Big & Rich (feat. Tim McGraw) - "Lovin' Lately"

[sabre14]

Artist: Big & Rich (feat. Tim McGraw)
Single: "Lovin' Lately"
Writers: Big Kenny, John Rich, Tim McGraw
Album: Gravity
Label: New Revolution/Big & Rich Records
Add Date: January 11th, 2016
Source: Country Aircheck





Third single from Gravity, as confirmed in Country Aircheck this evening.

[phil1996]

This is a really good song, but wow! Wasn't expecting them to go with another single from Gravity let alone another mid tempo one...I was hoping for new music.

[sabre14]

Nov 30, 2015 20:54:49 GMT -5 phil1996 said:

This is a really good song, but wow! Wasn't expecting them to go with another single from Gravity let alone another mid tempo one...I was hoping for new music.

I knew they didn't have new music ready but I was fully expecting them to take a break and reload for a lead single sometime in 2016. This one was scheduled to be the second single but they surprised us with "Run Away With You." I agree in desiring some uptempo/fun songs from them on radio again, but this is a really good song and probably my favorite single off this album.

Judging by the way the first two singles climbed the chart, this one should be peaking around Thanksgiving of 2016.

[dm2081]

I hope this doesn't prevent Tim McGraw from releasing "California", which features Big & Rich. That song is much better than this one IMO, although this one is decent.

[Markus Meyer]

This is actually a very good song - easily the best off 'Gravity' so far, even if I did like LAY and RAWY - but I'm stunned they're going with another single. This might scrape top 30, but I can't see it doing much more than that. Then again, that's also what I thought with "Run Away With You"...

[tonyei31]

Holy Mandolin Rain by Bruce Hornsby. Nearly identical. Like it though.

[someguy]

Nov 30, 2015 21:33:32 GMT -5 tonyei31 said:

Holy Mandolin Rain by Bruce Hornsby. Nearly identical. Like it though.

That's all I could think of, too. Decent song though. One of my favourites from B&R for sure.

[zaclord 🌈]

Didn't expect this since its another mid-tempo, but I am all for it! It is my favorite of all of their singles this era.

[.indulgecountry]

Omg I love this song!! Ahh! I can't believe this is still getting a release. I was so, so bummed that the totally bland "Run Away With You" got picked over that one, but I'm so glad this one is still going to see the light of day at radio anyway. Now this one I can actually get behind having a long climb to the Top 20. Would love to see this become a hit.

[bboat11]

You guys are right, the chorus to this is totally the EXACT same melodic structure as "Mandolin Rain"... (I am more familiar with Pam Tillis' version than Bruce Horsby's, but they are both excellent!)

Putting that aside, this song is amazing. I hope they can get a hit out of this! I'm not sure how much power Tim McGraw's name will have on this chart run, considering that it is technically a Big & Rich single (deep into the album cycle too)... "California" probably has a better chance of being a hit for Big & Rich because it is technically Tim's song. Lol, what a weird thing to think about. But anyway, this is a really good song, with a great message, and I hope to see it be successful for them. So far this is the best of the 3 from this album!

[sabre14]

This was officially sent to country radio yesterday through Play MPe. No add date was given.

[sabre14]

Add date is January 11th according to Country Aircheck.

[hosssulpizio]

Love this song! Glad I bought it before it gets sent to radio. The video is really good too. Hope this one's a big hit too.

[sabre14]

It looks like "Lovin' Lately" got 42 first week adds, which would make it the second most added song on Mediabase this week.

[Deleted]

Off to a great start. I really love this one, and I hope it can be another big hit for them.

[.indulgecountry]

Jan 13, 2016 4:16:39 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Off to a great start. I really love this one, and I hope it can be another big hit for them.

Yeah, this one I'll actually be happy to see make the Top 10/20. Hopefully it won't take as long as "Run Away with You" to peak, either. Even though I want it to be a hit, I don't want it peaking at Christmas 2016.

