Thoughts on country music?

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GreenBeanTM@reddit

“Green big tractor” was a slow song at every high school dance I went to (probably still is lol)

There’s some songs I like, and truth be told is rare for me to genuinely dislike any music regardless of genre, but I don’t actively seek out country music.

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dangerousdave2244@reddit

John Denver is folk music, not country

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SabresBills69@reddit

Folk is a descendant of country just like rock is

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Dangerous-Safe-4336@reddit

Could as easily say country is a descendant of folk. They have a common parent on the music brought by the Scots and northern English to the Appalachians.

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RhinoPillMan@reddit

Folk and country intersect and overlap heavily. Even Mexican folk and country music is pretty intertwined.

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DrBlankslate@reddit

And yet, I doubt Denver would ever have identified himself as a country artist. He was a folk man.

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Dangerous-Safe-4336@reddit

I doubt they would have allowed him into that club. It was pretty exclusive.

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flashman014@reddit

Mr. Sunshine on my god damned shoulders, John Denver. Well I'll be damned if Mr Rich didn't light that award on fire in front of everyone.

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RonPalancik@reddit

No one associated with that song had any familiarity with West Virginia, by the way. It was written in DC about Maryland and the rough draft lyric was "almost heaven, Massachusetts."

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I like 1970s singer-songwriter country, like Gordon Lightfoot, Kris Kristofferson, even John Denver if you want to call that country. I also quite like some earlier acts like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Marty Robbins.

I'm not so big on "wagon wheel" old country or most modern country. The pop songs about how my dog died in my truck with my guns and my girl can GTFO.

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DreamCrusher914@reddit

Good country music tells a story. It may be one about friends in low places, or a mom pimping out her daughter, or stuffing the body of a dead abusive husband in the trunk… but it’s going to paint you a picture and make you feel like you were there. Country music was almost a form of therapy for people in the south before therapy was easily accessible. Love and loss are common themes, but good country music really speaks to your soul.

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BlasphemousRykard@reddit

Your average Redditor is going to skew against country music because most of them aren’t southerners, but country is incredibly popular in the south and southeast. Country has had a pretty big surge in popularity in the past few years, with people like Shaboozey and BigXThaPlug mixing hip hop into country, Post Malone and Beyoncé pivoting into country music, Tyler Childers getting big on TikTok as a more indie country artist, and Ella Langley getting big recently. Even friends of mine who don’t listen or like country know these artists and like some of their songs.

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_Purple_Lobster_@reddit (OP)

I'm not southern I'm polish but me and my dad love country music😭

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DreamCrusher914@reddit

What country singers do you listen to?

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ObligationConstant83@reddit

Country is huge in the Midwest as well. My personal taste is less pop country. And pop country is hated on by people who think of the selves as true country fans, but there is tons of excellent music from all subgenres being made if you know what you like and do targeted searching.

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Saltpork545@reddit

I'm one of these people. I grew up on country and stuff like modern bluegrass.

I don't care much for pop country, but there's people who like it. Que sera sera.

I also dislike some of the hickhop and country rap stuff that's come out like Yelawolf. Just not my thing, despite me liking other forms of rap, including newer stuff. I prefer phonk and stuff that evolved mostly from Memphis doom rap.

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Rocket1575@reddit

I'm in the rural Midwest and it's huge here. My grandpa listened to a lot of Hank William's, my dad liked the outlaw country of the 70s, and im a big fan of the 90s neo traditional stuff.

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_Purple_Lobster_@reddit (OP)

Also country music is too overheated

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Longjumping_Bar_7457@reddit

Not a fan

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dmevela@reddit

Country is one of my favorite genres of music after hard rock/metal.

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aloofman75@reddit

It’s a gigantic nah. I will enjoy any situation less if I have to hear country music while doing it.

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2Asparagus1Chicken@reddit

Reddit hates country.

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Spirited-Way2406@reddit

I like the new stuff when it's close to the good old "four chords and the truth" style, also when it gets some honky tonk going. The rest of it, ehhh.

But I never liked the big orchestral country sound even when it was brand new--with a few exceptions, such as "Wichita Lineman."

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mildorf@reddit

I think some of people here dumping on modern country wouldn’t be able to name a CMA winner from the last 3 years. Heartache Medication is my favorite country album of the 2010s, and is essential roadtrip music. John Pardi isn’t even that popular anymore but I went to his and Cody Johnson’s show this year at the Houston Rodeo and it was the most fun I’ve had at a rodeo concert in a long time.

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beaniesandbuds@reddit

Went and saw Cody Jinx not long ago, ans even my very suburban Asian partner was loving the concert.

(I only specified Asian because so many people think Country Music is specifically a White People thing...)

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Money-Ad7257@reddit

I used to hate it as a kid, but I began liking it in young adulthood. And generally the wide swath of it, from outlaw things to pop tunes that you might miss at first listen that it's merely a lady from the south with a twang singing a "normal" tune, such like the German pop music called "Schlager" that I've heard which often sounds similar. And places in the middle.

As a musician, I also get a kick out of listening for the very good studio musicians present on these recordings, known through the decades as versatile players in their own right who generally play at roughly one-tenth of their abilities and record a song in about a half hour or less.

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4Q69freak@reddit

I listen to mostly RedDirt and Texas country. Jason Boland and The Stragglers just had their song My Baby Loves Me When I’m Stoned covered by Willie Nelson and Shooter Jennings.

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Honest_Road17@reddit

"Country Music" is a huge umbrella. Modern Country is mostly hip hop for rednecks, but I do like Outlaw Country. How could you not love Johnny Cash?

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Ryan_TX_85@reddit

Excellent way to put it. Give me fiddles, banjos, and steel guitar over the snappy, rappy hip-hop influenced stuff that's being called "country" in the 2020s.

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devnullopinions@reddit

I think I’ve watched the music video for his cover of hurt like every month since it came out in the 2000s, so good

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SAM5TER5@reddit

Chris Stapleton is another one that I think everyone at least respects. Despite his recent massive popularity and success, I don’t think anybody on earth would call his stuff pop or find it remotely similar to other modern country music.

Most people enjoy the type of country that’s a bit closer to Bluegrass, Folk, Soul, etc.

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spacedman_spiff@reddit

He’s got a great voice but Chris Stapleton is definitely has mainstream pop country sensibilities. Tennessee Whiskey and White Horse come immediately to mind as exemplars of what I mean.

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WARitter@reddit

Tennessee Whiskey is very much not like most pop country.

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spacedman_spiff@reddit

Please. It’s absolutely the blue-eyed retro soul that dominated the early 2010’s wrapped up in a cowboy hat. The metaphor for love is whiskey and strawberry wine.

