Weekly Register: Ashley Monroe’s “The Blade”

Pictured (L-R): Justin Niebank (Co-producer, The Blade), Ashley Monroe and Vince Gill (Co-producer, The Blade).

Alan Jackson pulls to the front of the line this week with Angels and Alcohol, his first studio album in three years, selling another 18K this week after debuting just behind Jason Isbell last week. Warner Bros. Records artist Ashley Monroe debuts at No. 2 the country chart (No. 30 overall), with the much anticipated The Blade selling 12K after receiving many artist endorsements on social media, including those from Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert.

Monroe’s sophomore Warner Bros. effort was again produced by close friends Vince Gill and Justin Niebank.

On the horizon is Luke Bryan‘s new album Kill The Lights which releases this Friday, as well as newcomer Michael Ray‘s self-titled release.

Top 5 Country Albums This Week
Alan Jackson Angels and Alcohol 18K
Ashley Monroe The Blade 12K
Sam Hunt Montevallo 11K
Jason Isbell Something More Than Free 10K
Zac Brown Band Jekyll + Hyde 8.6K

Total country album sales YTD are down 6.1 percent over last year while country digital albums are up 1.5 percent.

Looking at the country tracks chart this week, Luke continues to kick up dust on his comrades as he retains the top spot with 53K units sold for his “Kick The Dust Up” (698k RTD) to maintain a strong No. 16 position overall.

Brett Eldredge serves up the top country debut with his latest single, “Just A Taste,” at No. 30, selling 9K while Chris Janson enters the top 5 this week with “Buy Me A Boat” selling an additional 38K (436K RTD).

Top 5 Country Tracks This Week
Luke Bryan “Kick The Dust Up” 53K
Sam Hunt “House Party”  45K
LBT “Girl Crush” 44K
Sam Hunt “Take Your Time” 39K
Chris Janson “Buy Me A Boat” 38K

Total country tracks for the year are down 14.9 percent (down 9.3 percent overall).