2024 YE Country RD (CAD) Due Dec 14

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#29 Dayna Reid - She's Me

Total: 262

Average: 23.82

Std Dev: 9.55
Chart Peak: #35

bboat11 - 2

countryfan43 - 16
Darkest Hour - 16
LBTrocks - 23
kluen - 24
.indulgecountry - 25
castleoblivion26 - 28
zaclord 🌈 - 29
tim - 30
🌺CountryLineDancer - 34
nuggie99 - 35

Another female artist is leaving; Dayna Reid. She is a new artist from Open Road, and I was expecting her debut single to do a little better, but it only made it to the mid 30. bboat11 becomes the first participant to lose their top 3 ranking, while zaclord 🌈 scored another perfect ranking. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #25)
This song has a decent melody, but I cannot really get into Dayna's vocal just yet. Especially the chorus vocal sounds pretty rough in this song. Still, I was hoping that this would be turn into a bigger hit so that Dayna can join those Canadian female hitmakers backed by a decent label. Considering that she has not released any follow-up, she might just get dropped after all.

[countryfan43]

Dean’s song was decent but it just isn’t anything special. I liked Dayna’s song I think she has a great voice so hopefully she gets another shot.

[nuggie99]

Breakup Song-- in the first chorus they sing the word "hatchback" and my brain heard "snapback" and I got an Old Dominion vibe everytime I listened to it. So, it wasn't bad, just too rock/poppy for me.

Love (The Sweater Song)-- Kinda goofy, kinda fun, just filtered down with the preference picker.

She's Me-- Too pop for me. Looking back, the picker put this one a little lower than intended and I didn't catch it before sending. It wasn't that much though.

Edit: I left out Dean Brody and didn't want to double post. It was fine, just kinda there though.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#28 Tim & The Glory Boys - Take Me Back Road

Total: 260

Average: 23.64

Std Dev: 11.68 (3rd Highest)
Chart Peak: #5

🌺CountryLineDancer - 4
nuggie99 - 9
castleoblivion26 - 12
countryfan43 - 14
Darkest Hour - 25
zaclord 🌈 - 27
bboat11 - 32
.indulgecountry - 33
LBTrocks - 34
kluen - 35
tim - 35

Tim & The Glory Boys YE RD History

2020 - #23 When You Know You Know
2021 - #31 Me Without You

High Valley YE RD History

2017 - #26 Dear Life
2018 - #29 Young Forever
2019 - #26 Single Man
2020 - #22 Grew Up On That

The next up is a collaboration of two of the artists that are usually disliked on this board. This was the most successful song by Tim & The Glory Boys on the chart, and the final single from their album (they released 6 radio singles out of 14 songs album). I lost my first top 5 song, while three participants got rid of their bottom 3 ranking. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #36)
Honestly surprised that this song lasted this long, given that the artists are not really liked here. Just like most of Canadian country music fans I know around me, I do enjoy Tim & The Glory Boys and this song is another jam. 

I also had a chance to chat with Colin, one of the Glory Boys, and asked about their US radio expansion, and even though they are backed by Sony, their focus still seems to be with Canada, except for some Christmas Songs that they can promote easier in the US. 

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#27 Alli Walker  -The Whiskey's Gone

Total: 257

Average: 23.36

Std Dev: 12.59 (2nd Highest)
Chart Peak: NA

zaclord 🌈 - 3
tim - 7
nuggie99 - 8

bboat11 - 19
kluen - 20
🌺CountryLineDancer - 28

countryfan43 - 33
Darkest Hour - 34
castleoblivion26 - 34
LBTrocks - 35
.indulgecountry - 36

Alli Walker YE RD History

2019 - #28 Raise Your Head
2020 - #14 Little Things
2021 - #21 Country Music
2022 - #15 Sand In My Boots

The last song to leave in the bottom 10 is Alli Walker, the regular of this series solely because I consider her to be an interesting addition to this game every year. This song indeed received interesting reactions, including five bottom 5 rankings. You know that LBTrocks really hated this when it is ranked below High Valley lol. On the other hand, this received three top 10 rankings, so this indeed found some fans as well. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #29)
I'm still waiting for her to send a radio single, as just like Sykamore, she never had any adds with Canadian radio, and despite decent streaming that she gets (higher than some of the artists with labels), she remains independent. The Celtic production in this song is definitely a side of Alli that I had not seen in her other songs, but unsurprisingly become quite polarizing among participants.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

This is it for today, as we finish the bottom 10 reveal; sorry that I went away for some time, it was the last day of work before going on a Christmas break, so I went out socializing with colleagues. 