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Say_Hennething@reddit

It was written in the 80s and original performed by George Jones

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spacedman_spiff@reddit

Yes

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No-Conversation1940@reddit

Stapleton followed the Willie Nelson path in Nashville, in that he found success as a song plugger long before his performing/recording took off.

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EatLard@reddit

He also had a bluegrass band called the Steeldrivers, which is excellent.

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spacedman_spiff@reddit

Absolutely. But you don’t become one of the biggest names in Nashville without going pop.

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doonerthesooner@reddit

I mean, he’s about as mainstream as it gets. I haven’t dived into his catalogue but he’s certainly a heavily curated and corporate brand artist

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Abu_Everett@reddit

Clearly you have not been in his catalogue. Stapleton is the real thing, he’s the antithesis of a corporate brand artist. Dude is also the nicest guy in music. Everyone wants to work with him and every other artist he works with goes on and on about how great he is behind the scenes.

Also, would a corporate artist have his wife as his backup singer?

Listen to “you should probably leave.” That’s a great love song that stands with the greats from Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash.

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Oceanbreeze871@reddit

The majority of people don’t know who he is.

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SAM5TER5@reddit

Is that actually true..? Maybe it depends on the area. I’d be shocked though if less than 80% of people in this country didn’t at least recognize his music. He was everywhere for years, did a Super Bowl show, got (way too much, as usual) airtime on the radio, etc.

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Oceanbreeze871@reddit

I’ve never heard of him. If I’ve ever heard his music it would have been on a truck commercial or something like that and I’d ignore it. Live in a major city, my two main record shops don’t have a country section.

Jelly roll, post Malone and Morgan Whalen are prob the only country acts most people will know if it’s based on pop radio (I always change the channel cause they suck)

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SAM5TER5@reddit

Meanwhile I’ve never heard of jelly roll or Morgan Whalen lol

I feel like Reddit is probably a pisspoor sample group though when trying to gauge American interest or knowledge of country music haha

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Oceanbreeze871@reddit

They’re like top of billboard charts and are on the CMAs and what not.

country doesn’t tend to have much pop culture relevance in population centers

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Steamsagoodham@reddit

I’m a big country music and Chris Stapleton fan and I’d be surprised if more than 30% of people could recognize his music. A LOT of people just don’t pay any attention to country music and even if they heard his music somewhere in passing they likely would forget about it fairly quickly.

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RhinoPillMan@reddit

I don’t know much of Stapleton’s music or who he is as a person, but I’ll lose my mind if I hear Tennessee Whiskey again. It’s not terrible, it was just on repeat at every bar for so damn long.

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SAM5TER5@reddit

Yeah overplaying will ruin anything and everything lol, and that song in particular is pretty damn repetitive as it is.

I never go out of my way to listen to his music (or country in general) to be honest, but damn can that man sing and write a genuinely well-made song. The man just exudes skill and natural talent.

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Honest_Road17@reddit

I used to be security at a country bar during the "Achy Breaky Heart" era. They played that song every hour on the hour.

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SAM5TER5@reddit

Pain.

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Honest_Road17@reddit

On top of that I can't stand drunks. Pure Hell.

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RhinoPillMan@reddit

Nothing is worse than a drunk old man holding a long neck, putting his arm around your shoulder, screaming “TO THE OOOOOASIS” and mumbling the rest of the lyrics.

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Honest_Road17@reddit

Don't kink shame me.

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ucbiker@reddit

Ironically, I don’t like Tennessee Whiskey but I like the rest of what he does.

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EatLard@reddit

It was a cover anyway.

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Well_Spoken_Mute@reddit

Absolutely. I cannot stand most modern country music but Chris Stapleton is an exception.

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Fappy_as_a_Clam@reddit

Modern Country is mostly hip hop for rednecks

And that's a very recently expanded base.

Country was rap for white girls long, long before Morgan Wallen put an 808 track behind it.

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PikesPique@reddit

Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, and George Jones are pretty tough to beat.

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beaniesandbuds@reddit

Check out Miley Cyrus and her cover of "Jolene". All of her "Backyard Sessions" make me think about what we've lost with Miley. One of my favorite women country singers.

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ATaxiNumber1729@reddit

You left out Sturgill Simpson!

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Honest_Road17@reddit

There are a lot of great artists making outlaw music.

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DefrockedWizard1@reddit

unpopular opinion, but I'd put him in the category of folk singer

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Honest_Road17@reddit

You could always elaborate on your take. I don't view Country to be that defined from folk as to make any argument against it.

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LabInner262@reddit

Hip hop for rednecks is the best description I’ve heard for modern country. I will be using that phrase now.

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D-Rich-88@reddit

Makes me think of Archer when Carol becomes an Outlaw Country music star

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Ryan_TX_85@reddit

I was raised on country music and it's always been my main music preference. I started branching out into grunge, metal, and alternative rock in the late 90s/early 2000s. But I like all eras of country: 70s outlaw, 80s crossover, 90s neotraditional, 2000s, and some 2010s. I'm not really digging the Shaboozey, Morgan Wallen, Post Malone stuff that's popular nowdays. But maybe that's just because I'm old.

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Overall_Chemist1893@reddit

In general, I prefer rock and roll, having spent many years as a rock deejay. But during my radio career, I had the privilege of meeting some country performers (including Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton), and I had to familiarize myself with their songs to interview them. To this day, country is just not my favorite genre, but I've been able to find some good country songs I can listen to, and I'm glad I made the effort to broaden my musical horizons.

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Different_Bat4715@reddit

80s, 90s, 2000s country is where it is at.

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PersuasionNation@reddit

👎mainstream country has sucked since the 90s. 2000s was not good. not listening to 40s, 50s, and 60s country = bad opinion

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wwhsd@reddit

Country music has been going downhill since the early 80s. What I hear these days is mostly twangy corporate pop that is selling a specific lifestyle.

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voltairesalias@reddit

There's some really good shit out there nowadays it just isn't too widely advertised. But it's alive and well, it just isn't as popular as the shit out of Nashville.

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Rocket1575@reddit

The neo traditional country of the late 80s and 90s is pretty good in my opinion. George Straight, Alan Jackson, Dwight Yoakam, Randy Travis are all good....if you like Country. 80s country was getting away from its roots until those guys came along.

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Outrageous-Pin-4664@reddit

I think the only country music artist I've liked in the past forty years was Dwight Yoakum.

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HonestLemon25@reddit

Leaving George Strait out is criminal.

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RhinoPillMan@reddit

I love Yoakam. He played a festival on my birthday this year but I was working 😔

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Outrageous-Pin-4664@reddit

Good tunes, and clever lyrics that avoid being corny.

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uhbkodazbg@reddit

Dwight Yoakum is one of the few artists I’ll make an exception for.

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SAM5TER5@reddit

Ah, so nearly all popular music since the 80’s!

