It’s no stretch to say that Chris Stapleton is a legend in the making. From his jaw-dropping vocals to his diverse songwriting history, it truly seems like there’s nothing that the Parachute singer can’t do musically. The reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year winner released his fifth studio album, Higher, back in November. Now that some time has passed and Higher has been given time to digest, there’s no better time to rank all of Stapleton’s albums. Without further ado, here is my ranking. 5. Higher I’d like to preface this ranking with the fact that Higher has the disadvantage…
Author: Brennen Kelly
Brennen Kelly
Hailing from the Chicagoland area, Brennen graduated from Valparaiso University with a BA in Communication and a minor in Cinema and Media Studies. After covering Arts & Entertainment at his university's newspaper, he began writing for Country Chord in March of 2023. Known for his love of independent country and authentic songwriters, Brennen has a long-history of championing the likes of Zach Bryan, Jason Isbell, Tyler Childers and many others.
“But I know the present will not last, tomorrow will be kinder.” Kaitlin Butts, frequent Flatland Cavalry collaborator and wife of their frontman, Cleto Cordero, is back with a brand new cover of the Secret Sisters’ Tomorrow Will Be Kinder. Butts took to Instagram on Dec. 20 to announce the song’s release. The track was first released by the Secret Sisters in 2012 for the first The Hunger Games film soundtrack. It wouldn’t be surprising if Butts decided to cover this song given that Flatland Cavalry recently appeared on the soundtrack for the most recent film in the franchise, The…
2011 is widely recognized as a great year for mainstream country music. With career-defining albums from artists such as Eric Church and Miranda Lambert, to breakout years from Chris Young and Scotty McCreery, the year had plenty of new, exciting releases throughout. 24 different artists scored the 34 unique #1 hits that year with only 12 of those songs spending more than one week on top of the chart, meaning that there was something fresh to hear on top of the chart nearly every single week throughout the year. Here are the 34 songs that went #1 on Billboard’s Hot…
What a year it’s been. With 2023 coming to an end, there’s no better time to sit and reflect on the outstanding success that the country music genre has experienced. From Morgan Wallen dominating nearly every single major chart to Oliver Anthony becoming an overnight success and snagging a #1 hit, there have been some incredible highs throughout the year. If dominating pop culture wasn’t enough, country also dominated the charts. In a Billboard article published back in September, Xander Zellener documented many of the records that the country genre broke throughout 2023. Here are some of the highlights. First…
We all got into country music somehow. Whether it was George Strait and Alan Jackson in the 90s, Brad Paisley and Tim McGraw in the 2000s, or even Sam Hunt and Thomas Rhett in the 2010s, everyone has certain songs and artists that helped them on their way to becoming country music fans. It’s a perfect time to throw pretentiousness to the side and be honest with ourselves. We didn’t all start listening to the Jason Isbells, Turnpike Troubadours and the Zach Bryans of the world immediately; it took a slow familiarization with the genre for many to build their…
Gabby Barrett has been quietly putting together a wildly successful career in country music. With her first two singles, I Hope and The Good Ones, going #1 and multi-platinum, many have wondered why Barrett hasn’t performed many duets with fellow country stars in the industry. In a day where duets seem to be all the buzz in mainstream country, Barrett doesn’t have any traditional duets with any male country artists. In an interview with Hannah Love, Barrett revealed that she doesn’t accept duet offers out of respect for her husband: “There’s been large song opportunities that have come in for…