How Country Feels
{{Infobox album
| name = How Country Feels
| type = studio
| artist = Randy Houser
| cover = HowCountryFeelsCD.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|2013|1|22}}
| recorded = 2012–2013
| venue =
| studio =
- The Monostary, The Insanery and OmniSound Studios (Nashville, Tennessee)
| genre = Country
| length = 56:30
| label = Stoney Creek
| producer = Derek George
| prev_title = They Call Me Cadillac
| prev_year = 2010
| next_title = Fired Up
| next_year = 2016
| misc = {{Singles
| name = How Country Feels
| type = studio
| single1 = How Country Feels
| single1date = May 7, 2012
| single2 = Runnin' Outta Moonlight
| single2date = March 4, 2013
| single3 = Goodnight Kiss
| single3date = September 23, 2013
| single4 = Like a Cowboy
| single4date = May 19, 2014
}}
}}
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|title=How Country Feels review|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0002460477|pure_url=yes}}|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=February 5, 2013}}
| rev2 = Country Weekly
| rev3 = Taste of Country
}}
How Country Feels is the third studio album by American country music artist Randy Houser.{{cite news|last=Whitaker|first=Sterling|title=Randy Houser Announces ‘How Country Feels’ Track Listing, Release Date|url=http://tasteofcountry.com/randy-houser-how-country-feels-release-date/|accessdate=December 25, 2012|newspaper=Taste of Country|date=December 7, 2012}} It was released on January 22, 2013, through Stoney Creek Records.{{cite news|title=Randy Houser 'How Country Feels' Album Release Date, Cover, Track List Revealed|url=http://www.theboot.com/2012/12/04/randy-houser-how-country-feels-album-release-date/|accessdate=December 25, 2012|newspaper=The Boot|date=December 4, 2012}} Houser wrote seven of the album's fifteen tracks.{{cite news|last=Wyland|first=Sarah|title=Randy Houser Will Release How Country Feels on January 22|url=http://blog.gactv.com/blog/2012/12/05/randy-houser-will-release-how-country-feels-on-january-22/|accessdate=December 25, 2012|newspaper=Great American Country|date=December 5, 2012}} The album was produced by Derek George, a former member of the bands Pearl River and Williams Riley. The album's first single, the title track, became Houser's first Number One song on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.{{cite news|last=Evans-Price|first=Deborah|title=Randy Houser, 'How Country Feels' Has New Father Opening Up Like Never Before|url=http://www.theboot.com/2013/01/22/randy-houser-how-country-feels/|accessdate=January 25, 2013|newspaper=The Boot|date=January 22, 2013}} Its second single, "Runnin' Outta Moonlight", was released to country radio on March 4, 2013. Both singles were certified Platinum by the RIAA. The album's third single, "Goodnight Kiss", was released to country radio on September 23, 2013. The album's fourth single, "Like a Cowboy", was released to country radio on May 19, 2014. The third and fourth singles were certified Gold.
The album had sold 228,000 copies in the US as of January 2015.{{cite news |url=http://roughstock.com/news/2015/01/31909-country-album-chart-report-january-8-2015/ |title=Country Album Chart Report For January 8, 2015 |author=Matt Bjorke |date=January 8, 2015 |work=Roughstock |access-date=January 12, 2015 |archive-date=February 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215060208/http://roughstock.com/news/2015/01/31909-country-album-chart-report-january-8-2015/ |url-status=dead }} sales figures given [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1olQ5bXhz7Ca_JSD9Y0MlBWtbI3Asv46bAlTeFrLCBHk/edit#gid=0 here]
Content
The album features a duet with Kristy Lee Cook on "Wherever Love Goes," which was later re-recorded and released in August 2013 as a single with Cook as the lead artist and Houser as the featured artist.