This is why music-lovers stopped fooling around with radio channels as soon as they were given the option lol

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msabeln@reddit

Frank Zappa has an interview where he said that in the 1960s, record company executives were cigar-chomping old men who knew nothing about popular music. They didn’t know, so they just threw whatever kind of music against the wall and see what stuck.

The next generation of executives believed that they knew exactly what the kids wanted, and that’s when corporate music declined.

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spacedman_spiff@reddit

You’re just describing pop music, targeted to a specific audience. Like all music, if you dig below the surface, there’s some great country music being made that isn’t necessarily on the radio.

There’s a whole generation of great songwriters and performers that Nashville is overlooking for cookie cutter pretty blondes and bros.

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wwhsd@reddit

Agreed. Mainstream Country has become just a different flavor of pop.

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Lieutenant_Meeper@reddit

I love “real” country music: incorporating folk sensibilities and the songs are real stories about very human experiences. This pandering pop shit on corporate radio that masquerades as country, played by cosplay cowboys is an absolute perversion of the genre.

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FreeStateOfPortland@reddit

Genuine question, I love Jason Isbel and I would consider him “country“ but I hear other people say he isn’t. I think he’s a genius. Would you call that country?

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wcpm88@reddit

Big fan of Jason, ever since he was in the Drive-By Truckers… I don’t know if I’d fully call him country but he’s definitely adjacent.

I guess if I had to leave him, I’d put him under the alt-country/ Americana umbrella, with some Southern rock mixed in.

For what it’s worth, I hesitate to call people geniuses, but Jason is one of the best songwriters out there. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sung “Outfit” to my sons as I put them to bed at night.

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EatLard@reddit

If you want to see grown men cry, his concerts are the place to do it. I personally tear up every time I hear Dreamsicle.

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FreeStateOfPortland@reddit

Same for me when I hear If We Were Vampires.

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uhbkodazbg@reddit

I’ve always thought of his music as Americana.

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SabresBills69@reddit

I put him in that or bluegrass area. some will call it part of the country/ folk spectrum

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wcpm88@reddit

Jason is awesome but he is nowhere near bluegrass

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SabresBills69@reddit

What do you define him as?

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uhbkodazbg@reddit

It’s a genre I don’t know a lot about and my definition of Americana is pretty broad.

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FreeStateOfPortland@reddit

This is why I’ve just basically leaned into “do I like it or not“. After I started listening to him, I started listening to Drive-by Truckers and holy crap are they great too

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EatLard@reddit

They also put on one of the best live shows you’ll see. Same with Isbell.

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-PiesOfRage-@reddit

Sierra Ferrell is amazing. Outlaw country is great.

“I got a pickup truck and a beer and a dog” country is fucking awful.

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voltairesalias@reddit

Sarah Shook is really good too.

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Honest_Road17@reddit

I just want to kiss my fish, drink my truck, drive my beer!

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FolsgaardSE@reddit

lmao

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aquatic_hamster16@reddit

You forgot the girl in a tanktop.

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-PiesOfRage-@reddit

Yeah but she left him, so now it’s just the dog and beer. Maybe some fishin’, prayin’ she’ll come back.

Awful music.

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Fappy_as_a_Clam@reddit

I read a joke about how the growing popularity and acceptance of self driving vehicles will eventually lead to a country song about a man's truck leaving him

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InternationalAd9230@reddit

Sierra Ferrell is mad talented. Love her, but I don't consider myself a country music fan in the least.

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Libertas_@reddit

“I got a beer in my beer and a Chevy in my truck”

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B_Williams_4010@reddit

It started dying out in 1990 and was all but gone by 1995, as far as what gets radio airplay. Classic Country from the 1960s to the 1980s is my favorite musical genre.

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ShowdownValue@reddit

Luke combs is incredible

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devilscabinet@reddit

I like country music from the 1970s on back.

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LopsidedFrosting4860@reddit

The only country music I don’t like is stuff like Jelly roll and Morgan wallen, but right now my favorite has to be the more southern rock/ Texas country with people like Cody Jinks treaty oak, and maybe even could group in Dexter and the Moon rocks but there walking the line on country

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pinniped90@reddit

Sitting on the deck sipping whiskey listening to a little Johnny or Hank isn't bad at all.

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Sivatherium98@reddit

Texan here

I fucking hate it.

Outside of big iron, country roads, and let it die i fucking despise most country music. All the worse given my location in Texas.

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claudiatiedemann@reddit

I can’t stand listening to someone sing with a twang so that rules out a lot country for me, but not all.

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SleepyD7@reddit

Can’t stand it.

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KCJ4Tx@reddit

Old school Outlaw Country, like Willie Nelson and his runnin' buddies Waylon Jennings, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jerry Jeff Walker and some of the newer guys doing Americana, like Zach Bryan, Jason Isbell and Billy Strings all the way to Charlie Crockett.

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ShinjukuAce@reddit

I think old country music is horrible. Twangy, whining vocals, simplistic guitar playing, and the lyrics are mostly cheesy 1950’s gender roles.

New country music I don’t hate it as much, but most of it is just basically mediocre pop/rock with country lyrics. Yeah, you’re a country boy and you’re proud of it, we get it, you don’t need 500 songs about that.

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limbodog@reddit

The most recently written country music song I like was written and performed by Patsy Cline

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Ok-Equivalent8260@reddit

I only like it in the summer 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Remarkable-Hawkeye@reddit

Check out Dale Watson, Junior Brown, and Wayne Hancock.

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Traveling-Techie@reddit

I remember when it was Country and Western.

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CriticalSuit1336@reddit

I like some of it. The main pop country stuff is really formulaic, but the old school stuff and some newer artists like Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson are really good.

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kopncorey@reddit

If you get the chance to see Tyler Childers, do it. His voice is better in person in my opinion. So good.

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CriticalSuit1336@reddit

Will do! I believe you, his live performances are better than his studio stuff from what I've seen.

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jackfaire@reddit

I have very eclectic tastes. My musical tastes are more on a song by song basis than genre. There are songs I like that happen to be country music.

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gagirlpnw@reddit

Every type of music has its place. I have days where I want to listen to it nonstop.

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MetzgerBoys@reddit

Hard pass for me. I will say I absolutely adore Dolly Parton for the wonderful person she is, but her music isn’t my style

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Auntie_Venom@reddit

Hate modern country. I’ll listen to Johnny Cash any day.

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ghastlycupcake@reddit

No. Social dispensation for Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash.

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Neb-Nose@reddit

I don’t connect with at all. I don’t care for it.

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SouthProposal8094@reddit

Nah, I don't love my 1st cousin that way

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washheightsboy3@reddit

I don’t think about it at all.

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ophaus@reddit

Outlaw country is kind of fun sometimes, the rest kinda fucking sucks.