Reveal So Far
27 Alli Walker - The Whiskey's Gone
28 Tim & The Glory Boys - Take Me Back Road
29 Dayna Reid - She's Me
30 Dean Brody - Right Round Here
31 Owen Riegling - Love (The Sweater Song)
32 Lemon Cash - Breakup Song
33 Graham Scott Fleming - Toughest Act To Follow
34 Brett Kissel - Never Have I Ever
35 Shania Twain - Giddy Up!
36 Jay Kutcher - Another You

Remaining Songs
Alexandar Ludwig - Let Me Be Your Whiskey
Chad Brownlee - The Country Kind
David James - Let Her Go
Emily Reid - First Impressions
Five Roses - Livin' in A Country Song
Genevieve Fisher - Best Thing About the Rain
Gord Bamford - One Heartbeat From Heaven
Griffen Palmer - Second Guessing
Hailey Benedict - Damn You July
Jade Eagleson - Rodeo Queen
Jason Blaine - The Road That Raised You Up
Jess Moskaluke - Heartbreaker
Josh Ross - On A Different Night
Karli June - Feels Like Home ft. Ryan Langdon
Lindsay Ell - Sweet Spot
MacKenzie Porter - Chasing Tornadoes
Madeline Merlo - Tim + Faith
Meghan Patrick - Greatest Show On Dirt
Parker Graye - Good At Getting' Gone
Sacha - Confident
Shantaia - Know You
Steven Lee Olsen - Outta Yours
Teigen Gayse - Sleeping With Her
Tenille Arts - Girl To Girl
Tenille Townes - Home To Me
Tyer Joe Miller - Back To Drinkin' Whiskey

Drop your thoughts on the reveals so far!
Any predictions? Surprises?

[nuggie99]

Take Me Back Road-- This was pretty good, in my wheelhouse.

The Whiskey's Gone-- loved this. In my head, I saw like the dwarves from the Hobbit singing it in a tavern. Would have been #3 if the other one had been covered in something else.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#26 Griffen Palmer - Second Guessing

Total: 234

Average: 21.27

Std Dev: 11.52
Chart Peak: #10

zaclord 🌈 - 1
.indulgecountry - 7
countryfan43 - 12
kluen - 17
🌺CountryLineDancer - 18
castleoblivion26 - 19
Darkest Hour - 29
LBTrocks - 31
tim - 32
nuggie99 - 34
bboat11 - 34

The first #1 loss is here, unfortunately by zaclord 🌈 , who also just lost a #3 song. This song also received two bottom 3 rankings, making this song quite polarizing. You may remember this song from Songland, as Griffen Palmer won the competition with this song written for FGL. Griffen got signed to Big Loud earlier this year (he's also with Starseed in Canada) which finally allowed him to release a debut single. It was doing well on the chart in the Q1, and he released an album Unlearn, so it was quite surprising that he did not release any follow-up single until now, which is from his next era. He's also a partner of Maddison Kozak, who got dropped from Big Loud when he was signed.

CLD's Thought (Prediction #24)
This song has a nice melody, and I definitely enjoy Griffen's version over FGL's version. I suppose his vocal production could be polarizing, but so far, I have been enjoying his album, and excited to see what else he has to offer.

[.indulgecountry]

Wow, this deserved so much better. This song was also a huge missed opportunity for FGL to not send this to country radio themselves. Glad Griffen's was able to be a hit for him in Canada at least!

