What “Authenticity” Is in Country Music, and Why It Matters
Watch/listen to this article on YouTube
What is “authenticity” in country music, and why is it so important? And should it be? This is a question many love to ask, but the answer isn’t simple. The authenticity question is intertwined with the history of country music, and how it resonates with fans, or doesn’t.
First, country music is somewhat unique in how so-called “authenticity” plays a major role. Country fans want to believe the words coming from their favorite performers, whether they wrote them or not. They want to buy into the idea that artists are singing what they live, and living what they sing, and that there isn’t any act or put-on happening.
Unlike rock and pop, country fans don’t necessarily want their favorite artists to be larger than life. They want to think country starts are just like them, meaning everyday people who happened to find their way onto the stage, in part because of their authenticity and character. In some respects (and maybe somewhat ironically), this is one of the elements that country music shares with hip-hop, where “street cred,” which is similar to authenticity, weighs so heavily.
What grants an artist authenticity? In country music, it could be where they’re from. Are they from the deep South, Texas or Oklahoma, Bakersfield, California or the interior West, Wyoming or Montana? Are they from a rural area as opposed to an urban one? Did they grow up on a farm or a ranch, meaning they know the country life? Do they live in the country now? Where is their family from?
Did they work on a farm or ranch in their life? Or did they work a blue collar job in a factory, or out in the oil field? Have they ever been arrested, been to jail, been to prison, served in the military? All of these experiences could confer the kind of real-world authenticity that gives rise to the real and raw stories so many country music songs convey, and the kind of sentiments country fans crave.
But one very important element that you must understand about country music authenticity is that none of these things are a hard requirement. All of the aforementioned things can help tell the story of a country musician, and convey levels of credibility behind their music, and to their personal story. But you can also have none of these things in your biography and still successfully write and sing country songs. You can also do this while being 100% authentic.
Ultimately, authenticity is not about secondary concerns about where an artist is from, or who they are. Again, all these little resume bullet points can help. But in the end, the ultimate litmus test is if an artist is being authentic to themselves. Are they singing about their life experiences, or are they simply synthesizing the experiences of others, and trying to pass them off in country songs because they know it’s what the audience wants to hear?
That’s why songwriting is so important to country music, and why ideally, country artists write or co-write their own songs. But even this isn’t a hard and fast requirement. Even if a song is completely fictional to both the writer and the singer, if you can still close your eyes and believe it because it was written and performed with heart and close approximations to personal experiences, it can still be authentic.
There are country artists from New York City. Whitey Morgan might be one of the most authentic modern Outlaw country artists around, and he’s originally from Flint, Michigan, where many folks from the South migrated in the last century, and the locals have been working in the automobile factories for generations.
Canada and Australia have plenty of country and Western artists with real-world authenticity behind their songs. Europe has bred multiple amazing country performers. One of the most accurate depictions of traditional country in the modern context comes from a band called The Country Side of Harmonica Sam out of Sweden. Scandinavia is especially prone to breeding quality country performers.
Sometimes you simply have a human soul that is born somewhere outside of country music’s traditional homeland, and in circumstances that nobody would ever equate to a country music lifestyle. But like a lost child, they find their way to country music because it resonates with them like nothing else, and gives them a sense of home and place. Even these artists can be authentic as they sing from their heart about their personal experiences, including about feeling like foreigners to their place and time as an old school country fan.
Authenticity is often criticized and frowned upon by some people who either don’t have it themselves, or see it as an element of gatekeeping. But they often misunderstand the real definition of authenticity, or it’s true importance to country music. Without authenticity, you’re simply engaging in country cosplay, which ironically, also has its history in country music.
Since the very beginning of the genre, there have been performers who performatively acted more “country” than they actually are. This comes from the Vaudevillian history of early country music, and stage variety shows such as The Grand Ole Opry, and TV shows such as Hee-Haw. In some respects, comedy, parody, and cosplay are essential parts to the country music story, which yes, in their own strange way in turn makes them authentic.
So what is inauthentic? Not being yourself, not being honest about your personal history, trying to be someone you aren’t, or simply giving the audience what you think they want to hear as opposed to what’s in your heart. You might fool the masses, and even be quite successful without authenticity. But time has a way of sifting out the good and the bad, the real and the inauthentic in country music. The more authentic you are, the more likely your music and your legacy will be successful in country music in the long term.
Who are some of the most authentic performers in country music history? Two great examples would be Outlaw country songwriter Billy Joe Shaver, and underground country legend James Hand. These two men embodied the type of realness that some many other country musicians attempt to live up to and emulate.
What makes country music so special, and so unique in the popular music space is how when you listen to a performer sing, you know it’s coming straight from their heart and their lived experience. Or it least, they make you believe it is. It’s that connection that elevates the country music listening experience beyond mere entertainment, and why “authenticity” is something to revere, and at least attempt to preserve within the country music medium.
