"Any Ol' Barstool" is a song written by

Deric Ruttan Deric J. Ruttan (born January 27, 1972) is a Canadian country music singer, songwriter and record producer from Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada. A Nashville, Tennessee resident, he has released four studio albums and has written or co-written more ...

and Josh Thompson and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Jason Aldean Jason Aldean (born Jason Aldine Williams; February 28, 1977) is an American country music singer. Since 2005, he has been signed to BBR Music Group, Broken Bow Records, a record label for which he has released ten albums and 40 singles. His 2010 ...

. It was released on December 5, 2016, by

Broken Bow Records BBR Music Group (formerly Broken Bow Records) is an American record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in July 1999 by Benny Brown, the label specializes in country music. The label's executive vice president is Jon Loba. Craig Morgan ...

as the third single from Aldean's seventh album '' They Don't Know'' (2016). "Any Ol' Barstool" gave Aldean his thirteenth number-one hit on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart and his eleventh top 5 hit on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart. It also reached outside the top 50 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart. The song achieved similar chart success in Canada, giving Aldean his eighth number-one hit on the

Canada Country The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart and reaching number 100 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

. It was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

Music Canada Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It a ...

for selling over 40,000 units in that country. An accompanying music video for the single, directed by

Shaun Silva Shaun Silva is a music video director who works primarily in the country music field. He has directed a number of music videos for many country music artists, including many of Kenny Chesney's music videos. His other clients include Jason Aldean, ...

, features Aldean playing in an empty bar against the story of a quarreling couple.

Background

"Any Ol' Barstool" was written by

and Josh Thompson, and came into fruition during their first writing appointment together, where Thompson threw out the title and they completed it in quick fashion. It was originally not meant for Aldean before he heard it from producer Michael Knox, and fell in love with its "traditional country" aesthetic and called it "one of the most well-written songs" on '' They Don't Know''.

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of ''Taste of Country'' called it "a guitar-heavy rocker" that allows Aldean to deliver a "vocal showcase" throughout the runtime, concluding that: "Aldean's good at nostalgia, be it in a song about simple times that flew by too fast or more complicated affairs he wishes he could revisit. His understated performance on this song allows one to impute their own emotion into the ballad, an "

Ocean Front Property ''Ocean Front Property'' is the seventh studio album by American country music artist George Strait, released on January 12, 1987, by MCA Records. It is certified 2× Multi-platinum by the RIAA. It is the first album to debut at #1 on the Billboar ...

" kind of story updated to fit his style. In 2017, ''

'' contributor

Chuck Dauphin Charles Frederick Dauphin III (February 17, 1974 – September 18, 2019) was an American sports and country music journalist. He was a radio broadcaster for WDKN in Dickson, Tennessee Dickson is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Located in ...

put "Any Ol' Barstool" at number six on his top 10 list of Aldean's best songs.

Commercial performance

"Any Ol' Barstool" debuted at number 93 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the week of February 11, 2017. Eleven weeks later, it reached number 52 the week of April 29, and stayed on the chart for eighteen weeks. The song has sold 166,000 copies in the United States as of May 2017. In Canada, the track debuted at number 45 on the Canada Country chart the week of January 14, 2017. Twelve weeks later, it peaked on the week of April 8, and stayed on the chart for twenty weeks. It also debuted and peaked at number 100 on the Canadian Hot 100 the week of April 22. On January 11, 2018, "Any Ol' Barstool" was certified gold by Music Canada in Canada for selling over 40,000 units.

Music video

A lyric video for "Any Ol' Barstool" premiered on Aldean's

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

channel on December 5, 2016. The official music video was directed by

and premiered in 2017. The video tells the story of a couple fighting with each other and going about their day afterwards: the man works as a bartender mixing "business and pleasure" with both his buddies and his woman's friends while she waits at home for his text messages. Intercut are scenes of Aldean performing in an empty bar.

Charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Controversy

This song was partially banned from YouTube after Las Vegas shooting in 2017 since the first shots were fired while Aldean was singing this song at the end of the concert.

References

{{authority control 2016 singles 2016 songs Jason Aldean songs BBR Music Group singles Music videos directed by Shaun Silva Song recordings produced by Michael Knox (record producer) Songs written by Deric Ruttan Songs written by Josh Thompson (singer)