[LBTrocks]

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I don't really care for this song. I don't know, I've just never been a Tim McGraw fan and this song just screams "safe" to me. Sometimes less is more, but both the melody and production seem pretty basic to me. It's just not very good. Another problem I have with this, and with the album as a whole, is the fact that it is SO far removed from the rocking and edgy Big & Rich I was a huge fan of. I understand for many a that's a good thing, but for me it isn't. I want their over-the-top, energetic, quirky stuff back.

[sabre14]

Jan 14, 2016 12:47:30 GMT -5 LBTrocks said:

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I don't really care for this song. I don't know, I've just never been a Tim McGraw fan and this song just screams "safe" to me. Sometimes less is more, but both the melody and production seem pretty basic to me. It's just not very good. Another problem I have with this, and with the album as a whole, is the fact that it is SO far removed from the rocking and edgy Big & Rich I was a huge fan of. I understand for many a that's a good thing, but for me it isn't. I want their over-the-top, energetic, quirky stuff back.

Wow, I don't think I have ever disagreed and agreed with a post more than this one, lol. I actually think the melody (the "Mandolin Rain" comparisons are fair, admittedly) is quite good and so is the arrangement. It certainly is safe choice for radio but I don't think it's so over-the-top bland to detract from the quality, at least to me.

I so echo your last two sentences, though. While I love this song and most of Gravity, I do miss those fun, rocking songs that made me a fan of theirs. I still play "Big Time", "Kick My Ass", "Rollin'", "Real World", "Blow My Mind", "20 Margaritas" and even "Soulshaker" (guilty pleasure) to this day and I hope we see that Big & Rich back with their next album.

[zaclord 🌈]

I, for one, do not miss the rocking and edgy Big & Rich at all. I'll take "Look at You", "Run Away With You", and "Lovin' Lately" (and especially "Lost in this Moment) over "Comin' To Your City", "Fake I.D.", and "Loud" any day.

(Although "Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy" is a guilty pleasure of mine) :kii:

[.indulgecountry]

I like a few of their off-the-wall songs, but in general, I think their ballads and mid-tempos and more straightforward "country" music is the best. I definitely like this, "That's Why I Pray," and "Lost in This Moment" more than anything else they've released. I also don't see how this one is particularly generic; I think it's a really strong song actually. I feel like their last single was basically the definition of generic, safe, and basic, but not this one.

[Deleted]

What makes this song so great for me is how melancholy it feels. The notes and harmonies that they hit on the first few lines of the chorus are some of my favorite parts of any song out right now. I'm not sure how to describe it, but I guess I just really like the sound and how the lines flow into each other. I'm not really good at describing music so I could be way wrong here, but parts of the chorus sound to me like they might be in a minor chord (I'm thinking where they sing "callin' baby"), and songs with a lot of minor chords, or movements from major to minor, often turn out to be my favorite songs because they just always seem to have a very melancholy and wistful feel to them (and if I'm wrong about parts of this being in a minor key, then just ignore what I'm saying, because like I said, I'm pretty bad at describing music, lol).

[robenglund]

Jan 15, 2016 3:11:45 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

What makes this song so great for me is how melancholy it feels. The notes and harmonies that they hit on the first few lines of the chorus are some of my favorite parts of any song out right now. I'm not sure how to describe it, but I guess I just really like the sound and how the lines flow into each other. I'm not really good at describing music so I could be way wrong here, but parts of the chorus sound to me like they might be in a minor chord (I'm thinking where they sing "callin' baby"), and songs with a lot of minor chords, or movements from major to minor, often turn out to be my favorite songs because they just always seem to have a very melancholy and wistful feel to them (and if I'm wrong about parts of this being in a minor key, then just ignore what I'm saying, because like I said, I'm pretty bad at describing music, lol).

You are absolutely right about the chord change. When they say "callin' baby" the chords are going from C# minor to B major :) .

[sabre14]

Big & Rich's hot streak continues at radio as 'Lovin' Lately" picks up twelve spots to #47 on Billboard Airplay this week (over 1.0 million in audience gained) and picked up eight spots to #55 on Mediabase this week. Kenny and John also got 21 new adds this week, after the 42 first week adds "Lovin' Lately" got last week.

