Real Goblin

The Unprecedented Times –

October 27 / 2023

Country Music is Changing

It’s tough to say exactly when country music began to change for the worse. For a long time, country was a popular answer to the question: “what’s your least favorite genre of music?” And if you listened to the popular country hits of the 2000s and beyond, you’d be fairly justified in that opinion. There will always be outliers in any case, but somewhere past the year 2000, country took a sharp turn. In 1973, the top country hit was Charlie Rich’s mellow, iconic acoustic ballad “The Most Beautiful Girl”. Its use of percussion is a more era-appropriate modification to the classic country sound, but the genre’s roots from 40 years prior are still audible. Jump ahead another 40 years (almost to the day) and find Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” at the top of the charts. Beyond a comically exaggerated southern accent and a banjo buried somewhere in the mix, “Cruise” is difficult to trace back to its country origins.  And this is just one example of the kind of popular country that dominated the charts in the 2010s. 

The earliest country was more akin to folk music. In the 1930’s, the popularity of westerns began to influence musicians into a kind of cosplay. Songs were about cowboys, by “cowboys”. Later, the rise of rock and roll inspired the Honky Tonk movement, which prevailed for years and was adopted by artists like Elvis Presley. There were varying movements within country in the decades that followed. Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and dozens more would rise to stardom through the 70s and beyond. Early country was often narrative driven. It was beloved for its honest depiction of American life. The “protagonists” of these songs would tell tales of lonely, somber figures lamenting their failures, their faults and their troubles. Many of the enduring country classics through the mid to late 20th century share this style of songwriting. 

Country thrived well through the 90s, with the Dixie Chicks becoming the best selling American female band at the time. But that changed after 2001. 9/11 altered the country music scene in a way that seemed irreparable. As extreme patriotism swept the nation, country musicians shifted their focus. When the Dixie Chicks spoke out against the Bush administration’s war in the Middle East, former fans reacted similarly to the way certain delirious individuals reacted to Bud Light’s LGBTQ+ ads earlier this year. The Chicks were promptly rejected. One low resolution video from the era shows a tractor destroying the band’s CDs. This cemented what was already in motion: a rise in pro-American country music. Where the legendary musicians that made up the Highwaymen once critiqued the systems that oppressed minority Americans, the new horsemen of the country apocalypse went out of their way to single them out. Often not so thinly veiled xenophobia plagued the once vibrant, honest, contemplative genre. To get a sense of how different the artists of the 2010s strayed from their roots, look no further than this interview with The Highwaymen in 1991. Artists like Johnny Cash once used their platform to make progressive statements about America. Cash’s live prison albums were groundbreaking for the time, and still are to this day. After 2001, artists continued making statements, but in the opposite direction. The country music scene was never diverse but the door for that possibility was closed almost completely that day. At least, for the next 10 years or so. 

This was the trend in the years that followed. Country became the genre about the good old USA. Chart topping songs were suddenly shallower than they were in past decades. Take Luke Bryan’s “Country Girl (Shake it for Me)”, for example. This song landed the top spot on the country charts upon its release. Similar songs began to populate the top 10. It was this era where the often parodied themes of country became prevalent: trucks, beer, girls, etc. It began to seem as if there was no hope. Country and pop (which was suffering from problems of its own) were becoming ever intertwined. As Phoebe Bridgers once described, the radio was obsessed with “America-first rap country”. It seems even Taylor Swift saw the writing on the wall and shifted her musical focus elsewhere.

I’ve had tumultuous relationships with many genres over the years. I was once one of the irritating lot who would say they listen to anything but “rap and country”. I’ve had to make great strides toward remaining open minded about types of music I previously despised. Since my youth, I’ve come to find enjoyment in just about every genre. I am a firm believer that people could find songs they like in all corners of the musical spectrum. But I grew up in a rural environment. So whereas I didn’t hear a lot of rap or metal, whether I liked it or not, I was going to hear country.

