IS THAT REALLY COUNTRY?

IS THAT REALLY COUNTRY?

Unwelcome invaders or goodwill ambassadors?

Deborah Evans Price

While CREEM ain't too concerned with contrarianism for its own sake, we do in fact value a diversity of opinion. As far as country music goes, that means the current discourse about all us carpetbaggers. Industry authority Deborah Evans Price has been raisingan eyebrow at the genre’s gold rush of posers since the ’80s, so we asked for her take. She’s too sweet to really go hard on us (nary even a "bless their heart”), but it sure is nice to get some input outside the honky-tonk-themed bar in Brooklyn we’re currently writing this from. —Ed.

It’s 2024. Post Malone, Beyoncé, Lana Del Rey, and Shaboozey are invading the country charts, and even America’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll Magazine is jumping on the trend. Seems like everyone wants to be part of Nashville these days.

To the country neophyte, the current crossover stampede might seem exciting and new, but it’s been happening for decades. In 1958, future star Conway Twitty was playing rockabilly, but had his first No. 1 with the country B-side “It’s Only Make Believe.” In 1962, Ray Charles surprised his label and the public when he released Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. And in 1976, pop duo the Bellamy Brothers’ “Let Your Love Flow” became an international hit before siblings Howard and David crossed over to country.

Often, those who have decided to pursue their passion for country are met with skepticism. The Oak Ridge Boys’ William Lee Golden says, “When we came into country music, people said, ‘That ain’t country!”’ as they were a successful gospel group until their 1977 hit “Y’all Come Back Saloon” established them as a force in country. Golden continues, “But I know what country is, because that’s where I started." They’re now in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

In 1994, Alan Jackson poked fun at artists jumping on the bandwagon in his hit “Gone Country,” and now in 2024, Justin Moore released “Put a Boot in It,” with the opening lines: “I heard you moved to Music City from L.A./Traded your trap beats for a little twang/Tryna make a little money/Write some radio country.” He claims it’s tongue-in-cheek.

Addressing the gatekeeping from a historical perspective, legendary singer-songwriter Larry Gatlin asks rhetorically, “Does anyone really wish that Bob Dylan had not come and recorded his classic album Nashville Skyline at the Quonset Hut, one of the most famous and iconic recording studios in Nashville?”

Jim Murphy, director of country programming at Music Choice, explains: “The irony shouldn’t be lost that this subject was front and center 30 years ago, arguably the last time country was this red-hot. It’s no shock that people who make their living in a particular community take a dim view of ‘interlopers.’ Fans and purveyors of many other musical genres display a similar proprietary interest. But at the end of the day, country partisans will decide which of the crossover songs and artists are keepers and which are a passing fancy.”

A hit song is the best way to silence the naysayers, as Hootie & The Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker discovered when he made his foray into country music in 2008 with “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” becoming the first Black artist to score a No. 1 country hit since Charley Pride’s “Night Games” in 1983. “I knew there would be some hesitation,” Rucker tells CREEM. “Not only was I coming from Hootie, I also was a Black artist in a genre that really hadn’t seen many people who look like me. There were radio programmers who told me to my face that their audience would never accept a Black country singer, which was shocking to hear so directly. The music spoke for itself, though, and now the genre is more diverse than ever with artists like Kane Brown, the War and Treaty, Chapel Hart, and so many others, which is incredible to see.”

Record labels are hoping crossover acts will bring new fans. “Country music has always been healthiest when it widens its range of artistry, sound, and audience,” says Cindy Mabe, chair and CEO of Universal Music Group Nashville. “Women, bands, young artists, folk, and bluegrass instrumentation are all now being woven back into the fabric of this wide-ranging genre of music, and their voices have been missing for a while.”

Leslie Fram, senior VP of music and talent at CMT, agrees. “There is no doubt that the genre is evolving and having its biggest moment,” she tells CREEM. “Some of that is based on artists like Beyoncd and Post Malone celebrating a genre that has a deeper meaning to them. The positive effect is that this amplification continues to spread globally and open the door to diversity.”

Those who make their living in country music are hoping the latest round of crossover acts will bring fans who continue to embrace country music. “Anytime anyone wants to wave the ‘country flag’ to the world, it benefits everyone who works in that space,” Murphy says. “I think it’s too soon to say whether crossover acts have brought more listeners to country, when few, if any, of the artists and songs now getting country radio airplay are exclusive to country. The genre was already on an upswing before the most recent avalanche of crossover entries. But here’s where it does make a difference: Mainstream rock and pop acts diving headfirst into the genre helps make country more mainstream than it’s been in a very long time, especially considering the genre has been painted by some as exclusionary and unhip, fairly or unfairly.”

So who should be the next artist to jump on the bandwagon and give fans a country record? “I’m a big Bmce Springsteen fan and think his lyrics and storytelling are conducive for a country album,” says Fram.

Murphy has a different idea. “The ultimate fullcircle scenario would be for Taylor Swift to record a straight-ahead country project. No artist could inject more ‘cool’ into the genre than Taylor."

“Country music is the new rock ’n’ roll. Country music is the new pop,” Gatlin tells CREEM. “Splitting hairs over who’s who and what’s what is really a waste of time. Music is music. For those who have hurt feelings over pop stars recording country music, get over it."