SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO, RECONSIDERED

A newly released single aims to move the meter in terms of shifting the way women are portrayed in country songs. “Wild Child,” which reunites Kenny Chesney with Hollywood Records firebrand Grace Potter, considers a woman’s place in country music today—a crucial talking point during this bro-country era. The latest single from Chesney’s chart-topping 2014 album The Big Revival (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville), “Wild Child” is most added at Country radio this week.

While Potter is a rocker to the core, she’s become familiar to country listeners over the last few years. After initially teaming with Chesney on the 2011 country hit “You and Tequila,” Potter and her band the Nocturnals opened for Chesney and Tim McGraw on their 2012 summer stadium tour, putting them in front of the biggest crowds of their decade-plus career.

Potter and the Nocturnals have completed their fifth studio album for Hollywood with producer Eric Valentine (Queens of the Stone Age, Nickel Creek, Good Charlotte); a June release date penciled in.