His love of stepson captures No. 1 spot on TikTok with #MyBoy
By Preshias Harris
Elvie Shane knows just how much dedication and hard work (and patience!) it takes to see one of your songs eventually begin to climb the charts. The Billboard Country Airplay chart for October 16 shows Elvie’s “My Boy” jumping in at No. 56. The song also tops Billboard’s “Most Added” chart that lists the songs added to the playlists of Country Radio stations nationwide.
- Watch Elvie perform a ‘Live in Studio’ version of “My Boy” at YouTube here.
Due to the continuing corona virus, Elvie and BBR Music Group reimagined the traditional radio tour. The innovative approach involves customized, high-quality live-streamed, full-band performances and video chats, which deliver extraordinary experiences for the viewer and will likely become the model of radio tours for the foreseeable future. For six weeks straight, Elvie has performed roughly five full-band shows per day—miraculously maintaining his stamina, gaining believers and setting the bar high for future newcomers.
The song also leapt to No. 1 on TikTok’s Country chart with well over 775 million uses of #MyBoy and more than 1.5 million streams in the USA alone. You can see a few of the posted TikTok videos here.
No overnight success
This achievement is no overnight success – either for “My Boy” or for Elvie himself. Growing up in rural Caneyville, KY, Elvie absorbed influences from the Gospel music of his church and the gritty rock music favored by his truck-driving dad.
He credits a professor at Western Kentucky University for encouraging him to develop his creative writing, but, much as he enjoyed listening to music it wasn’t an immediate career choice, particularly as he devoted his attention to providing for his wife and stepson.
After he watched the now-famous Chris Stapleton/Justin Timberlake duet at the 2015 CMA Awards, he saw that his voice and personal style of songwriting might find an outlet in country music. He started performing anywhere he could find a mic.