When you listen to really old country music, the type that Hank Williams Sr. made and compare it to the music of today, it is apparent that country music has really evolved. Today there are very few songs on the country music radio that bear any resemblance to the type of music that Hank Williams Sr. played. Even George Strait, the undisputed king of country music and a country music traditionalist has a very different sound.
The best way to classify today’s country music is that it is country pop. There are still some classic country elements to a majority of the songs, particularly the ones that are performed by artists like Luke Bryan, George Strait, Miranda Lambert, and Brad Paisley, but a majority of the chart topping songs, such as Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now, and every song recorded by Taylor Swift, have the bouncy beat and catchy lyrics that are more commonly found in pop music. Garth Brooks was probably the first artist who was able to find the happy medium between the two genres.
Although there are some people who object to the current sound of country music, there is no denying the world wide appeal that the new sound has. For a long time country music was something that only a select number of people listened to, now that the music has a more cross over sound, country music is starting to enjoy a larger audience. Not only are more people in the United States listening to country music, but it is starting to become a global sensation. Both Lady Antebellum and Taylor Swift are played on both Australian and European radios.
As new acts make it to the big time, country music will continue to evolve.
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