"Kick It in the Sticks" is a song co-written 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, ...

singer Brantley Gilbert. It was originally released in 2010 and re-released in 2012 as a single from his album '' Halfway to Heaven'' via the

Valory Music Group Ross Lamont Valory (born February 2, 1949) is an American musician who is best known as the original bass player for the rock band Journey (band), Journey from 1973 to 1985 and again from 1995 to 2020. Valory was inducted into the Rock and Roll H ...

. The song was by Gilbert, along with

Rhett Akins Thomas Rhett Akins Sr. (born October 13, 1969) is an American singer and songwriter. Signed to Decca Records between 1994 and 1997, he released two albums for that label (1995's '' A Thousand Memories'' and 1996's '' Somebody New''), followed by ...

and

Ben Hayslip Ben Hayslip (born March 11, 1970 in Evans, Georgia) is an American country music songwriter. Early life Hayslip first attended Valdosta High School in Valdosta GA where he was a freshman quarterback for the 1984 State and National champion Val ...

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

'' gave the song five stars out of five, writing that "while the aggressive guitars and spoken-word delivery can be intimidating, Gilbert's message couldn't be more welcoming." T. Ballard Lesemann, writing for the

Charleston City Paper This is a list of newspapers in South Carolina, United States. Current news publications The following is a list of current (print and web-based) news publications published in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Defunct 18th century Charlesto ...

, described the 2010 version as "an authentic redneck anthem that touches all the clichés", and compared it to

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

and

nu-metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu m ...

Music video

The music video, which was made for the 2010 version, was directed by Potsy Ponciroli. It depicts a rowdy party in the woods. T. Ballard Lesemann, writing for the

, described as looking like "something Kid Rock might have directed."

Charts and certifications (2012 version)

The 2010 release of "Kick It in the Sticks" had failed to chart, but the 2012 rendition went to number 29 on the U.S. ''

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 ...

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 and number 38 on the

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.

Chart performance

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2010 debut singles 2012 singles 2010 songs Brantley Gilbert songs Big Machine Records singles Songs written by Brantley Gilbert Songs written by Rhett Akins Songs written by Ben Hayslip Song recordings produced by Dann Huff