The Band Perry knock Gary Allan off the #1 spot this week with ‘Better Dig Two’, although they stay at their respective places at #2 and #3 on Country Digital Songs and Country Airplay.  With them sticking to the top 5 of the charts so much lately, we can only imagine what the release of their sophomore album in April is going to do for this sibling trio. Gary Allan, who was #1 across the board last week, has dropped down to #2 on both Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay with his hit track ‘Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)’, down to #3 on Country Digital Songs but manages to hold on to the top spot on Top Country Albums for another week. Meanwhile Country Airplay has a new #1, in Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Eric Church’s ‘The Only Way I Know’ from Jason’s album ‘Night Train’, although it’s still at #5 on Hot Country Songs and has only managed to climb back up to #8 on Country Digital Songs. ‘Night Train’ is down #6 this week.

In its 4^th week on the chart, Blake Shelton’s ‘Sure Be Cool If You Did’ has jumped from #3 to #1, and Blake’s recent controversial comments don’t seem to have affected his selling power, as he appears to be going from strength to strength. The song has also gained 3 places on Hot Country Songs, now at #4, although it remains down at #12 on Country Airplay. Hunter Hayes, meanwhile, is also having a not-too-shabby time, with his multiple Grammy nominations on Grammy weekend and holding on tightly to the #3 spot on Hot Country Songs, the #4 spot on Country Digital Songs and the #11 spot on Country Airplay. In addition, his self-titled debut is up one place to #7, celebrating its 69^th week on the chart.

Gary Allan & Greg Bates Bring It On For 95.1 KFROG's Birthday Bash

Many of us may wish for a Birthday Bash to be this big and full of good old country entertainment. I have a landmark birthday this year; but the party 95.1 KFROG threw on January 17th for their 43rd Birthday was probably as close as I will get to a big blow out.  No complaints though; I won't feel slighted; I was just happy to be along for their ride.

The Annual event was once again held in The Vibe room at Morongo Casino near Palm Springs, CA.  I find myself enjoying these smaller venues more and more; seems more intimate so to speak. It takes a big team to pull off such a grand party; but the station has no shortages of staff or sponsors who are more than willing to make it work.

 

The entertainment was once again above and beyond; just what a party should have. The evening started out with young new Repbulic Nashville recording artist Greg Bates. I had not seen Greg perform live before and was only familiar with his hit "Did It For The Girl" so I was looking forward to seeing what he brought to the party. He brought all the right party favors with his authentic country sound and song writing talent. From the talk among the crowd he has already developed quite a fan following and I myself see this young man going places.  I would enjoy seeing him again given the opportunity.

The anticipation for the headlining party entertainment was rewarded when California native, Gary Allan strolled onto the stage ready to round out the night with some of his hits such as "She's So California", "Her Man", "Songs About Rain," as well as one of my favorites, "Right Where I Need To Be."  As promised he brought in songs from his upcoming album, "Set You Free" which will be in stores on January 22nd. Just by the sound of two of the tracks, "It Ain't The Wiskey" and his current single out on radio, "Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)" I know this is another Gary Allan album I will not miss.

There were many ways to enjoy this night; be it kicked back and taking it all in; or indulging in  enough "adult beverages" to make ya scream, act crazy, and not remember most of it the next day. I guess I am of the old school crowd these days; I like to kick back and take it all in and remember it all the next day.  Well let the young have their fun; that's part of what our lives are. Thanks KFROG; another party success until next year when we anticipate how you can top the previous year.

Special Thanks to Victoria Jacobs for the pictures & the patience.

 

 

KFROG 95.1 BRINGS GARY ALLAN & GREG BATES TO BIRTHDAY BASH

One can only dream of a Birthday Bash such as this. Well it's not actually my Birthday Bash, but I am getting my dialing fingers ready to win my way into the yearly Bash presented by Southern California's country music radio station 95.1 KFROG. 

The winning starts Monday, December 31st! Win your way in to K-FROG’s 23rd Birthday Bash, presented by AAA Gold Exchange! See Southern California’s own, Gary Allan, and newcomer Greg Bates live, January 17th at Morongo Casino Resort and Spa! 7:10am Monday is your first chance to win! http://kfrog.cbslocal.com/  

Having attended these parties in the past, there has never been a shortage of great artist's or fun. To me it was also a little bit like a great party to celebrate the New Year as well. 

MCA Nashville artist and Southern California native Gary Allan has had a string of hits, “Watching Airplanes”, “Life Ain’t Always Beautiful”, “Best I Ever Had”, “Nothing On But The Radio”, "Right Where I Need To Be" along with his recent smash hit, "Every Storm Runs Out of Rain" from his upcoming new album. "Set You Free." which will be in stores January 22nd  His hard hitting edgy music always brings a nice strong touch to the country genre that is much needed. To catch up with Gary Allan and all his exciting news stop by his website: http://www.garyallan.com/pain/

(Photo courtesy of Mary Kay)

KFROG is also bringing newcomer Greg Bates along for some added entertainment.  Greg, a Nashville native, is no stranger to music, starting out on the writing and publishing side. Bates studied music business at Nashville's Belmont University, graduating in 2010. He got a publishing deal the summer after graduation and signed his recording contract in the fall of 2011 with Republic Nashville. His first EP hit out of the box, "Did It For the Girl" has made him a country force to be noticed. http://www.bigmachinelabelgroup.com/artist/Greg_Bates

This combination is sure to be night full of good old country music, maybe a few "Birthday Beverages" and a lot of fun. So I have my finger excersises geared up along with my patience in the hopes that I will be lucky enough to join in the fun. Happy New Year

Pandora Tries To Rip Off Artists – Things Just Keep Getting Worse

Like the music industry needs anything else throwing at it and like record companies need any more of an excuse to overcharge for CDs and tour tickets, now Pandora have hit the headlines to bring more impending bad news to the world of music.

According to The Boot, Pandora Radio is “currently urging Congress to pass the Internet Radio Fairness Act. The act attempts to lower the amount artists are paid when Pandora plays their music and, according to MusicFIRST Coalition -- which represents artists in an effort to ensure fair pay -- could slash by 85 percent royalties paid to musicians when their songs are played over Internet radio”.

Not exactly the kind of thing anyone wanted to hear, least of all the artists. 125 of them have taken to adding their names to a letter to Congress asking why, now that they have supported Pandora into becoming a Wall Street company with skyrocketing revenues, they should now earn an even tinier fraction of a cent every time a song is played. A number of country artists have joined this cause, including Jana Kramer, Alabama, Vince Gill, Darius Rucker, Zac Brown Band and Easton Corbin, although I’m surprised that more haven’t because of the huge impact this kind of legislation will have upon their royalties. 85% is a huge percentage, and I think it’s shocking and ridiculous that internet radio should get away with paying far less than real radio and stores and other public spaces for playing copyrighted material. It’s the reason performance royalties organisations exist, in order to collect those royalties that rightfully belong to the artists and songwriters.

Love & Theft reveal if they are on Taylor Swift's new album or not

My radio pal CT from Tampa, Florida's US 103.5 recently had the chance to sit down with Love & Theft and ask them a few questions, including whether they are on Taylor's new album 'Red'.

Check it out above.  

Rodney Atkins talks about fighting with a 7-foot man-eating shark

Photo via RodneyAtkins.com

Rodney Atkins recently did something that thousands of parents do on a daily basis with their kids -- he took his son fishing. However, what started out as a normal day of fishing for small sharks turned into a battle of man against a Shaquille O'Neal sized beast.

Rodney tells Pittsburgh's Y108, that when his son Elijah got out of school, the two decided to head down to the Florida coast and do a little fishing with a guide Rodney knew. They were fishing for sharks, but got much more than they bargained for when they hooked a monster they weren't expecting. 

“We were fishing maybe 200 yards from the shore”, Rodney remembers, “and we caught a 7 and a half foot, 400 pound bull shark.”

"I wound up fighting this thing for about two hours." When the giant predator finally surfaced into the beam of a search light? "Crazy, it was crazy,” Rodney admits. “It was bigger than Shaquille O’Neal, man, it was a monster.”

Rodney found it hard to keep his cool. “The guide’s talking about how, y’know, ‘This is a killer shark, this is a real man-eating shark’… 'Oh, my God’ and he pulls out a .22 pistol and starts firing, and blood squirtin’ up in the water, I’m goin’ ‘Oh, my God, what are we doin’ here?’”

There are no photos, and no trophy from their epic struggle. “It was a trip, but I’ll never forget it, and I don’t think Elijah will.”

It's quite the story to hear Rodney tell it. Unfortunately, the audio's not embeddable so you'll have to head over to Y108's website to hear the interview. However, if you'd like to see what it's like to battle a huge shark in an unexpected location, just watch the video below. It's enough to make a person stay out of the shallows.

San Antonio radio station wins Carrie Underwood 'Blown Away' red carpet event! (from the mailbag)

As I mentioned a while back, Carrie Underwood was running a contest on radio stations around the country to see who would get to host the world premiere of her video for Blown Away.  The radio station with the most votes would get a fancy red carpet event complete with Carrie Underwood herself.  

Now a station has been crowned the winner...San Antonio's KJ97!  Check out the press release below...

Lesly Tyson, VP, National Promotion, Arista Nashville, and her entire promotion team are proud to announce that San Antonio's KJ97 is the winning country station in the Private World Premiere of Carrie's "Blown Away" music video national contest. The prize package for KJ97 includes a "red carpet" event for their listeners which will be attended by Underwood and the video clip's award-winning director, Randee St. Nicholas. Among the hundreds of country radio stations that participated, KJ97 had the largest amount of listeners who voted for their station to win this event.

"Be it raising tons of money for the Kids of St. Jude or helping to bring the biggest stars to KJ Country, our listeners have ALWAYS been up to the challenge," enthuses Travis Moon, Program Director, KAJA, San Antonio. "I am so proud to work at KJ97, a radio station with such active and passionate listeners. This is THEIR event!"

Luke Bryan has armed his mama to snoop

Luke Bryan and his mom, LeClaire/photo courtesy of GAC

Uh oh, Luke Bryan's in trouble now, his mama is now armed with....an iPad.

This morning Luke spoke with The Dr. Don Show on Detroit's 99.5 to give them the latest scoop on what's going on in his life including his butt tattoo (which, FYI, is on his right upper cheek), his new awards, platinum singles, and his mama.  

He tells the show about his mom, “You know, she was on my butt for like 6 months over an iPad.” Luke decided to be the good son and took her to the Apple Store in Nashville to hook her up. Unfortunately, she's a little too friendly for Luke's liking.  

“She wants to turn a shopping experience into like a Disney World trip. We go into the Mac Store here in Nashville. She wanted to meet all of the sales associates and get to know them on a personal level. I'm like, 'Mama'.”

After that shopping trip, she's now armed and ready to dig deep.  

"Essentially all I did was buy her a vehicle to snoop on me."

When asked about Facebook, he says she's already there.

“Well, she’s doing all of that, she gets the Google Alerts, if I say a cuss word on Twitter, she calls me saying I shouldn’t be saying that. She's got a little support group of 60-year-old ladies down there, they all have their little iPad, down there smoking and drinking and surfing the web on their iPad." 

Too funny. It's definitely dangerous to arm your mama with an info getter like an iPad, although I'm sure it provides a little extra incentive to keep your nose clean. 

You can listen to Luke's entire interview below or if that doesn't work you can listen over on WYCD here.

Rascal Flatts' Jay DeMarcus gets his own radio show (press release)

Jay DeMarcus, the bassist and background vocalist for vocal group Rascal Flatts, will premiere his own radio program on Big Machine Radio on Clear Channel's iHeartRadio premiering June 28 at 5 pm ET. "The Jay DeMarcus Show: Live From Flatts Shack" will feature special guests and stories from the road during the 60-minute weekly show.

"I'm very excited for the opportunity to have my own radio show! It's going to be fun to have the forum to discuss whatever I want to, without two other rascals constantly interrupting me!" DeMarcus said jokingly.

In the inaugural show, DeMarcus welcomes guests Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen and hit songwriter James Slater. DeMarcus' wife, CMT correspondent Allison DeMarcus, will join the program each week for the show's entertainment reports.