Dierks Bentley - "Riser"

[Daryl the Beryl]

Dierks has never disappointed me before and this is no exception. 5/5 for this era.

[rsmatto]

Jul 4, 2015 5:51:51 GMT -5 buythecaseof12 said:

How long is the radio edit of this song?
The CD version is 4:10.
The problem with the CD version may be in the first 1:10 or so--it may be too slow for 2015 radio.

This will likely pull a "What We Ain't Got" and land in the Top 20. But It could also get higher. It's hard to know what radio wants these days (outside of Luke, Jason or Blake hits).

[.indulgecountry]

Aug 6, 2015 11:14:53 GMT -5 rsmatto said:

Jul 4, 2015 5:51:51 GMT -5 buythecaseof12 said:

How long is the radio edit of this song?
The CD version is 4:10.
The problem with the CD version may be in the first 1:10 or so--it may be too slow for 2015 radio.

This will likely pull a "What We Ain't Got" and land in the 20s. But It could also get higher. It's hard to know what radio wants these days (outside of Luke, Jason or Blake hits).

I think you mean the teens.

[rsmatto]

Aug 6, 2015 11:32:57 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Aug 6, 2015 11:14:53 GMT -5 rsmatto said:

This will likely pull a "What We Ain't Got" and land in the 20s. But It could also get higher. It's hard to know what radio wants these days (outside of Luke, Jason or Blake hits).

I think you mean the teens.

Yes, Top 20 is actually what I meant.

[Deleted]

Not really about "Riser" but why is "Sounds of Summer" charting on the Hot Country chart? I couldn't figure it out last week and this week it has moved 46-39 with a bullet...no noticeable activity on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, radio...

[sabre14]

Hey, "Riser" should climb up six spots to #44 on MB this week, gaining 65 spins and nearly 400k in audience. Dierks leaped Craig, Steven, Toby and Lee in the process. I would love for this song to get some conversions the next week or two as only a small handful of its leaders have "Riser" in medium rotation, with one (KJKE in Oklahoma City) having it in heavy rotation.

I'm hopeful this will become a slow grower for country radio. There's just no way this one will have a fast climb or even a moderate climb up the charts but this song making the top 40 on MB as quickly as possible will be very beneficial.

[carriekins]

Earlier this week Dierks posted a picture of a letter he received from a fan about how much this song means to her. The letter and story are starting to go viral. Here is a link to a video from a news show in California about it.

This is precisely the reaction this song should be receiving. I'm hoping the additional exposure will help this get going a little at radio, as well.

[carriekins]

Apparently an actual video was shot for this a couple weeks ago in Nashville. Yay!

This is slowly getting some conversions this week. Today saw a slight hiccup, but it's good to see its weekly bullet back in the triple digits. Now that the superstar singles have all flown past, hopefully it will see some more steady gains in the coming weeks.

[Deleted]

While I can't link it. The site me and zack97 visit Country Perspective just reviewed Riser.


carriekins you're gonna like what they have to say.

[carriekins]

Video debut courtesy of the Guardian.

You may need tissues.

I enjoyed his snark towards radio's treatment in the article, too.

[Deleted]

Sept 3, 2015 9:14:13 GMT -5 carriekins said:

I enjoyed his snark towards radio's treatment in the article, too.

"I didn't think it would still be in the 40s three months out. All you can do is hope it gets heard. And if not, I will immediately start working on 'Drunk on a Boat.'" Brilliant.

[sabre14]

I still think there's plenty of time for "Riser" to get going. It leaped Lee for #41 on the rolling chart today and has not been what I would describe as "really struggling." This is actually the kind of chart run I expected. I understand Dierks is a star artist but this is the fifth song released from this album and its not what's popular on radio these days (which most are aware of).

I'm on mobile, so I'll give a full analysis when I'm not at school. :)

[dm2081]

Now I'm just excited for "Drunk On A Boat", what a tease.

[sixofone]

Sept 3, 2015 11:18:55 GMT -5 @dawson said:

Sept 3, 2015 9:14:13 GMT -5 carriekins said:

I enjoyed his snark towards radio's treatment in the article, too.

