BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS EDITED BY TOM ROLAND, tom.roland@billboard.com MARCH 26, 2015 | PAGE 1 OF 7

INSIDEMakin’ Tracks: Chase Bryant’s

‘Little Bit Of You’ >page 2

Stark Report: Interpreting ‘Girl Crush’

>page 3

Questions Answered:

Ronnie Reno >page 4

Oak Ridge Boys Lead 2015 Hall Class

>page 4

ACM Celebrates Seven

Milestones >page 4

Independently signed singer-songwriter Chris Janson makes a splash on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, as “Buy Me a Boat” sets sail at No. 33. The song starts with almost all its points from sales, as it debuts at No. 8 on Country Digital Songs with 21,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen Music, since it was made available for purchase on iTunes on March 20.

Despite the track’s quick trip from release to chart debut, Janson, like many Nashville success stories, has built a solid résumé, especially as a writer. Most notably, he co-wrote Tim McGraw ’s “ Tr uck Yeah,” which reached No. 10 on Country Airplay in 2012. In 2013, he scored his best Country Airplay run as an artist when “Better I Don’t,” re-leased on Bigger Picture, reached No. 40. (He was previously signed to BNA.)

The catalyst for the solid sales start for “Boat”? Two plays on the Premiere Networks-syndicated Bobby Bones Show the day of its release. “We went to bed Thursday, a normal night, and then woke up to the phone ringing off the hook,” marvels Kelly Jan-son, Chris’ wife and manager. Also key: Toby Keith endorsed “Boat” in a March 20 Tweet to his 860,000 followers.

Kelly says that her husband and Bones have a relationship that goes back several years. Recently, Chris joined Bones at a charity event, and the host asked him if he had any new music

on the way. As “Boat” went to retail, Chris sent Bones an MP3 of it. “It’s catchy, relat-able and country,” says Bones. “It’s just a good song that I felt people need to hear.”

As for potential major-label pickup and a bigger promotional push, Kelly tells Billboard that, for now, she and Chris are “keeping open minds, taking it one day at a time.” And, while “Boat” is a stand-alone single, “Chris has more music. It’s time for an album next.”

The Jansons are “very, very thankful” for the beginning of the voyage for “Boat,”

which Chris wrote with Chris DuBois, who has co-penned 11 Hot Country Songs No. 1s. Maybe the song’s title-wish will even be answered? “We’d love if someone bought us a boat,” says Kelly with a chuckle, noting how many nights that a cash-strapped Chris (a native of Perryville, Mo.) slept in his car when starting in Nashville. “We haven’t had a vacation in a while.”

This column was written by Billboard associate director of charts/radio Gary Trust (gary.trust@billboard.com).

JANSON

Country MID- WEEK

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Chase Bryant didn’t really want to go to work.He woke up in April 2014 in the final stages of recording his debut album for

Red Bow with a writing appointment on the calendar. But he had already writ-ten a ton of songs and felt tapped out, physically and mentally.

“I didn’t have anything else to say,” he remembers.Despite the temptation to cancel, Bryant showed

up that day at the Monostary, the home studio of pro-ducer Derek George (Randy Houser, Joe Nich-ols) wearing his best game face, specifically looking for something that might add a little tempo to the album and a little energy to his future live shows.

Keeping to his schedule was a good idea. The song that emerged that day may not say anything new, but it’s buoyed by a guitar-driven chassis, a bright melody and an ’80s arena-rock vibe. It felt so good that Bryant’s reluctant co-write became the final song recorded for the album and, following the top 10 success of “Take It On Back” (No. 9, Country Airplay), his sophomore single.

“Ever since then, I look back and go, ‘Thank God I woke up and went and wrote that day,’ ” says Bryant.

As ragged as Bryant might have felt, the writing session was fairly active, thanks in part to the setting and the situation. Ashley Gorley (“That’s My Kind of Night,” “Just Gettin’ Started”), who was named the ASCAP country songwriter of the year barely six months later, was the third writer that day, an outsider who was being asked to contribute to an established artist/producer relationship. He felt a self-imposed pressure to deliver. Writing at George’s studio, instead of in a Music Row writing room, helped amp up the proceedings.

“I like writing in studios and places where you feel like you can kind of record it right then and there,” says Gorley. “You can plug in an electric guitar if you want, and instruments are handy. It gave me the vibe, you know. And Derek is sitting there — this is the guy making the record, over here’s the guy singing the song, so it’s on me, you know. Let’s go.”

Bryant heard Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream” and Bryan Adams’ “One Night Love Affair” on the radio that day, and he turned the musical con-versation in a classic-rock direction.

“Ashley had this cool melody he was kind of messing with on the piano, and I just started pounding the melody with the guitar plugged into an amplifier, and it literally happened like that,” recalls Bryant.