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#25 Gord Bamford - One Heartbeat From Heaven

Total: 229

Average: 20.82

Std Dev: 13.87 (HIGHEST)
Chart Peak: #48

nuggie99 - 2
castleoblivion26 - 2
Darkest Hour - 3
tim - 12
bboat11 - 18
LBTrocks - 27
kluen - 29
countryfan43 - 31
zaclord 🌈 - 35
.indulgecountry - 35
🌺CountryLineDancer - 35

Gord Bamford YE RD History

2016 - #19 Neon Smoke
2018 - #24 Dive Bar
2021 - #29  Heaven On Dirt
2022 - #20 Drink Along Song

The most polarizing song is leaving! Two participants lost their top 2, while three participants also got rid of their bottom 2. This was a lead single from his new album Fire't Up, but unfortunately, Gord is in the stage of his career where he is fading away from the radio (he's been active since early 2000s), just like what could be happening to Toby Keith in the US, considering that three singles from this album only peaked at #48, 50, and 56. It is unfortunate, as he definitely brings more traditional country sound to the Canadian country radio scene, whether it is an uptempo drinking song or mature song like this one.

CLD's Thought (Prediction #31)
This is not my fav from the album, and Diamonds In A Whiskey Glass was a stronger ballad song, if I must choose. I do prefer uptempo Fire It Up or Canadian Dirt, but I figured this would be a more interesting addition to the game as a mature slow tempo song with traditional production. Great to see some positive reactions to the song after all, even though I did not really place this high.

[.indulgecountry]

Gord has one of the worst voices in country music. Just awful.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#24 Tenille Townes - Home To Me

Total: 224

Average: 20.36

Std Dev: 10.60
Chart Peak: #38

kluen - 2
nuggie99 - 6
Darkest Hour - 11
.indulgecountry - 13
countryfan43 - 22
zaclord 🌈 - 25
LBTrocks - 26
castleoblivion26 - 27
tim - 27
🌺CountryLineDancer - 32
bboat11 - 33

Tenille Townes YE RD History

2015 - #5 Somebody’s Daughter
2019 - #7 Jersey On The Wall
2020 - #6 Come As You Are
2021 - #13 Girl Who Don’t Care
2022 - #3 The Last Time

The next up is Tenille Townes, who experience two flops in 2023 with #30 and #38 peaks after the top 5 hit with The Last Time, is also flopping here, a big drop from the prior year #3 ending. This song received two top 10 rankings, including kluen 's #2, and two bottom 5 rankings. This song was Tenille's second worst performing radio single. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #9)
I'm quite surprised that this song was also not well received here, as Tenille is constantly doing well in this series. I do enjoy the guitar riff after the chorus, but the verse melody is quite weak, and the writing is not the strongest, compared with Tenille's other materials. I wonder what the result would have been if I included the collab with Bryan Adams instead of this one, as I could not decide which one to include until last moment.

[.indulgecountry]

Townes > Arts

That said, this wasn't one of her strongest. I hope she bounces back at country radio though next year.

[countryfan43]

Tenille Townes is a good singer I just didn’t love this song. Not sad to see Gord go either but Griffen has a nice song so I wish it stayed in longer.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#23 Emily Reid - First Impressions

Total: 220

Average: 20

Std Dev: 11.64 (4th Highest)
Chart Peak: NA

🌺CountryLineDancer - 2
Darkest Hour - 2
kluen - 8
.indulgecountry - 19
bboat11 - 20
castleoblivion26 - 20
countryfan43 - 26
nuggie99 - 26
tim - 28
zaclord 🌈 - 33
LBTrocks - 36

Emily Reid YE RD History

2018 - #23 Good Time Being Woman
2019 - #6 Wine

The next up is another polarizing song that I decided to include in this game last minute. This song received two top 2 rankings, while LBTrocks got rid of their bottom spot (yes it was hated more than High Valley, and I believe that's how much they hated the vocal of this song...?). Emily Reid is now independent after leaving Starseed, but still writing some songs in Canadian country music scene, and hope she is coming back to radio one day. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #19)
Sad that this is already gone, but at least it was liked by a few posters kluen and Darkest Hour , so I will take it. This song is really good lyrically and melodically; I wish it was a bit longer, but the modern storytelling of how the narrator as a woman pursing a dream needs to fake her first impression to be successful in the industry is quite creative, and it was delivered well with hook, such as "cannot make second first impression" or "not even me who was making it." Not even sure if this is coming from her personal experience, but the lyrics and the music video might be a reflection of one scene in the music industry that a woman is facing. 

