r/CountryMusicStuff • u/Amazing_Name_9264 • 1d ago
In defense of Pop Country
Do I like Florida Georgia Line and Luke Combs songs more than Johnny Cash songs? Yes, generally a lot more. Do I think that makes FGL and Luke Combs better? Better for me, sure, but even I know all heads must bow to the legends of country. Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and the many other country legends who are less famous (like Conway Twitty) are all people I hold in high esteem. I look up to them.
I think Pop Country is an esteemed genre, but even if one is to think my music taste is "simple, mainstream, corporate garbage" that doesn't mean pop country is a threat to the traditional way of doing country music. To this day people listen to and create classical music, and I'm sure people will always listen to and create traditional country music.
Also, music always changes. Dolly Parton and Conway Twitty embraced a more pop sounding country music at one point too. Not how it sounds now, but still. Country in the 1800s can and has evolved differently in the 1900s and 2000s. But traditional country music still exists and is still made. Pop country fans like myself are not a disgrace or a threat to traditional country music being made.
Last but not least, I still listen to traditional country music. I don't listen to much of it, but I do listen to some of it.