My father used to play it in the car. But he was not a product of the 2000s. One of his favorites was “Jackson”, a spirited duet by Johnny and June Carter Cash. John Prine, Dolly Parton and Glen Campbell were also frequently in rotation. There were some more modern artists there too. Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, and the like. Another one of his favorites was Brad Paisley’s “I’m Gonna Miss Her”, which was a sort of tongue-in-cheek story about a man who chooses fishing over his woman. As stupid as it was, it shared some of the genre’s narrative themes. Ultimately however, I grew up with country music in the midst of the genre’s dark age. I didn’t like what I heard on the radio, so around the time I began to seek out my own tastes, I wrote country off entirely. But when I later began to explore genres I once thought forsaken, light appeared at the end of that long dirt road. 

This isn’t to say that there weren’t great artists in the genre all along. Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson have been upholding country’s values since the early 2010s. Chris Stapleton also deserves a great deal of credit. These artists rejected the trends that were present in the chart topping country songs of the era. Stapleton is not a showman. He’s said it himself. You won’t find him posing in front of a lifted truck or crooning over a trap beat. He simply loves his craft and wants to share it with others. Artists like Stapleton and Jason Isbell, one of the great songwriters of our time, have stayed true to the thoughtful songwriting that makes the genre great.

The release of Zach Bryan’s (not Luke Bryan, important distinction) self titled album has many rethinking country as a genre. Bryan’s songwriting harkens back to the kind of thoughtful songs of the genre’s origin. And along with Zach Bryan, new names arise – Tyler Childers, Colter Wall, Nick Shoulders and Charlie Crockett among them. 

Some of country’s signature sounds are even bleeding into other genres. But not in the same way they did in the 2010s. The twang of country guitars can be found across a variety of indie projects from the last few years or so. Faye Webster has demonstrated this in her recent work (especially Atlanta Millionaires Club), which perfectly blends the southern steel guitar with the R&B sounds of the city she grew up in (Atlanta, Georgia). This year alone is brimming with other examples. Mitski’s recent album, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, borrows some of those classic, somber country sounds. Slaughter Beach, Dog leaned into country/blues on their latest project. And at this point, Big Thief and Adrianne Lenker are masters of country/folk. On the other side of things, Kacey Musgraves is a country artist borrowing pop. And that’s not even mentioning the more “out there” acts like Orville Peck and Geese, who’ve been absolutely killing it of late with grand, explosive country rock. These could just be the current popular trends within these respective genres, but they ultimately have the same effect either way. It’s almost like exposure therapy. Country is a genre that many are quick to reject. When artists adopt some of the twangier sound into indie rock and pop, the listener is absorbing country whether they know it or not.

But what changed? Well, for one, a great deal of time has passed since 9/11. In the timeline of humanity, 22 years may not seem like much. But in the post-internet era, trends can shift rapidly. There’s a case to be made for the tastes of American audiences and their musical wants and needs. But really, music streaming planted the seeds for genre’s rebirth. Streaming is the eternal blessing and curse on the music industry. While artists can’t make the same living they could pre-internet, artists who don’t fit the popular mold can now find previously elusive audiences. Country has experienced musical shifts in the past, but the adoption of country sounds is widespread across many genres. An artist like Zach Bryan can approach the genre completely differently than an artist like Tyler Childers, whose music has an Appalachian quality to Bryan’s more traditional acoustic tone.

Radio hosts were once the wardens of their genres. But times have changed. Whereas the listener was once beholden to popular radio to determine what they heard, the tables have turned. Radio stations have to now pay attention to shifting internet trends. Does this mean the Country Top 40 is nothing but sophisticated, lyrical folk tunes? No. It still looks largely the same as it would have 10 to 20 years ago. Country is still not a very diverse genre. And Jason Aldean’s “Try That In A Small Town” is still in the top three songs as of writing this. It may not be happening overnight, but the genre is expanding to include more voices. The War and Treaty are a great example of this, as well as Mickey Guyton, who became the first Black woman to be nominated for Best Country Solo Performance in 2020. As bleak as the top 40 may seem, these modern artists are a glimmer of light in the darkness. There will always be the kind of people who have a concerning reverence for the kinds of lousy pro-America drivel that Bo Burnham parodied all those years ago. But for those who want to experience country as its pioneers intended, hope is in sight.

For a playlist that gradually exposes you to modern country that you might actually enjoy (including many of the artists mentioned above), go here.