She released another song called Kyle's Wife, where the topic is about how a narrator is being called somebody's wife and losing identity as a unique person in a music industry context. She has some bops like Wine or Good Time Being A Woman, but the recent materials she has been releasing are more creative and mature, and I'm looking forward to hearing more from her, even though those songs are not for radio. 

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#22 Chad Brownlee - The Country Kind

Total: 220

Average: 20

Std Dev: 7.01(3rd Lowest)
Chart Peak: NA

tim - 6
kluen - 13
castleoblivion26 - 16
LBTrocks - 17
nuggie99 - 19
zaclord 🌈 - 19
.indulgecountry - 22
bboat11 - 24
Darkest Hour - 26
countryfan43 - 28
🌺CountryLineDancer - 30

Chad Brownlee YE RD History

2017 - #5 Might As Well Be Me
2018 - #25 Dear Drunk Me
2019 - #8 Forever’s Gotta Start Somewhere
2020 - #27 Money On You

The song that won the tie with Emily Reid is Chad Brownlee. This was also one of the least polarizing songs, and the first song to exit without any bottom 5 rankings. Chad's performance in this game is interesting, he's either struggling with 20s finish or doing well with the top 10 finish, and this was the former. This song was his comeback release after the departure from the label, and his first release since 2020.

CLD's Thought (Prediction #17)
This song is quite mid, in terms of the melody and lyrics, but I do enjoy the neo traditional production. I do think that Chad has many stronger songs, but just glad that he is back with new music, and hope to hear more from him again. This song has more than 700K view on YouTube, so hopefully he can find another label.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#21 Lindsay Ell - Sweet Spot

Total: 218

Average: 19.82

Std Dev: 9.66
Chart Peak: #36

kluen - 9
tim - 10
LBTrocks - 10
countryfan43 - 10
zaclord 🌈 - 17
castleoblivion26 - 18
.indulgecountry - 23
🌺CountryLineDancer - 24
nuggie99 - 29
Darkest Hour - 33
bboat11 - 35

Lindsay Ell YE RD History

2017 - #5 Criminal
2019 - #1 I don’t lovE you
2020 - #2 wAnt me back
2021 - #6 good on you
2022 - #1 Right On Time

The last song to miss the top 20 is Lindsay Ell, surprisingly. This was her lowest peaking song on the chart with #38 peak, and also in this series, as she has never missed the top 10 in this game. This song received four top 10 rankings, but zero top 5 ranking, which is pretty rare for her. This song was released around the time she was dropped from the label, and she has not released anything since then. Maybe she was on a medical leave? as I saw some IG post referring to her health. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #4)
This song is lacking the powerful vocal or strong melody typical to Lindsay's outputs, so not surprised that it is flopping in this game, but also surprised that this did not even make it to the top 20. I do like the chorus melody, but the verse is not my fav. Still, this sounds better than good on you. After all, interesting that both Lindsay and Tenile, who usually do well here, flopped both on the airplay chart and in this game.

[.indulgecountry]

Yeah, this just wasn't good. Highly disappointing coming from Lindsay Ell. :/

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

This is it for tonight, as we are here with the top 20! Great to hear some commentary from nuggie99, .indulgecountry, and countryfan43. Looking forward to hearing more from other participants as well; on the reveal so far and some predictions. 

Reveal So Far
21 Lindsay Ell - Sweet Spot
22 Emily Reid - First Impressions
23 Chad Brownlee - The Country Kind
24 Tenille Townes - Home To Me
25 Gord Bamford - One Heartbeat From Heaven
26 Griffen Palmer - Second Guessing
27 Alli Walker - The Whiskey's Gone
28 Tim & The Glory Boys - Take Me Back Road
29 Dayna Reid - She's Me
30 Dean Brody - Right Round Here
31 Owen Riegling - Love (The Sweater Song)
32 Lemon Cash - Breakup Song
33 Graham Scott Fleming - Toughest Act To Follow
34 Brett Kissel - Never Have I Ever
35 Shania Twain - Giddy Up!
36 Jay Kutcher - Another You

Top 20
Alexandar Ludwig - Let Me Be Your Whiskey
David James - Let Her Go
Five Roses - Livin' in A Country Song
Genevieve Fisher - Best Thing About the Rain
Hailey Benedict - Damn You July
Jade Eagleson - Rodeo Queen
Jason Blaine - The Road That Raised You Up
Jess Moskaluke - Heartbreaker
Josh Ross - On A Different Night
Karli June - Feels Like Home ft. Ryan Langdon
MacKenzie Porter - Chasing Tornadoes
Madeline Merlo - Tim + Faith
Meghan Patrick - Greatest Show On Dirt
Parker Graye - Good At Getting' Gone
Sacha - Confident
Shantaia - Know You
Steven Lee Olsen - Outta Yours
Teigen Gayse - Sleeping With Her
Tenille Arts - Girl To Girl
Tyer Joe Miller - Back To Drinkin' Whiskey

Here is a hit for #20, meanwhile. 

[Darkest Hour]

36. Slightly surprised this being last place but the trap beat verse + real drum chorus combo is so dated and out of place. Plus the typical country pop male vocals don't stand out in any way.
35. Kind of a guilty pleasure, but she has much worse songs in the album, and I don't think people care about her lyrics much anyway.
34. The "ooh-ooh"s in this song are so out of place.
33. Did not enjoy the slight autotune in his vocal at all. Also the chorus melody sounds familiar to Always Remember Us This Way (faster).
32. Quite faceless music, lyrics, even looks, but not bottom 5 level of bad.
31. This sounds like a Walker Hayes song especially the switch in the chorus and rap bridge. Disappointed but not surprised this escaped bottom 5 because there are surprisingly many Walker Hayes sympathizers in Pulse so...Also of course he started appearing in Hot Country playlist, at least it is not this song but the song title doesn't scream interesting to me either.
30. Another generic country life song, but his vocals are slightly more tolerable than some of the others in the rankdown.
29. The top of the lung singing feels like an acquired taste, but even that, the repetition in the chorus doesn't benefit the song much.
28. Way too cheesy song and just nothing interesting in this. Random to be a collaboration too.
27. The chorus tries too hard to be a sing-along thing but instead sounds like children music.
26. Don't like the usual Joey Moi overproduction at all.
25. I think these heavy songs will wear on me with time but for the time being, at least I feel convinced with what he is saying.
24. Tenille Townes usually lacks something to be truly great for me. As much as she has the sincerity and frankness in her songwriting, the music is often generic and it's the same with this song. Interesting condition of writing the song, but it does not reflect much in the song itself.
23. An example of lyrics being the most well-done component so of course I boosted it while others tank it lol, although after a re-listen I feel a bridge is absolutely necessary, and definitely unpopular, but she should sing a bit slower to pour more emotion out.
22. Again very boring country lifestyle song with predictable namedrop like the ones seen in social media post about "good country music recommendations".
21. And another blatantly pop song with those generic drum beats, and worse it is not even that catchy so it is an example of pop music failure.

[nuggie99]

Sweet Spot-- Too pop for me. Didn't care for the way "we found the sweet spot" line came out.

First Impressions-- I wanted to like this, ut her voice is a little... young (not the right word but can't think of a better one). I would have like another verse with the theme "I leearned to accept myself" or "I gave up and went home" or "I crashed and ended up in rehab". It's in the middle of the story with no denouement.

The Country Kind-- well you're country, what about it? Adam West said (when the new Batmans were saying "I'm Batman") "I never had to say I'm Batman, I showed up and everyone knew who I was"

Home To Me-- Hey, I think this is the only artist I've seen live on the list! Which was probably food for a few spots. But this was pretty good.

One Heartbeat From Heaven-- It took me a couple of listens to get what this one eas about. This is the type of song Brad Paisley was talking about in "This is Country Music." Sad and beautiful. Loved it.

Second Guessing-- This one got some play on sirius XM. It's ok, I guess, just knowing the stench of Georgia Line is on it gets me. (Which is dumb but I free admit to being dumb... and oddly I like Florida Line)

[LBTrocks]

Tbh I liked extremely little on this list… Lindsay Ell’s song is way below her typical quality level, but still good enough to make my top 10 here

[kluen]

I agree that Home to Me is very generic,even bland but something in this song just agrees with me.I like it.

