Blackberry Smoke is back on top with the band's latest album, You Hear Georgia. A position Georgia-based southern rock outfit is used to, supported by an extremely loyal fan base. Released May 28, You Hear Georgia sold 12,239 copies in album-only sales. That's good enough to rank it # 1 in album sales in country and rock and # 3 in all music.
The album also saw nearly 1 million more streams in its debut week for total sales of 13,072 units. This is good enough to land at number 5 on the Billboard Country Albums chart behind mega-streamers Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs, and at number 2 on the Billboard Rock Albums chart after the recent release of 21 Pilots, Scaled and Icy .
To keep You Hear Georgia at the forefront of album sales across music was a mammoth performance of Taylor Swift's album Evermore, which was originally released on December 20, 2020. It was eventually released on vinyl later that week, selling a whopping 187,000 copies. a record for a vinyl track in the SoundScan era. This allowed Swift to surpass Olivia Rodrigo at number 2, who debuted her album Sour.
Blackberry Smoke was the first independent outfit to turn the album chart order upside down in 2015 when the release of Holding All The Roses rose to # 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. This was the first time a non-mainstream artist or band could accomplish this feat in modern times. Blackberry Smoke's 2016 album Like An Arrow did the same before Billboard began weighting streaming on the album charts.
You Hear Georgia first saw Blackberry Smoke as a producer with Georgia compatriot Dave Cobb and in collaboration with Jamey Johnson and Warren Haynes. The band also added two new members ahead of the album, percussionist Preston Holcomb and guitarist Benji Shanks, adding new dimensions to the music. The Smoke also worked with backup singers The Black Bettys.
Many rave about You Hear Georgia as Blackberry Smoke's best album to date.