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March 13, 2025 @ 7:56 am
“Since the very beginning of the genre, there have been performers who performatively acted more “country” than they actually are. This comes from the Vaudevillian history of early country music, and stage variety shows such as The Grand Ole Opry, and TV shows such as Hee-Haw.”
Vernon Dalhart is in the Country Music Hall of Fame and was an opera singer before recording the first country song to sell a million copies.
March 13, 2025 @ 8:23 am
Reminds me of the Dirty Jobs guy Mike Rowe being an opera singer.
March 13, 2025 @ 7:58 am
Great article. Youtube recently sent a video to creators talking about a test they did on a group of watchers to see what lights up their brains the most. They said that authenticity outperforms production value every time. A cheap iPhone video that’s real means more and performs better than an expensive one that doesn’t connect. Long live country music!
March 14, 2025 @ 10:44 am
Jesse Wells is a perfect example. Authentic to the bone.
March 13, 2025 @ 8:11 am
I guess I’m one of those derisively referred to as “not having authenticity” because I’m not concerned with it. I’m happy to compare biographies to the extent that’s relevant.
At the end of the day, if the art is good, I just don’t really care about the artist. I understand boycotting and whatnot, of course. But as a general matter, if it’s a “simple song about real life” that has emotional impact, I’ve never understood why it matters whether the person singing it is from Manhattan, NY or Manhattan, KS.
March 13, 2025 @ 9:00 am
If you don’t think you’re authentic, then you’re probably more authentic than you give yourself credit for.
The first rule to art appreciation is that if you like it, that’s all that matters. My hope with this article was to convey that authenticity is a real thing in country music. But ultimately, honesty is what’s truly important.
March 14, 2025 @ 6:59 am
Linda Ronstadt, who grew up in Arizona listening to a lot of country music on her best friend the radio as a youngster and who can sing it with nary a hint of any cod Southern twang (though she does have a natural Southwestern drawl when she ventures into country), once said “You don’t have to be original, just authentic”.
What she meant is something you touched on just now, Trigger, which is Honesty. And I think she extended it by implying that you should be honest with yourself, before you can be truly honest with an audience.
March 13, 2025 @ 8:35 am
I watched this article on YouTube Trig, nice job! I know it’s probably a lot more work, but I like the graphics interspersed with the story. I hope you do more of these.
March 13, 2025 @ 8:42 am
That was an excellent article, Trigger.
Authenticity is like how someone described porn – you know it when you see it. Florida Georgia Line was inauthentic because there was no way they listened to the country singers they namedropped on their tour bus. But I know Josh Turner listens to John Anderson and Alan Jackson cranks Hank on their buses.
George Strait didn’t write “Amarillo By Morning,” but the man is a straight shooter. So, I believe his version.
March 13, 2025 @ 9:25 am
I even believe Keith Richards’ hoarse squeaking of “Sing Me Back Home” compared to whatever most of the hot shots of the last 30 years sings.
Thinking about it, I prefer a wasted Kris Kristofferson stumbling through some demos over the Top Ten guys of today.
March 13, 2025 @ 8:57 am
So true. Johnny Cash may have embellished the myth that he had served time in prison a bit at times, but you also knew he was nothing but authentic. I remember a coworker one time. It was back in the height of the “bro-country” days. That horrible Florida Georgia Line song came on where they sing about “stacking them bales”. My coworker said “have you ever seen them, they’ve never stacked a bale of hay in their life”.
March 13, 2025 @ 10:28 am
Cash was a poser in many ways. He was the country version of the singing cowboy who couldn’t ride a horse.
That FGL line was the example I was thinking about, Ben. They are wearing leather vests and wallet chains but singing about stacking them bales. Yeah, right.
March 13, 2025 @ 11:29 am
He did pick cotton though. Cash may not have been a “cowboy”, but I think he was plenty country (which I know you aren’t debating). I think he was probably more of a “poser” as an actor than as a country artist. And actors are supposed to be posers. I asked my grandpa why he didn’t ride horses and he said he grew up too poor to have them. I wonder if that’s part of it with Cash.
March 13, 2025 @ 11:48 am
Then so was Kris Kristofferson. He came from a rich family.
March 13, 2025 @ 12:08 pm
To his defence, he never called himself a country artist.
March 13, 2025 @ 1:50 pm
It seems he embraced the bohemian lifestyle, or even that of a libertine more than the “country” one. I wonder how rich his family was. His dad was career military, then an executive at an oil company it looks like. I wonder how old Kris was when his dad got that executive job? I think he grew up as a military brat, which was probably comfortable, not sure it was rich though.
March 13, 2025 @ 2:31 pm
Kris was kicked out of the family when he shelved a military career.
According to him and others around him, he never had any contact with his mother after that, and barely any contact with his dad.
Despite his good-time persona back in the day, I suspect it was just a mirage to hide a very depressed, conflicted man.
March 13, 2025 @ 6:48 pm
When it comes to Kris, I think he may be a good example of another way to measure authenticity: how much you love country music.
He gave up a lot of opportunity to move to Nashville and try to get into the industry because he loved country music, and he wanted to write country songs for a living. He told the story about his mother writing him a letter admonishing him for following in the footsteps of his “hero,” Hank Williams. He wrote “If You Don’t Like Hank Williams.”
I’m no Kristofferson, but I grew up in a small southern town in a pretty well to do family and now have a white collar job and get my hands dirty for recreation but not for work. But I love country music more than anything, and maintain that I am as authentic as anyone when it comes to appreciating country music.
There are lots of others who convey authenticity just in their pure love for and commitment to country music-
Alan Jackson is of course the first that comes to mind.
And by contrast, a lot of the worst offenders in the bro country and big label space are performers who you can tell have no genuine love for country music – they are just pop singers who have been given a role to play.
March 13, 2025 @ 9:04 am
One of the easiest ways to tell is by the music that they listen when they are alone and with friends.
March 13, 2025 @ 2:49 pm
I don’t know. I bet most country artists listen to non-country quite a lot. I know it is like that in other genres. Last thing you want to listen to at home is the same shit you do for a living. Like Michelin-starred chef’s who all eat from food trucks when not working. Or brewers — the best brewers in the country will drink Hamms or Ranier at home. Still Michelin-starred chef’s and award-winning brewers. But I get what you are saying.
March 14, 2025 @ 6:11 am
I’m not tallking about always playing a mixtape of clique standards like Gimme Three Steps, Fast As You, Copperhead rd, Mama Tried, etc.. but other music from that genre. I don’t ever want to hear those songs in my free time because I’ve played and heard them so often. I’m also not saying that it always has to be country music.
However someone isn’t authentic country if the overwhelming majority of the music that they play for enjoyment is pop dance music, Zach Bryan, Rock, Metal, or Rap. How could that person be authentic Country?
March 13, 2025 @ 9:04 am
This was a great article and I do appreciate the reference to how country music and rap music are similar in this respect. This is my problem with say Zac brown. After we saw how his real desire was to make edm or whatever it just made it hard to believe again that he was authentic in his music even music I had previously liked a lot.
It’s also part of why technical excellence or virtuosity are overrated to me. Never connected with Eric clapton’s guitar playing because it’s too clean too neat. Believing this person really is about what they’re saying matters so much.
March 13, 2025 @ 9:27 am
I see it this way; if you listen to Peter Green, you realize in seconds that Clapton is way overrated.
March 13, 2025 @ 10:17 am
If you ever had the opportunity to see Jeff Beck and/or Joe Satriani live – along with Tab Benoit, Buddy Guy, you’d be at a whole other level of guitar playing excellence.
And Clapton is an incredible player, singer, songwriter.
You Feel what Clapton is doing.
March 13, 2025 @ 10:45 am
Not putting Clapton down in any way, just pointing out that it’s all about comparison.
Without B.B. King, no Clapton, no Green. And without Jimmie Rodgers, no B.B. King.
They all take and give off each other. Jimi Hendrix isn’t outstanding anymore, because almost every rock guitar slinger copied something from him.
But nobody shred a guitar like Hendrix before Hendrix.
March 13, 2025 @ 11:33 am
Understood.
“Without B.B. King, no Clapton, no Green. And without Jimmie Rodgers, no B.B. King.”
Have a great fondness for the late, great, Mr. B.B. King.
“But nobody shred a guitar like Hendrix before Hendrix.”
No kidding … ?
: D Yeah, don’t thing you are going to get any argument from the rest of us, concerning Hendrix. 🎸
March 13, 2025 @ 12:13 pm
My personal favorite of the old blues legends is a fella by the (artist) name of T-Bone Walker.
Without him, no King, no Chuck Berry, no Gary Moore.
At least not playing in the style we know them.
March 13, 2025 @ 9:40 am
Every Clapton is overrated conversation:
“Eric Clapton is overrated”
Are you familiar with Cream and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and their impact?
“No..”
March 13, 2025 @ 10:12 am
It’s not about overrated. Clapton is a great guitar player. But his style of playing doesn’t make me feel anything. Kinda like how I would never deny that Carrie underwood is a great singer. But she doesn’t make me feel anything when she sings. As opposed to say Rivers shook who is a worse singer except in every way that matters.
March 13, 2025 @ 10:38 am
Not to mention the entirety of Layla and other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and The Dominoes. An absolute go to for my listening pleasure. If Clapton hadn’t done anything but that album, he would still be great. And when you take into account Cream, John Mayall, and yes even Yardbirds, he’s got a terrific and legendary catalog. And we haven’t mentioned Delaney and Bonnie or Blind Faith.
Now back to the regularly scheduled topic in progress.. yes authenticity matters. I’ve gone back and forth on this over the years, ideally the Country music culture is built upon the rural and western experience. Yet, there are some true legends who didn’t exactly come from those origins.