[tim]

Well, hello there! Let me play some catch up before we get much further along, shall we.

#35 Shania Twain / Giddy Up! - I wouldn't have expected this to rank in the bottom two, let alone the bottom five. By Shania's usual standards, it falls quite short, but it does have an undeniable catchiness and is admittedly a bit of fun.

SPOILER: Click to show

{#33 - #26 were all in my bottom 5}
#33 Jay Kutcher / Another You - Similar to most songs that end up at the bottom of my list, they usually find themselves there because they are somewhat forgettable or just average. This one falls into both categories, as I couldn't really tell you exactly how it goes.

#32 Lemon Cash / Breakup Song - There's just something about this that strikes me as quite average (see above lol), which is why it consistently found itself at or near the bottom of my list.

#31 Owen Riesling / Love (The Sweater Song) - I don't always mind tempo changes, but in this case, it just didn't work, and the artist wasn't strong enough to pull it off. This was one of the few songs that I always felt inclined to skip every time.

#28 Tim & The Glory Boys / Take Me Back Road - While I appreciate both country and folk music, the contemporary blend influenced by High Valley doesn't resonate with me. It comes across as somewhat pandering, and, overall, it fails to capture my interest, and leaving me feeling indifferent.

#26 Griffen Palmer / Second Guessing - I might have been more accurate placing this a couple of spots outside my bottom 5, but even then, it would still end up towards the back of my overall list.

#27 Alli Walker - The Whiskeys Gone / I absolutely stand by my top 10 for this! It’s a song I consistently found myself returning to as I love the overall vibe of the song, particularly the chorus.

#22 Chad Brownlee / The Country Kind - My first near miss for the top 5! I thoroughly enjoyed this song, finding myself consistently drawn back to it, and its catchy tune stuck in my head. Despite its innocence, it hits all the right notes for me!

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Dec 24, 2023 4:31:13 GMT -5 Darkest Hour said:

33. Did not enjoy the slight autotune in his vocal at all. Also the chorus melody sounds familiar to Always Remember Us This Way (faster).

31. This sounds like a Walker Hayes song especially the switch in the chorus and rap bridge. Disappointed but not surprised this escaped bottom 5 because there are surprisingly many Walker Hayes sympathizers in Pulse so...Also of course he started appearing in Hot Country playlist, at least it is not this song but the song title doesn't scream interesting to me either.

Yeah I did not really notice, but I can really hear this now; even the lyrics are similar when Graham goes like "When the Light Goes down" and with the same melody, Lady Gaga sings "When the Sun Goes Down."

Honestly surprised to see this guy in Hot Country playlist, among all other Canadian male singers. I guess he has a US label backing him up, so that should be why, but he has not even scored a top 20 hit yet... Old Dirt Roads is more generic and sounds like something Conner Smith would release, instead of Walker. 

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#20 Alexandar Ludwig - Let Me Be Your Whiskey

Total: 214

Average: 19.46

Std Dev: 8.84
Chart Peak: #38

tim - 11
zaclord 🌈 - 11
🌺CountryLineDancer - 11
nuggie99 - 12
Darkest Hour - 12
.indulgecountry - 16
castleoblivion26 - 24
bboat11 - 26
countryfan43 - 27
LBTrocks - 30
kluen -34

Nobody got the hint eh! The first song to leave in the top 20 is Alexander Ludwig. I believe most of you folks have seen him without knowing, as he is an actor in Viking, Hunger Games, and the music videos of Super Freaky Girl by Nicki Minaj. He is from Vancouver where I live, but somehow decided to release a country song through BMG Nashville. This was his debut and only radio single so far, but he had already released a full album, and he has a strong label support, so curious to see what kinda of move he will make next. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #28)
This song did better than I expected. Not sure how many of you know his background, but it is definitely an interesting career that he is building, and he is still actively performing as an actor (I think that's his main interest). This song and his album has nothing super unique or special, but has very consistent production and melody, and it grew on me over time. 

