There’s no denying that the spectrum of country music is incredibly wide these days with artists like Midland and Jon Pardi on the more traditional end, to Brett Young and Rascal Flatts leaning more pop country, to the rockin’ side of country with Brantley Gilbert and The Cadillac Three, and country artists who are infusing all kinds of influences into their sound like Thomas Rhett. And Brett Young thinks it all works and there’s room for everybody because he says, “Country music right now is pop music right now. I don’t mean that in terms of genre, I mean it’s popular.” For instance, he says, “I grew up in Southern California and I was made fun of for liking country music in ‘93 when ‘Don’t Take the Girl’ was out, and now every single one of those kids that I went to high school with is begging for tickets to any show that ever comes within 100 miles of them in Southern California.”
Country music’s popularity is also growing on a global level. Brett says, “We’ve gone to the U.K. twice now, and country music fans come out, sell out. I think country music is in a place right now where it really is kind of king because it is pop music, but it’s also country music, and it’s a little bit of everything.”
While the lines of country music are stretching and even being blurred in some cases, Brett says, “I hate to say that anything goes, because that’s kind of an overstatement, but it kind of feels like that right now. Good music is good music and I think country music fans are the best at acknowledging a good song, regardless of the genre, and so that’s why I think so much is working right now.”
One thing’s for sure, Brett Young’s brand of country music is absolutely working. So far the first five songs he has released to radio have all been number one hits, and his current single, “Catch,” is steadily climbing up the charts, looking to follow suit.
Brett Young – open genre of country :42
“Country music right now is pop music right now. I don’t mean that in terms of genre, I mean it’s popular. I grew up in Southern California and I was made fun of for liking country music in 93 when ‘Don’t Take the Girl’ was out, and now every single one of those kids that I went to high school with is begging for tickets to any show that ever comes within 100 miles of them in Southern California. You know, we’ve gone to the U.K. twice now, and country music fans come out, sell out. I think country music is in a place right now where it really is kind of king because it is pop music, but it’s also country music, and it’s a little bit of everything. I hate to say that anything goes, because that’s kind of an overstatement, but it kind of feels like that right now. Good music is good music and I think country music fans are the best at acknowledging a good song, regardless of the genre, and so that’s why I think so much is working right now.”