Well, it’s another Wednesday and that means we have another chart story to tell.  With nothing really big coming out and a sales increase of one percent, Jason Aldean jumps back into the Top 5 this week at #4 (behind only Adele, Seether and the Now 38 compilation album) on the SoundScan Hot 200 Albums (current) chart.  This means that Aldean has the best-selling country album for yet another week, a feat he definitely hand over to Brad Paisley next week as Brad leads the way of country new releases (but will not get the #1 overall slot on the all-genre chart because Lady Gaga has that locked down).  Aldean has now sold 1.2 million copies of My Kinda Party in 29 weeks on the charts.  Taylor Swift is a full 25 slots down the chart but retains the #2 selling country album this week with Speak Now while Zac Brown Band’s You Get What You Give switches places with Alison Krauss and Union Station’s Paper Airplane this week (#3 and #4 on the chart).  Thanks to Lauren Alaina’s singing of “If I Die Young” on American Idol this week, the Band Perry jumps up to #5 on the SoundScan Country Chart with their Gold-selling self-titled debut album. 

Rascal Flatts hits #6 this week with a slight 1% sales increase over last week, which is one of a few (along with Aldean and The Band Perry) to score positive sales traction last week.  Their single “I Can’t Let Go” is a Country Aircheck/Mediabase #1 while Brad Paisley and Alabama get #1 with “Old Alabama” on the Billboard single airplay chart.  Lady Antebellum’s most recent album Need You Now is next with the record officially in 3.5 million fans homes.  Their current single “Just A Kiss” – from the bands forthcoming third release – has sold nearly 500,000 copies since being released while Colt Ford’s Every Chance I Get has sold nearly 40,000 copies in three weeks with a new single named “She Likes To Ride In Trucks” set to be released very soon (the song features Craig Morgan).  Sara Evans’ Stronger is next with the star getting set to release “My Heart Can’t Tell You No” to radio as the follow up to the #1 comeback single “A Little Bit Stronger.”  The Country Strong soundtrack rounds out the Top 10 with another 7,000 fans taking the record home. 

Randy Travis’ Cracker Barrel-exclusive collection Randy Travis has found nearly 6,800 more fans to give him sales of over 20,000 in just three short weeks while Aaron Lewis has sold nearly 150,000 copies of the R&J Records album Town Line.  Miranda Lambert’s Revolution is next with the record finding over 6,200 more fans as last week’s #1 “Heart Like Mine” slides down the charts.  Kenny Chesney’s Hemingway’s Whiskey is next and has sold nearly 820,000 copies since coming on the market last fall.  Blake Shelton’s Loaded The Best of Blake Shelton has now sold nearly 264,000 copies while his single “Honey Bee” has hit the Top 10 in just seven weeks on the chart.

Sugarland’s The Incredible Machine leads the last quarter of our Top 20 country albums on the Hot 200 current SoundScan chart this week with another 5600 fans taking home a copy of the superstar band’s latest release.  Zac Brown Band’s debut album The Foundation is next with over 2.615 million copies now in the hands of fans while Thompson Square experienced a 9% increase of sales this week, thanks to Scotty McCreery’s performance of “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not” last week on American Idol.  Bluegrass up and comer Sarah Jarosz debuts at 19 this week with Follow Me Down, her sophomore release for Sugar Hill Records.  Donny & Marie’s self-titled duets album rounds out the rundown and has sold nearly 27,000 copies in three weeks on the charts. 

The interesting albums section starts with an update on Nashville folk/rock act The Civil Wars with Barton Hollow, a one-time SoundScan Hot 200 Top 5 album.  The fantastic record has now sold nearly 95,000 copies since their February 2011 release.  Look for them to get buzz all the way through to the Grammy Awards where they’re all but assured a slot in the Best New Artist category (and are current front-runners).  Tim McGraw’s Number One Hits continues to sell as the artist and label are embroiled in a lawsuit.  Jerrod Niemann’s Judge Jerrod and the Hung Jury continues to sell well (as he sets to release “One More Drinkin’ Song” this summer) while Josh Turner experiences a rebound with ICON, thanks to a well-timed appearance with Scotty McCreery on American Idol last week (making Josh Turner a Twitter ‘trending topic’ in the process).  The UMG-sourced budget greatest hits collection has now sold nearly 30,000 copies in 7 weeks on the charts (without any promotion outside of an endcap at Target with other “ICON” recordings.   Rounding out the rundown this week is John Rich with one of his two new SixPak’s Rich Rocks. The other SixPak For The Kids is a charitable endeavor so I’d have hoped that album would’ve garnered more interest and maybe it will now that he’s won the Celebrity Apprentice television show.

Next week Brad Paisley, Frankie Ballard and others land on the charts. Check back here to see where the chips fall.