Hillbilly Bone

Hillbilly Bone is the first extended play, and seventh studio release overall, by American country music singer/songwriter Blake Shelton and the first recording by Chris Thomas. It was released on March 2, 2010 (see 2010 in country music) via Warner Music Group Nashville, his first album under its Reprise label. The only single released was the title track, a duet with Trace Adkins which was released to radio in November 2009. This song reached number one on the U.S. Billboard country singles charts in April 2010.

Hillbilly Bone
EP by
Blake Shelton
ReleasedMarch 2, 2010
GenreCountry
Length23:39
LabelReprise Nashville
ProducerScott Hendricks
Blake Shelton chronology
Startin' Fires
(2008)		 Hillbilly Bone
(2010)		 All About Tonight
(2010)
Singles from Hillbilly Bone
  1. "Hillbilly Bone"
    Released: October 24, 2009
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Country Weekly[2]
Slant Magazine[3]

Content

The album's title track, which features a guest vocal from Trace Adkins, was released on October 24, 2009 as the lead-off single.[4] One month prior to the EP's release, this song reached the country Top 10 and in March it became his sixth Number One. The track "Kiss My Country Ass" was co-written and previously released by Rhett Akins on his 2007 album People Like Me.[5] Shelton wrote the song "Delilah" about a dog owned by Miranda Lambert, his then-girlfriend, later-wife and now-ex-wife.[5] Shelton told Country Weekly magazine that this project is part of an experiment to release three extended plays a year, so that he can offer his fans more material per year "for a bargain price."[5]

Critical reception

Jessica Phillips of Country Weekly, Thom Jurek of Allmusic and Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine all gave the EP three stars out of five. Phillips wrote that it "finds Blake Shelton coming into his own when it comes to song selection." She also called "Delilah" the strongest-written track on it.[2] Jurek called its material "formula contemporary country" and said that the label's decision to release multiple EPs instead of an album was "risky."[1] Jonathan Keefe criticized the "compressed" production and the lyrics of "Hillbilly Bone" and "Kiss My Country Ass," but commended the recording for having a common theme among its songs.[3]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums, and number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 71,000 copies in its first week of release.[6]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hillbilly Bone" (duet with Trace Adkins)Luke Laird, Craig Wiseman5:43
2."Kiss My Country Ass"Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, Jon Stone4:12
3."You'll Always Be Beautiful"Lee Brice, Jerrod Niemann, Stone3:46
4."Can't Afford to Love You"Akins, Ben Hayslip, Jimmy Yeary3:23
5."Delilah"Blake Shelton4:05
6."Almost Alright"Clint Lagerberg, Wiseman3:10

Personnel

Charts
Chart (2010) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 2
U.S. Billboard 200 3

End of year charts
Chart (2010) Year-end
2010
US Billboard 200 155[7]
US Billboard Top Country Albums 27[8]

Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions
US Country US CAN
2009 "Hillbilly Bone" (with Trace Adkins) 1 40 84

References
  1. Jurek, Thom. "Hillbilly Bone review". Allmusic. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  2. Phillips, Jessica (8 March 2010). "Album reviews". Country Weekly. 17 (10): 54. ISSN 1074-3235.
  3. Keefe, Jonathan (8 March 2010). "Hillbilly Bone review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  4. Price, Deborah Evans (2010-01-12). "Blake Shelton "Hillbilly Bone" preview". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
  5. Tucker, Ken (8 March 2010). "Same as He Ever Was: Blake Shelton hasn't changed, but he has become more comfortable with who he is and where he's going". Country Weekly. 17 (10): 36–40. ISSN 1074-3235.
  6. http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/959073/lady-antebellum-returns-to-no-1-on-billboard-200
  7. "Best of 2010 - Billboard Top 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  8. "Best of 2010 - Top Country Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
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