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Ask_Aspie_@reddit

I don't like it. Too twangy

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mrbrown1980@reddit

I like country music made before about 1986ish.

Something changed.

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Oscar-mondaca@reddit

Old school classics like HW both Sr and Jr, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson,etc., I enjoy the hell out of it. This poor, repetitive, predictable, generic junk masked with autotune and sung by those with sharpie drawings on their face, keep it away from me.

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ThisIsDogePleaseHodl@reddit

Absolutely can’t stand it

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Roadhouse699@reddit

I like Dixon Dallas

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PhD147@reddit

Our Lady Of The Holler! AKA Miss Dolly Parton!

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Phyrnosoma@reddit

I’m streaming an old Highwaymen concert right now so

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761557527@reddit

Still trying to find stuff similar to Lucinda Williams' "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road" album. Melodic and well crafted songs, maybe I will check out a genre chart to stream.

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StrongStyleDragon@reddit

I like Blake Shelton and the type that sounds like rock and country mix. Other than that it’s not really for me.

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Vachic09@reddit

It depends on the subgenre. I do like outlaw country, for example.

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Traditional_Trust_93@reddit

I prefer more Folk, Bardcore, and Tolkien

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LowCress9866@reddit

I don't care for the Nashville Sound that dominates country music, but Americans, bluegrass, and Austin country are all alright by me

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seamallowance@reddit

I can’t stand current, popular, Country Music, but I adore Americana and I stream WMOT daily.

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EatLard@reddit

“Americana” is just country music that doesn’t suck. The songs and music tend to be written by the artists themselves, it’s not overproduced, and it isn’t just the same combination of “I’m from a small town, I drink beer, I drive a pickup, and guuuurl”.

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FolsgaardSE@reddit

Forgot the "my dog died" and "knocked up my cousin" part.

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mmlickme@reddit

I like songs like that though

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Lower_Kick268@reddit

There's some good songs out now, Choosin' Texas sounds straight out of the 90s, it's refreshing.

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Chester_Allman@reddit

Thank you for introducing me to WMOT!

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landonop@reddit

This is the correct opinion

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ParadoxicalFrog@reddit

After 9/11, country music almost immediately turned into a vehicle for jingoism and glurge. Then, when the war stopped being popular, country music became brainless, formulaic noise. Select from a list of approved topics (including booze, trucks, fishing, farming, "patriotism", Jesus, and dogs), sprinkle in a few sexualized comments, maybe add some product placement so you can get a commercial deal later, and garnish with twangy guitar and a fiddle.

I liked it better when there were songs about murder (The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia), fighting the government (Copperhead Road), and breaking out of prison (Ol' Red). And the occasional goofy dance song like Watermelon Crawl.

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FolsgaardSE@reddit

A bumper sticker I saw once sums it up.

"Stop inbreeding, ban country music."

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Prize_Consequence568@reddit

Do you?

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benz58@reddit

Yeah, but they're all bad.

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wifespissed@reddit

I can't tell when one song ends and the other begins.

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Naddyman2005@reddit

some modern country songs are good (a bar song by Shaboozy ie). But it’s mostly outlaw for me

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CheesE4Every1@reddit

Used to. Then stuff like the country rap took over. I like old county and and hiphop but not together

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New_Leg_9142@reddit

Ah, country music. The three Rs genre.

Romance, Religion, and Redneckery.

I hate it so much.

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Quirky_Commission_56@reddit

Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson are both national treasures as far as I’m concerned. Only got to see Willie Nelson perform though for a total of three times. He was amazing every single time.

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botulizard@reddit

There is indeed a lot of it that I am really not interested in listening to, but on the other hand, there's also a lot of it that I really love.

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Murderhornet212@reddit

Absolutely not. I will walk out of building if they’re playing it. I’m definitely in the minority though. Even in NJ.

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Murderhornet212@reddit

I should say that I do actually like some really old school country, like Patsy Cline. It’s the twanging that I hate.

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Rocket1575@reddit

Patsy Clines best songs are twangy as can be. I go out walking after midnight being a prime example.

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Murderhornet212@reddit

Maybe we’re not defining twangy the same way

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Rocket1575@reddit

Very possible.

I am talking about the twang of the steel guitar.

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Murderhornet212@reddit

I’m talking about vocals

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Rocket1575@reddit

Makes sense. We were talking about two entirely different twangs lol. Carry on and don't mind me.

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Henrithebrowser@reddit

All dogshit

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sneeds_feednseed@reddit

I like Johnny Cash’s upbeat stuff. Not big on the rest of it though.

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Craigh-na-Dun@reddit

Bluegrass is my favorite

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Longjumping-Air1489@reddit

No thanks. I respect select country artists, there are certain country songs I like, but 99% of it is unsayable to me.

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HuaHuzi6666@reddit

Like any music, it depends. Since the 2000s (?) mainstream country music has been predominantly stadium country, and imo is vapid both musically and lyrically (in general). Classic country, bluegrass-influenced country and less mainstream country in general can all be amazing, though.

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secrerofficeninja@reddit

58M and white. I hate country music. It sounds so fake to me and so many songs sound the same. There are some really old country stars that were good but nothing in last 30 years.

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DrMindbendersMonocle@reddit

I like some older country music, modern country music sucks

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Greedy_Pomegranate14@reddit

I like it, yes. What I don’t like is hearing the same 5 songs on the radio over and over, which is often what you hear on a modern country radio station.

I generally like most country songs until they get repetitive, which happens fast with country songs.

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Libertyprime8397@reddit

Big iron

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External-Creme-6226@reddit

Generalization and there are certainly exceptions…. 50’s-70’s country is good, 80’s-90’a (mid 2000’s) is GREAT, 2005-present country sucks.

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crazycatlady052411@reddit

Some is ok but most of it just sounds the dang

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Zealousideal-Lie7255@reddit

I really don’t like most country music. Some Waylon Jennings songs are good and some Willie Nelson. I think there Outlaw Country.

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ReeMayRe@reddit

I'm from NYC, I like some country music. Some favorites are Reba, Martina McBride, Garth Brooks, Dwight Yoakam, Travis Tritt, Kenny Chesney. The older stuff is great, like Glenn Campbell, Goerge Jones, Tammy Wynette

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DetroitsGoingToWin@reddit

The stuff o. The radio, generally no.

The more soulful stuff with bands made up of great musicians, I am really enjoying starting to learn it.

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DuelJ@reddit

It's a great genre of which I've heard enough.

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nunyabizthewiz@reddit

Liked it in the 90’s. Can’t stomach it now.

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TALieutenant@reddit

Garth Brooks = best concert I've ever gone to.

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AmbassadorSevere3113@reddit

I try not to think about it OR hear it!

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juliabk@reddit

Despise Country, but love old Western music. :-)

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Ok-Growth4613@reddit

Texas county music is better than what Nashville is putting out.

