Bucky Covington's debut CD is in stores now, and his music video is available for online viewing at CMT.com and Yahoo Music. You can buy Bucky's album at Amazon, Best Buy , iTunes and Target, hear the full version of his single "A Different World" at CMT and GAC, preview his entire CD at Clear Channel Music, or enjoy samples of songs from the CD at Bucky's official MySpace. An autographed copy of Bucky Covington can be ordered while supplies last at his official site or via his official fan club.We'll start off with today's charts, now that the big weekly numbers are in--Bucky's lookin' good at #21 with a bullet on the Radio & Records country singles chart, and #7 on the Billboard Top Country Albums listings. The latter number--as beautiful as it appears from here--seems to have caused a minor kerfuffle at USA Today's Idol Chatter blog yesterday, where the paper's weekly chart news post noted that "Bucky's fan base went out and bought the album as soon as possible" (guilty as charged, y'all!) and predicted that further week's sales would "come in much smaller weekly increments".
Now that Bucky's album is in the wild, so to speak, it's good to keep in mind that numbers are fact; the interpretation of numbers is opinion. As you might have guessed, my opinion is that Bucky Covington, the CD, has legs a mile long. Sirius Satellite radio, which broke Bucky's first single, "A Different World" on Christmas Day, has been spinning the heck out of "The Bible and the Belt" in recent weeks; reviewers have singled out "I'll Walk" and "I'm Good" for high praise (the latter also garnered enormous audience buzz when the Hyfntrak four-song preview hit the net, and again when Bucky sang it on Regis and Kelly), and "American Friday Night" seems to have a fan club all its own, as well. All this, and Bucky's beautiful current single, "A Different World" is in the Top 20 on Mediabase's Top 500 and weighted charts, with a strong bullet.
To put it bluntly--those who liked the album better than Mr. Barnes did will naturally interpret the raw numbers differently. Yes, Bucky's eager fans went out and bought the album the first week, as most ardent fans do when their favorite artist releases something new; but with all due respect to Mr. Barnes, I think the sheer volume of potential singles from this album makes any "Idol souvenir" prediction off-base in the long run. Bucky's CD has already picked up support beyond his Idol fans, and I predict that will continue as more and more songs from this excellent album reach the airwaves. Only time will tell, of course--but since Mr. Barnes was kind enough to make his prediction on the front page of his blog, I figured I'd do the same...Bucky's busy supporting his album on the road this week--he'll be making a stop in Baltimore for a winners-only Cinco de Mayo show sponsored by WPOC 93.1 in Baltimore with labelmate Josh Gracin. (Love that graphic!) Congratulations to the lucky winners--sounds like an amazing night of music. We'll keep an eye out for photos and recaps...and if you'll be there, please feel free to email me with your review of the night!
Tomorrow, Bucky opens for the legendary Kenny Rogers at the Salem Civic Center in Roanoke, Virginia in a concert benefitting Special Olympics Virginia; tickets may still be available at Tickemaster.com. (WSLC, which is sponsoring the show, gave away front-row seats to a loyal listener this morning--here's hoping you're the one who'll enjoy the show up close and personal Friday night!)
We can help support Bucky's single at CMT Power Picks again tomorrow--it faces yet another matchup on Friday's show. (We'll post another reminder closer to showtime, but meanwhile, get ready to mouse-click like mad once more...)
And as always, we'll wrap things up for the moment with the daily voting links--show Bucky some love at GAC's Top Twenty Country Countdown today, and request "A Different World" at your local country station too.
More later--see you soon!
Bucky is #21 now at the updated (May 4) R&R Country chart. Billboard does not have Bucky's album cover displayed on their Top Country chart although he is #7. Just a little red x. One could become paranoid being a Bucky fan. Surely just an oversight :)
ReplyDeleteWhoops! I will correct that out front--thanks, Buckyflowers.
ReplyDeleteAnd LOL at the red X! I think it really is just an oversight--Billboard has had some funky graphics problems in general lately. Wish I could correct that too... :)
To carry over a disclaimer of sorts from the previous comments section:
I am definitely open to corrections, suggestions and differing opinions...but I just think Ken Barnes was off base this particular time. Obviously, we're both making predictions based on our opinions of Bucky's album (I loved it, he...er, didn't.) And in the end, time will tell. I just wanted to go on the record with mone, too. :)
I'm a big fan of your blog, it's all about the quality content, keep it up! I want to add you to my blogroll at http://juankydanzas.blogspot.com/ I know it's waaay different than your blog but check it out and let me know what you think, then add me too. I'm Spanish and You write a comments in my blog please. Sorry for my English
ReplyDeleteHi, and your English is fine--it is much better than my Spanish! Thanks for stopping in. :)
ReplyDeleteOK Im not totally sure how this chart works but this is what it reads....On allaccess sales % Bucky has a big red bullett. It shows a +20 INCREASE from this time last week. If you wanna check it out the chart is under "streetpulse". Let me know what you think..
ReplyDelete~m~
^ I hope that's true! So much for Ken's psychic powers of prediction.
ReplyDeleteI love the latest post Winnie - rock on. You have every right to state your opinion on here, just as Ken does on his blog. The difference is that you didn't use a false chart statistic to support your opinion. He probably didn't do it on purpose, but for a music reviewer, he sure isn't that bright.
Hey, I'm hoping big things for Bucky and his new cd.
ReplyDeleteoh wow! i was entirely unaware that you could leave market music on blogger this way.
ReplyDeletecool shit!
Hello Anon, Marzy, Flea and "C"!
ReplyDeleteMarzy, that is lookin' good! I believe that Streetpulse uptick is a signal that even the major holdout stations have become aware that "A Different World" is a bonafide hit. Great news!
Anon, thanks! You're very kind. Mr. Barnes and I are definitely agreeing to disagree...and goodness knows my biases are right out in the open! But between the good reviews and the buzz and the excellent music on that CD, I have a feeling Bucky's fans are very likely to be right about the long term prospects of the CD. (I do enjoy Mr. Barnes' blog overall--he and I have a very different view on Bucky's merits, but I think he's a very good writer and Idol observer. He's just dead wrong on this one, in my totally biased opinion. :)
Flea, welcome! Bucky put out an awesome CD, and it's so nice to see new people stopping by. Thank you for stopping in and saying hello!
And "C", hi there! I guess it's time for me to post that disclaimer, since the "Blogs of Note" link came kind of late in the life of this blog, and its organically grown nature isn't really apparent at first glance. But a look at the first few entries in March '06 (waaaaaaaaay before Bucky Covington was a signed major label singer) will tell the story. Just for the record, though:
I am a 100% unpaid, non-viral, strictly-for-fun Bucky Covington fan who opened up a blog to support a singer whose distinctive voice grabbed me right away, long before he became a major-label artist. I also like to write--a lot!
This blog is not sponsored by Lyric Street, American Idol, Bucky Covington, his management or anyone else--except me.
Hope that clears up any confusion out there! Thanks again for stopping by. :)