Bryant had envisioned a scenario a day or two earlier about a guy separated from his girlfriend, longing for the next moment he could be with her. It wasn’t the newest concept in the world, but it was one that nearly anyone can relate to. Gorley contributed the opening line, “I hope that I ain’t callin’ too late, baby.” It led to a story that mixed everyday technology — a car, a phone, a radio — with images from nature: the moon, the stars, the sound of a heartbeat.

“We’re all trying to do our best to write something fresh and new,” says George. “But at the same time, a big moon does sound inviting no matter how many times you say it.”

When they reached the chorus, Bryant pushed the melody a little higher, hitting a point in his register that’s mindful of “Take It to the Limit” singer Randy Meisner.

“He does have a bit of an Eagles quality in his voice,” says Gorley. “He’s a great singer, so you want him holding out the notes. He’s got a great cadence and rhythm, too, so we accented that, but just holding those notes out in the chorus was what I wanted to hear him do.”

As the day unfolded, the three writers broke for lunch and shot baskets in the driveway as they continued mapping out “Little Bit of You.”

“That’s kind of what ramped the whole song up,” says Bryant. “We got to know each other over shoot-ing basketball and trick shots.”

In a bit of a twist, they wrote the two-line bridge before they finished the second verse. Four or five hours in, they had a basic work tape finished, and Gorley left. George went upstairs for a bit, and Bry-ant recorded what would become the final vocals on “Little Bit of You” in solitude.

“I think I was half sitting down, half standing up, singing at the console in his control room with the lyric book in my hand,” says Bryant. “It was, I think, three or four passes of me just singing live in a control room.”

Bryant added a quick, four-bar guitar solo and sent it off to BBR Music Group CEO/president Benny Brown and executive vp Jon Loba, both of whom thought it was the missing ingredient for the album. Days later, on April 30, 2014, George and Bryant,

who co-produced, convened a formal group of musicians — including bass player

Dave Labruyere, drummer Nick Buda and Hammond B3 player Jeff Roach — who recorded new tracks to Bryant’s vocal with the original work tape playing in their headsets as a reference.

George layered in backing vocals himself. And they worked out a two-bar breakdown that had Bryant singing a cappella with just five kick drum back-beats underneath. “That’s good production, because he’s got the little heartbeat sound,” says Gorley.

George also grafted a three-second piece of Roach’s B3 onto the front of the song to give it a quirky launch.

“The hope is that once the song gets out there, people will recognize it right off the bat, you know, instead of just being some normal ol’ drum solo bringing you in,” explains George.

Gorley got a chance to hear it live for the first time when he did some co-writing on the road with Brantley Gilbert. Bryant was opening the show that night, and their basement creation worked well on the big arena stage.

“I heard that and was like, ‘Ooo, that kind of sounds like a hit,’ ” says Gorley. “I didn’t know it was going to be a single at that point, but I knew it would have a shot just because it really came off easy and it showed off his voice.”

“Little Bit of You” officially got that shot when Red Bow issued it to broadcast-ers via Play MPE on March 9. Thus, showing up to work last April has a big poten-tial payday in the coming months. It’s still early in the process — the official add date is March 30 — but it’s not too difficult to imagine the breezy tempo and the ’80s Eagles/Petty/Adams influences fitting in on mainstream country radio.

“I hope it has a little sound of Tom Petty in it,” says Bryant. “I hope one day he may hear the song and think, ‘Oh, this is cool, it’s The Heartbreakers.’ ”

“Hopefully,” adds Bryan, “he doesn’t sue me.”

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 26, 2015 | PAGE 2 OF 7

Bryant Goes ‘Back’ To The ’80s With Sophomore Country Single

MAKIN’ TRACKS TOM ROLAND tom.roland@billboard.com

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In an interview with “The Stark Report” in 2014, Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild used the word “provocative” to describe the group’s now-current single, “Girl Crush.” She couldn’t have been more dead-on about the song de-picting one woman’s jealousy over the other woman in her man’s life.

In a widely circulated recent post on the website For TheCountryRecord.com, a blogger using the screen name TexMex who purported to be “a music director for a current country music radio station in Texas” wrote about listeners calling to complain about “Girl Crush” because of what they mistakenly believed to be the song’s lesbian theme.

“To my surprise, after explaining the song to more than a handful of people, every one of them responded with basically the same thing: ‘You are just promot-ing the gay agenda on your station, and I am changing the channel and never listening to you ever again!,’ ” wrote TexMex, going on to explain that the complaints made his/her boss move the song from medium to light rotation.

