The 9513 Last.fm Chart Update (7-5-09)

One thing about The 9513 Last.fm charts, it’s pretty easy to tell when a popular artist has a new album out. Consider the all-Paisley, all-the-time charts for this week. It’s not unusual to see Brad Paisley among the most popular artists on most weeks. Sure, his Play album didn’t really make a dent on the charts, but instrumental albums aren’t to everyone’s taste. The new album, American Saturday Night, was apparently what all the Paisley fans here were waiting for, because he dominated the charts in a big, big way this week.

First off, he was the #1 artist for the week, with 26 listeners, well ahead of the usual #1 suspects like George Strait and Sugarland. Most of the rest of the Top 10 was filled with many dearly departed/inactive artists, including Johnny Cash (24), Willie Nelson (20), Dixie Chicks (20), George Jones (19), Hank Williams (19) and Garth Brooks (19). The top Americana artists for the week, with 13 listeners each, were Charlie Robison, Emmylou Harris and Hayes Carll. As per usual, the middle and bottom of the charts show a pretty huge diversity among our listeners. Slaid Cleaves had 7 listeners, James Otto had 6, newcomer Sarah Jarosz had 5 and Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys had 4. And I have to give a special nod to the two other people besides me who listened to the Crash Test Dummies last week. Their first two albums, at least, had a definite country vibe…apart from the vocals that make Trace Adkins sound like a castrato.

So guess what was the #1 album last week? Yep, American Saturday Night with 13 listeners. Ten people who wanted the complete Paisley Experience also listened to Mud On The Tires and Time Well Wasted, and 9 listened to 5th Gear. The non-Paisley albums in the Top 10 included Carll’s Trouble In Mind with 10 listeners, Learn To Live by Darius Rucker (9), Long Trip Alone by Dierks Bentley (9) and That Lonesome Song by Jamey Johnson. While it’s non-country, it should be noted that Wilco (The Album) by Wilco had 7 listeners in its release week. Nine people also listened to Set This Circus Down by Tim McGraw in an attempt to remember what a non-compilation Tim McGraw album sounds like. Wait until later this year, folks–or next year, or maybe 2011.

In the Top Singles chart, if it wasn’t a track from the new Paisley album, it wasn’t popular. Of the Top 14 tracks, only Sugarland’s “Joey” wasn’t a track from American Saturday Night. If this one week is any indication, the title track, “The Pants” and “Then” are the most popular songs, as they all had 11 listeners. The Wilco fans helped put “Solitaire” and “You Never Know” into the Top 20 with 7 listeners. A couple of country classics, Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man” and Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” also made the Top 20.

Freebie of the Week: Jennifer Daniels is a Tennessee-based singer/songwriter who makes plenty of trips to Georgia, and I’ve had the pleasure of seeing her live a couple of times. Along with a charming, slightly daffy stage presence, she’s got some lovely vocals and songs that are slightly folksy but wouldn’t be out of place in a country collection that has some Mary-Chapin Carpenter in it. She’s got a free download, “You Should Love Me,” via mySpace that you can access through her home page, www.jenniferdaniels.com (no, you don’t need a mySpace account to get the song). Following that link will eventually take you to about 1000 other free downloads crossing all genres. If anyone wants to explore that list and post other keepers, feel free. If you like that song and want to hear a couple of other freebies, she’s got two downloads, “Ohio” and “Planting Shoes,” on her Reverb Nation page. You may need to sign up for a Reverb Nation account or join her mailing list to get those songs.

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

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