No. 1 Party: Back-To-Back Chart Toppers For Sam Hunt

Pictured (L-R): Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Sam Hunt, Zach Crowell, and Jerry Flowers.

It was a double celebration at The Crying Wolf in Nashville as ASCAP hosted a party to honor back-to-back (and the second and third consecutive) No. 1 songs for Sam Hunt yesterday (Sept. 23).

“Take Your Time” and “House Party” became Hunt’s second and third straight chart toppers (following his debut single “Leave The Night On”) and the songwriters and producers were recognized along with Hunt.

Mike Sistad of ASCAP first spoke about “Take Your Time,” which was written by Hunt, Josh Osborne and Shane McAnally and was produced by McAnally and Zach Crowell. Sistad stated that McAnally has been very busy since his first No. 1 back in 2010. Since then, he has become an accomplished songwriter and producer. “Take Your Time” is his 13^th No. 1 song. Osborne has now been credited with eight No. 1 songs.

McAnally stated, “I could stand up here and say a million good things about Sam and Josh. It’s been fun to watch this from the very beginning. Nobody deserves this or even ‘gets it’ like Sam.”

Osborne added, “On top of all these accolades, it has been a lot of fun to write with Shane and Sam.”

Also taking time to offer congratulations were members of Universal Publishing, Three Mules Music and Black River Publishing.

Sistad returned to the stage to say that “House Party” marks Hunt’s fifth No. 1 song as a songwriter along with his third as an artist.

Pictured (front row, L-R): McAnally, Flowers, Hunt, Crowell Pictured (back row, L-R): ASCAP’s Mike Sistad, UMPG’s Kent Earls, Three Mules Music’s Chris Hunter, ASCAP’s Beth Brinker, UMG’s Royce Risser, Warner/Chappell’s Ryan Beuschel, Hunt’s manager Brad Belanger, and Combustion Music’s Chris Farren and Kenley Flynn

The hit was written by Hunt, Crowell and Jerry Flowers. Ashley Gorley of External Combustion Music texted in his words of thanks and congratulations while challenging Crowell to make a speech that lasted more than five seconds. The remark got a laugh from the crowd while Crowell, accepting for his second No. 1 as a songwriter, spoke for about 10 seconds while simply thanking everyone involved.

It was a special day for Flowers, as he celebrated his first No. 1. Flowers has been a part of Keith Urban’s band for 22 years. Flowers said the best part of being a writer on this song was that Urban now introduces him each night on stage as “the guy that wrote ‘House Party’ by Sam Hunt.”

Crowell and McAnally were producers on this song as well.

Universal Music’s Royce Risser spoke and said the has never seen a career take off like Hunt’s. Members of the Country Radio Broadcasters offered statistics of radio airplay for both songs before Hunt took to the microphone. He stated that there are so many people that are thankful for these songs. “The songs have provided jobs for the crew that is on the road with us. And each night on stage, I see that these songs are providing joy to the fans that come out to see us play.”

Pictured (front, L-R): Osborne, McAnally, Hunt, Crowell. Pictured (Back, L-R): ASCAP’s Mike Sistad, Black River’s Dave Pacula, UMPG’s Kent Earls, Three Mules Music’s Chris Hunter, UMG’s Royce Risser, Hunt’s manager Brad Belanger, and Smacktown Music’s Robert Carlton and Robin Palmer