But such complaints don’t appear to be widespread. “The Stark Report” checked in with a dozen prominent programmers and found most reporting few to no complaints about the song. Whatever ones there are don’t seem to be hurting the song’s performance: It’s bulleted at No. 32 on the April 4 Country Airplay chart after 15 weeks, well within the range of what would be considered a normal chart climb. (The singles just above and below it on the chart are at 17 and 20 weeks, respectively.) Even more tellingly, on the same chart, “Girl Crush” received plays on 139 of the week’s 145 reporters, according to Nielsen Music.

KRYS Corpus Christi, Texas, has only recently begun spinning the song, and while PD Big Frank Edwards says it’s too soon to gauge a response, he adds, “I’m a narrow-minded, conservative, eighth-generation Texan, and I think the song is fine.”

“The song certainly is delivered from a more abstract perspective than what we’re used to,” says WDAF Kansas City PD Wes Poe. “That takes a few more lis-tens to grasp all the lyrics, but it seems pretty clear to me what they’re getting at.”

Mike Preston, PD of KKWF Seattle, says he has received only a couple of com-plaints. As for how he handles them, Preston says, “Since they usually are email-based, I send a link to an article in Rolling Stone where [songwriter] Lori McKenna tells the story behind the song. Seems to help them understand. [It’s] also interesting to note [that] Capitol is running com-mercials on the station with LBT ‘explaining’ the song.”

Of the 12 programmers we contacted, just one — KILT Houston assistant PD/music director Chris Huff — detailed a specific complaint. “We actually had a woman who paid an in-person visit to the station to express her concern for our airing of this song and, as she misinter-preted it, its threat to the moral integrity of country music,” he says. “She seemed quite set in her conviction, and we simply thanked her for her feedback.”

Among those reporting no complaints at all are WUSN Chicago; WCTK Provi-dence, R.I.; KSON San Diego; and KNTY Sacramento, Calif., where, PD Tosh Jackson says, “The song is doing well and researching.”

KUZZ Bakersfield, Calif., has the song in power rotation, and PD Tom Jordan says, “Our research is showing our listeners want this song. We have the occa-sional caller that is pissed about it playing. The morning guys, Steve & Geoff, will put that call on the air and explain to them it is not a lesbian song, and what it is about, in a quick 30- to 45-second call that is pretty damn entertaining.”

KCYE Las Vegas and KSJO San Jose, Calif., also report no complaints, with KCYE PD Kris Daniels saying, “I have had a lot of requests from mostly women that love the song. Our listeners are pretty to the point about what they like and don’t like, and they really like this song.” Adds KSJO PD Mac Daniels, “I do see the huge numbers of downloads [on the song] every week. That’s pretty high praise, if you ask me.”

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 26, 2015 | PAGE 3 OF 7

Random Complaints Haven’t Killed Buzz For ‘Girl Crush’

THE STARK REPORT PHYLLIS STARK phyllis.stark@billboard.com

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You started performing at age 8. What kind of expectations did that create for you as you were developing? I started singing. I didn’t play anything for a couple of years. Just singing. That’s when Little Jimmy Dickens was hot with “Take an Old Cold ’Tater (And Wait)” and “Out Behind the Barn.” I had a great repertoire there because I was so little, standing in a chair, singing all this stuff. They were lov-

ing it, and I was loving it, too. As time went on, I did understand that I was going to have to quit being a cute little kid and do something. That’s when I started learning how to play the mandolin so I could really interject myself in the band and be a part of it.

What was it like working with Merle? He strikes me as a very exacting person. It feels like you would need the right temperament to success-fully work for him for a long time. He liked the same things in music that I liked, which was respect for the craft before we came along. When I went with him, we were doing a rehearsal and he said, “Well, guys” — and, of course, he was making changes to his band at the time — so Merle said, “I recorded [about] 300 songs, and I know every one of them. I expect you guys to do the same. I may pull any one of them out at any time.” And that’s what he did. We never knew what Merle was going to sing. Never knew. He would just launch into it or say, “Do this,” “Kick that off.” He kept you on your toes, and it kept him on his toes by the same token.

You did a White House show in 1973. Tricky Dick was under a lot of pres-sure due to Watergate, and I heard that you guys found out later that he was having a really bad day with all of that. President Nixon was a bril-liant man. He had a photographic memory. I never will forget, when I met him after we had done the concert, he said, “I’m very familiar with what you and your father have done.” It blew me away totally, the fact that the president of the United States would know these things. He didn’t stay around a long time — it was a bad day — but he turned the second floor over to us. Only the second time they’d ever done it. Sammy Davis Jr. was the first one. So we had the run of the White House. I went up and sat on Lincoln’s bed. I did it in a jumpsuit.

