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Articles by Daniel Munson
Avery Anna Surges, Riley Green Loses Steam In August CC50 Power Rankings
AvIt’s hard to believe summer is almost over; in fact, here in Tennessee, schools have already been back in session for the last few weeks. Perhaps part of what makes it hard to believe is that there have been remarkably few changes to the CC50 since temps started creeping into the 80s back in May.
Ella Langley Extends Dominant CC50 Run, Luke Bryan Plummets (June ’26)
Summer’s finally officially here along with the heat, the World Cup, and tantalizing weekly Friday slates of releases. Take last week for example: an album from Cody Johnson and singles from, in no particular order, *deep breath* Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, Alan Jackson, Dan + Shay, Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert, Trace Adkins, Turnpike Troubadours, Jelly Roll, Cody Jinks, Little Big Town, Reba McEntire, and Kip Moore, among many, many others.
Country Music Power Rankings (CC50) – May ’26
Ella Langley has been the queen of the CC50 rankings for half a year now, and May was just another continuation of her “butterfly season” this spring. The rest of the Top 15 were remarkably unchanged, with the only position change being Wallen slipping ahead of Riley Green into 5th place. In fact, the biggest ranking change in the *entire* rankings was Luke Bryan falling 4 spots.
Country Music Power Rankings (CC50) – April ’26
Welcome back to Inside the CC50! After a month’s hiatus while we were focusing on running the March Madness brackets of best country songs by decade, we’re back and ready to cover the power ranking moves that always start to pick up this time of year. But before we do, I want to give y’all our sincere thanks for participating in the March Madness bracket. I’ve been doing those for five years now, and this year’s was unquestionably my favorite.
Gen Z Is Full of Financial Angst. Listen to Them.
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. Commentary March 14, 2026, 7:00 am EDT Add us on Google Choose Barron's as a preferred source of financial news Average consumer confidence among Americans under age 35 fell over the past year.
Country Music Power Rankings (CC50) -February '26
Regular readers of Inside the CC50 know that this intro paragraph is usually a bit of a snooze fest. I recap a few highlights from the monthly results, allude to a few country music headlines, crack a corny joke, and then move on to the meat of the article. Well, good news, anyone-who-has-never-made-it-to-a-Wildcard-Watch (yes, that's all one word, look it up), we're bringing the graphs and fun stuff right from the jump this month.
Country Music Power Rankings (CC50)
Between the post-holiday malaise and some impromptu January travel, this article was a long time in the making. But now, like the rest of the South, I find myself facing down an ice storm with nowhere to go for a whole weekend, and so there's finally time for the best part of my month - sitting down with y'all to chat about music and numbers.
Country Music Power Rankings (CC50)
Thirty years later, "Travelin' Soldier" still carries well-earned weight in the country music world. Look for no further proof than Cody Johnson, a well-beloved artist with too many hits to count. Yet despite being the only artist to *never* miss the top five (a remarkable feat in its own right), it took releasing a cover of Bruce Robison's classic ballad popularized by the Dixie Chicks for him to finally claim the CC50 crown.
Country Music Power Rankings (CC50)
Eleven months later, Zach Top's reign atop the CC50 has finally come to an end. When he unseated Morgan Wallen in November '24, it sent shockwaves through the CC50 and gave yours truly plenty of content to write about. Over the next year, however, it became almost commonplace to see his name up there to the point that even though the slide started a few months ago, it was still surprising to see his name on the second line of the chart this month. The next in line?
Country Music Power Rankings, September '25 (CC50, a Two-Year Retrospect)
Two years ago, in September 2023, I finally convinced my benevolent overlords at Country Central that what the world really needed was a monthly survey to build one of the leading views into listener interest in the industry, and more importantly, a goofy column each month recapping the results that almost no one would read.
Sasha Talks, September 30, 2025
Sasha is the founder of Sasha Talks, a global platform that integrates educational and entertaining content which nurtures human development permitting people to cultivate meaningful outcomes in life. Carolyn Abrams has called her “a priceless pillar of strength for people". To complement her business career, she is a spiritualist hosting abilities that allow her to deliver intuitive insights derived from questions possessing various degrees of complexity.
Country Music Power Rankings (CC50)
The dog days of late summer are upon us, and much like a worn-out baseball team limping to the playoffs patched together with duct tape and the power of friendship, the CC50 voters showed some fatigue in August. Through a combination of the summer seasonal bubble coming down and some disappointing releases (looking at you, Wallen, Childers, and Top), the top of the CC50 struggled mightily. 8 of the top 10 and 11 of the top 15 artists saw drops in interest, and all drops were 1% or greater.