March 13, 2025 @ 4:53 pm
And even Clapton has said the Layla album would not have sounded the same without Duane Allman.
March 14, 2025 @ 5:56 pm
I get that Clapton can be too smooth sometimes, more so the later in his career he got, but listen to “Have You Heard” on the Blues Breakers “Beano” album. He blows not just the doors off but the walls down.
March 13, 2025 @ 9:55 am
I agree with this article – a great articulation of the concept of authenticity in Country music. One thought I had recently though is whether we put too much emphasis on performers writing there own music. In most cases I think this does lead to better quality work as the artist is more likely to be able to put their emotions into lyrics they have written.
However, I saw an interview with Van Morrison recently (it was an old interview), and he was lamenting the emphasis in the industry on writing your own material to be ‘authentic’. As we know, he is a very skilled songwriter, but his point was, first and foremost he considers himself a singer and the art of performance was being undervalued versus the art of writing. Greats like Johnny Cash and Waylon operated in an era when covers were much more common and their covers are some of my favorite songs.
I can think of a couple of current acts, Paul Cauthen, Sierra Ferrell, who’s level of performance exceeds their own songwriting ability. They can carry what may be average songwriting with incredible vocal performances. If you’ve ever been in the same room with either of these performers their vocal ability is magical. Give them a great cover song and they can take it to new heights. They’ve both written excellent songs of their own – but they aren’t as consistent as say Childers/Isbell/Sturgill, but I think they can equal them in performance. Sign me up for a covers album from either of them.
As a final note: this isn’t a defence of the conveyor belt soulless songwriting factorys in Nashville. I’d happy to see those burned to the ground.
March 14, 2025 @ 7:39 am
Lotta great songs out there that deserve to be heard.
March 14, 2025 @ 10:56 am
Good points there, PeterT. Just wanna add: IMHO the best is yet to come, from Sierra Ferrell’s creativity…like…her quiet, relatively recent, songs “Making My Way” “Wish You Well*” are on a high level…When she comes up with louder, declarative songs, from that area of her increasingly soul-baring creativity,…Katie bar the door. Displace a cover song or two from Sierra Ferrell setlists when she’s playing to big crowds. To bar the door, who you gonna call? Katie.
*Am I overstating if I say “New Testament level” for “Wish You Well”? ok. if You are indeed Almighty, strike me down, or, more conveniently for You, send a wildfire my way. I’m not done: The melody of “Wish You” well is like the slow movement of Mozart piano reflecting serenity but you paid a very high price for it. Done now. Nope, still going: You (LL) rhyme “hard” with “tired” w/o batting an eye, you’re authentic
March 13, 2025 @ 10:11 am
What resonates with fans is what it’s about. The stories the musicians tell. No different then writers of books or producers of movies.
Gene Autrey, Roy Rogers, Clint Eastwood and John Wayne where never what they portrayed but they resonate with the viewers/listeners. I don’t think Dale Watson was a truck driver nor Marty Robbins a gunfighter. Hell, the majority of listeners that complain about authenticity have never ridden a horse or live on a ranch or fixed a fence cattle have busted. There are very few people i know of that actually live the life they sing about Chris LeDoux,, Wylie Gustafson and Colter Wall come to mind.
March 13, 2025 @ 10:28 am
Dale Watson once quit country and was working for UPS. Can’t confirm if he ever drove a big rig, but he definitely drove his own bus for years. So did Shane Smith.
March 13, 2025 @ 10:39 am
He can answer the question of “What can brown do for you?”
If it’s Kane Brown then the answer is nothing.
March 13, 2025 @ 10:59 am
No doubt Dale could sing the hell out of a song about working for UPS. He could compose it in the time the chicken craps on a number.
March 13, 2025 @ 5:09 pm
John Conlee was known for fixing and driving his own bus too.
March 13, 2025 @ 7:13 pm
I thought he was an undertaker. Maybe he fixed his own hearse.
March 14, 2025 @ 7:26 am
John Conley was an undertaker for sure and grew up on a tobacco farm and became a great country music singer and songwriter. A perfect American piece of history that must be remembered and documented in a song by the artist.
March 14, 2025 @ 8:13 am
He took care of the occasional joggerd who got caught in the headlights.
March 13, 2025 @ 10:36 am
Chris Wall was the real deal, Wylie Gustafson still is.
March 13, 2025 @ 11:02 am
Playing devil’s advocate for a minute here, Trig.
Sam Hunt had a song out a couple of years ago called “Breaking Up Was Easy in the ’90s.” ICYMI, it was a typical Hunt half-spoken, half-snap track tune, with a surprising bit of dobro and mandolin in the fade. The story it told was of how he couldn’t get his ex-girlfriend off his mind because her social media updates, mostly photos, kept turning up in his FB/Twitter/whatever feed. To guys Sam’s age, that’s real life, more real life than throwing quarters into a jukebox or driving an 18-wheeler in a blizzard. In fact, I’d venture to say that more than a few current social media users in my age bracket (60s) have had the same experience.