Critical reception
Giving How Country Feels an A-minus, Tammy Ragusa of Country Weekly praised the "authenticity" of Houser's voice and said that the "project is overflowing with hooky, singalong tracks."{{cite journal|last=Ragusa|first=Tammy|date=January 28, 2012|title=Reviews: How Country Feels|journal=Country Weekly|volume=20|issue=44|page=50|issn=1074-3235}} Taste of Country gave the album four stars out of five, saying that it was an "even effort with no bruises, but few moments that take your breath away," and saying Houser proved he "is one of country music’s top male vocalists."{{cite web | url=http://tasteofcountry.com/randy-houser-how-country-feels-album/ | title=Randy Houser, ‘How Country Feels’ – Album Review | publisher=Taste of Country | date=January 22, 2013 | accessdate=January 23, 2013}}
Track listing
{{tracklist
| total_length = 56:30
| title1 = Runnin' Outta Moonlight
| writer1 = Dallas Davidson, Ashley Gorley, Kelley Lovelace
| length1 = 3:13
| title2 = Growin' Younger
| writer2 = Randy Houser, Brett James, Justin Weaver
| length2 = 4:53
| title3 = Top of the World
| writer3 = Rob Hatch, Vicky McGehee, Lance Miller, Jason Sellers
| length3 = 3:17
| title4 = The Singer
| writer4 = Drew Smith, Trent Willmon
| length4 = 4:20
| title5 = Power of a Song
| writer5 = Houser, Cory Batten, Kent Blazy
| length5 = 3:42
| title6 = Absolutely Nothing
| writer6 = Lee Brice, Joe Leathers, McGehee
| length6 = 3:02
| title7 = Wherever Love Goes
| note7 = with Kristy Lee Cook
| writer7 = Sellers, Neil Thrasher, Paul Jenkins
| length7 = 4:16
| title8 = Like a Cowboy
| writer8 = Houser, Brice Long
| length8 = 4:22
| title9 = How Country Feels
| writer9 = McGehee, Wendell Mobley, Thrasher
| length9 = 3:05
| title10 = Along for the Ride
| writer10 = Zac Brown, Levi Lowrey, Houser
| length10 = 3:35
| title11 = Sunshine on the Line
| writer11 = Davidson, Houser
| length11 = 3:20
| title12 = Goodnight Kiss
| writer12 = Hatch, Sellers, Houser
| length12 = 3:26
| title13 = Let's Not Let It
| writer13 = Ash Bowers, Lisa Hentrich, Thrasher
| length13 = 3:10
| title14 = Shine
| writer14 = Mobley, Thrasher, Trent Summar
| length14 = 4:57
| title15 = Route 3 Box 250 D
| writer15 = Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip, Houser
| length15 = 3:52
}}
Personnel
Musicians and Vocals
{{div col}}
- Randy Houser – vocals
- Derek George – keyboards, programming, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, backing vocals
- Steve Nathan – keyboards
- John Henry Trinko – keyboards
- Casey Wood – keyboards, accordion, percussion
- Tom Bukovac – electric guitar
- J.T. Corenflos – electric guitar
- Troy Lancaster – electric guitar
- B. James Lowry – acoustic guitar
- Rob McNelley – electric guitar
- James Mitchell – electric guitar
- Mike Johnson – pedal steel guitar
- Scotty Sanders – pedal steel guitar
- Lee Hendricks – bass
- Michael Rhodes – bass
- Lonnie Wilson – drums, percussion
- Mickey Raphael – harmonica
- Larry Hall – string arrangements
- Vanessa Campagna – backing vocals
- Kristy Lee Cook – backing vocals, vocals (7)
- Wes Hightower – backing vocals
- Russell Terrell – backing vocals
{{div col end}}
Production
- Derek George – producer, additional recording, editing
- Casey Wood – recording, mixing, additional recording, editing, production coordinator
- Elijah Sandoval – assistant engineer
- Andrew Mendelson – mastering at Georgetown Masters (Nashville, Tennessee)
- Mike Molinar – production coordinator
- Glenn Sweitzer – art direction, design, photography
- David McClister – photography
- Alicia Yantz – photography
- Tina Crawford – label copy
- Fitzgerald Hartley, Co. – management
Chart performance
=Album=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (2013)
! Peak |
|---|
| US Billboard 200
| align="center"| 11 |
| US Billboard Top Country Albums
| align="center"| 3 |
| US Billboard Independent Albums
| align="center"| 3 |
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|award=Gold|artist=Randy Houser
|title=How Country Feels|relyear=2013|certyear=2017|access-date=February 10, 2017}}
{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true | noshipments=true | streaming=true}}