You didn’t go up and smoke dope on top of the White House, did you? No, no. Leave that for Willie [Nelson]. —Tom Roland

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 26, 2015 | PAGE 4 OF 7

Q U E ST I O N S

AnsweredRonnie Reno

Singer-songwriter-guitarist/TV producer@RonnieRenoShow

Some 60 years after he launched his career as a member of his father’s bluegrass ensemble, Reno & Smiley, Ronnie Reno has built quite a track record. He toured and recorded with bluegrass act the Osborne Brothers, which led to another lengthy gig with Merle Haggard, where he played on such iconic singles as “If We Make It Through December,” “The Way I Am” and “Ramblin’ Fever.” In 1993, he launched a syndicated TV show, Reno’s Old Time Music Festival, which currently airs on RFD. On March 17, Rural Rhythm released Reno’s first album in a decade, Lessons Learned.

Why did you wait so long to make an album? I’ve been doing my TV show for — my gosh, I’m into my sixth year of actual prime time with RFD. I wanted to create a catalog. I think I’ve done about 19 videos now, DVDs. Some of them are historic ones. I’ve done several on Mac Wiseman, Lester Flatt, my dad — I even had some footage on Bill Monroe that I’d done back in the ’90s and was able to throw that in there, and nobody had ever seen it. I just took that time basi-cally to do the video side. The audio side, when I got ready, I would dive back into that.

One of the things I really like about this album is the melodies are all really strong. Does melody stick out above everything else to you? You’re right on. I love a melody that you can hum along with, and simplicity is the hardest thing to write. You can put 14 chords in there, just because you know them all, but still, you can’t hum that. That was what my intent was: simplicity. Basically to tell a good message and put a good tune to it.

OAKS, BROWNS, GRADY ENTER HALL“All of us had a dream,” says Oak Ridge Boys bass vocalist Richard Sterban. “The dream has now come true.” The Oaks were announced March 25 as 2015 inductees in the Country Music Hall of Fame, along with harmony trio The Browns and

late guitarist Grady Martin, who played on such classics as Marty Rob-bin’s “El Paso,” Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” and Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again.” The honor becomes official during a medallion ceremony later this year, bringing the total Hall of Fame membership to 127. Taylor Swift may have moved on to pop music, but she’s expected to attend the annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 19, where she’ll be one of seven recipients of a special 50th Anniversary Milestone Award. The

other six are Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, George Strait and Miranda Lambert. Each will be recognized for setting specific precedents or awards totals in previous years. Lee Brice is headed to college — a bunch of them, to be accurate. In con-junction with Reverb, a nonprofit that unites artists and schools to make an environmental difference, Brice’s first 10 dates begin April 8 at Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C., and roll through May 2 at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.C. Support acts on most shows include The Cadillac Three and Chase Bryant. Manager and Oh Boy co-founder Al Bunetta will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on March 31 at the CMA Theater in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. An advisor to John Prine and “City of New Orleans” songwriter Steve Goodman, Bunetta died March 22 of cancer. Photos for possible use at the event can be emailed to Oh Boy publicist Jon Nowak here.

MIDWEEK NEWS UPDATE

OAK RIDGE BOYS

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THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

TWO WEEKS

AGOWKS ON CHART

TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED

PEAK POSITION

l1 1 1 21 TAKE YOUR TIME ★★No. 1 (7 weeks)/Airplay & Streaming Gainer★★ Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,S.MCANALLY) MCA NASHVILLE 0 1

l2 2 2 11 HOMEGROWN Zac Brown Band J.JOYCE,Z.BROWN (Z.BROWN,W.DURRETTE,N.MOON) VARVATOS/REPUBLIC/BMLG/SOUTHERN GROUND 2

l3 3 4 25 AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY Cole Swindell M.CARTER (C.SWINDELL,A.SANDERS,J.MARTIN) WARNER BROS./WMN 3

l4 7 8 27 LONELY EYES Chris Young J.STROUD (J.BULFORD,J.MATTHEWS,L.VELTZ) RCA NASHVILLE 4

l5 8 7 30 DRINKING CLASS Lee Brice M.MCCLURE,K.JACOBS,L.BRICE (J.KEAR,D.FRASIER,E.M.HILL) CURB 5

l6 9 10 30 HOMEGROWN HONEY Darius Rucker F.ROGERS (D.RUCKER,C.KELLEY,N.CHAPMAN) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 6

l7 11 11 23 SAY YOU DO Dierks Bentley R. COPPERMAN (M.RAMSEY,S.MCANALLY,T. ROSEN) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 7

8 4 5 30 MEAN TO ME Brett Eldredge L.LAIRD (B.ELDREDGE,SCOOTER CARUSOE) ATLANTIC/WMN 4

9 6 6 22 JUST GETTIN’ STARTED Jason Aldean M.KNOX (C. DESTEFANO,R.AKINS,A.GORLEY) BROKEN BOW 5

10 5 17 11 LITTLE RED WAGON Miranda Lambert F.LIDDELL,C.AINLAY,G.WORF (A.MAE,GINSBERG J.) RCA NASHVILLE 5

l11 12 13 26 A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR Tyler Farr J.CATINO,J.KING (M.PEIRCE,J.SINGLETON,B.TURSI) COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 11

l12 14 15 11 SMOKE A Thousand Horses D.COBB (M.HOBBY,J.M.NITE,R.COPPERMAN) REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 12

l13 15 16 9 RAISE ‘EM UP Keith Urban Featuring Eric Church N.CHAPMAN,K.URBAN (J.JOHNSTON,J.STEELE,T.DOUGLAS) HIT RED/CAPITOL NASHVILLE 13