Country Music Power Rankings (CC50)
The 23rd edition of the CC50 is in the books and yet another big success, with the run of over half a million votes cast stretching to three of the last four months now. Unfortunately for many of the top dogs in the rankings, it was less of a success, with the top 5 dropping an average of 1.5% points of interest, a surprisingly big slide for a month where overall listener sentiment was overwhelmingly positive and more interested in the average CC50 artist than any month since last July.
Country Music Power Rankings
It is hard to believe it is almost July, but the 99-degree temps outside as I write this would make me a liar - it doesn't get much more July in Tennessee than stepping into an oven whenever you open the door. Besides, June was a great month in its own right, with long-anticipated releases from Parker McCollum, Zach Top, Brian Kelley (okay, maybe he's the odd one out here, but Sunshine State of Mind Season 2 was surprisingly fun; check it out!), and even a song from Tyler Childers.
As I often say, the great thing about the CC50 is that there is always something we haven't seen before statistically. In May, something new was that almost nothing was new. Unbelievably, the top 16 places in the CC50 had no ranking movement, and the biggest change anywhere was down to #46, where Vincent Mason fell 3.5% and a whopping four spots. This is the smallest "largest change" in the CC50's history.
The country music news cycle is finally picking up as we near the summer, which means we hear from a lot more of y'all in the voting and makes this column a lot easier to write; both are great Easter presents for yours, truly! We'll try to deliver and make this month's column worth y'all's time; whether it's baseball, fishing, hiking, or even a beer on the back porch, spring brings a lot of competition for a little column of country news and numbers.
Country Music Power Rankings
With it, March is here, the inevitable deluge of brackets, basketball, and corny March Madness jokes. For those of y'all here seeking refuge from them in a column on country music, I hate to say you're out of luck. To this lowly statistician, the week of MLB's Sweet Sixteen and Opening Day is objectively the greatest in sports. It has more close and exciting games, more passionate fanbases, and far less obnoxious commercialization than the Super Bowl.
Country Music Power Rankings (CC50)
The first big musical splash in 2025 (and no, I'm not referring to an unapologetically pop album winning Best Country Album at the Grammys over several fantastic candidates, which was extremely predictable) goes to Morgan Wallen, as he livened up what has been a slow start to the year with "I'm the Problem" just a few days ahead of February's CC50 voting.
Country Music Power Rankings (CC50)
Opening Day is 2 months away, and there's snow on the ground as I write this, but somehow, I'm still getting that feeling of anticipation as I look at this month's CC50 rankings. Sure, Zach Top and the Los Angeles Dodgers look unstoppable on paper right now with a 7-point Interest lead and a $400m payroll (I'll let you guess which one is which), but didn't we say that about Zach Bryan and the defending champion Texas Rangers last January?
Country Music Power Rankings (CC50)
Ah, Christmas in the country music time is the most wonderful time of the year when we get the obligatory Brett Eldredge Christmas album and not much else in the way of new music. But hey, that's the great thing about being the CC50 writer.
The 2024 Country Central Awards: The Staff Picks
Amidst the flurry of important year-end music awards (the CMAs last month, the ACMs next month, my old college roommate's mom's Spotify Wrapped on Instagram last week), we have finally reached the holy grail of music awards: the 2024 Country Central Awards. 11 of your favorite country music journalists put their heads together this past week and nominated the best of the best in 10 different categories. For each category, we voted for a winner and four honorable mentions.
Country Music Power Rankings, November '24 (CC50)
Much like the Edmund Fitzgerald, the gales of November came early to the CC50 with the Zach Top-alypse (there are lots more where that came from) howling into first place. After brewing all year, Top climbing into the top 5 felt inevitable, but leapfrogging ZB, Wallen, CoJo, and Combs in one month was a dramatic way to go about it. Sitting just under 3 points above second place Riley Green, Top now holds the distinction of holding the largest lead of any frontrunner in the history of the CC50.
Country Music Power Rankings (CC50)
We're in the final stretch of 2024, and artists are making the most of their final chances to impress voters before the end of the year. A flurry of albums in September and October moved the needle in October's voting, launching Riley Green into the top 3 for the first time, bringing Miranda Lambert, Thomas Rhett, and Chase Rice back into the CC50 after seeing strong Wildcard performances, and saving Muscadine Bloodline from what seemed like certain demotion last month.
