Two Big Machine-issued songs from the well-received new ABC series “Nashville” appear on Country Songs, led by Sam Palladio & Clare Bowen’s Hot Shot Debut at No. 29 with “If I Didn’t Know Better.”
The actors portray Bluebird Café bartender Gunnar and waitress Scarlett on the show, which premiered October 10. Although the lion’s share of the song’s chart points are gleaned from 31,000 digital downloads-good for a No. 11 start on Country Digital Songs-Nielsen BDS registered just one radio play during the tracking week, which aired during afternoon drive October 16 at country-formatted WWYZ Hartford, Conn.
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As a reminder, the BDS tracking week for the newly-revised Country Songs formula is always a Wednesday through Tuesday cycle. Concurrently, Hayden Panettiere bows at No. 43 with “Love Like Mine,” which sells 11,000 and starts at No. 34 on Country Digital Songs. Panettiere plays singer Juliette Barnes on the musical drama. The first official country radio single from the “Nashville” cache is Panettiere’s “Telescope,” which she premiered on the October 17 episode. That track will likely be visible on next week’s charts.
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” spends a second week at No. 1 on Country Songs and picks up Greatest Gainer honors for the chart’s biggest overall streaming increase after making its subscription services debut on October 2-it also leads Country Digital Songs.
Opening with a career-best No. 9 rank and his biggest Nielsen SoundScan week on Country Albums, Aaron Watson becomes the third Texas “Red Dirt” artist to post a top 10 debut this year, as “Real Good Time” arrives with 6,000 sold. Watson’s fellow southwestern regional veteran Wade Bowen bowed at No. 9 in June with “The Given,” and Josh Abbott Band’s “Small Town Family Dream” debuted at No. 5 a month earlier. Only one such artist posted a top 10 start last year, noted when Casey Donahew Band’s “Double-Wide Dream” arrived at No. 10 on the chart dated Nov. 12, 2011. Watson previously charted six titles between 2006-10, including “The Road & the Rodeo,” which accounted for his previous best rank at No. 25 two years ago. He logged his previous best one-week sales with “Angels & Outlaws,” which sold 4,000 on opening week in April 2008.
Country Albums is led for a fifth straight week by Little Big Town’s “Tornado,” which sells 23,000, while Florida Georgia Line’s “It’z Just What We Do” is the Greatest Gainer on that chart (24-19). The rookie duo also swipes the biggest overall digital gain on Country Songs (74,000 sold, up 6,000) and ranks at No. 3 on Country Digital Songs.
Since Carrie Underwood scored the first of more than a dozen audience No. 1’s nearly seven years ago, her contemporaries in the solo female artist category have grown accustomed to showing up wearing their game faces in order to dominate the Country Airplay chart — none of those women have topped the list as many times since the Oklahoman logged six weeks at No. 1 in January/February 2006 with “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” and her count rises to 13 as “Blown Away” steps 2-1 in its 18th chart week. During her chart topping span, Underwood now has six more radio leaders that Taylor Swift (7), and 10 more than third-place Miranda Lambert (3). Also noteworthy is the fact that all but three of Underwood’s 16 promoted singles have reached No. 1, and each of the three lower peaks stopped at No. 2: “Don’t Forget to Remember Me” (2006); “I Told You So” (two weeks at No. 2 in 2009); “Mama’s Song” (2011).
Tim McGraw inks his 47th career top 10 — his second this year — with “Truck Yeah,” his first single for Big Machine and the lead track from his first album for the label. In so doing, he passes George Strait (46) for the most among all acts dating to McGraw’s first week in the top 10 (March 26, 1994). McGraw also peaked at No. 5 in June with “Better Than I Used to Be,” and most recently led with “Felt Good On My Lips” last year.