14 10 3 21 LONELY TONIGHT Blake Shelton Featuring Ashley Monroe S.HENDRICKS (B.ANDERSON,R.HURD) WARNER BROS./WMN 2

l15 16 20 18 DON’T IT Billy Currington D.HUFF (J.JOHNSTON,A.GORLEY,R.COPPERMAN) MERCURY 15

16 13 12 21 I SEE YOU Luke Bryan J.STEVENS (L.BRYAN,L.LAIRD,A.GORLEY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 1

l17 18 18 16 GIRL CRUSH Little Big Town J.JOYCE (L.ROSE,L.MCKENNA,H.LINDSEY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 16

l18 28 32 8 SIPPIN’ ON FIRE ★★Digital Gainer★★ Florida Georgia Line J.MOI (R.CLAWSON,M.DRAGSTREM,C.TAYLOR) REPUBLIC NASHVILLE

10

l19 20 21 20 SHE DON’T LOVE YOU Eric Paslay M.ALTMAN (E.PASLAY,J.WAYNE) EMI NASHVILLE 19

l20 19 — 30 WHAT WE AIN’T GOT Jake Owen J.MOI (T.J.GOFF,T.MEADOWS) RCA NASHVILLE 19

l21 25 25 8 DIAMOND RINGS AND OLD BARSTOOLS Tim McGraw With Catherine Dunn B.GALLIMORE,T.MCGRAW (L.LAIRD,B.DEAN,J.SINGLETON) MCGRAW/BIG MACHINE 21

l22 26 26 9 LITTLE TOY GUNS Carrie Underwood M.BRIGHT (C.UNDERWOOD,C. DESTEFANO,H.LINDSEY) 19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 22

l23 24 24 7 WILD CHILD Kenny Chesney With Grace Potter B.CANNON,K.CHESNEY (K.CHESNEY,S.MCANALLY,J.OSBORNE) BLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 23

l24 27 27 17 LOVE ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT Kelsea Ballerini F.G.WHITEHEAD (K.BALLERINI,J.KERR,F.G.WHITEHEAD,L.CARPENTER) BLACK RIVER 24

l25 30 31 5 LIKE A WRECKING BALL Eric Church J.JOYCE (E.CHURCH,C.BEATHARD) EMI NASHVILLE 25

Hot Country SongsBILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 26, 2015 | PAGE 5 OF 7

SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

TWO WEEKS

AGOWKS ON CHART

TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED

PEAK POSITION

l26 29 28 25 LOVE YOU LIKE THAT Canaan Smith B.BEAVERS,J.ROBBINS (C.SMITH,B.BEAVERS,J.BEAVERS) MERCURY 26

l27 31 30 20 BABY BE MY LOVE SONG Easton Corbin C.CHAMBERLAIN (J.COLLINS,BRETT JAMES) MERCURY 27

l28 NEW 1 BISCUITS ★★Hot Shot Debut★★ Kacey Musgraves K.MUSGRAVES,L.LAIRD,S.MCANALLY (K.MUSGRAVES,S.MCANALLY,B.CLARK) MERCURY

28

l29 34 33 7 CRUSHIN’ IT Brad Paisley L.WOOTEN,B.PAISLEY (B.PAISLEY,K.LOVELACE,L.T.MILLER) ARISTA NASHVILLE 29

30 23 29 4 GAMES Luke Bryan J.STEVENS (L.BRYAN,A.GORLEY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 23

l31 35 34 18 LAY LOW Josh Turner F.ROGERS (R.COPPERMAN,T.MARTIN,M.NESLER) MCA NASHVILLE 29

l32 36 35 12 ONE HELL OF AN AMEN Brantley Gilbert D.HUFF (B.GILBERT,M.DEKLE,B.DAVIS) VALORY 32