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Separate-Amoeba-455@reddit

The semantics of what’s country and what’s Americana is getting annoying. I like them both.

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cookiesshot@reddit

Some of it is OK, but some of it is "bro-country".

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sagmag@reddit

I find the vast majority of country music to be both lyrically and musically boring. My wife loves it, but there's literally no song she doesn't know by heart after maybe 2 listens because they're just so... nothing.

With that said, no genre is monolithic so there's some of it I enjoy, particularly the stuff on the edges like Sleeping on the Blacktop by Colter Wall or Keep the Wolves Away by Uncle Lucius. I also find Old Dominion to be occasionally clever.

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StillC5sdad@reddit

Less than optimal

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decorama@reddit

If you take away the twangy guitar, the drawling vocal, the pickup trucks, beer and ex-wives - it's just pop music.

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marklikeadawg@reddit

I like 80s country and very little of it from others decades.

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PrimaryHighlight5617@reddit

I like old southwestern country music

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LogicalFallacyCat@reddit

Of all the larger genres if music it's by far the hardest for me to get into.

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ghost-church@reddit

There are great songs. But after a childhood in the south I dislike 90% of it.

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Ok-Possibility-9826@reddit

i like it!

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Dazzling-Astronaut88@reddit

FM country is shit, but I do like good country music.

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SabresBills69@reddit

there are different styles of country music.

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Traditional_Trust418@reddit

I agree with Bo Burnham's opinions on country music

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Diligent_Gear_8179@reddit

I like SOME country music. The Eagles have kind of a rock/country sound, sometimes called 'Rockabilly,' for instance. There are some Rodney Crowell songs I like, as another instance.

I HATE modern pop country, what's sometimes called 'Nashville country.' Pop country, "Mah beer, mah boots, mah dog, mah farm, mah pickup," style bullshit.

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dobbydisneyfan@reddit

Terrible.

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Aggressive_Staff_982@reddit

Old country music is great. The newer country music these days is guys singing about how much they love their pickup trucks and beer.

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Rocket1575@reddit

To be fair, they've been singing about how much they like drinking, beer included, since the 20s.

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Amockdfw89@reddit

I like alt country and old school country (but alt country is basically the successor to old school outlaw country)

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Admirl_Ossim06@reddit

Nah, most of it is to sad and depressing. I don't need that negativity in my life.

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Busy_Basket9205@reddit

There's plenty of country music that I like. Some that I love. But 90% of what gets called country music is trash. That ratio is true for rock, jazz, rap, movies, TV, literature, etc., too.

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FriendlyEngineer@reddit

Big fan of bluegrass and Appalachian folk music.

“Country Music” is too vast a category to get a consistent answer.

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flashman014@reddit

Country music died with "She thinks my tractor's sexy." It was rocky before that, but this song was the true death knell.

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Spyderbeast@reddit

Nah

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Sinchanzo@reddit

Generally not my thing, but they’ve got some monster musicians.

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mmlickme@reddit

I love all of it. grew up on 90s but I’m not snobby about modern country

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TheOnlyJimEver@reddit

I like some old country music, the stuff that was about coal miner strikes and told interesting stories, like old Johnny Cash, for example, but I feel like it's gotten intolerable in the last 25 years, basically since 9/11.

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Kellzy1212@reddit

This is it. It’s either gross pandering to nationalists or the boohoo, my girl my dog bs now. I don’t hate the entire genre, but i haven’t liked anything in the last few decades.

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No-Parking-8024@reddit

Post 9 11 country. Im an old head and pretty much prefer to listen to old music of any genre over new music. Is it closed minded of me, yeah, sure. Country music wise johnny cash, Conway twitty, hank Williams the first, etc. Recently noticed a lot of people started listening to (new, modern)country a lot more, such as my cousin who would never listen to country and doesnt look like he listens to country, but then again, my cousin and pretty much everyone, listens to new, modern, music from all genres.

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ContributionDapper84@reddit

Nearly all of it is Nah for me

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Rocket1575@reddit

Love country music. Mostly 70s through the early 2000s. There are some new stuff I dont mind and I love the early pioneers like Hank Sr. And bluegrass.
It's good music that rises and falls in popularity. It's on the upswing right now, and getting poppy. It will swing traditional again, it always does.

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Hikinghawk@reddit

More of a Western fan, but there is overlap (many put western under the country umbrella). But the stadium/bro/'murica country is trash. Country that represents the downtrodden and left behind lower and middle class is where it's at.

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Friendly_Side3258@reddit

Meh

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Snoo_33033@reddit

Gross. Hate it.

I do like Americana and bluegrass but modern country is heavy on political posturing and low on talent.

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hungaryboii@reddit

I like Johnny Cash but that's about it. I got dragged to a modern country show in college and was so bored I purposely blacked out so I didn't have to remember that shit

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Turdle_Vic@reddit

Old country is amazing. This modern stuff is kinda just rural pop that’s less “colorful” than its original form

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WhichWitch9402@reddit

I don’t care for any of it. It’s torture driving down to see my friend in TN, because about an hour south of me there is only country music or religious music stations.

Glad I’ve got a lot of music on my phone…

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Porcupine-in-a-tree@reddit

Outlaw country is my jam. Not much interest in listening to most of what’s on country radio today.

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professorfunkenpunk@reddit

I play in a couple bands, including one that does older country. It is hugely popular in more rural areas. The new stuff is mostly crap

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stakes-lines-grades@reddit

I was raised on '80s-'90s neotraditional country (Strait, Chesnutt, Loveless, Whitley, Yoakam, Womack) and still love it.

When that style went out of fashion around 1997 to make way for Shania and Tim McGraw pop-country I don't like country radio's direction.

Outside of that, I listen to alt-country, Americana, and bluegrass.

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Emotional-Loss-9852@reddit

Pop country sucks, bluegrass/texas/outlaw country and country ballads are awesome

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Practical-Ordinary-6@reddit

I think it has lots of well-crafted lyrics (both humorous but also in a deeper sense) and there are some pretty good songwriters out there. Of course you can counter with "there are lots of dumb lyrics" and whatever but that doesn't change what I said.

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MillieBirdie@reddit

Country has many sub-genres. Bluegrass is one of my favorite types of music, and I also enjoy Country Folk.

The modern country pop you'd hear on the average country radio station is insipid, vapid, and horrible most of the time. Although I find that of that stuff, if it's by a woman it's usually ok and if it's by a man it's usually the stupid 'truck beer girls murica'.

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TheGoldenRail87@reddit

Lots of hate for current bro country but I like it. I find it harmless. Morgan, Thomas Rhett, Jordan Davis etc. better than the mumble rap garbage that’s out there.

Said as a nearly 40 year old man who grew up on 90s actual rap.

