Taylor Swift, Beyoncé? The reason country music is surging in popularity here, around the globe
Country acts are selling out in record time and Texan-style honky tonks are opening as a new generation of country music fans get their twang on. The reason country’s never been cooler.
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Forget the Boot Scootin’ Boogie, country music is booming like never before and attracting a new generation of fans but there is much more to it than Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, industry insiders say.
Country acts are selling out in record time, new Texan-style honky tonks are opening up here and it’s increasingly younger people – Generation Z, or Zoomers – who are embracing the genre, whether they grew up on it, or not.
When pop super star Beyoncé let loose her inner twang early this year and released Texas Hold ‘Em, the single seized top spot in the US on both the Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and all-genre Hot 100. Even US rapper Post Malone is “going country”, releasing a duet with country legend Dolly Parton.
Early this month three country artists had the most popular songs in the US with Luke Combs’ remake of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 hit Fast Car consistently dominating charts.
Concerts for the same 34-year-old artist from North Carolina – coined country’s newest mega star – reportedly sold out in less than two minutes, when he toured Australia last year.
US country superstar Lainey Wilson celebrates the momentum in her hit single, Country’s Cool Again.
Sell-out stadiums
South Australia’s homegrown queen of country Beccy Cole says she can’t recall a time in the past three decades when country was “cooler” or more popular than it is now.
“I’ve been singing country music for 30-something years … I started in my mum’s band (Wild Oats) as a kid in Adelaide and have always loved it,” she says.
“I have seen surges in popularity previously but what we are seeing now is pretty huge and definitely the biggest surge I have seen in the last three decades … it has never been like this.
“I think maybe some of the stigma that’s previously been attached to country music is no longer there, it is a little bit cooler … it is as much the country theme as the music people are loving.”
She points to the popularity of visiting international artists.
“Nashville artists are coming over and selling out stadiums, thousands and thousands of tickets, within minutes – Combs, I think, sold out in 90 seconds and Chris Stappleton, who is coming early next year, was the same,” she says.
“These artists are both undoubtedly country, there is no pop about them.”
Cole says she is noticing a changing demographic at her concerts with more younger faces in the crowd while trendier locations are also hosting country gigs, including in inner Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.
“I recently did the Perth Muster at the Claremont showgrounds – about five minutes drive from the CBD – and honestly looking out, it was the youngest audience I think I have ever played to,” she says of the buckles and boots-clad crowd.
“They were all dressed country and they loved it.
“I was one of half a dozen artists on that night and I got a real sense of this resurgence of country … it was the same a week later at the Melbourne Muster.”
Cole believes part of the lure of country is its relatability.
“I would like to think people love the storytelling aspect of country music; the lyrics are pretty literal and easy to relate to, about things that we all go through – hardship, breakups, heartache … cheating,” the host of ABC’s Saturday Night Country adds with a laugh.
“But country music is also a real comfort and can be therapeutic … there is a really clever turn of phrase that makes a great country song … it tells a real story and that is what country music is about.
“At the moment, nine out of 10 songs I get sent to me (for my radio show) are back to that real country rather than pop stuff.”
The Swiftie effect
Still, the Taylor Swift phenomenon is undeniable.
“I think it does come back to Taylor Swift,” Cole says.
“She started in country and I don’t think she has ever left it – she took it with her … as we know, she is so massively popular.
“I really feel she has single-handedly made it cool to be country … add in a bit of Beyoncé – who doesn’t get Texas Hold ‘Em in their head and can’t get it out?”
Cole’s long-time friend, SA singer-songwriter Amber Joy Poulton who has toured nationally with her show Coal Miner’s Daughter – a musical tribute to the life of legendary country singer Loretta Lynn – for seven years, agrees country is experiencing a healthy revival but isn’t so sure that Beyoncé is key.
“I honestly don’t think it is Beyoncé … I think it is more about what people are needing to hear, that we’re losing tolerance for songs that have no meaning,” she says.
“I have this theory that country music will always be here because it is music of substance … country music speaks to you because country music gets where you are coming; with life comes heartache, success, happy times, sad times … country music can make you both reminisce and heal.
“Life is pretty hard at the moment and many people are struggling with everything going on in the world … maybe because people’s lives are more complicated, they need those stories sung in country music?”
Poulton, who performed last month at a sold-out show in Adelaide with Troy Cassar-Daley, is preparing to head to the studio to record her fourth original country album.
“Things must be looking up (in the country music space) as I am a bit of a tight-arse and if I couldn’t make it successful I wouldn’t do it,” she laughs.
