Pat, Tom and Cody: Our Top 5s For 2019
What about you? What were your favorite songs of 2019?
By kncitom on December 12, 2019
This was a pretty great year for country music, especially for fans of more traditional country: Jon Pardi, Midland, Miranda Lambert, Luke Combs and others all released albums that both fans and critics took notice of. Pop country still held it’s own though, with Dan + Shay basically assuming complete control of the power ballad perch once held by Rascal Flatts. Meanwhile, Maren Morris made a strong, unapologetic and genre-blurring case for becoming a new kind of Queen of country music. The year saw Blake Shelton come roaring back with the anthemic God’s Country, Morgan Wallen releasing maybe THE earworm of the year with Whiskey Glasses, Runaway June filling in a country harmony void with Buy My Own Drinks, and Linsday Ell getting her first number one with a little help from Brantley Gilbert (and 48 weeks s l o w l y climbing the charts) with What Happens In a Small Town. Chris Young and Justin Moore both proved again that, even though they may not get much recognition at awards shows, artists like them are the backbone of country music: Young’s Raised on Country and Moore’s The Ones Who Didn’t Make It Back Home were both radio mainstays most of the year, as was Riley Green’s There Was This Girl and Chris Janson’s Good Vibes, two other, newer workhorses in the format. Luke Combs’ Beautiful Crazy was the most played song of 2019 and and Luke and Carrie Underwood were the two most played country artists (for the decade, Barefoot Blue Jean Night from Jake Owen was the most played song, and Luke Bryan was barely the most played artist overall, just edging out Jason Aldean).
It’ll be fun to listen New Year’s Day to the Country Countdown to see what songs made the year-end top 40. In the meantime, here are our top five songs of 2019, based on nothing more than we really really liked them a lot.
Pat
Some Of It Eric Church
After a Few Travis Denning
What Happens In a Small Town Brantley Gilbert, Lindsay Ell
Kane Brown Homesick
Even Though I’m Leaving Luke Combs
Cody
The Bones Maren Morris
One Man Band Old Dominion
Crowded Table The Highwomen
There Was This Girl Riley Green
Beer Never Broke My Heart Luke Combs
Tom
I Pray for You Matt Stell
Good Vibes Chris Janson
Whiskey Glasses Morgan Wallen
God’s Country Blake Shelton
Heartache Medication Jon Pardi