Hunt is from a small town in Georgia. He speaks and sings with a Southern accent, but not an overly exaggerated one. The song relates circumstances that he himself could have gone through as a teenager, seeing as how he’s 40 now. So does “Breaking Up Was Easy in the ’90s” fail the authenticity test? Would it pass if he’d dropped the trap beat, or sung about a sawdust floor or a big rig or a downing a Schlitz?
Not trying to antagonize. Just wondering how far from the instrumentation and subject matter of “authentic” country music one is allowed to stray.
March 13, 2025 @ 9:21 pm
Howard, I don’t know you, but Sam, with one tune that has eight credited songwriters, isn’t the flex that you think it is. Ps. He’s released 50 other songs.
March 14, 2025 @ 6:26 am
Jazz and Blues genres have much clearer boundaries. Jazz has maj7 chords, Blues has the common turnaround. Without getting into the list of exceptions and how each can adopt elements of the other, there are characteristics and cliques that each genre has….otherwise it can’t continue to be it’s own thing.
Country music from the 90’s back has been a mix of Folk music, Bluegrass, Rock’n’Roll, Blues, and Jazz – forms of music that exsisted before Country music was called Country. That defines the parameters of Country. Yes there are examples of Country adopting certain Pop elements in the 70’s and 80’s but Pop as a genre is nebulous. Modern Country over the past 25 years has been operating without boundaries and is essentially Southern Pop. Country music cannot continue to be it’s own thing and freely adopt Pop elements, otherwise the only differentiation is the name-dropping of “country” words.
March 14, 2025 @ 8:34 am
There’s this misconception that only “modern” country borrows from pop (insert your own personal paradigm for the idea of modern here). Country music has been borrowing from pop essentially since it became a form of popular music itself. That’s why you had countrypolitan and people like Eddy Arnold trying their best to look and sound like Frank Sinatra in the 1950s. But those unique American rose-tinted glasses that many older folks have seem to cover their ears as well. To my ‘90s kid with zero nostalgia for the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s or ‘80s ears, it’s not any more country than Sam Hunt. There’s hardly any twang at all in many of those “classic” recordings. The lyrics just aren’t as stupid.
I’m sure somebody will come along and poke holes in this canvas I’ve used my incredibly broad brush for, but I think it’s a relevant idea to at least consider. I like plenty of older country from these time periods, but the idea that pop country is some scourge of the modern world is ludicrous.
March 14, 2025 @ 8:49 am
I would say pop country is a scourge to the overall genre of “Country” because that is the majority of what is played on the radio and what is presented as the face of Country music by the major labels. There are holes in my definition and your definition sure but boundaries and definitions aren’t without hypocrisy. But without any attempt at boundaries and definitions there can’t be a genre that retains elements of it’s past.
March 14, 2025 @ 1:30 pm
Agreed point taken. I thought country music has its roots in storytelling and folk culture. Before black and white television sets came along, we gathered around my paternal grandfather in the evenings after supper and he would tell us stories about where we came from before the missionary came to our village and read bible stories.My favorite part was after the harvest period and the moonlight shins as bright as day. It was a beautiful place and time .
March 14, 2025 @ 1:59 pm
Sylvia,
Let the game come to you. I’m not going to allow you to bog my comments section down with whatever it is you’re doing.
March 14, 2025 @ 8:54 am
It’s seen as patriachal, misogynistic, Conservative, whatever to clearly say “this isn’t allowed in Country music because of X,Y,Z.”
I’m not being completely facetious here. I think it’s a culture war push to change and redefine what country music is by outside forces that don’t even like Country music simply because it’s a lucrative “white man’s music.”
March 15, 2025 @ 5:03 pm
Strait, minor pedantic note re: history of country music. “Country” actually precedes bluegrass, which is generally understood to have developed from Bill Monroe’s synthesis of blues, rockabilly, and Appalachian fiddle music, combined with the groundbreaking three finger banjo roll of Earl Scruggs. That band, Monroe, Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt, was in the late 40’s, but Jimmy Rogers and the Opry, for example, were in the 20’s, decades earlier.
I’m sure Bill Monroe, if he was alive today, would listen to some of the synth beat country blech on the radio and utter his classic admonition: “that ain’t no part of nothin’.”
PS: if you’re interested in reading the article on authenticity that Trigger linked to above, just put the title into Google Scholar and it’ll take you to a link where the pre-publication version is kept.
March 14, 2025 @ 10:10 am
I think an extremely strong argument could be made regarding your questions that the authenticity of subject matter absolutely pale in comparison to the authenticity of the reason reasons for writing or performing that music. I imagine it is possible, but I would be blown away if Sam Hunt really thinks those songs where he says things like a baby girl are actually good or authentic. It just seems like you smell business and everything he does.
