The 9513 Last.fm Chart Update (6-21-09)

We’re creeping up toward 100 members at The 9513 group, and George Strait is getting closer and closer to breaking that 30-listener mark. His 28 count for this week was the largest showing we’ve had for any artist, making him the #1 artist of the week by a large margin. The next-closest singers, with 24 listeners, were Alan Jackson and Johnny Cash. Gary Allan makes a strong showing with 23 listeners, just ahead of the combination of Brad Paisley, Dixie Chicks and Lee Ann Womack, all of whom had 22. While Allan has had his share of success on the country charts, he’s not yet one of those people who have sure-fire #1s with every release. He’s a rare breed that can cut radio-friendly tracks while covering people like Radney Foster and Todd Snider, so the idea of Gary Allan, Superstar, is pretty appealing. His last album is from 2007, and he’s still releasing singles off of it, so we’re definitely due for some new material from him. Maybe a new album will boost his chart numbers into the rarefied air shared by the likes of Strait and Jackson.

Elsewhere, the Americana fanbase rallied around Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, with 15 listeners putting them at #22. The group with 14 listeners included Neko Case, Snider and Hayes Carll. I was listening to Carll’s “Girl Downtown” as I wrote this update, so he’ll have at least one listener for next week.

Americana had a stronger showing on the Top Albums Chart, as two of the three discs that tied for #1 with 13 listeners were Rattlin’ Bones from Chambers & Nicholson and Taking The Long Way Home by the Dixie Chicks. I’m assuming the Chicks are Americana, because that’s where all the cool, chart-unpopular country singers eventually go. Carll showed up at #8 with Trouble In Mind (11 listeners), and Loretta Lynn’s Van Lear Rose (10 listeners, and Exhibit A for my Americana definition) ended up at #10. Of course, Taylor Swift’s Fearless was the other #1 album, and Strait, Womack and Lady Antebellum were also in the Top 5, but a diverse chart is an interesting chart.

Miranda Lambert managed a neat trick on the Top Tracks chart by keeping “Dead Flowers” at #1 for a second consecutive week. She even gained a couple of listeners over last week, totaling 9 this week. The songs tied for #2 with 7 listeners included Gloriana’s “Wild At Heart,” Eric Church’s “Love Your Love The Most,” Allan’s “Today” and Chambers & Nicholson’s “Rattlin’ Bones.” Holly Williams had a couple of songs in the Top 10 (the very thematically different “Mama” and “Three Days In Bed”), as did Sugarland with “All I Want To Do” and “It Happens.”

Freebie of the Week: One of the nice things about Last.fm is that you can get exposed to music from new sources. Case in point, A Jigsaw, a country/folk band out of Coimbra, Portugal. The trio, João Rui, Susana Ribeiro and Jorri, play everything from guitar and harmonica to banjo, ukulele and glockenspiel. The songs, sung in English, put you in mind of The Felice Brothers or Avett Brothers, which is to say, dark country. It’s nice to see that the banjo has moved overseas and will soon be the dominant musical force worldwide. The free songs available include “Letters From The Boatman” and “Lion’s Eyes Louder.” There’s also a cover of David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel,” but you’re not missing much if you skip that one.

To see this week’s charts and join our group, head to http://www.last.fm/group/The+9513.

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