l33 NEW 1 BUY ME A BOAT Chris Janson C.JANSON,C.DUBOIS,B.ANDERSON (C.JANSON,C.DUBOIS) CHRIS JANSON 33

l34 37 36 15 HARD TO BE COOL Joe Nichols M.J.CONES (R.HATCH,J.SELLERS) RED BOW 34

l35 40 — 2 KISS YOU IN THE MORNING Michael Ray S.HENDRICKS (J.WILSON,M.WHITE) WARNER BROS./WEA 35

l36 43 41 11 GOING OUT LIKE THAT Reba T.BROWN (B.HAYSLIP,R.AKINS,J.SELLERS) NASH ICON/VALORY 28

l37 45 42 11 HELL OF A NIGHT Dustin Lynch M.J.CONES (Z.CROWELL,A.SANDERS,J.BOYER) BROKEN BOW 37

38 38 40 5 RIDE Chase Rice C. DESTEFANO (J.SOMERS-MORALES,D.C.TARPLEY JR.) DACK JANIELS/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 38

l39 46 43 4 YOUNG & CRAZY Frankie Ballard M.ALTMAN,S.HENDRICKS (A.GORLEY,S.MCANALLY,R.AKINS) WARNER BROS./WAR 39

l40 41 38 7 I’M TO BLAME Kip Moore B.JAMES (K.MOORE,J.WEAVER,W.DAVIS) MCA NASHVILLE 31

l41 42 39 11 RIOT Rascal Flatts J.DEMARCUS,RASCAL FLATTS (J.BOYER,S.HAZE) BIG MACHINE 39

l42 47 50 5 FLY Maddie & Tae D.HUFF (M.MARLOW,T.DYE,T.VARTANYAN) DOT 42

l43 48 44 12 TROUBLE Gloriana M.SERLETIC (R.REINERT,M.GOSSIN,R.COPPERMAN,J.M.NITE) EMBLEM/WARNER BROS./WAR 42

l44 RE-ENTRY 11 GONNA WANNA TONIGHT Chase Rice C. DESTEFANO (S.MCANALLY,J.M.NITE,J.ROBBINS) DACK JANIELS/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 34

45 33 37 4 SPRING BREAKDOWN Luke Bryan J.STEVENS (L.BRYAN,A.GORLEY,Z.CROWELL) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 33

l46 50 47 5 I GOT THE BOY Jana Kramer S.HENDRICKS (T.NICHOLS,C.HARRINGTON,J.L.SPEARS) ELEKTRA NASHVILLE/WAR 33

47 32 — 2 FOR A BOY RaeLynn J.MOI (RAELYNN,L.VELTZ) VALORY 32

l48 RE-ENTRY 2 BREAK UP WITH HIM Old Dominion S.MCANALLY (M.RAMSEY,T. ROSEN,B.TURSI,G.SPRUNG,W.SELLERS) REESMACK/CRESCENDOMUSICPROJECTS 48

l49 RE-ENTRY 9 SPEAKERS Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,B.HOOD,K.SACKLEY) MCA NASHVILLE 40

l50 RE-ENTRY 2 HANGOVER TONIGHT Gary Allan G.ALLAN,G.DROMAN (G.ALLAN,J.FRASURE,C.STAPLETON,C.R.BARLOWE) MCA NASHVILLE 49

For week ending March 22, 2015. Figures are rounded. Compiled from a national sample of retail store and rack sales reports collected and provided by Nielsen Music.

For inquiries about any Nielsen Music data, please contact Josh Bennett at 615-807-1338 or josh.bennett@nielsen.com

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.

COUNTRY MARKET WATCHA Weekly National Music Sales Report

Hot Country SongsBILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 26, 2015 | PAGE 6 OF 7

ALBUMSDIGITAL

ALBUMS*DIGITAL TRACKS

This Week 445,000 153,000 2,143,000

Last Week 543,000 209,000 2,176,000

Change -18.0% -26.8% -1.5%

This Week Last Year 538,000 171,000 2,557,000

Change -17.3% -10.5% -16.2%

*Digital album sales are also counted within album sales.

Weekly Unit SalesYear-Over-Year Album Sales2014 2015 CHANGE

Albums 6,869,000 5,736,000 -16.5%

Digital Tracks 32,687,000 26,980,000 -17.5%

YEAR-TO-DATE

Overall Unit Sales

2014 2015 CHANGE

Physical 4,490,000 3,580,000 9.0%

Digital 2,379,000 2,156,000 -9.4%

Sales by Album Format

SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

’15

’14

DIGITAL TRACKS SALES

’15

’14

6.9 million

5.7 million

000.0 million

’14

’13

27.0 million

32.7 million

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l1 1 21 TAKE YOUR TIME SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

2 2 10 HOMEGROWN ZAC BROWN BAND (Varvatos/Southern Ground/BMLG/Republic)

l3 4 24 AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY COLE SWINDELL (Warner Bros./WMN)

l4 6 13 GIRL CRUSH LITTLE BIG TOWN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l5 NEW BISCUITS KACEY MUSGRAVES (Mercury/UMGN)

6 5 10 LITTLE RED WAGON MIRANDA LAMBERT (RCA Nashville/SMN)

l7 9 8 SMOKE A THOUSAND HORSES (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

l8 NEW BUY ME A BOAT CHRIS JANSON (Chris Janson)

l9 11 6 LIKE A WRECKING BALL ERIC CHURCH (EMI Nashville/UMGN)