"I didn't think it would still be in the 40s three months out. All you can do is hope it gets heard. And if not, I will immediately start working on 'Drunk on a Boat.'" Brilliant.

I'm a bit surprised someone who has been in country music for over a decade would make a comment like that. Just because a song is a quality song, that doesn't necessarily mean it can be released at any point in the year and rocket to the top of the airplay chart.

"Drunk On A Plane" was a perfect summer song -- it was released in April 2014 and peaked at #1 in late August.  "I Hold On" and "Say You Do" were ideal for fall/winter, and they eventually both peaked at #1 in the spring. "Bourbon In Kentucky" sounds like a fall/winter song to me, but it was released in June 2013 and flopped -- while hindsight is 20/20, I'd bet it would have done much better if it had been a fall release.

To my ears "Riser" is a fall/winter release, not a summer release, so I'm not surprised at its slow climb over the past three months. I would expect airplay increases over the next two months as we move into fall, just like I would expect Billy Currington's "Drinking Town With A Football Problem" to start moving up in airplay faster once fall gets here.

[carriekins]

But if Blake or Luke had released it, it would likely be faring much better.

I knew it would be a slow climb, but I'm more on Dierks' side with this one - after his string of #1s and momentum at radio, it is more than a little ridiculous that this has been slogging through the 40s for 8 or 9 weeks.

And I go back to my first statement. Had this been released by Blake or Luke, radio wouldn't be thinking twice about the time of year or tempo. It is what it is.

[tim]

Sept 3, 2015 13:28:50 GMT -5 sixofone said:

Sept 3, 2015 11:18:55 GMT -5 @dawson said:

"I didn't think it would still be in the 40s three months out. All you can do is hope it gets heard. And if not, I will immediately start working on 'Drunk on a Boat.'" Brilliant.

I'm a bit surprised someone who has been in country music for over a decade would make a comment like that. Just because a song is a quality song, that doesn't necessarily mean it can be released at any point in the year and rocket to the top of the airplay chart.

To my ears "Riser" is a fall/winter release, not a summer release, so I'm not surprised at its slow climb over the past three months. I would expect airplay increases over the next two months as we move into fall, just like I would expect Billy Currington's "Drinking Town With A Football Problem" to start moving up in airplay faster once fall gets here.

To my ears, "Riser" isn't a seasonal song by any means. It could easily be a spring, summer, fall, or winter song. That said, we always seem to get into debates about how a song should've or shouldn't have been released at such and such time of year and I tend to agree that it doesn't make any difference. I always think of "Whiskey Lullaby" when this comes up as that was Brad Paisley's concern when releasing it into the summer months; it went on to be one of the biggest hits of summer 2004. Now to my own ears I tend to liken that song to fall/winter myself (and even have it included on my seasonal playlists that way), but charting wise it really didn't matter for that song.

And as carriekins pointed out, had this been a Luke or Blake song it wouldn't be hovering in the 40's three months in. This song no doubt deserves its chance, and radio so far is being reluctant. Frankly I'm more surprised that someone who has been in the business for over a decade and is on a career high isn't getting a fair shot at radio with a single like this.

[sixofone]

Sept 3, 2015 13:56:04 GMT -5 carriekins said:

But if Blake or Luke had released it, it would likely be faring much better.

I knew it would be a slow climb, but I'm more on Dierks' side with this one - after his string of #1s and momentum at radio, it is more than a little ridiculous that this has been slogging through the 40s for 8 or 9 weeks.

And I go back to my first statement. Had this been released by Blake or Luke, radio wouldn't be thinking twice about the time of year or tempo. It is what it is.

Yes, "star power" is a factor, as is time of year.  "Bourbon In Kentucky" was released following 3 #1s and a #5 from Home, but stalled at #45 in airplay. Even though Dierks has had plenty of radio success, I think it is fair to say that he isn't considered as big a "superstar" as Luke Bryan or Blake Shelton, so like it or not, he can't just release any song at any time of the year and expect it to be a massive hit in an instant.

Luke's last two albums have sold about 5 million copies total, so he can pretty much release whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and it will be a hit. Dierks' last two albums have sold about 700,000 copies total, so rocket-fast runs up the chart aren't a guarantee, and as shown by "Bourbon In Kentucky," having a single flop isn't out of the realm of possibility.

