Nine Country Releases Impact Retail This Week

Following the surprise release of Eric Church‘s EMI Nashville album Mr. Misunderstood after his performance on the CMA Awards on Wednesday (Nov. 4), eight more country albums hit the market today (Nov. 6). These anticipated releases will help boost fourth quarter sales for various Nashville labels, alongside others expected over the next few weeks.

November 6th Album Releases

Tim McGraw/Damn Country Music/Big Machine
Old Dominion/Meat and Candy/RCA Nashville
Alan Jackson/Genuine: The Alan Jackson Story/Legacy Recordings-Arista Nashville 
Hunter Hayes/The 21 Project [three-discs featuring same seven songs with the different variations]/Atlantic-Warner Music Nashville
Cole Swindell/Down Home Sessions [EP No. 2]/Warner Bros.-Warner Music Nashville
Maren Morris/Maren Morris [EP]/Columbia Nashville
Josh Abbott Band/Front Row Seat/Thirty Tigers
Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers/The Gospel According to Gatlin/Curb Records

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Tim McGraw released his 14th studio album, Damn Country Music, on Big Machine Records. The project was produced by McGraw and Byron Gallimore. The first single, “Top of the World,” is at radio now. The deluxe version features three bonus tracks. The star is also acting in an upcoming film, The Shack, based on the best-selling book by the same name.

RCA Nashville’s Old Dominion releases their highly anticipated debut album Meat and Candy, produced by award-winning, Shane McAnally. The album that features the gold single, “Break Up With Him,” which is currently the No. 1 song on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.

The five members of Old Dominion have written hit songs for other artists such as Kenny Chesney, Dierks Bentley, Blake Shelton, Tyler Farr and The Band Perry, so it comes as no surprise that they wrote every song on Meat and Candy.

To kick off a weeklong celebration of the release of Meat and Candy, Old Dominion will take their tour tonight to Tuscaloosa, Ala. By the end of 2015 Old Dominion will have performed over 170 shows which includes 18 stadium dates opening up for Chesney, whom they will also join in 2016. Read more about the formation of the group in an exclusive MusicRow interview.

Genuine: The Alan Jackson Story, a definitive three-CD career-defining anthology of music including eight previously unreleased recordings was released through Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, and Arista Nashville.

Walmart will exclusively stock Genuine: The Alan Jackson Story. The project debuts a live version of The Eagles‘ hit “Seven Bridges Road,” recorded 18 years ago this week (Nov. 1, 1997 in Birmingham, Ala.), and a rare live rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner,” recorded in 2001.

A 58-page booklet filled with photos from Jackson’s personal collection provides glimpses of his early life in rural Georgia, revisits some of his most-memorable career highlights, and also features tributes from Kenny Chesney, Alison Krauss, Martina McBride, George Strait, Steven Tyler, Carrie Underwood, Lee Ann Womack, and the late George Jones.

Jackson recently celebrated his 25th anniversary as a recording artist with a special 25-date tour and was honored with Alan Jackson: 25 Years of Keepin’ It Country, a retrospective exhibit at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. In July 2015, Jackson released his 15th studio album, Angels and Alcohol, through Alan’s Country Records/EMI Nashville.

Five-time Grammy nominee Hunter Hayes unveiled his latest collection, The 21 Project. The limited edition, three-disc set explores features only seven songs in acoustic, studio, and live variations of each track. Hayes co-produced the project with Dann Huff and co-wrote every song.

Earlier this week, Hayes performed to a packed plaza outside of Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, kicking off the CMA Awards festivities with his second annual street jam in partnership with the USO. He continues on his 21 Tour tomorrow (Nov. 7) with a stop at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois.

Cole Swindell released his second Down Home Sessions EP on Nov. 6. It follows the original Down Home Sessions EP as well as his self-titled, full-length debut album, both released in 2014 by Warner Bros. / Warner Music Nashville. Swindell received a gold plaque for his debut album this week.

Swindell will begin his five-week fall tour at the PlayStation Theatre in New York City on Wednesday (Nov. 11). His special guest on the tour is Adam Sanders, who co-wrote Swindell’s “Ain’t Worth the Whiskey.” Swindell’s latest hit single is “Let Me See Ya Girl.”

After inclusion in CMT’s 2015 Next Women of Country program, Columbia Nashville has released a 5-song EP of singer/songwriter Maren Morris. The digital EP follows a Spotify exclusive of the 5-song album, which generated in excess of six million worldwide streams in less than two months, with three songs hitting Spotify’s U.S. and Global Viral 50 lists.

Big Yellow Dog released the EP to Spotify in August before it became available at digital retailers. She has been featured on tour opening for Sam Hunt, Little Big Town, Chris Stapleton, and Loretta Lynn, and can be seen next opening for Charles Kelley’s The Driver tour, kicking off Nov. 28 in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition, she has placed cuts with Tim McGraw and Kelly Clarkson.

Josh Abbott Band released Front Row Seat via Thirty Tigers. The project tells the story of a romantic relationship from beginning to end, over the course of 15 songs arranged in five acts.

The first single “Amnesia” debuted on Sirius XM The Highway in August and was produced by Dwight A. Baker (The Wind & The Wave). The album features collaborations with Shane McAnally and Zac Brown Band collaborator Wyatt Durette. Josh Abbott Band also brought in rising stars Macy Maloy and Carly Pearce to lend their voices.

Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers celebrate 60 years of singing together with a new album, The Gospel According to Gatlin, on Curb Records. The 11-track project is the trio’s first new album in seven years and was produced by the Gatlins.

Guests include Charlie Daniels and Gaither Vocal Band. In addition, Larry Gatlin and Billy Dean co-wrote the album’s closing track, “An American With a Remington.”