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Tha_Sly_Fox@reddit

To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day

Hardly spoke to folks around him, didn't have too much to say

No one dared to ask his business, no one dared to make a slip

The stranger there among them had a big iron on his hip

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Gex2-EnterTheGecko@reddit

I like some country music but most of it is ass.

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Slight_Manufacturer6@reddit

It was good in the 90s and early 2000s. Went down hill from there.

Not much of a fan anymore.

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HonestLemon25@reddit

Abso-fuckin-lutely.

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Curmudgy@reddit

I’m afraid I was tainted by the urban bias against country music 50 years ago. Hence I leaned into folk music (Guthrie, Lightfoot, etc.) which is slightly related. But I never got seriously into any of the generally popular music genres.

So it’s difficult for me to judge. It’s easier for me to understand country lyrics than a lot of hard rock, punk, rap, etc. But I’m not interested in love story lyrics, and many of the other themes I perceive to be common in country music. But since I don’t listen to it, I can’t be sure I have a good grasp of the common themes. (And don’t tell me I should listen to learn those themes, because I already have too many other ways to entertain myself. I do listen to classical music.)

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Skippeo@reddit

I've never been a huge country fan (and I absolutely hated it back in the 90s), but I've come to really like some old country music, like from the 1940s-70s. And I love Dolly parton and Willie Nelson.

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travelinmatt76@reddit

Can't stand it, and I was upset when Jewel went country

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Pernicious_Possum@reddit

Radio country is garbage. Real country, or what’s often referred to as “Americana, or American roots music”, is awesome

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LopsidedGrapefruit11@reddit

It sucks.

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New-Process-52@reddit

Good for the car

Gta is example

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Queasy_Tumbleweed282@reddit

If you look at the more singer-song writer side instead of the pop country side (and avoid the racists) you can find a lot of beautiful and soul crushing stuff. I would highly reccommend Jason Isbell if you're looking to get into it

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r2k398@reddit

Of course.

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DGlen@reddit

Any country newer than like 1995 is trash save a very small handful.

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Thing_On_Your_Shelf@reddit

It encompasses a huge variety of music. Some I absolutely love, some I absolutely hate, some I love in certain situations but would never listen to in others.

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itcheyness@reddit

I like the country music they don't play on the radio.

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FreeStateOfPortland@reddit

I was listening to Jason Isbell and Drive-by Truckers and to my astonishment. I found out they aren’t “country“ but our “Americana“

And then other people tell me “no that’s country.”

In the end, if it has a “twang” I guess it’s kind of country-esque?

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CBus660R@reddit

Hmm, I went through a Drive-by Truckers phase 20 years ago and even got to catch them in concert. I never would have called them a country band. I would have called them a southern rock band.

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EatLard@reddit

A lot of Cooley’s songs are very much country in their instrumentation and themes. Hood’s songs tend towards southern rock.

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Bawstahn123@reddit

Like, if we are talking about "country country music", the old shit with actual soul....I don't "like it", mainly because it isn't "for me", but I can respect it as an art form.

Hick-hop, with the rick fucks cosplaying as rural folk, with their spotless cowboy hats with creases so sharp they could be used to shave with, soft hands that haven't been used for work, and million-dollar farms/ranches they pay other people to handle?

Nah, bro. Hot, wet garbage.

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Pitiful_Bunch_2290@reddit

Is was better in the 90s

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Fatbeard2024@reddit

Just the 80’s and 90’s

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EyeCantSeeMyFeelings@reddit

I love Colter Wall and Tyler Childers. That's good country.

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happyfatman021@reddit

It’s by far my favorite genre but pretty much only from the early 00s and back. There are a few newer songs and/or artists that I enjoy but the enjoyment isn’t consistent like it was back in the 90s and 00s. Nowadays it’s either the same old bro nonsense or trying really hard to have that raspy hard-edged voice (Chris Stapleton) that’s just nails on a chalkboard to my ears.

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Fit_Permission_6187@reddit

Terrible

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SenseNo635@reddit

I do not care for country music

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Ted_Denslow@reddit

Corporate 'country' radio stations playing twang pop give it a bad name. It's easy to say "country sucks" if all you've heard is that formulaic shit. There is some good stuff, but you have to go looking for it.

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Zoomatour@reddit

Couldn’t hate it more

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Ladybeetus@reddit

In the late '80s there was a great alternative country music trend with Lyle Lovett and KD Lang. Since then there continues to be songs or artists worth listening to. I wouldn't listen to a country station but I have gone to see multiple artists that could be considered country.

To sum up, country influenced music is frequently awesome. Straightforward country is also fine but less of a "heard it once and it hit immediately" experience.

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MetalEnthusiast83@reddit

It stinks.

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Tir_na_nOg77@reddit

I've never been big on it, but there are so songs by older country artists that I have enjoyed, like "Folsum Prison Blues", "Delta Dawn", and "Ghost Riders In The Sky". I also like the folk/Americana stuff like "Sixteen Tons" and "Big Bad John". I don't care for modern country at all.

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FishWestern6148@reddit

it’s pretty bad. it used to be nice, but it kinda sucks now

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Serious-Mongoose-387@reddit

country in general, no. johnny cash, hell yeah.

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Traditional_wolf_007@reddit

Depends on the type. Most of the modern stuff ain't it for me but I love God's Country.

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pikkdogs@reddit

Modern stuff? No, can’t listen to it.

But it was once decent.

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RonPalancik@reddit

The question is a bit like "do you like Asian food?"

"Country music" means a lot of different things, so most people I know would need a good five or six minutes of defining what "country music" does and does not mean before answering.

Some folks will say they hate it except for classic country, or except for alt country. Loads of folks say they don't like pop country or bro country, but then all of those people sell millions of records so there must be an audience.

I feel like the definition's already blurry before even adressing that there is overlap among folk, Americana, countrypolitan, Ameripolitan, old time, bluegrass, new grass, and trad music.

That said, the one American celebrity who gets closest to being universally liked is Dolly Parton. That says something.

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Gunslinger_247@reddit

Love it. That's what ilisten to 90% of the time.

Though I dont count today's country as country music. Its all pop.

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Crayshack@reddit

I'm a big fan of American Folk Music (there's a few different subgenres, but I broadly like the whole collection). Most people call that a type of Country Music. I'm not a fan of Pop Country, which is what you'll typically hear on the radio as "Country Music." It's actually a fairly narrow range of what Country Music has to offer, but for whatever reason, that's all some people are aware of when it comes to Country Music.

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Consistent_Damage885@reddit

I like the old stuff but not most of the modern stuff

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Tinkerfan57912@reddit

Definitely not for me.

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AdamoMeFecit@reddit

Cowboy music = Mexican ranchero music performed by white people.

Bluegrass and Mountain music is part English folk song/reel/dance and part African slave music adapted to white idiom (the banjo is an African instrument).