I really enjoy seeing Billy Joe mentioned in an article about this because it doesn’t get much more real than that dude.
March 14, 2025 @ 10:54 am
I see where you are coming from, Howard. I have the same issue with Moroney’s song filled with Instagram mentions. It is authentic to her and her generation but it doesn’t feel country at all. But rural girls are tied to Instagram as much as city women.
March 14, 2025 @ 1:50 pm
Sooner or later we must come to terms with the fact that the world we grew up in isn’t there anymore.
It took a quantum leap in the 90’s, where everything pre-90’s became medieval, compared to the decenniums before. The explosion of the world wide web, smartphones and all that created a huge gap between those who came of age in the 80’s and those who came of age in the 00’s.
I came into this world in 1975, and I’m sorry to say that I’m almost unable to have a meaningful conversation with those under 35. They cannot fathom my conception of the reality. It’s like I’m 50 years older than them.
On the other hand, it’s never been a problem having a conversation with those who are older than me.
This is my experience, and maybe I’m totally wrong.
March 14, 2025 @ 7:30 pm
Well look at “I met a girl” which Sam hunt wrote being done by William Michael Morgan. Just a diabolical difference. It was actually country when wmm did it. The mix has something to do with it as well. That’s why I like 90’s country and stuff similar the most. Usually the background music was complimentary to the voice whereas a lot of the stuff now the music is much louder and drowns out the singer (at least mainstream wise).
March 13, 2025 @ 11:22 am
An authenticity in country article and nobody has brought up Charley Crockett yet. That’s a switch for the comment section here. Maybe people actually understood your point for once .For the record, love Charley. Looking forward to tomorrow.
March 13, 2025 @ 11:32 am
The funny thing about authenticity is that sometimes it feels like a moving target, because being authentic to oneself is tricky to define. Is it defined by the artist’s interests in a sound or style, or is defined by what the audience has decided is your sound and style? And the ‘you know it when you hear it’ and ‘time has a way of rooting it out’ explanations are pretty subjective, very dependent upon performance and the artifice to create / convey / sell authenticity.
But that’s the other tricky thing: all of this is performance, an artist trying to recapture and translate emotions they felt at a time… and then do it again and again every step of the way. You see this a lot in certain very raw spaces that some songs just become too difficult to perform because they evoke legit trauma in the artist, or remind them of a place and time in their lives where they don’t want to reopen old wounds. Does that make music that doesn’t touch that place less authentic? I’m more forgiving of the difficulties that come with performance – especially if it’s not songs you wrote, which is another can of worms – and I guess the ‘make or break’ is most held there, but then I look an artist like Garth Brooks and I’m always left wondering.
Been brooding on this one a lot as I work on my Jason Isbell review, good article.
March 13, 2025 @ 11:51 am
Authenticity is definitely a moving target.
March 13, 2025 @ 11:59 am
I agree with you mostly, but not so much about associating songwriting with authenticity. I don’t care if a singer wrote his stuff.
Looking at the artists with the most country #1’s (going by Billboard only, for simplicity’s sake)
Strait: Wrote a tiny number of his songs
Haggard: Wrote a large majority of his songs, but got quite a few hits written by others.
Conway: Wrote a decent amount, but still a minority of his hit songs
Ronnie Milsap: wrote maybe 2 or 3 songs, all album cuts
Charley Pride: wrote few, if any, of his hits.
Alabama: wrote most of their early stuff, but fewer and fewer of their singles as their career went on past, say, the 5th album.
But I think we can all agree each of these guys brings a lot of authenticity to his music. Strait is a genuine cowboy/farmer. The Hag did time and was affected by the Great Depression. Milsap survived a harsh upbringing, some abuse, and blindness, plus the death of his only child. Pride grew up poor and obviously had some extra obstacles to get through. Alabama languished for over a decade before achieving success.
I think we can see my point here. Not writing your own songs doesn’t necessarily equate to authenticity, although it helps.
March 13, 2025 @ 12:31 pm
One of the things I tried to convey about the whole “authenticity” debate is that no rule is hard and fast. This would include the songwriting rule. It helps convey authenticity, but like everything else, is not necessary. George Strait is a great example of this.
March 14, 2025 @ 8:21 am
In an era where there are so many singers who have the singing thing down cold and can sound like Jones or Merle or Strait or Randy or Keith, writing some of one’s own material is just a way for an artist to create an idendifiable persona. It certainly did it for Alan Jackson and Toby Keith and stand out from the crowd.
John Anderson once said that he owes a lot of his longevity and comebacks to his frequent co-writer Lionel Delmore “forcing”–or, at least pushing–him to become a writer. And Mark Chesnutt admitted that him A-level career was shortened by his not being a writer, when publishers started sending their good songs to newer artists.
