Montevallo (album)

Montevallo
Studio album by Sam Hunt
Released	October 27, 2014
Recorded	2013–14
Genre	Country[1] R&B[1]
Length	38:19
Label	MCA Nashville
Producer	Zach Crowell Shane McAnally
Sam Hunt chronology
X2C (2014) Montevallo (2014)
Singles from Montevallo
"Leave the Night On" Released: June 16, 2014 "Take Your Time" Released: November 24, 2014 "House Party" Released: June 1, 2015[2] "Break Up in a Small Town" Released: September 21, 2015 "Make You Miss Me" Released: March 7, 2016[3]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Billboard	[5]
PopMatters	[1]

Montevallo is the debut studio album by American country music artist Sam Hunt. It was released on October 27, 2014, by MCA Nashville.^[6][7] Hunt co-wrote all 10 tracks on the album.^[8] The album was produced by Zach Crowell and Shane McAnally.^[9] "Cop Car" was previously recorded by Keith Urban on his eighth studio album Fuse, who released it as a single in January 2014.

In 2015, Montevallo was nominated for Best Country Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.^[10] It won the 2016 American Country Countdown Awards for Digital Album of the Year.^[11]

Singles

"Leave the Night On" was released as the lead single from the album on June 16, 2014. The song peaked at number one on both Hot Country Songs chart and Country Airplay chart, as well as peaking at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. As of February 2015, it has sold 1,002,000 copies in the United States.

"Take Your Time" was released as the second single from the album on November 24, 2014. The song became Hunt's most successful single to date, crossing over to pop and adult contemporary formats, peaking at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as topping both Hot Country Songs chart and Country Airplay chart. It topped the year-end charts on the Hot Country Songs chart in 2015. It has been certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA. As of March 2016, it has sold 2,001,000 copies in the United States.

"House Party" was released as the third single from the album on June 1, 2015. Like the previous singles, "House Party" also reached number one on both Hot Country Songs chart and Country Airplay chart. It peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. As of February 2016, it has sold 1,121,000 copies in the United States.

"Break Up in a Small Town" was released as the fourth single from the album on September 21, 2015. It peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became Hunt's first single to miss the top spot on the Hot Country Songs chart and the Country Airplay chart, peaking at number two on both charts. It has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. As of March 2016, it has sold 1,230,000 copies in the United States.

"Make You Miss Me" was released as the fifth single from the album on March 7, 2016. It topped the Country Airplay chart making Hunt the first solo male artist to land four number ones on the Country Airplay chart from a debut studio album. It peaked at number 2 on the Hot Country Songs chart and at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. As of September 2016, it has sold 607,000 copies in the United States.^[12]

Critical reception

Upon release, Montevallo received positive reviews from contemporary music critics, and drew heavy attention to Hunt's incorporation of hip hop, R&B, and pop music elements into the project. Elias Leight from Billboard provided a favorable review, describing "eighty percent of this album could compete easily in the top 40", and stated the album "comes from a guy with a hit on the country charts, but has little to identify it as country." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album 3.5 out of 5, saying that "Hunt is unabashedly a modern guy and his taste for busy electronic arrangements and facility with fleet-footed rhythms distinguish him from the pack of modern country bros...What grounds the album is his clean, commercial songwriting, heavy on hooks but also sturdily constructed. Ultimately, Hunt's ability to fuse his classical construction with modern flair and pass it off as no big thing is what makes his debut something more than just another album from the bro next door."^[4]

Commercial performance

The album debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number 3 and on the Top Country Albums chart at number one, with 70,000 sold for the week. The lead single from the album, "Leave the Night On" also reached number one at the same time on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, which made Sam Hunt the first in 22 years to reach the top of three country music charts simultaneously since Billy Ray Cyrus.^[13] Montevallo topped the Top Country Albums chart for nine non-consecutive weeks. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on April 14, 2015, and 2x Platinum on February 1, 2016.^[14] The album reached over a million in sales in the United States by February 2016.^[15] As of November 2016, the album has sold 1,228,100 copies in the United States.^[16]

For the year-end charts of 2015, Montevallo was ranked at number one on the Top Country Albums chart and at number eleven on the Billboard 200 chart.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Take Your Time"	Sam Hunt Josh Osborne Shane McAnally	4:02
2.	"Leave the Night On"	Hunt Osborne McAnally	3:12
3.	"House Party"	Hunt Zach Crowell Jerry Flowers	3:10
4.	"Break Up in a Small Town"	Hunt Crowell McAnally	3:49
5.	"Single for the Summer"	Hunt Crowell Osborne McAnally	5:10
6.	"Ex to See"	Hunt Osborne Matthew Ramsey	3:18
7.	"Make You Miss Me"	Hunt Osborne Ramsey	3:45
8.	"Cop Car"	Hunt Crowell Matt Jenkins	4:13
9.	"Raised on It"	Hunt Crowell Flowers	3:55
10.	"Speakers"	Hunt Kylie Sackley Brandon Hood	3:46

