Chris Stapleton’s Traveller hit #1 on country album chart for 1st of 29 weeks

Traveller Chris Stapleton

Released: May 5, 2015 Peak: 12 US, 129 CW, 67 UK, 4 CN, 47 AU Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, 0.1 UK, 6.19 world (includes US + UK) Genre: country

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Traveller (4/27/15, 87 US, 17 CW, 7x platinum) Fire Away (25 CW) Tennessee Whiskey (11/21/15, 20 US, 12 CW, 39 CN, sales: 6 million) Parachute (12/10/16, 78 US, 31 CW, platinum single) Whiskey and You (35 CW) Nobody to Blame (11/9/15, 68 US, 10a CW, 83 CN, platinum single) More of You When the Stars Come Out Daddy Doesn’t Pray Anymore Might As Well Get Stoned (44 CW) Was It 26 The Devil Named Music Outlaw State of Mind (45 CW) Sometimes I Cry Total Running Time: 63:04

Rating: 4.200 out of 5.00 (average of 13 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Like many country troubadours, Chris Stapleton cut his teeth as a songwriter in Nashville, churning out tunes that wound up hits in the hands of others. Kenny Chesney brought ‘Never Wanted Anything More’ to number one and Darius Rucker had a hit with ‘Come Back Song,’ but those associations suggest Stapleton would toe a mainstream line when he recorded his 2015 debut, Traveller. This new release, however, suggests something rougher and rowdier – an Eric Church without a metallic fixation or a Sturgill Simpson stripped of arty psychedelic affectations. Something closer to a Jamey Johnston, in other words, but where Johnston often seems weighed down by the mantle of a latter-day outlaw, Stapleton is rather lithe as he slides between all manners of southern styles.” AMG “Some of this smoothness derives from Stapleton’s supple singing. As the rare songwriter-for-hire who also has considerable performance chops, Stapleton is sensitive to the needs of an individual song, something that is evident when he's covering Tennessee Whiskey – a Dean Dillon & Linda Hargrove tune popularized by George Jones and David Allan Coe in the early ‘80s – lending the composition a welcome smolder.” AMG “The strength of Traveller lies in how he can similarly modulate the execution of his originals. He has a variety of songs here, too, casually switching gears between bluegrass waltz, Southern rockers, crunching blues, soulful slow-burners, and swaggering outlaw anthems – every one of them belonging to a tradition, but none sounding musty due to Stapleton’s casualness. Never once does he belabor his range, nor does he emphasize the sharply sculpted songs. Everything flows naturally, and that ease is so alluring upon the first spin of Traveller that it’s not until repeated visits that the depth of the album becomes apparent.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Chris Stapleton AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia First posted 8/1/2021; last updated 3/4/2024.