The unstoppable rise of country music

When a major artist releases a new album, the first thing to follow is the onslaught of think pieces. And when Beyoncé released Cowboy Carter earlier this year, the tone of these think pieces – especially on this side of the Atlantic – was one of slightly baffled congratulation. Here, at last, was a pioneer who might drag this hidebound genre – of sequins and satin, of lachrymose, middle-aged songs about drink and divorce – into the modern age.

The only problem is that Beyoncé was not leading; she was following. Beyoncé pivoted to country not to make it cool, but because it’s become cool – and more of a commercial powerhouse than it has been for years. In the US, just 23 country songs have topped both the country chart and the Billboard Hot 100, and three of them came in the week of 5 August last year.

You might argue that what goes around comes around – the Grammy-winning country singer Lainey Wilson might well proclaim in song that ‘Country’s Cool Again’, but 43 years ago Barbara Mandrell was claiming ‘I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool’ – but there is something different this time around. Because country today (at least the version that is shooting up the charts) is young people’s music. And it’s not just for Americans – this summer, Morgan Wallen becomes the first pure country star to headline a non-country festival in the UK, when he tops the bill at BST Hyde Park on, fittingly, 4 July. (One of the other days is headlined by Shania Twain, who has returned to a more country sound in the past few years.)

But not everyone is delighted. For 30 years Tom Bridgewater has run the British country label Loose Music.