Sure, if Luke had released "Riser" 12 weeks ago, it probably would have been a #1 hit already, but Dierks isn't at the same massive superstar level as Luke, so I never expected that "Riser" would be Top 10 (or even Top 20) after 12 weeks. 

[carriekins]

I didn't expect it to be that high, either, but I also didn't expect for it to be sitting at #41 12 weeks in, either. I would feel a lot more comfortable about this song's chances if it were in the mid-30s even.

And nobody is debating his status, I was merely pointing out that if Blake or Luke had released this song, there would be literally zero talk of the time of year this was released, because it just wouldn't be a factor. So, frankly, it's dumb that it should be a factor now, and it's dumb that a song of this quality - that at one time would have been a no-brainer for country radio - is treading water.

[sixofone]

Sept 3, 2015 14:32:29 GMT -5 carriekins said:

I didn't expect it to be that high, either, but I also didn't expect for it to be sitting at #41 12 weeks in, either. I would feel a lot more comfortable about this song's chances if it were in the mid-30s even.

And nobody is debating his status, I was merely pointing out that if Blake or Luke had released this song, there would be literally zero talk of the time of year this was released, because it just wouldn't be a factor. So, frankly, it's dumb that it should be a factor now, and it's dumb that a song of this quality - that at one time would have been a no-brainer for country radio - is treading water.

Unfortunately, quality doesn't mean much for predicting radio/sales success -- sadly, that's true in pretty much every genre of music.

While people complain about the lack of quality songs in country music today, I think it is even worse in pop/top 40 music -- I at least tolerate half of the current Top 10 country airplay songs, but nothing in the current Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 sounds tolerable to my ears!

[sabre14]

Sept 3, 2015 14:08:22 GMT -5 tim said:

Sept 3, 2015 13:28:50 GMT -5 sixofone said:

I'm a bit surprised someone who has been in country music for over a decade would make a comment like that. Just because a song is a quality song, that doesn't necessarily mean it can be released at any point in the year and rocket to the top of the airplay chart.

To my ears "Riser" is a fall/winter release, not a summer release, so I'm not surprised at its slow climb over the past three months. I would expect airplay increases over the next two months as we move into fall, just like I would expect Billy Currington's "Drinking Town With A Football Problem" to start moving up in airplay faster once fall gets here.

And as carriekins pointed out, had this been a Luke or Blake song it wouldn't be hovering in the 40's three months in. This song no doubt deserves its chance, and radio so far is being reluctant. Frankly I'm more surprised that someone who has been in the business for over a decade and is on a career high isn't getting a fair shot at radio with a single like this.

Let me first point out that I wholeheartedly agree that "Riser" deserves to be moving up faster and I think most would agree with that statement. However, I really don't think it's entirely fair to use the term "reluctant" in regards to radio playing "Riser"; reluctant to me would be more appropriate with singles like "Follow Your Arrow", "I Believe", "Traveller", etc. Now, has radio not handled "Riser" the way they should have thus far? I think that's a yes. However, his is still a fifth release from an album that's slower than most radio fodder and is not sung by Luke or Blake, and yes I know Dierks is a big star in his own right but those two artists I mentioned are in a league of their own when it comes to chart runs.

The good news is that "Riser" has seen an increase in spins on 17 of its top 20 spin leaders over the past week and the three that didn't, only saw a combined decrease of 5 total spins...that's a very encouraging sign. Stations are starting to convert "Riser." Its also gotten 8 new adds the past two weeks and has a decent shot to finally make the MB top 40 this week -- the numbers are extremely close between Dierks, Lee, The Cadillac Three, Billy and Craig. Only one of them will finish in the top 40 this Sunday, although I suppose The Band Perry can falter from now 'til Sunday (#39 on the rolling chart), which is not out of the question considering how uneventful "Live Forever's" chart run has gone.

