Caleb Buehrle

REVOLUTIONcoUNTRY BY CALEB BUEHRL E

Over time, music genres go through course-altering revolutions. The British Invasion, hip-hop becoming mainstream, and jazz music’s evolution into the swing era are just a few examples. Country music is doing the same thing right now . . . actually, check that. Country is going through two revolutions at the same time. And these two revolutions also happen to be competing with each other. The first of these is known as “pop country.” Pop country has been the more popular (no pun intended) trend within the last 10 years, with radio stations dominated by music that is as much pop as it is country. Artists like Thomas Rhett, Kane Brown, and Maren Morris are at the forefront of a blend of pop music and country music— an approach that aims to remove the confinements of genre, allowing artists to make whatever music they please.

This side of the genre is generally what gets the most radio airplay. It’s the least controversial, it pisses off no mainstream fans, and the vast majority of songs, such as Luke Bryan’s “Most People Are Good” and Niko Moon’s “Good Time,” are aimed solely to make you smile. It’s a lighter sound, not typically diving into deep topics. In the other corner, if you will, is the traditionalist movement aiming to bring country music back to its roots. What “roots” means is up for debate, but what is agreed upon is that hip-hop beats and collaborations with Diplo aren’t exactly what traditionalist fans have in mind. Instead, it’s a push for the genre to remind itself of its roots. Country music used to represent the average person—country legend Johnny Cash, for example, sang for the disenfranchised and beaten down of this country, not about how much of a redneck he was. Today, the genre—and especially the pop country side— has seemed to be on a mission to prove how “country” they are. In reality, this isn’t what makes country music country at all. What many traditional artists are trying to do is bring back the simplicity of the genre by using instruments that the common person can play and singing songs about what’s going on in actual people’s lives. Eric Church points this out in his song “Stick That In Your Country Song,” and Tyler Childers does the same in “Long Violent History.” Both songs are about how many within the country genre are ignoring the political issues of our nation, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, violence in our cities, and the fear teachers shoulder as they go to work every morning. While technically under the same genre, these two sects of country music couldn’t be further away from each other. One aims to break down the walls of genre, making music that isn’t “stuck” in one genre or another. The other side is aimed at taking the genre back, if you will, from those who don’t really care about the things that have made country music special for as long as it’s been around—the ability to share the triumphs and failures of the common American. As we progress through the 2020s, it will be interesting to watch how the mainstream sound of the genre changes and which side of the competing revolutions remains relevant. Furthermore, will the genre even be one genre anymore? Or will the traditional sound continue to be pushed into the “Americana” category? We wait and see.