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#19 David James - Let Her Go

Total: 212

Average: 19.28

Std Dev: 7.89
Chart Peak: NA

castleoblivion26 - 3
bboat11 - 14
LBTrocks - 16
tim - 16
kluen - 19
🌺CountryLineDancer - 19
countryfan43 - 20
nuggie99 - 20
Darkest Hour - 22
.indulgecountry - 31
zaclord 🌈 - 32

David James YE RD History

2021 - #12 Then There’s You ft. Genevieve Fisher

The next up is David James, who is making his second appearance in the series. This song was released as a radio single, but barely got any adds and failed to chart. I think he is still with MDM, but his radio career may be ending soon. With this reveal, castleoblivion26 lost another top 3 song, while myself and kluen scored perfect rankings. This song includes Jordan Davis as a co-writer.

CLD's Thought (Prediction #16)
Even though the theme of the song where a man is addressing to his girlfriend's ex about how he left her, I do think that the first verse is well written and I do enjoy the perspective of the narrator whose girlfriend is getting a text from the ex; this might be my fav song from David James, lyrically speaking. The song is not really radio friendly, but its production is effectively delivering the sentiment of the song, and I do enjoy the melody as well. I do wish that this charted for a bit, and I do hope that David James would stay relevant. Again, glad to see some high placement. 

[countryfan43]

Let Her Go was decent but Let Me Be Your Whiskey just didn’t sound great to me personally. It’s not offensive or edgy I just didn’t enjoy it at all.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#18 Sacha - Confident

Total: 204

Average: 18.55

Std Dev: 9.92
Chart Peak: #42

Darkest Hour - 1

zaclord 🌈 - 12
.indulgecountry - 14
bboat11 - 13
LBTrocks - 14
tim - 14
kluen - 18
🌺CountryLineDancer - 23
countryfan43 - 30
castleoblivion26 - 32
nuggie99 - 33

Sacha YE RD History

2022 - #10 We Did

Another #1 loss is here, this time by Darkest Hour . Interestingly, Sacha received a #1 ranking from the host of Country YE RD two years in a row, as in the prior year, We Did was #1 from bboat11 , and he ended up just including that song in the YE RD, so Darkest Hour definitely can exercise his power as well, just sayin! This song was written by her label mate Griffen Palmer, and the pop version was also released with a collab with Tyler Shaw per below. kluen scored another perfect ranking. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #7)
Surprised to see it exiting so early. The lyrics are quite interesting, and I do enjoy how the narrator is talking about something that she wish she could be at the verse, and at the chorus, she is showing her confidence in her shortfall. Overall very well-written song. I found the verse melody to be weak, but at the same time, it is creating a strong contrast with the chorus, as the chorus melody is on fire and her vocal is strong. The pop version is definitely a stepdown, in terms of the production, but Tyler Shaw's vocal is surprisingly suited to the song.

Pop version

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#17 Karli June - Feels Like Home ft. Ryan Langdon

Total: 203

Average: 18.45

Std Dev: 9.28
Chart Peak: #31

Darkest Hour - 5
.indulgecountry - 8
zaclord 🌈 - 8
castleoblivion26 - 10
🌺CountryLineDancer - 20
tim - 21
nuggie99 - 22
countryfan43 - 23
LBTrocks - 24
bboat11 - 30
kluen - 32

Ryan Langdon YE RD History

2021 - #27 She Knows It
2022 - #32 Country Like You

Another collaboration song is leaving. This is an independently released single by Karli June and it is her first appearance on the chart, with Ryan Langdon, who had scored a few minor hits before. This song received four top 10 rankings and two bottom 10 rankings. Darkest Hour lost another top 5 song here.

CLD's Thought (Prediction #14)
This is the first time I am hearing Karli June, and even though her vocal is quite average, I do enjoy the harmony with Ryan Langdon, who has quite unique sound. It is an energetic song and I do enjoy the overall melody as well. Theme is nothing special imo, another love song where a narrator is expressing their love towards their partner through making some comparisons, but the metaphors being used are quite unique and evokes interesting visualization, compared with other similar songs. Hope to see more Karli June on the chart in the future.