10 8 28 DRINKING CLASS LEE BRICE (Curb)

l11 12 22 LONELY EYES CHRIS YOUNG (RCA Nashville/SMN)

12 10 20 JUST GETTIN’ STARTED JASON ALDEAN (Broken Bow/BBMG)

l13 31 4 SIPPIN’ ON FIRE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

14 13 11 RIDE CHASE RICE (Dack Janiels)

15 15 18 A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR TYLER FARR (Columbia Nashville/SMN)

l16 24 6 DON’T IT BILLY CURRINGTON (Mercury/UMGN)

l17 19 14 SHE DON’T LOVE YOU ERIC PASLAY (EMI Nashville/UMGN)

l18 23 9 LITTLE TOY GUNS CARRIE UNDERWOOD (19/Arista Nashville/SMN)

l19 21 6 LOVE ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT KELSEA BALLERINI (Black River)

20 14 22 LONELY TONIGHT BLAKE SHELTON FEAT. ASHLEY MONROE (Warner Bros./WMN)

21 16 29 MEAN TO ME BRETT ELDREDGE (Atlantic/WMN)

l22 20 13 SAY YOU DO DIERKS BENTLEY (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l23 28 21 LOVE YOU LIKE THAT CANAAN SMITH (Mercury/UMGN)

l24 26 26 HOMEGROWN HONEY DARIUS RUCKER (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

25 7 4 GAMES LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

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l26 30 5 DIAMOND RINGS AND OLD BARSTOOL TIM MCGRAW WITH CATHERINE DUNN (McGraw/Big Machine/BMLG)

l27 29 9 RAISE ‘EM UP KEITH URBAN FEAT. ERIC CHURCH (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville)

28 27 26 SUN DAZE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

29 22 25 MAKE ME WANNA THOMAS RHETT (Valory/BMLG)

l30 RE-ENTRY BETTER THAN YOU LEFT ME MICKEY GUYTON (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l31 36 4 WILD CHILD KENNY CHESNEY WITH GRACE POTTER (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville/SMN)

32 32 26 TALLADEGA ERIC CHURCH (EMI Nashville/UMGN)

l33 38 40 LEAVE THE NIGHT ON SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

34 33 27 SHOTGUN RIDER TIM MCGRAW (McGraw/Big Machine/BMLG)

35 3 2 FOR A BOY RAELYNN (Valory/BMLG)

36 35 30 WHAT WE AIN’T GOT JAKE OWEN (RCA Nashville/SMN)

37 34 20 I SEE YOU LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

38 39 34 BURNIN’ IT DOWN JASON ALDEAN (Broken Bow/BBMG)

39 37 25 SOMETHING IN THE WATER CARRIE UNDERWOOD (19/Arista Nashville/SMN)

l40 45 141 CRUISE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

41 18 4 SPRING BREAKDOWN LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l42 44 69 THIS IS HOW WE ROLL FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. LUKE BRYAN (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

43 40 69 PLAY IT AGAIN LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

44 42 7 LAY LOW JOSH TURNER (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

l45 RE-ENTRY I’M A MAN OF CONSTANT SORROW SAWYER FREDERICKS (Republic)

l46 50 5 I GOT THE BOY JANA KRAMER (Elektra Nashville/WMN)

l47 49 30 BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

l48 RE-ENTRY GOING OUT LIKE THAT REBA (Nash Icon/Valory/BMLG)

l49 RE-ENTRY ONE HELL OF AN AMEN BRANTLEY GILBERT (Valory/BMLG)

50 48 170 CHICKEN FRIED ZAC BROWN BAND (Home Grown/Atlantic/Bigger Picture)

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.

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1 1 — 2 LUKE BRYAN Spring Break... Checkin’ OutCAPITOL NASHVILLE 022540/UMGN 1

l2 2 1 21 SAM HUNT MontevalloMCA NASHVILLE 021502/UMGN 1

3 4 3 24 JASON ALDEAN Old Boots, New DirtBROKEN BOW 7105/BBMG 1 1

l4 6 4 23 FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE Anything GoesREPUBLIC NASHVILLE /BMLG 0 1

5 7 7 31 CHASE RICE Ignite The NightCOLUMBIA NASHVILLE 22573/DACK JANIELS 1

l6 8 6 58 ERIC CHURCH The OutsidersEMI NASHVILLE 019402*/UMGN 1 1

7 9 5 15 CARRIE UNDERWOOD Greatest Hits: Decade #119/ARISTA NASHVILLE 500876/SMN 0 1