I’ll also add that being a good or musician can is an alternative to being a writer, in terms of developing a persona. I don’t think Ricky Skaggs wrote many songs, but he’s unique and readily identifiable for his playing. And as much as Willie Nelson is known as a writer of many classic country songs, he hasn’t really written much for maybe 30 years. Most of what he records are covers or rerecordings of old songs from his catalog. But his guitar playing gives a signature sound to his performances, even when he’s not singing.
March 13, 2025 @ 12:00 pm
Excellent article. I think some of this is the personal nature of the lyrics of these songs. I can believe the pain in a Tammy Wynette song is about her personal experience. I assume the anguish in George Straight’s “Drinkin’ Man” isn’t personal but feels like it could be or could be about someone he knew/knows (no idea if it was though.) Rock songs generally have never felt like personal stories, just songs that someone thought of. While I can believe that David Lee Roth was or had been “Hot for Teacher,” it’s not something the average person would care or think about. The recent releases by Cody Jinks and Reba were positioned as “deeply personal.” I don’t recall anyone talking about a Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, or Journey album in the same way. The only exception that comes to mind from the rock world is Bruce Springsteen, where he was positioned as someone who lived a lot of the songs he sang (even though it came out in later years that he was a bit of a fussy rich guy.)
March 13, 2025 @ 12:51 pm
Hey Trigger!, Thanks for being ‘authentic’ for once. Most readers love this article so what is this ‘Tip’ you keep asking your readers?. How are readers to know you won’t take off running with our ‘Tips’ after you’re had your fill and have-achieved your goals?.
#One thing you’ve learned for sure is that “Writing” is not an easy process; Some of us made a living with it so we appreciate your dedication and commitment for some of “your “ articles like this one. For a second I was tempted to give you a ‘Tip’ but I remember I have nothing to give. I am so sorry.
March 13, 2025 @ 2:04 pm
Thanks Chat GPT!
March 13, 2025 @ 3:02 pm
Okay. So you finally get one on me.Ahahahaha!
March 13, 2025 @ 3:21 pm
The closing down of the asylums in the 1980’s brought us here.
March 13, 2025 @ 5:17 pm
Agreed totally!
March 13, 2025 @ 1:19 pm
Great article Trig, there’s a long history of country singers that what they sing you just know it’s from life experiences and lot of times they put it in ways the average person can resonate with from their own perspective. Colter is from Canada but is as country as they come, same with a lot of others that people have mentioned. In the end to me authenticity always prevails when I’m listening to artists
March 13, 2025 @ 2:03 pm
I would say “uniqueness” is another factor. Do they stand out from everyone else, whether that is their voice alone. Think about Willie, Childers, Zach Bryan, Randy Travis, etc. Their voices are so unique that you know right away who is singing when you hear their songs. Sadly too many people are copying those voice styles these days, while they are still great, they lose that uniqueness. I also think people are drawn to those that stand out by looking different as well, think of Jelly Roll and Post Malone. Sometimes a person’s style can be way over the top and not feel genuine also.
March 15, 2025 @ 9:36 am
…”uniqueness” is definitely not a factor, when being true to something lies at the heart of the matter.
March 13, 2025 @ 4:57 pm
Was Jerry Jeff Walker authentic?
March 14, 2025 @ 3:01 am
Great question, because he wasn’t from Texas and just adopted that persona later. But the answer has to be yes. He adopted Texas because he genuinely loved Luckenbach, Hondo, etc. Plus he was a legit street singer in New Orleans. My understanding is that he really lived the life of a rambling folk singer there for a while.
March 13, 2025 @ 5:00 pm
I had some real thoughts, but I think Rob Leines already said it better than I ever could.
“I make life harder than it has to be, cause it makes writing songs easy.”
“Can’t sing your soul if you sell it for gold. And if you’re full of shit, all them people gonna know.”
March 13, 2025 @ 7:38 pm
Years ago my wife and I attended a Brooks & Dunn show in Cleveland Ohio. She noticed everyone around us in the crowd in their western wear and said she didn’t feel country enough. I said honey, we spent all day shoveling sheep manure out of a barn. We’re fine.
March 14, 2025 @ 11:03 am
But I know Dunn is a real cowboy. It’s etched and inked into his forearm. Not some sagebrush or rodeo imagery, but the word, in bold block letters.
March 13, 2025 @ 9:26 pm
Man, am I the only one who thinks Garth may be the most unauthentic of all time in country music? I mean, he’d be on the Mount Rushmore, that’s for sure. He was lauded for his performances, and to me, it’s super cringeworthy stuff.
Now, someone called unauthentic who I think is as authentic as it gets is Charley Crockett. If you know his story as a busker, his knowledge of country music and music in general. He’s legit.
March 14, 2025 @ 2:57 am
Agreed re Garth- I would go so far as to say he could be the definition of inauthentic in country music. I suppose there are plenty of musicians who are still “performing” offstage and it is not objectionable, but something about the way Garth does it with his fake tears really hits different in a negative way.