Inside the CC50 (Country Music Power Rankings), Sept, '24
The leaves (at least here in East Tennessee, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the palms in Florida are still green) are just starting to change, and the heat is finally breaking, but the hot headlines powering the CC50 continue to roll in.
August '24 (CC50)
Well, folks, it's already August, and college football is just a week away! As sad as it is to bid farewell to summer lake days with Kenny and Alan, we'll get one last hurrah here on Labor Day weekend.
Country Music Power Rankings, May '24 (CC50)
School may be out, but your fearless Country Central team continues to tirelessly pump out CC50 content (read: one scatter-brained guy sitting in the sun, drinking a beer, and typing ideas to see what sticks).
Country Music Power Rankings, March '24 (CC50)
After last month's whirlwind of headlines and narratives, March gave us a much-needed breather. While there were more notable releases than in February, any month would feel routine after the deluge of arrests, label drama, and arguments about Beyonce that we had to brave last month.
Foundation Gala honors the late Cathy Scott with Heart of the Community Award
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For the Fourth
Fans fill the bowl at the Citizen-Tribune/Jefferson Federal Amphitheater in Cherokee Park of the Annual Independence Day Celebration. For full coverage of the event, including, photos, video and the Fireworks Spectacular presented by the Terry Law Firm, go online to www.citizentribune.com or see Thursday’s edition of the Citizen Tribune.
Chamber presents 2023 Awards of Excellence at annual luncheon
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Morristown-Hamblen West to debut Summer 2023
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Greenworks cuts ribbon on Morristown facility
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Greenworks cuts ribbon on Morristown facility
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Jolley Park to open June 4
Subscribe to us in Print and Online We offer a full suite of print and online subscription services for our customers. We offer day passes, monthly and yearly subscriptions. Today's Edition Subscription Services On this episode, Rob and Dylan recap the early week Region Tournament games and discuss Brady Smith and Tanner Franklin being named Mr. Baseball Finalists.
Stories for Good: Art and responsibility in crisis
Touring the River Valley: Winona County Lakeview The Lakeview Drive Inn has been a Winona favorite for decades. Rachel Mergen, Winona Daily News Hills Pictured are the hills lining Winona. Rachel Mergen, Winona Daily News Lake and High School Pictured is West Lake Winona, with the Winona Senior High School in the distance. Rachel Mergen, Winona Daily News Greenery Pictured is the greenery in Winona County. Rachel Mergen, Winona Daily News Hills Pictured are some of the many hills in Winona County.
4 crucial cybersecurity considerations
As the internet becomes an increasingly integral part of day to day life and commerce, it’s easy to forget the ever present threat of hackers and cyberattacks. However, hackers have refused to forget how easy it is for the average person to make a costly mistake when it comes to cybersecurity online. Businesses aren’t afforded the luxury of letting their guard down, however, because they are often targeted by hackers.
List: Morristown sixth best place in nation to work in manufacturing
Kimberly Moyers and Joshua Morales, of Morristown, announce the birth of a son, Braylon Lee Morales, born Dec. 1, 2019 at Morristown-Hamlen Healthcare System. He weighed 7 lbs., 13 oz. Braylon is the brother of Lil Joshua Morales, and the grandson of Jason Moyers, Lora Barnard, Tammy Kelly, …
Kelley Marie Chic Boutique Fashion Show raises money for Rose Center
Sidney Wolfe, of Tucson, Arizona, formerly of Morristown, passed away on Thursday, March 7, 2019. He joined the military and served his country for sixteen years with the U.S. Navy on the U.S.S. Coral Sea. Sidney was a very gifted singer, song writer, and composer of his music. He loved the …
Social Injustice Depends on the Size of the Tip
Economists who study markets, and others who believe that you pay for what you get, were appalled by how close Sen. Bernie Sanders came to winning the nomination of the Democratic Party. Some apparently imagined that the struggle against U.S. socialism had been won. Now they should see that it must be fought in every generation. As one economist muttered recently, “For people 30 years of age and younger, saying, ‘Bernie Sanders is a...
Daniel 'Bubba' Munson - Fredericksburg.com: Obituaries
Daniel “Bubba” Munson departed this life Monday, April 25, 2016. Remains rest with Owens Funeral Services, Fredericksburg where there will be a funeral at noon Saturday, May 7. Full obituary and online condolences are available at owensfuneralservices.com.
Daniel Munson - Fredericksburg.com: Obituaries
Daniel Munson of Spotsylvania County departed this life Monday, April 25, 2016, at his residence. Arrangements are incomplete at Owens Funeral Services, Fredericksburg.
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