Personnel

Mix engineers

• Zach Crowell – "House Party", "Cop Car", "Single for the Summer", "Make You Miss Me", "Speakers"
• Billy Decker – "Leave the Night On", "Raised on It"
• Ryan Gore – "Take Your Time"
• Reid Shippen – "Break Up in a Small Town", "Ex to See"

Musicians

• Josh Burkett – electric guitar
• Tyrone Carreker – electric guitar, background vocals
• Chad Cromwell – drums
• Zach Crowell – programming, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, ganjo, piano, keyboards, background vocals
• David Davidson – violin, viola
• Mike Durham – electric guitar
• Fred Eltringham – drums
• Ian Fitchuk – piano, drums
• Jerry Flowers – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, ganjo
• Mickey Guyton – background vocals
• Sam Hunt – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, ganjo, piano
• Hillary Lindsey – background vocals
• Shane McAnally – background vocals
• Chris McHugh – drums
• Ron McNelly – electric guitar
• Devin Malone – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, pedal steel guitar, dobro
• Josh Osborne – background vocals
• Joshua Sales – drums
• Scotty Sanders – pedal steel guitar
• Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass guitar
• Matt Stanfield – piano, keyboards, organ
• Ilya Toshinsky – acoustic guitar, ganjo, mandolin

Production

• Brad Belanger – cover photo
• Kenley Flynn – production coordination
• Andrew Mendelson – mastering engineer
• Karen Naff – design
• Stephanie Wright – A&R

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2014–16) Peak position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[17] 167 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[18] 2 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[19] 60 Italian Albums (FIMI)[20] 83 New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[21] 7 Scottish Albums (OCC)[22] 50 UK Albums (OCC)[23] 93 US Billboard 200[24] 3 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[25] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2014) Position US Billboard 200[26] 184 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[27] 40 Chart (2015) Position US Billboard 200[28] 11 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[29] 1

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[30]	Platinum	80,000^^
Netherlands (NVPI)[31]	Platinum	40,000^^
United States (RIAA)[14]	2× Platinum	1,228,100[16]
^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. Easton, Anthony (19 November 2014). "Sam Hunt: Montevallo". Popmatters. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
2. "R&R :: Going For Adds :: Country". Radio & Records. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
3. "Sam Hunt's 5th single announced" (PDF). CountryAircheck. Retrieved Feb 29, 2016.
4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Montevallo review". Allmusic. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
5. Leight, Elias (October 30, 2014). "Album Review: Country Singer Sam Hunt Already Sounds Post-Country on His Debut Album". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
6. Allers, Hannahlee (September 12, 2014). "Sam Hunt Announces Debut Album". The Boot. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
7. Howell, Coti (September 16, 2014). "Sam Hunt Reveals 'Montevallo' Album Details". Taste of Country. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
8. Nicholson, Jessica (September 9, 2014). "Sam Hunt To Release 'Montevallo' In October". MusicRow. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
9. Bjorke, Matt (September 11, 2014). "Sam Hunt "Montevallo" Tracklist & Cover Art". Roughstock. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
10. "Final Nomination List : 58th Grammy Awards" (PDF). Grammy Award. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
11. Angela Stefano (May 1, 2016). "2016 American Country Countdown Awards Winners List". The Boot.
12. Bjorke, Matt (September 19, 2016). "Top 30 Digital Singles Chart: September 19, 2016". Roughstock.
13. Jessen, Wade (November 7, 2014). "Sam Hunt Scores Country Charts Feat Last Achieved 22 Years Ago". Billboard.
14. "American album certifications – Sam Hunt – Montevallo". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
15. Caulfield, Keith (February 2, 2016). "Sam Hunt's 'Montevallo' Hits 1 Million Sold in the U.S.". Billboard. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
16. Bjorke, Matt (November 2, 2016). "Special Report: Catalog Country Album Sales: October 2, 2016". Roughstock.
17. "Ultratop.be – Sam Hunt – Montevallo" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
18. "Sam Hunt – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Sam Hunt.
19. "Dutchcharts.nl – Sam Hunt – Montevallo" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
20. "Italiancharts.com – Sam Hunt – Montevallo". Hung Medien.
21. "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. July 11, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
22. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
23. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
24. "Sam Hunt – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Sam Hunt.
25. "Sam Hunt – Chart history" Billboard Top Country Albums for Sam Hunt.
26. "Billboard 200 Albums: Year-End top-selling albums across all genres". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media.
27. "Top Country Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
28. "Billboard 200 Albums: Year-End 2015". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
29. "Top Country Albums: Year-End 2015". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
30. "Canadian album certifications – Sam Hunt – Montevallo". Music Canada.
31. "Dutch album certifications – Sam Hunt – Montevallo" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers.