onsdag 4 Nov 2009, 12:13

Last.fm Top Artists
Two familiar faces are tied for #1 this week, as George Strait and Miranda Lambert both have 24 listeners. Alan Jackson is one behind to end up at #3, and the group of artists at #4 with 21 listeners includes Taylor Swift, Patty Loveless, Keith Urban and Johnny Cash. For Swift and Urban, it’s the best showing for either of them in quite some time. Perhaps Swift’s release of a recycled old album with a few new songs, photos and videos brought a few additional fans out of the woodwork. Joe Nichols makes a strong showing as well, with 17 listeners putting him at #17. Lorrie Morgan, despite the fact that Amazon was giving away her new album for spare change and pocket lint, ended up with 11 listeners, actually one down from last week. Lyle Lovett, who was the beneficiary of a similar bargain with his new album, had 10 listeners, an increase for him. Hayes Carll ended up at #21 with 16 listeners, the best of the Americana bunch, with Steve Earle (13) trailing.

Last.fm Top Albums
There is still a sizable gap between Revolution, with 18 listeners, and the rest of the field. Fearless (impossible to tell if it’s the Regular, Platinum or Karaoke version – yes, there is a karaoke version) came in at #2 with 13. Brad Paisley was next with American Saturday Night (12). Again, the grouping at #4 has a little something for everyone. There’s Justin Townes Earle’s Midnight At The Movies for the Americana fans, Lee Ann Womack’s Call Me Crazy and Strait’s It Just Comes Natural for mainstream fans, and Carrie Underwood’s Some Hearts for American Idol fans. Play On made it up to #16 despite not being released until tomorrow, so that’s bound to have a big showing in next week’s charts. Elsewhere, as further proof that you can get good stuff for free, the T For Texas T From Tennessee sampler that’s available as a free download from Amazon had 6 listeners.

Last.fm Top Singles
We have a dethroning, as Lady Antebellum has the #1 track, with “Need You Now” having 9 listeners. It’s still a Lambert-centric Top 10, with “Dead Flowers,” “The House That Built Me” and “White Liar” all having 8 listeners, but the cracks are showing. The non-Ran tracks in the rest of the Top 10 include Kellie Pickler’s “Didn’t You Know How Much I Loved You,” Underwood’s “Cowboy Casanova,” Eli Young Band’s “When It Rains,” and David Nail’s “Red Light.” Any Top 10 with a Kellie Pickler song in it is pretty special already, but “Casanova” puts it over the top. Morgan’s classic covers album has six listeners, and their favorites included “Wine Me Up,” “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” and “Cry.”

Billboard Country Songs
It took 18 weeks, but Zac Brown Band’s “Toes” made it to #1, giving the band two #1s and a #2 to start its major-label career. The other big jump in the Top 5 was that “Welcome To The Future” moved from #4 to #2. Toby Keith leaped from #55 to #39 with “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song), and Strait’s “Twang” jumped from #30 to #24. “Backwoods” by Justin Moore moved from #50 to #42, because it’s been almost 10 minutes since a song about country living was a hit. Thank God “Southern Voice” keeps moving up the charts, up to #16 this week, because the country radio audience will be experiencing withdrawals.

Billboard Country Albums
While the single continues to gain airplay, Tim McGraw debuted at #1 with Southern Voice (the album), which made it to #2 on the Billboard Top 200. Swift will likely have her one-week stay at #2 before Fearless, or at least some version of it, goes back to #1. Revolution stays in the Top 5, moving from #4 to #5, and Lady Antebellum moves from #7 to #6 after 80 weeks on the chart. It’s the second-longest tenure for any album on the charts. Lyle Lovett debuted at #8 with Natural Forces, ensuring that the Top 10 has at least one artist that makes the Taylor Swift fans say, “Who?” Keep On Loving You by Reba McEntire moved up from #16 to #13 and was the sales gainer for the week. The other notable debut was Bomshel’s Fight Like A Girl. Actually, any record that gets released by Curb Records and isn’t a greatest hits package is a notable debut.

Americana Music Association Chart
Robert Earl Keen made it to #1 with The Rose Hotel, with its 405 spins putting it at 2,234 total spins since its release. Lovett, Keen’s college roommate, moved up to #4 from #8. Corb Lund’s Losin’ Lately Gambler moved from #19 to #12, and his success will hopefully mean that the next time I see him live, there will be more than 20 people in the room. Son Volt’s American Central Dust moves back from #33 to #37, but its 5,629 total spins make it the most played record in the Top 40. The Mississippi Sheiks, an early era blues-type band from the 1930s, have earned a tribute album, which debuted at #28. Things About Comin’ My Way includes contributions from Carolina Chocolate Drops, Danny Barnes, Bruce Cockburn and North Mississippi All Stars, among others.

Freebie of the Week
The Bee's Knees is a quartet from Worcester, Mass. The band’s influences on its Myspace page range from The Byrds and Carl Perkins to International Submarine Band and Paul Westerberg. Despite the fact that they misspell Bill Monroe’s name, that probably puts them in the Americana realm. They have several songs available on Last.fm for download. Check out “Kristi,” “Dear Carpenter” and “Down The Line” in particular.