Thompson and Buxton Debuts Deliver

Way Out Here, the debut album from Columbia Nashville newcomer Josh Thompson, entered the country album sales chart this week with sales in excess of 15,000 units. The album hit the No. 9 spot on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and rose to No. 28 on the Top 200 chart. Way Out Here is the highest debut from a new country act this year, and the highest debut from a new solo male since Justin Moore back in August 2009.

Thompson is currently following up his Top-20 debut single, “Beer On the Table,” with his second single and the album’s title track, “Way Out Here.” The song goes to country radio next week, officially impacting on March 29. Thompson is currently on the Jagermeister Country Tour which runs through March, and he’ll be on the road this summer as part of Brad Paisley’s H20 2010 World Tour.

Meanwhile, over at Lyric Street, Sarah Buxton’s eponymous debut album bowed at #12 on Nielsen Soundscan’s Country Top 75 chart this week. With first-week sales reaching 8,000 units, Sarah Buxton is the best selling debut from a female country artist since 2008.

Buxton recently made history with the album’s leadoff single, “Outside My Window,” when it sold more than 12,000 paid downloads in its first week of release, making it the biggest opening digital single sales from a debut album for any female country artist in the history of Nielsen Soundscan. Buxton is currently on the road with Martina McBride and Trace Adkins on McBride’s Shine All Night tour.