Contemporary Country is commercialized rock & roll performed almost exclusively by white people using standardized rural genre tropes (pickups, whiskey, patriotism) and standardized performance markers (hats, boots, beards, etc.).

Rock & roll is the Blues (and some of its jazz variants) performed by white people. The Blues ultimately is African and creole music that was not acceptable to white society until people like Glenn Miller and Elvis Presley figured out how to monetize it to white audiences.

Country music is a genre with specific history and genre expectations. Like everything else in the US, its Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous roots are not discussed. Everybody thinks it’s a white thing produced from thin air.

When musicians like Shaboozey, Beyoncé, or Rhiannon Giddens attempt to highlight the actual musical history, they routinely are dismissed or accused of cultural appropriation by white audiences.

Thoughts on country music? Country music recapitulates all of American history, for better and/or for worse.

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nightwing185@reddit

It’s garbage

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holymacaroley@reddit

That's an occasional song but I haven't listened to country music semi- regularly since the early 90s.

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Alarmed_Drop7162@reddit

There’s good stuff but you have to find it. Streaming used to be it. Now you have to search real artists.

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OK_Stop_Already@reddit

Modern country music is straight trash garbage.

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DrBlankslate@reddit

I’m really, really picky about country music. The majority of it I can’t stand, because I can’t take the twangy guitars. The sound hurts my ears.

Occasionally, there will be an artist that doesn’t do that. Then I have to check the lyrics/content and make sure that it isn’t right wing white supremacy.

Country music has to check a lot of boxes in order for me to like it.

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Balogma69@reddit

Good country music is good. Pop music sung by people with Nashville accents is garbage

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JplusL2020@reddit

Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and Waylon Jennings? Absolutely!

Morgan Wallen, Jelly Roll, and Luke Bryan? Absolutely not.

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Bluestarkittycat@reddit

I am not a fan at all. Cant stand it to be honest. (At least with modern country but I cant say im the biggest fan of the older stuff too but of course there are a handful of exceptions)

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tavikravenfrost@reddit

It depends. My grandfather listened to only country music, and I was exposed to a lot of it growing up, especially the songs made from the '70s to the '90s. In the '90s, the genre became more poppy but with a twang to it. There was still some good stuff coming out in the '90s, but you could feel the shift to it becoming more goofy and pandering. By the early 2000s, it was just off-the-rails silly shit. Once my grandfather died in 2006, I pretty much stopped hearing much country music, but the stuff that came out from about 2000 - 2006 was just not good. I can't imagine that it has gotten better over the past 20 years.

Like a lot of people, I liked the kind of outlaw country that you got from Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, and Johnny Cash. I liked a lot of Alabama's songs because there were just fun, and the Oakridge Boys had a nice soulful sound. I always felt that George Strait, Reba McEntire, and Garth Brooks were good at storytelling with their music. My single favorite '90s country song was probably "Neon Moon" by Brooks & Dunn. My grandfather was particularly fond of Vince Gill's voice, and you can't argue with how smooth and pure that man can sing.

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Steamsagoodham@reddit

It’s my favorite genre. I mostly listen to mainstream country from the last 30 years or so, but I do like Texas/Red Dirt country as well.

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sneezhousing@reddit

Personally I don't like country music it's not my jam.

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RobotShlomo@reddit

I don't like it.

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she-dont-use-jellyyy@reddit

I like real country music, not mainstream bro country.

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Outlaw_Josie_Snails@reddit

It's not my favorite genre but I do enjoy listening to a few musicians and bands.

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Leather-Resource-215@reddit

MOST of today's country is a notch below karaoke and at best is a dumping ground for "artists" who couldnt make it in their own real perspective genres & are hoping for a participation trophy at best. You asked for my opinion and im sticking to it. !@#% modern country and the horse that none of these new "artists" would know how to ride if it bit them.

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ChickenNugs4Hugs@reddit

Not a fan. It sounds like barefoot redneck banjo music to me.

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QueenShewolf@reddit

If it's not Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, or Willie Nelson, I have no interest in it.

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HooksNHaunts@reddit

Country doesn’t really know what country is anymore. I was actually listening to a country radio station a few days ago and it’s fairly ridiculous just how random the songs sound. It’s like it goes from rock to country to pop to rap every other song.

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Ghost_Turtle@reddit

Nah

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rojoshow13@reddit

Back in the 90s there was a big surge in popularity for country music. And out of the 4 main radio stations in my area, 2 of them were country. And my grandma and mom listened to country. My aunt lived in Branson and was even friends with Loretta Lynn's daughter. But I was the only kid in my little rural middle school into rap music. My mom also liked classic rock. So I ended up with a pretty good mix of musical tastes I think. But at some point in the early 2000s country music just started to get really cringy to me. And it's gotten worse. I can still enjoy the occasional outlier country song, but for the most part current country music is trash. Like wet garbage that's been stuck on the bottom of the can for years.

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HarveyNix@reddit

It's one genre of music I really don't like or relate to. I especially don't like it when a store plays country apparently because they think it'll have the widest appeal because it's the most "American." I'm fine with almost every other genre they could choose to play.

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sean8877@reddit

I like the old outlaw country stuff, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, etc. The new stuff doesn't do anything for me.

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nononomayoo@reddit

I dont listen to country anymore. Its turned into something else entirely. Also the gatekeeping is crazy considering all the bullshit that gets released these days.

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_Purple_Lobster_@reddit (OP)

I keep seeing some BULLSHIT AI covers of songs. I can't do this 🥀

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nononomayoo@reddit

Ugh some tv shows r using AI music. Makes my ears bleed

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GameTourist@reddit

It sounds like mild rock with twangy vocals to my ear. I usually dont seek it but I enjoy it when I hear it (except anything mushy and emotional which goes for every genre with me).

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wcpm88@reddit

Country is a super broad genre. Some people would put bluegrass and Southern rock under the umbrella of country, although I probably wouldn’t (I love both of those genres for what it’s worth). As far as more conventional country, I love some of it and can’t stand the more pop-influenced stuff that’s been big for a while.

That doesn’t mean all modern country sucks. Even the early to mid 2000s guys like Tim McGraw and Toby Keith had a few decent songs, even if I’m not big on them as a whole. And I’m happy to see neo-traditional stuff get some recognition here and there.

There’s a lot of good stuff getting minor airplay (Tyler Childers and Kacey Musgraves are two examples mentioned elsewhere in this thread), but the poppy stuff at the absolute top of the charts isn’t my thing at all. Florida Georgia Line and Morgan Wallen are two very obvious examples of the stuff I don’t like.

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dangleicious13@reddit

Fucking hate it.

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humble-meercat@reddit

I love country, especially the older stuff that was actually sincere.