Yes, 10 weeks charting and still being at #41 is too far down the chart, I agree; but I don't think it's reason to get too upset over. Dierks is very emotional about this song and he is likely taking a close look into this song's rise since he is so attached to the song. That's something that happens with all of us here, so it's cool to see a country artist himself live and die by his song's climb on a daily basis, and share it. But there's plenty of time for this to get going and I think the numbers are reason enough to be somewhat optimistic. In the end, a 10 week climb to #41 isn't surprising, at least to me. I know I'm an oddball since I've been looking at chart positions for over a decade, religiously, but perhaps that means I'm not as surprised (positively or negatively) about a song's chart run anymore.

[sgtoddball]

It should be about the song not the Artist. So many great songs are sitting in the trash because of radio PD's who want to dictate who has a hit rather than what great song gets played. All that said, I'm the happiest guy around for "Drunk on A Boat".

[carriekins]

I do want to say that I agree with sabre14 that there are encouraging signs where Riser is concerned. He pointed out the airplay aspect (and I'd noticed the conversions, too), but I think it's also encouraging that the label greenlit a video for the song as well (every single from the album got a video). It's probably also encouraging that with the video, there's a new partnership coming with Safe Haven - which should only further exposure. To me, that indicates that Capitol didn't just throw the song out there to placate Dierks. It's already outlasted Bourbon in Kentucky, and it survived an absolutely brutal August full of superstar releases to radio.

I know a lot of my frustrations are just with radio, period, and being a Dierks fan (okay, fine, stan) always seems so aggravating, but that's another story for another time.

But at the end of the day I'm still happy to support an artist who took a risk with Up on the Ridge, took a risk with Bourbon in Kentucky, and is still willing to take a risk with Riser because he believes in it this much.

(I'm sure Drunk on a Boat will be his next lead single. ;) )

[sabre14]

If Dierks can stay ahead of Lee Brice, The Cadillac Three and Craig Campbell for one more day, he'll be top 40 on MB by this time tomorrow.

[Deleted]

The best song in the album, deserves to reach number one. This slow climb is getting on my nerves. Actually the country chart itself moves like honey! Speedier chart runs would be a good change. Anyway, hopefully it happens what sabre14 mentions, and we'll see him debut in Mediabase tomorrow *cheers*

[sabre14]

Sept 5, 2015 19:53:40 GMT -5 @xfer said:

 Speedier chart runs would be a good change. Anyway, hopefully it happens what sabre14 mentions, and we'll see him debut in Mediabase tomorrow *cheers*

I agree that speedier charts would be a good change but those days are long gone. Stations routinely spin the top 10 songs 50-60-70-80 times a week in heavy rotation and spin the lower charting songs in very light rotation...that causes those lower charting songs to spend a very long time climbing the charts. That's why we see songs move more rapidly once they hit the top 20 or so, because they get bumped into heavy rotation which significantly increases their numbers and it accelerates the burn rate. Back about 10 years ago, if a song spent more than 30 weeks on the chart that was considered an absurd amount of time; now it's the norm.

Also, Dierks would just debut in the top 40 on MB tomorrow, if he holds off those other artists. :)

[carriekins]

Sept 5, 2015 15:15:56 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

If Dierks can stay ahead of Lee Brice, The Cadillac Three and Craig Campbell for one more day, he'll be top 40 on MB by this time tomorrow.

Naturally this means it will fall back to #44 tomorrow. ;)

[sabre14]

"Riser" makes the MB top 40 this week, at #40. Dierks gained 58 spins and over 500k in audience as well. :)

[.indulgecountry]

Fantastic music video. I am such a sucker for black-and-white video treatments. If I were an artist, I feel like half of my videos would be done in B&W, lol. But anyway, very moving video to match a very moving song. I'm glad to see that it's made the Top 40 now. Hopefully it can keep on climbing! I wish more artists would go against the grain and keep releasing more thought-provoking and weighty material like this. It would've been easy after "Drunk on a Plane" to probably keep it simple for another radio hit, but Dierks released two strong ballads back-to-back and I applaud him for going that route. I really hope it pays off in the end with this like it did for "Say You Do."

[matty005]

I am in the minority, because I absolutely adore this album, but this song just does nothing for me. I've tried and tried to let it grow on me, but I'm at the point where I know it's not. I wish "Five" would have been released instead.

[carriekins]

Hey, sabre14, did this get all or part of the Cumulus block this week? 11 adds is...impressive. (I realize I can wait till tomorrow but I'm impatient.)