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Ashley Gorley hits 50th No. 1

The only songwriter in any genre with 50 Airplay No. 1s

by Preshias Harris

Ashley Gorley at the 2020 MusicRow Awards. Photo: Preshias Harris

Hitmaker and songwriting powerhouse Ashley Gorley set a new record August 3 as he notches his 50th No.1 song at Country radio with LOCASH’S Mediabase chart topper, “One Big Country Song.”

Gorley isn’t just the first songwriter in the Country format to achieve this feat, but it stamps him as the only songwriter of any genre to earn 50 No.1s in the history of the Mediabase and Billboard Airplay charts.

Gorley wrote “One Big Country Song” with fellow hitmakers Jesse Frasure and Hardy. The song follows Gorley’s 49th No. 1, “Hard to Forget,” recorded by Sam Hunt. Gorley’s first No. 1 was “Don’t Forget to Remember Me” for Carrie Underwood. in 2006. Scroll down for a full list of all 50 of Gorley’s chart-toppers.

Thank you, Ashley Gorley, for my delight at being able to watch you write your way into global music history. It makes me extremely proud of my Kentucky connection, along with our shared love of Kentucky Wildcats basketball. Now let’s get Ashley nominated for the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame! This would be a wonderful boost for our Kentucky Music legacy. Danville, Kentucky, native Ashley needs to be alongside the Everly Brothers, The Judds, Dwight Yoakum, The Kentucky Headhunters, Exile, Steve Wariner and the rest of our history of Kentucky Music inductees. – Preshias Harris

#kymusichalloffame #hitsongwriter #50number1s #ascapsongwriteroftheyear

Chris Lane’s “I Don’t Know About You” feted at No. 1 party

By Preshias Harris

“What’s your name, what’s your sign, what’s your birthday? / What’s your wrist tattoo bible verse say? / Tell me this, do you kiss on the first date? / Don’t hold anything back.” – lyrics from “I Don’t Know About You”

It took 45 weeks to climb to the top of Billboard’s Country Airplay charts, but Chris Lane’s “I Don’t Know About You” (Big Loud Records) finally made it to No. 1 on October 01, 2019. On Tuesday, January 28, Chris celebrated that achievement with the song’s writers at a Number One party in Nashville, hosted by the performing rights organizations, BMI and ASCAP.

Receiving plaques to mark the occasion were songwriters Ashley Gorley, Michael Hardy, Hunter Phelps and Jameson Rodgers. The event was extra special for Phelps and Rodgers as “I Don’t Know About You” marked the first No. 1 for both songwriters. For Ashley, it was his forty-fourth No. 1. (To make things more complicated, last week Ashley celebrated his forty-fifth No. 1 for co-writing “Good Vibes” for Chris Janson, and since then has already scored his forty-sixth and forty-seventh chart-topper!)

Pictured (L-R): ASCAP Songwriter Jameson Rodgers, BMI Songwriter Michael Hardy, Chris Lane, ASCAP Songwriter Hunter Phelps, ASCAP Songwriter Ashley Gorley. Photo: Ed Rode

Song struck a chord with listeners

“I Don’t Know About You” really struck a chord with listeners as it is built around typical questions that a guy will ask a girl when they first meet, hoping for a date.

During the media roundtable before the presentation Lane and the songwriters talked about the song. “Lyrically, it had really cool lines in it,” said Lane. “For whatever reason, people just gravitated towards that. And even fans. I mean, a line as simple as, ‘Girl I know your favorite beer because you told me and I bought it.’ I’ve watched people scream that line! Obviously with the ‘wrist tattoo’ line. I’ve had people come up to me in the grocery store and say, ‘I love your bible verse tattoo song.’ That’s what they refer to it as, they don’t call it by its name! People took to it because of really great lines and a great melody as well.”

Blake Shelton, songwriters bless ‘God’s Country’

No. 1 party celebrates ‘fastest rising’ chart topper

By Preshias Harris

Blake Shelton was in God’s Country on Wednesday, thanks to songwriters Devin Dawson, Michael Hardy and Jordan Schmidt. More precisely, he was at a Number One party that was held at Ole Red in Nashville, which of course is in God’s Country!

At the media meeting before the awards presentation ceremony, Shelton said he was on a tractor, working on his farm in Oklahoma when he received the demo of the song, “God’s Country,” on his phone. He recalled, “I was trying to drive and look at my phone at the same time and I figured out a way to play the song inside this machine through the Bluetooth that it had. And that’s when I heard “God’s Country” for the first time.”

(L – R): Devin Dawson, Michael Hardy, Jordan Schmidt, Blake Shelton. (Photo: Preshias Harris)

Turning to the three songwriters, he added, “I was literally working in the spot where, in the video, where we burned the tractor.” He said that he immediately called producer Scott Hendricks who had sent him the demo and said, “I don’t know where the song came from, but that makes me want to make another record.”

A very fast ‘farm-to-table’ song

“God’s Country” (Warner Bros. Nashville) had one of the fastest journeys ever to the top of the Country singles chart. The speed with which Shelton recorded the song so soon after hearing it and its rapid success took the song’s writers by surprise. “It was a very fast ‘farm-to-table’,” noted Hardy. The song was written on a Thursday, Blake heard it that weekend and by Monday he had recorded it. It was also the fasted song to achieve Platinum status from the RIAA in more than a year. So far in 2019, it holds the distinction of being the ‘most streamed country song.’ Continue reading “Blake Shelton, songwriters bless ‘God’s Country’”