A new generation
Australian country icon Lee Kernaghan is planning to release his 16th studio album in 2025, more than three decades after Boys from the Bush first hit the airwaves.
The artist due to perform with country stars such as Cole, Kasey Chambers and Brad Cox at the Bend Classic in Tailem Bend in October, is buoyed by country music gaining traction – and new audiences.
“I think it is as exciting a time for country music as it has ever been, at least for as long as I can recall,” he recently tells Cole on her show.
“I am enjoying the music journey of our genre … the kids coming through now, the new generation; it’s so diverse (and) takes in all different types of influences.
“For me, I grew up listening to Merle Haggard, George Jones and Hank (Williams) Junior … Johnny Cash – I love that authentic, real country music.”
Among the newest country converts are Generation Z – those born between 1995 and 2009 – who are embracing the genre even if their parents didn’t.
Rising star country artists, Adelaide Hills sister duo Sienna, 18, and Ella, 21, McClean, are among them.
“We didn’t grow up with a lot of country music, our parents mainly listened to rock and pop,” Sienna says.
“Taylor Swift’s earlier stuff was kind of our first introduction to country music … but we love all the old country, traditional type of things, too, including Kasey Chambers … we’ve really immersed ourselves into it and are pretty proud to be associated with country music, to be honest.
“We just really love the whole storytelling aspect of it and how it feels … the authenticity of the genre.
“Adelaide has traditionally tended to be a bit more Indie and punk-oriented but country is really being embraced on the East Coast … I think when people actually see what country music is all about they understand why it is becoming so popular.”
Alabama-born country performer Drew Akin has lived in Adelaide for the past 15 years, after marrying a South Australian he met in his home country while touring with his US band Caddle.
Akin says he’s noticed country music is becoming more popular in Australia, particularly post Covid.
“It may be that we were all listening to more music and relating to some of the lyrics and themes that country music envelopes … country music talks about love, struggle and living your life,” he says.
“There are so many types of country music now which cater to all genders and lifestyles.”
He performs gigs at Adelaide’s themed bar Shotgun Willies, in Gilbert Place, which he describes as the “best honky tonk in the Southern Hemisphere.”
“The amount of people that come to see shows is amazing … there’s usually a long line out front of people wanting to get in,” he says.
New honky tonks
The venue’s Nick Oswald describes his inner-city bar as “authentic American saloon-style”.
“(It) immerses you in vintage country western decor straight out of the Midwest,” he says.
“Shotgun Willies was inspired by the vibrant American bar scene, including dive bars and honky tonks throughout the US.
“The name itself pays homage to the great Willie Nelson – his original song, Shotgun Willie, sits proudly on our front door … (it is) a popular live music venue that showcases a large number of celebrated local country musicians – people love that there is a space dedicated to live country music.”
And what is it that has people wanting to pull on a pair of boots and listen to some country?
“People like it loud, they want to sing their hearts out and dance all night … that formula and country music go hand-in-hand together,” Oswald said.
“It’s exciting to see the resurgence of country music and its growing influence in the music industry; the sound is increasingly impacting other genres and cultures, which is great to witness.
“Country has always been for everyone and anyone.”
His observations aren’t lost on Dylan Nettleton who, with partner Stacey Costopoulos, opened a saloon bar, 10 Gallon Hat, at Port Adelaide this year.
“We’ve taken inspiration from small bars in New Orleans and Austin Texas and it is going really, really well … we took a gamble but it has paid off, people are really resonating with it; they seem to be loving the vibe,” he says.
Music-loving Nettleton has played in small bands most his life and worked in hospitality in Melbourne and London before moving back to SA post Covid with schoolteacher and geologist Costopoulos.
He says country has “always been there” but attributes its coming into vogue in Australia to the rising popularity of “the American style of stuff”.
“There is a big soul resurgence as well, also in jazz, blues and rock ‘n’ roll … we’re seeing fusion, ‘jazzy-country’ bands too which are taking inspiration from old bands with more approachable stuff like Tom T. Hall and Merle Haggard,” he says.
“Perhaps it is just people are waking up and not looking at country as being corny, they are getting around it and going, ‘there are actually good artists out there’.”
Whatever the reason, there’s no denying “country’s cool again”, as Wilson sings: “ … Doggone, dadgum it, didn’t see that comin’, country’s cool again.”
Originally published as Taylor Swift, Beyoncé? The reason country music is surging in popularity here, around the globe
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