This one is off to a phenomenal start for a third single from an album with sub-par sales and an artist who isn't with a major label. New Revolution and Big & Rich are doing great at radio so far.

[Deleted]

The more I listen to this, the more I like it (and I've loved it from the get-go). I'm surprised just how well I can pick out all of their harmonies -- in the chorus I can clearly hear Tim in addition to Kenny and John. Tim harmonizes really well with them.

I'm not sure if Tim's name being attached to this will help it, but maybe they won't need the help. As sabre14 noted, this one's off to a great start. I'm curious to see if this sells better than "Run Away With You" did. I checked iTunes a few days ago and it seemed to be off to a decent start...it was already around #160 for country songs.

[sabre14]

Jan 22, 2016 3:03:36 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

I'm not sure if Tim's name being attached to this will help it, but maybe they won't need the help. As sabre14 noted, this one's off to a great start. I'm curious to see if this sells better than "Run Away With You" did. I checked iTunes a few days ago and it seemed to be off to a decent start...it was already around #160 for country songs.

"Lovin' Lately" cracked the Mediabase top 50 rolling chart today, 11 days after the add date.

"Run Away With You" took 28 days to crack the Mediabase top 50 and wasn't in the top 1500 of the iTunes all-genre chart, whereas "Lovin' Lately" is currently in the 900's of the all-genre chart. "Lovin' Lately" already has more audience at the 11 day mark than "Run Away With You" did as well.

This is shaping up to be another top 20 single for them but I do wonder how well "Lovin' Lately" would have done if it was the single that followed "Look At You", instead of "Run Away With You"?

[Kentucky25]

I am not too aware of how chart runs work and the inner-workings of label pushes, but from what I've read, this seems to be an amazing feat with what Big & Rich and their label have done, is this the first time a full album cycle on a Indy label has had this much success (obviously noting that this 3rd single is just starting, but does look to be doing well)?

[sabre14]

Jan 23, 2016 0:55:00 GMT -5 Kentucky25 said:

I am not too aware of how chart runs work and the inner-workings of label pushes, but from what I've read, this seems to be an amazing feat with what Big & Rich and their label have done, is this the first time a full album cycle on a Indy label has had this much success (obviously noting that this 3rd single is just starting, but does look to be doing well)?

For the record, they don't really have an actual label -- they're independent artists. They have their own record label that has their own name, but that's just a moniker (its not like there's a building called "Big & Rich Records" that has employees). They have a partnership with New Revolution who promotes singles to radio.

Their success is really something though. I did not predict that Kenny and John would have more success at Country radio than they did when they were on Warner Bros. Nashville. I think it's two things: 1) they have released radio-friendly material and 2) they have put a massive amount of money into New Revolution to promote the singles. I can't recall all the instances where indie labels or Independent artists had so much success with an album era but they have clearly done great at radio. The sales and buzz haven't been there but the success at radio they've had is probably all they can ask for.

[sabre14]

"Lovin' Lately" jumps up eight spots to #47 on Mediabase this week as it gained 231 spins and 1.0 million in total audience.

This one's off to a better start than both "Look At You" and "Run Away With You." Outside of the Clear Channel (iHeartMedia) deal that "That's Why I Pray" got, I can't remember the last time a Big & Rich single started out so good. You probably have to go all the way back to "Lost In This Moment."

[Kanenrá:ke]

I'm laughing at how well they're doing because it doesn't look good for Warner Bros. imo. To me this proves that being on a major label is only beneficial if you're their big artist of the moment, and once you start to decline they won't push as hard which just becomes a self fulfilling prophecy at that point.

[Deleted]

So, I just heard this song randomly today. All I have to say is wow!! That chorus is one of the best I think I've ever heard, who knew that these could make such great music. I've always been indifferent to Big & Rich's music before (Fake I.D was a guilty pleasure).

My favorite part of the song is, "Guess You finally got the best of me, guess you thought I'd never see." The way they sing that is just amazing.