You should watch the Ken Burns documentary on country music. It’s FANTASTIC!!

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Lopied2@reddit

Terrible music.

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river-running@reddit

I like a lot of 60s through early 2000s country, as well as some of the more alternative modern stuff. I grew up next door to Appalachia and thus also have a love for bluegrass and mountain music.

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Neferknitti@reddit

Dolly Parton is a saint. I’ll throw hands with anyone who disrespects her.

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Foxy_locksy1704@reddit

Praise be to saint Dolly! She is such a talented musician and an all around wonderful person!

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TheGallifreyan@reddit

I like what I've heard of Johnny Cash and I love a Norwegian group named Katzenjammer who played a lot of styles and went country sometimes, especially on their third and final album. Have not heard anything from modern American country that I like very much.

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TheBimpo@reddit

Anyone sweeping a genre with this much diversity one way or the other sounds like a boring person to me.

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Oceanbreeze871@reddit

It’s terrible and formulaic. Why does everyone fake the forced twang? Why does every song sound the same? It’s just terrible.

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Secure-Ad8196@reddit

Love it, stick to the 2000’s and before for real country though. Some of modern country leans to pop country nothing wrong with it but if you want to know what real country is try the 90’s it might change your perspective that country is trucks, fish and guns

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marla-M@reddit

Can’t stand 90% of it

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ScrimshawPie@reddit

I like older country, I like the storytelling, and the sound that is very Americana. I agree with a lot of people here that post 9/11 it became some sort of cultural signifier, and I ALSO think at that time it became SO freaking overproduced; more like pop with twang. Much of it's charm to me is the instruments, and a lot of newer stuff just grates on my nerves. That being said, i hardly ever play it, but do have one 90's country playlist from back in the day when I used to go dancing twice a week.

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riovtafv@reddit

Just leave this long haired country boy alone.

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AshDenver@reddit

HARD PASS. Hate that twangy sob story crap.

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_Purple_Lobster_@reddit (OP)

Older stuff is good I promise

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LilPebzz@reddit

Like nails on a chalkboard

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_Purple_Lobster_@reddit (OP)

Well that's okay 😔

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RhinoPillMan@reddit

I love country music. Just not the algorithmic pop music that has dominated country radio stations for a few decades. There are some good modern country artists (Childers, Bryan, Crockett) but they’re few and far between. Waylon, Hank Jr, Johnny Paycheck, that was peak. Then it became “Merica. Truck. Lick politician and cop boots. More truck. Tailgate beer. Blonde girl. Big tires. Cities [read: minorities] scare me. I love war. I love corporations.” The complete antithesis of what country music was.

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Kaurifish@reddit

I disliked it until I ran across Jason Charles Miller. Some of his songs, like Trunk Full of Bibles, are real bangers.

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Lowlife_4evr@reddit

I like Willie Nelson and Johnny cash but the rest of it is for losers who think camo is a primary color and that the south should have won.

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3mptyspaces@reddit

I like the ‘50s-‘70s version

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_Purple_Lobster_@reddit (OP)

Me too

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TK1129@reddit

As a suburban New York guy it’s not for me just like drill rap isn’t for me.

“I don’t care for country music but I don’t mean to denigrate those who do. And for those that like country music denigrate means to put down”- Bob Newhart

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BuffaloDivineEdenNo7@reddit

Omg that's a great joke.

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Still_Can_7918@reddit

Very good and tasteful. Joyous and traditional and full of soul and spirit!

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FatherOfTheSkye@reddit

I can listen to some current female artists, but most of the male pop country is practically a parody of itself at this point.

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DwarvenRedshirt@reddit

I thought it was meh until my wife left me, took my house, took my truck, and my dog died on me.

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DonNadie2468@reddit

I understand that if you play the song backward, your wife will come back with your house and truck, and your dog will come back to life.

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DwarvenRedshirt@reddit

But that's when you find out you're married to the devil.

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HorseFeathersFur@reddit

Yes.

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FormerKey3258@reddit

The country music coming out of your region is badass.

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ChilindriPizza@reddit

I do! It is not something you would expect from somebody in my demographic. But I do enjoy country music quite a bit.

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Weary_Capital_1379@reddit

Feh

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nchemungguy@reddit

It’s what I was raised on and will always be my first love, musically speaking. Especially the classic stuff.

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uhbkodazbg@reddit

Nope. I have zero interest in listening to it, especially the stuff on the charts. It’s some of the most formulaic music that makes Brill Building look quaint.

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dangerousdave2244@reddit

I like The Giver by Chappell Roan, and Bo Burnham's country song. I appreciate that newer artists are trying to make music that sounds like older country music, and move the genre away from political conservatism

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joreanasarous@reddit

Not really?

I think mainstream contemporary is trash and toxic AF. Not familiar with what else else is being made right now.

There's some songs here and there that are bangers over the years, but overall not really my cup of tea.

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No-Conversation1940@reddit

Mainstream: has veered back toward traditional instrumentation over the last few years, and it's good that they are promoting women again (this almost stopped entirely during the peak of bro country in the mid-late 2010s). Given that it is major label driven, there will always be a portion of crap on the plate but real rehabilitation has occurred in this space.

Independent: in a bit of a lull as impactful 2010s artists slow down or focus on projects outside the genre, with fewer new artists having the impact of a Sturgill Simpson or even a Cody Jinks.

All in all, I expect the genre to tail off as we approach the 2030s. Nashville swings to and away from pop, and the trend is they will swing back to pop, while the independent scene had its surge and will probably recede substantially.

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theegodmother1999@reddit

old country, hell fuckin yeah. new country? no. unless it's kacey musgraves.

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PineappleCharacter15@reddit

Never been a fan.

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redcolumbine@reddit

Too broad a category! I love Roseanne Cash, Kacey Musgraves, just about any bluegrass (is that a separate category?) but the corporate stuff that's all USA USA USA or boo-hoo Take Me Back songs leaves me cold.

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BrettScr1@reddit

If you don’t feel moved listening to something like “Unchained” or “Spiritual” to Johnny Cash or “Down from Dover” by Dolly Parton you just won’t be moved by anything.

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justlikeinmydreams@reddit

I hate it

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AbiWil1996@reddit

Only the 70s-90s country music for me.

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ITrCool@reddit

Agreed. Especially 70s country music. Conway Twitty, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Charley Pride, Anne Murray, Mel Tillis, and John Denver!!

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csamsh@reddit

Country is great, especially if you're working outside

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ITrCool@reddit

Meh.

The closest to "country music" I'd say I enjoy is bluegrass. Bluegrass is about the only part of the "country music" genre (if it honestly doesn't belong in its own genre by itself) that seems to be doing just fine and takes a lot of talent to create and produce.

Otherwise, country music all just sounds the same to me and has become quite dull and depressing to listen to.

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