The first big musical splash in 2025 (and no, I’m not referring to an unapologetically pop album winning Best Country Album at the Grammys over several fantastic candidates, which was extremely predictable) goes to Morgan Wallen, as he livened up what has been a slow start to the year with “I’m the Problem” just a few days ahead of February’s CC50 voting. It was a strong follow-up to “Love Somebody” and struck the right note with audiences as he took a big chunk out of the separation that recent darlings Zach Top and Riley Green had built at the top of the rankings. The young crop of Hudson Westbrook, Ty Myers, Vincent Mason, and Dylan Marlowe also continued their strong form over the last few months, while Treaty Oak Revival made a little history. We’ll cover all that, but first, let’s look at the data:
Biggest Risers and Fallers
One of the most interesting statistical things in the CC50 we haven’t explored much in this column is the correlation of different artists in the voting. We have slightly different demographics each month that we hold the CC50, so occasionally, certain groups of artists and we rise and fall together depending on who is voting. This past month seemed to illustrate that Wallen and a whole bevy of young artists who share a lot in common with him stylistically are seeing impressive gains. Unfortunately, we have no way of isolating which voting groups prefer which artists, but following the “water raises all boats” mantra, it seems fair to say these artists are often listened to by the same voters. I might try to do a larger-scale analysis of which artists rise and fall together the most; I’ll keep y’all posted.
We discuss it in this column, but an artist’s biggest enemy is usually not making music nobody likes (okay, okay, HARDY proved the exception last year). Zach Bryan and Jason Aldean are two of the most polarizing artists on the CC50, yet they consistently find themselves at the top of the rankings. Audience apathy is far more concerning, which is well illustrated in the three biggest fallers this month. We’re coming up on 2 years since we got new music from either Childers or Wall; truthfully, it is more remarkable that they have maintained a good hold on audience interest than they have seen some slipping over the past year. Still, these things snowball, and the yellow line showing Unsure voters (essentially those with no opinion on the artist’s new music) shows concerning growth. George Strait could find himself in a similar situation as he tries to parlay the interest in his album last year towards the future.
Quick Hits
- One of the storylines I was most interested in watching for this month was whether there would be any impact, if any, that the presidential inauguration festivities would have on Carrie Underwood and Parker McCollum. Usually, any publicity is good publicity, and that was very much the case here, especially for Carrie, as she posted her highest interest in the history of the CC50 at 23.6%, narrowly edging out September ‘23 (a year and a half ago) when she charted at 23.3%. Parker’s bump was less significant, but his interest of 50.1% was nonetheless his highest since August ‘24. “Headline Bumps” like this rarely carry any lasting impact but can be a good jumping-off point for newer artists. In the case of Carrie and Parker, two established brands, this will likely be a pleasant but brief moment of recognition for their outstanding careers.
- With Childers and Strait falling out of the top 10, that opened a window for Treaty Oak Revival to make history as the first group in the history of the CC50 to break into the top 10. There have only been 10 groups/duos to appear in the CC50, so this is an impressive achievement. Red Clay Strays (peak position of #13), Flatland Cavalry (#14), Zac Brown Band (#15), and Turnpike Troubadours (#18) round out the top 5 groups with the highest peaks on the CC50.
- You’ll notice in the giant data table I always start the article with I’ve added Ranking Change in addition to the Interest% Change. It isn’t as helpful as Interest% Change, but it adds a simpler view of trajectory and puts more emphasis on the ranking aspect of it.
- Overall listener interest dipped slightly in January, with an Interest percentage of 37.6% (indicating that the average artist on the CC50 has 3.8 in 10 audience members interested in their releases), down from last month’s mark of 38.5%. The overall vote count was 258,67.
Wildcard Watch
Despite the lack of new names in the Wildcard pool, the Wildcards performed pretty well this month, with Jordan Davis, Carrie Underwood, and Warren Zeiders all surviving to see March’s voting. As noted earlier, Carrie seems to have gotten a boost from singing at the inauguration in January, and both Davis and Zeiders seem to be building some momentum as they release singles ahead of their upcoming projects. Jordan Davis, especially, hopes his brief hiatus will stay an anomaly, as January ‘25 remains the only month he has not appeared on the CC50.
February’s Wildcard voting produced some of the most interesting results. Nate Smith finally broke through for the first time since November ‘23, after perennially just missing the cut in the Wildcard voting. Kelsea Ballerini came out of nowhere to qualify for the CC50 for the first time since 2023, and Darius Rucker has also made a prodigal return for the first time since July of last year. Behind them, Kameron Marlowe continued his strong effort to set records for most promotion/demotion cycles, and HARDY jumped back in. It’s great to see artists like Kelsea and Nate find their way to some extent, with last fall’s PATTERNS and California Gold seeming to connect with audiences in a way both artists had found elusive (RIP to the Rolling Up the Welcome Mat era).
The last thing I’ll leave you with is this fantastic line from Hailey Whitters’s February release “Casseroles,” one of those songs that immediately make you look up the lyrics:
“But he feels like he’s under the ocean
And those old six strings keep strumming
And those wild-winged hummingbirds keep humming
I don’t know how, but this world keeps on turning
And love keeps on loving
After the casseroles stop coming.”
While there are any number of fantastic country songs that deal with death (“Whiskey Lullaby,” “Concrete Angel,” goodness, even “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” to name just a few), “Casseroles” brings a whole new dimension. Whitters chooses to go beyond the initial hit of grief that can easily be conveyed in songs to reflect on what it means to try to go on with “normal life” (“this world keeps on turning”) without the person you love. It feels like society has moved on and expects you to, too. It challenges the listener to be a friend of substance and support without feeling preachy, a difficult line to tread. I know we have our March beach playlists cued up (I’m listening to Jimmy Buffett as I write this), but take some time to give “Casseroles” a spin, and I’ll see y’all back here in March!