March 13, 2025 @ 9:27 pm
I am only interested in country musicians that have drinking problems, shoot dope, snort cocaine and cheat on their partners. Don’t care where they from or if worked on a farm or not. That’s authenticity.
March 15, 2025 @ 9:31 am
…a liberal to the bone.
March 16, 2025 @ 1:50 am
What? How does that make me a Liberal? Did you see me mention being on Government Assistance anywhere in my comment? Work on your reading comprehension.
March 14, 2025 @ 1:41 am
Coincidentally early rap was also about authenticity and rapping what you lived with a side of partying for good measure. I’ve noticed the two genres at there best have much in common from a writing perspective.
But both also can fall easy prey to cliches and stereotypes for the sake of a $. Ahem bro-coutry and gangster rap both did this.
Now rappers like Drake rap about the street while never having struggled on it.
March 14, 2025 @ 1:51 am
Anytime this topic arise and people fall back on the cliches I just remind them Mary Chapin Carpenter is from New Jersey and Dwight “too country” Yoakum got his start in LA.
March 14, 2025 @ 2:20 am
Okay? Dwight is from Kentucky. Buck and Merle were big in California. Dwight is inspired by them. Stupid reminder.
March 14, 2025 @ 5:46 am
can’t wait for the Charley review because man is this album boring.
March 15, 2025 @ 9:26 am
…hardly ever will a second opinion be more superfluous.
March 14, 2025 @ 6:37 am
Great article. After reading, I immediately thought of the phenomenon of Billy Strings. I believe his success and love across all genres can directly be tied to his authenticity (along with surrounding himself with equally talented musicians). You will literally see all walks of life at his concerts and most leave with the same level of amazement no matter their background. His authenticity is what drew me in to a level of fandom I haven’t experienced since Hank 3.
March 14, 2025 @ 8:37 am
Actors are judged by how accurately and believably they can play a character. We don’t worry that Tommy Lee Jones wasn’t really a CIA assassin. Or that Dwight Yoakum wasn’t dating Billy Bob Thornton’s friend’s mom. Only that the performance is “authentic.” My point? If the song is well written (by artist or another songwriter), and sung in a believable way, it resonates with the listener. That is the authenticity I’m looking for.
March 14, 2025 @ 10:29 am
Trigger, I think you’re right on about authenticity being about honesty, and I’ve always been a booster of the whole authenticity argument in favor of country. But something you said more in passing really struck me as well, and that was your reference to people who “find their way to country music because it resonates with them like nothing else.” I can’t explain why but that was true for me. I won’t go into a biography, but I’ll tell you about the first time country touched me. It was when I was in high school and had zero experience with anything closer to country than Elvis records. This was the late 60s, and I was fortunate enough to live in a suburb of San Francisco, so I was spending every weekend at the Fillmore or Winterland or the Avalon — I saw all the greats in that scene, many times, and loved them. But one day I happened to be hanging out at the house of some older guys I didn’t know that well who I considered really hip, and we were smoking pot and talking and not really listening that much to whatever album was on the stereo when this song came on by a group I’d heard of but didn’t know, Humble Pie. It was a song off their Town and Country album called “Every Mother’s Son,” and although I wouldn’t have been able to tell you at the time, it was (and is) a country song, and I just dropped out of the conversation and listened and never forgot that song. I still don’t know much about Humble Pie except for who their famous members were, but I’m pretty sure that song wasn’t the type of stuff they were known for. (“Every Mother’s Son” was written by Steve Marriott and I doubt he was what we’d consider an authentic country boy, but maybe he was.) It wasn’t until a few years later that I discovered Waylon’s Honky Tonk Heroes album and Gram Parson’s Grievous Angel and Linda Ronstadt’s self-titled LP and they were the gateway drugs the led me to George and Tammy and Keith and Buck and the rest of the hard stuff. The point of this long story is that there was something in the sound and feeling of that song that grabbed me and there was nothing in my background or experience — then or now — that could have explained why it did.
March 14, 2025 @ 10:56 am
Authenticity often boils down to this: does someone like the singer?
March 14, 2025 @ 2:20 pm
I was thinking more about this and I think authenticity has to do with concessions. What did they “give up” in pursuit of success? Billy Jo Shaver is the perfect example of someone who made zero concessions. There is no way that Luke Bryan initally picked up a guitar to eventually put out the dogshit 1#’s that he did for his entire career. The line between authentic and inauthentic is probably somewhere between Billy Jo Shaver’s ability to say no and Luke Bryan saying yes.
March 15, 2025 @ 6:18 am
Profound point Strait. I hadn’t thought of that. Comment of the month!
March 15, 2025 @ 6:25 pm
Can we please retire the term “Outlaw Country”?! Makes me cringe. As if these people are Jesse James or John Dillinger, also making a living as a traveling troubadour.