Three chords and the truth: Where country’s big moment might go next

1 day agoShareSave

Riyah Collins

BBC Newsbeat

They say the recipe for a good country track is simple – just combine three chords and the truth.

Over the past year though, a growing number of artists have been adding their own sprinkles with pop stars including Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter leaning into the genre.

Chappell’s The Giver went straight to number two in the UK charts when it was released in March, with the self-proclaimed Midwest Princess saying she wanted to give country music a new take with “a little gay yodel”.

Figures from streaming platforms suggest that cooking up a country song has also been a recipe for success, with listening time up by 25% over the past year in the UK.

British artists are hopeful that’ll act as a giddy up to the UK scene and help them replicate some of the success of their US country cousins.

“It only benefits me and other country music artists in the UK because more people listening to country music just means they’re going to take an interest – hopefully – in what we’re doing,” 20-year-old singer Neeve Zahra tells BBC Newsbeat.

Her love for country music comes from two sources: her grandad and Hannah Montana.

The Disney Channel school-girl-by-day-pop-star-by-night character played by Miley Cyrus “probably started me off”, she says.

“I can now officially say I was country before country was cool.”

Neeve, from Manchester, is already noticing a spike in people coming to gigs and hopes the hype could build to a point where British country acts can be recognised with a category at the Brit Awards.

“That’s definitely the dream.”

Izzie Walsh is currently recording her debut album and tells Newsbeat it’s important fans support country artists “at a grassroots level” to ensure it can continue to grow in the UK.

“Everyone’s been sleeping on it and now it’s become this big thing.

“There’s a lot of support for the big US artists and it can be hard to compete with that budget, the press.

“There’s a big gap between people like me and these massive artists.”

In as far as a trend can ever be attributed to one person, this resurgence in the mainstream is “100%” down to Beyoncé, according to country music podcaster Matt Clewes.

Her 2024 album Cowboy Carter “very much splits opinions with country fans”, Matt tells Newsbeat, but “it has introduced new country artists to a country audience and gives a different perspective”.

Artists and critics predicted last year Cowboy Carter could “open the floodgates” for country music fans and Spotify credits “viral tracks” from 2024 with the sudden uptick in streams.

But there’s actually been a gradual increase in listenership going back much further it says, with streams of the genre in the UK growing by 154% since 2019, the year Lil Nas X released Old Town Road with country singer-songwriter Billy Ray Cyrus.

Apple Music says it’s noticed similar trends and both streamers report its rising popularity is particularly striking in the UK, where according to Apple it’s growing five times as quickly as in the US.

‘It’s about telling our own story’

That’s reflected in some of the biggest songs of the past year.

Sabrina Carpenter’s country-pop hit Please, Please, Please, which she re-released with Dolly Parton, spent five weeks at number one in the UK and Shaboozey’s A Bar Song was a fixture of the top 10 for months.

British country music is even set to be represented on one of the world’s biggest stages next month thanks to the UK’s Eurovision entry, Remember Monday.

“Storytelling is so important to us and that is really rooted in country music,” singer Lauren Byrne tells Newsbeat about why the trio felt drawn to the genre.

“We never wanted to feel like we were trying to replicate or copy, we wanted to always make it feel our own.

“It doesn’t all have to be ‘yeehaw’.”

Matt says the next step will be to see British country artists headlining bigger festivals as the fan base continues to grow.

And as it does, he says it’ll have to embrace the different points of view feeding into it.

Country is often associated with being dominated by male artists, but the musicians driving it into the mainstream are mainly women.

Last week Lana Del Rey joined Beyoncé, Chappell and Sabrina with her country song Henry, come on, but before them it was Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Shania Twain making country more popular.

“We’re in the year of women in general for music,” says Neeve. “I think now it’s time for the country women.”

As British country music grows, there are a few differences too with the traditional US scene that will also need embracing.

“We’re often seen as, ‘Why are they making country music? They don’t live the country lifestyle’,” Matt says. “We don’t all live on farms, we don’t all drive tractors.

“But country is all about storytelling and everyone wants to write their own story.

“It’s evolving all the time so we have to be open to different styles and different perspectives.”

Neeve agrees that authenticity is the key to British country.

“It’s about telling our own story,” she says.

“I can dream about Nashville and maybe write some songs about it but I’m not gonna say I’m gonna pick you up in my truck because I don’t have a truck.

“You’ve got to stay real to yourself. We try to keep it country but in our own way.”