Throughout its storied history, country music has been one of the genres to not only maintain relevancy, but also transcend generations that follow the genre. Country music feels like one of the only genres that actively tries to engage with different age ranges within their consumers. Today, we will be exploring a few reasons on why this assumption may be correct.
Reason #1: Authenticity in Storytelling
The first and main reason that country music continues to transcend across multiple generations is its authenticity in telling stories that resonate with its listeners. Listeners want to consume music that will make them feel a certain way or generate a certain emotion that they feel at the time. In this case, many songs can bring someone back to a time in their life, where the song could be relatable. At the end of the day, that is what music is supposed to do. In Stephen Wilson, Jr.’s newest release, “I’m A Song,” he discuss how we correlate moments of our lives with the music that we listened to at that time. When discussing songs that span across multiple decades, the country genre seems to do this in the most effective manner. Through this, it helps listeners connect with themselves and bring a sense of cultural identity within themselves.
Reason #2 – Legacy Artists on Tour
The second reason that we will be exploring is the idea of legacy acts. In country music, many new artists that go on tour decide to take an older artist, or legacy act, on the road with them throughout the year. With this, older artists are able to continue connecting with their generation, but also have the ability to promote themselves and their music to new listeners who have not heard of them before. There have been examples of this happening recently. For example, on his “Ain’t My Last Rodeo” tour in 2024, Riley Green made the decision to bring out Tracy Lawrence as his direct support act. With this, Lawrence was able to regain popularity in the current country landscape, where he now hosts a successful podcast. Another example is going to be Morgan Wallen this year. For his “I’m the Problem” tour, he is bringing out Brooks & Dunn, which is an artist that will be able to regain relevancy with new listeners. However, Brooks & Dunn have done a great job with staying relevant, as they have put out two reboot albums with newcomers in the country music genre. In our opinion, this is one of the best ways that country music cares for its trailblazers.
Reason #3: Artists Aren’t Pushed Out of the Genre
The third reason surrounds this idea of artists not being pushed out. In other genres, especially pop, most artists are given a shelf life. This is due to many other genres having a “what have you done for me lately” mindset. However, with country music, that seems to be far from true. Many artists, like the two featured above, have consistently been supported by their labels and radio airplay. For example, Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney have both been active in the country genre, since 1993. That is over thirty years ago! Both artists still have successful headlining tours, continue to find radio success, and have number-one singles. Another example of this would be Blake Shelton, who has been active since 2001 (almost twenty-five years ago). Due to this, artists who are aging can still have motivation and not having fear of being pushed out.
Reason #4: Abundant Amount of Sub-Genres
The fourth and final reason why country transcends generations is the idea of sub-genres. As country music has continued to evolve, there has been an abundant amount of sub-genres that have been invented. This all started back in the 1970s, when pop country had a massive influence on the production of country music. Nowadays, there are sub-genres, such as pop country, bro country, country rock, hip-hop influenced, and country western swing that are being made. Therefore, it brings consumers from other genres to come and be involved in the country music genre.
Conclusion
Due to these reasons, country music has been able to reach a multitude of people across generations. If you enjoyed this blog, be sure to go check out our welcome blog. If you want more exclusive content, be sure to go sign up for our newsletter. Thanks and God Bless!