8 10 9 42 MIRANDA LAMBERT PlatinumRCA NASHVILLE 379278/SMN 0 1

9 12 10 85 LUKE BRYAN Crash My PartyCAPITOL NASHVILLE 018733/UMGN 2 1

10 3 2 4 SHANIA TWAIN Still The One: Live From Las VegasMERCURY 022017 WMEX/UMGN 2

l11 30 14 3 ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL Still The King: Celebrating The Music Of Bob Wills And His Texas PlayboysBISMEAUX 1314/MAILBOAT 11

12 5 — 2 LUKE BRYAN Spring Break‚ The Set List: The Complete Spring Break Collection ZinePakCAPITOL NASHVILLE 022774 WMEX/UMGN 5

13 13 11 19 ZAC BROWN BAND Greatest Hits So Far...ROAR/SOUTHERN GROUND/ATLANTIC 546369/AG 5

14 15 15 57 COLE SWINDELL Cole SwindellWARNER BROS. 541372/WMN 2

15 18 17 22 LITTLE BIG TOWN Pain KillerCAPITOL NASHVILLE 021360*/UMGN 3

16 14 12 19 GARTH BROOKS Man Against MachinePEARL/RCA NASHVILLE 501135/SMN 1 1

17 16 19 44 BRANTLEY GILBERT Just As I AmVALORY BG0200A/BMLG 0 1

18 17 18 25 BLAKE SHELTON BRINGING BACK THE SUNSHINEWARNER BROS. 544918/WMN 0 1

l19 22 21 26 KENNY CHESNEY The Big RevivalBLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 306274/SMN 1

20 20 22 28 LEE BRICE I Dont DanceCURB 79392* 1

21 19 8 5 AARON WATSON The UnderdogBIG LABEL 400237/THIRTY TIGERS 1

22 23 24 27 TIM MCGRAW Sundown Heaven TownMCGRAW/BIG MACHINE TM0200A/BMLG 1

23 21 13 27 GEORGE STRAIT The Cowboy Rides Away: Live From AT&T StadiumMCA NASHVILLE 021477/UMGN 2

l24 25 26 56 DIERKS BENTLEY RiserCAPITOL NASHVILLE 019404/UMGN 1

25 26 27 73 THOMAS RHETT It Goes Like ThisVALORY TR0100A/BMLG 2

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l1 2 12 TAKE YOUR TIME SAM HUNT

2 1 2 LITTLE RED WAGON MIRANDA LAMBERT

l3 3 39 LEAVE THE NIGHT ON SAM HUNT

l4 4 56 THIS IS HOW WE ROLL FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. LUKE BRYAN

l5 7 103 CRUISE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

l6 6 52 PLAY IT AGAIN LUKE BRYAN

l7 8 22 SUN DAZE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

l8 10 65 BOTTOMS UP BRANTLEY GILBERT

9 5 15 I SEE YOU LUKE BRYAN

l10 13 5 HOMEGROWN ZAC BROWN BAND

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l11 11 19 DRINKING CLASS LEE BRICE

l12 12 37 DIRT FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

13 9 9 MAKE ME WANNA THOMAS RHETT

l14 15 4 AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY COLE SWINDELL

15 14 9 LONELY TONIGHT BLAKE SHELTON FEAT. ASHLEY MONROE

l16 16 84 THAT’S MY KIND OF NIGHT LUKE BRYAN

l17 19 63 YOU BELONG WITH ME TAYLOR SWIFT

18 17 16 TALLADEGA ERIC CHURCH

l19 25 72 WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER TAYLOR SWIFT

l20 22 4 GIRL CRUSH LITTLE BIG TOWN

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.

BUILDING AIRPLAY GAINERSTITLE Label Artist GAIN

HOMEGROWN HONEY Capitol Nashville Darius Rucker +305

SAY YOU DO Capitol Nashville Dierks Bentley +244

RAISE ‘EM UP Hit Red/Capitol Nashville Keith Urban Feat. Eric Church +230

TONIGHT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU Broken Bow Jason Aldean +224

SIPPIN’ ON FIRE Republic Nashville Florida Georgia Line +219

TAKE YOUR TIME MCA Nashville Sam Hunt +215

DON’T IT Mercury Billy Currington +180

A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR Columbia Nashville Tyler Farr +139

HOMEGROWN Varvatos/Republic/BMLG/Southern Ground Zac Brown Band +134

DIAMOND RINGS AND OLD BARSTOOLS McGraw/Big Machine Tim McGraw W/Catherine Dunn +126

Building Gainers reflects titles with the top increases in plays from Monday through 5pm ET Wednesday, as compared to the same period in the previous week, according to Nielsen Music.

TOP COUNTRY ALBUMSCOUNTRY DIGITAL SONGS

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE MARCH 26, 2015 | PAGE 7 OF 7

STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

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.

COUNTRY STREAMING SONGS

SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY