Sunday Selections: January 15, 2017

Here’s 140 characters (Tweet @ someone who cares).

Well, it took a whopping 9 days into the new year for a country act to kick off a bit of a controversy. On the bright side, as of the drafting of this post, there haven’t been any country music icons who have passed away, so at least there’s that bit of good news to hold onto…

But on Monday, Travis Tritt took to his Twitter account to respond to Meryl Streep’s acceptance speech from the Golden Globe Awards, saying that artists should “drop the political rhetoric.” Twitter did not take kindly to this notion, and Tritt then spent a good deal of time engaging in revisionist history of his own behavior or being outright belligerent to people.

We’re fans of Tritt’s music– he’s figured prominently in our various 1990s “Best Of” features, and he landed at #69 on our countdown of the 100 Greatest Men of Country Music– but this was simply not a good moment or series of moments for him for a litany of reasons, and several of his fellow country artists responded articulately to his claim that art should somehow be apolitical.

Elsewhere, Sturgill Simpson took full advantage of his time on the SNL stage to announce himself to a wide audience, Margo Price and Billy Joe Shaver each considered some of the finer points of the legal system, and Chris Janson, Tift Merritt, and John Paul White gave insightful interviews. The new release calendar picked up this week, as well, with noteworthy albums by The Infamous Stringdusters and Natalie Hemby, whose name has appeared in the songwriting credits of countless hits and album tracks over the past several years.

Onward!

New Releases & Reissues, 1/13/2017
The Band, The Last Waltz (40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition). (Rhino)
Band of Heathens, Duende. (BOH Records)
Ray Cardwell, Tennessee Moon. (Pinecastle)
Natalie Hemby, Puxico. (GetWrucke Productions)
The Infamous Stringdusters, Laws of Gravity. (Compass)
Jeannie Seely, Written in Song. (Cheyenne / Smith Music Group)

Charted Territory
Billboard Country National Airplay:
#1: Keith Urban, “Blue Ain’t Your Color” (2 weeks).
Most Increased Audience: Rascal Flatts, “Yours If You Want Itl” (#31).
Most Added: Rascal Flatts, “Yours If You Want It” (51); Kenny Chesney, “Bar at the End of the World” (29); Jason Aldean, “Any Ol’ Barstool” (24); Luke Bryan, “Fast” (14); Craig Campbell, “Outskirts of Heaven” (8); Billy Currington, “Do I Make You Wanna” (8).
Debuts: Rascal Flatts, “Yours If You Want It” (#31); Seth Ennis, “Woke Up in Nashville (#59); Aaron Watson, “Outta Style” (#60).
Notes: Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” becomes part of the increasingly rare species of multi-week #1 hits; Carrie Underwood’s “Dirty Laundry” (#2) and Blake Shelton’s “A Guy With a Girl” (#3) are neck-and-neck in total audience impressions in their race to supplant Urban at the top of the chart next week; Little Big Town cracks the top 10 with “Better Man” (#10) after just 12 weeks, making it one of the fastest-climbing singles of their career; Maren Morris’ “80s Mercedes” and “Kill a Word” by Eric Church feat. Rihannon Giddens trade the #13 and #15 positions this week, as both singles inch very, very slowly toward the top 10; Chris Stapleton’s “Parachute” holds at #19 but posts a solid gain in audience for the week; Lauren Alaina’s “Road Less Traveled” hasn’t been able to maintain its OnTheVerge promotional momentum, as the single posts a small audience gain but slips back to #20 in its 21st chart week; High Valley’s “Make You Mine” (#23), Chris Janson’s “Holdin’ Her” (#28), and Craig Campbell’s “Outskirts of Heaven” (#30) are all somehow still on the chart and still posting small gains in audience after at least nine full months at radio; after getting a quick start, Miranda Lambert’s “We Should Be Friends” has hit a bit of a wall, as it holds at #33 for a second week; RaeLynn’s “Love Triangle” retains its bullet but drops from a #32 peak back to #35; the godawful singles by Chris Lane (#49) and Morgan Wallen (#53) both continue to climb slowly toward the top 40; three of the strongest singles on the chart, however, all tread water this week– William Michael Morgan’s “Missing” (#54), Drake White’s “Making Me Look Good Again” (#56) and Candi Carpenter’s “Burn the Bed” (#57).

Elsewhere on the Billboard Radio Charts
Ryan Adams enjoys another good week at AAA radio, where “Do You Still Love Me?” holds at #9 for the second week and another new single, “To Be Without You” scores 11 total station adds; The Avett Brothers’ “True Sadness” (#16) and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats’ “Wasting Time” (#24) both post small audience gains at AAA this week; Old 97s’ “Good With God” scores another 12 station adds; other acts picking up new stations include Nikki Lane’s “Jackpot” (9), Son Volt’s “Back Against the Wall” (3), Tift Merritt’s “Dusty Old Man” (1), and Todd Snider’s “Ways and Means” (1); “Setting the World on Fire” by Kenny Chesney feat. Pink has peaked at Adult Top 40, dropping from #21 to #25; LeAnn Rimes’ “Long Live Love” and Rascal Flatts’ “Yours If You Want It” both picked up a station add at Adult Contemporary radio this week; Hillary Scott & The Scott Family’s “Thy Will” continues to hold strong at Christian radio, dropping to #8 but posting a modest gain in overall spins.

News & Notes

Advice to all actors, musicians and entertainers: Please stick to your crafts that we all love you for and drop the political rhetoric.

— Travis Tritt (@Travistritt) January 9, 2017

This tweet from Travis Tritt set off a mini-cycle of Social Media Outrage on Monday. The obvious irony here is that Tritt– variously an actor, musician, and entertainer– is using his personal Twitter account, which is not restricted only to his followers and is therefore open for full public view, to engage in precisely the type of political rhetoric that he believes others should refrain from. Telling others that their profession means that they should not voice their political views is, in and of itself, a political statement.

Just as it’s childish and problematic for anyone who objected to Tritt’s statement to tell him to, “DELETE YOUR ACCOUNT,” disagreement with someone’s views– which, Tritt elaborated multiple times that he is tired of liberals “whining” about having lost the Presidential election, so his issue with Streep’s Golden Globes speech cannot be separated from his stance on the content of what she said– is not a reason why that person should be silenced.

Moreover, this is hardly a position that Tritt has the ground to hold, given that his Twitter feed is filled with his own political views. For instance, on January 14, 2016, Tritt Tweeted the following: “I love my friends on the left, but if they support HRC I seriously have to question their judgment on what is good for this country!” and “In the upcoming election, I will be voting for the ABC candidate (Anybody But Clinton)! She is a lying troll who isn’t good for America!” Or on October 17, 2015, he Tweeted: “Like most of America, I don’t trust Hillary with anything. She is dishonest and a manipulator from hell!”

Then there’s the fact that Tritt openly campaigned for George W. Bush during his 2000 Presidential campaign and performed at the 1996 Republican National Convention. There was also the ruckus Tritt got involved in regarding a concert that Tim McGraw and Billy Currington had scheduled to play in Sandy Hook. Or all of the comments he just made back in November about Beyonce’s and The Dixie Chicks’ performance at the CMA Awards.

All art is inherently political by virtue of its creation. Still, many people who look to popular culture for straightforward escapism wish that musicians and other artists would keep their work separate from politics, considering how divisive today’s political climate has become. Travis Tritt, however, has waived his right to play that card by dint of his own behavior. He’s all too eager to let fly with his political views– and, again, he absolutely has the right to do so– so he doesn’t get to tell other artists that they shouldn’t do the same.

Some of those artists responded directly to Tritt:

Tell it to Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Nina Simone, Bruce Springsteen. Oh, and that reality TV star with the weird combover, too. https://t.co/dls8tjzqqQ

— Gretchen Peters (@gretchenpeters) January 10, 2017

And leave it to Jason Isbell to speak the God’s own truth:

If your beliefs are easily extricable from your work, you might want to call yourself something other than an artist.

— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) January 10, 2017

He used the word “extricable.” We just love Jason Isbell. (JK)

Moving on…

Margo Price is just the best. During the 2016 Americana Music Festival, she checked out the Epiphone Masterbuilt Century Acoustic Archtop Collection for guitar manufacturer Epiphone, performing the just flat-out amazing, “It Ain’t Drunk Driving If You’re Riding A Horse.” (JK)

“My aspirations are not what they used to be… I used to be very career-driven. … But that’s not what drives me anymore [and] there’s no regret whatsoever.”
— John Paul White reflected candidly about his career goals in an interview with Roman Gokhman for Riff magazine. When The Civil Wars broke up, White was the one who issued a statement that it was due to “irreconcilable differences of ambition,” and his comments throughout the interview reflect that it was his far more modest aims that were at-odds with the duo’s rapid ascent. White also talks about the recording of his excellent album, Beulah, which was released last August. (JK)

Americana/roots band Donna the Buffalo will be taking to the road in a brand new bus, having put more than a million miles on their old purple bus. The band was able to raise the necessary $85,000 in three weeks through a GoFundMe campaign. They are taking to the road on a winter tour in January and February, playing up and down the Eastern seaboard. (SG)

Old 97s are gaining some notable airplay at AAA radio– 20 years late is better than never, right?– for the feisty “Good With God,” a collaboration with the great Brandi Carlile. In as much as I still hate the idea of lyric videos, any promo for Old 97s is a good thing. (JK)

“As an artist, you feel like you get the first one out of the way, now the pressure is off a little bit. Most people think the pressure is on the second record, but it’s like ‘Oh, my God. What do you have to live up to?’ Dude, it’s just music, it’s not that hard to figure out.
— Chris Janson downplayed expectations for his sophomore album when he chatted with Jim Casey for Nash Country Daily. Janson claims that he’s been writing new material daily in preparation for his second album, while his terrific single “Holdin’ Her” continues to bounce around the 25 – 30 range on the airplay charts. (JK)

“That metaphor turned out to be a idea about how to navigate life. If you pull the seams too tight, they’ll break. If you aren’t careful with them, they’ll knot. Maybe the best way to navigate life is to try and be gentle with this thread and be joyful and light-hearted about how we are connected to everything.”
— Tift Merritt, one of our favorite singer-songwriters, considered the unique metaphor that she used for the title of her forthcoming album, Stitch of the World. Merritt spoke with Will Hodge of Noisetrade about the recording of the album, which includes collaborations with Sam Beam of Iron & Wine. (JK)

During the holiday break, we missed the chance to share the latest video from Jennifer Nettles. “Hey Heartbreak” still hasn’t cracked the top 60 at country radio– because of course it hasn’t– but it’s yet another earworm from Nettles, who sounds as great as ever. (JK)

That will do it for this week, gang! Be sure to check out our Best of 1991 countdowns, which have posted in full, and check back for new content this week!