12 songs that show just how good modern country music can be

2005-2020: the pushback against Bro-Country

“Ride Through the Country” by Colt Ford (featuring John Michael Montgomery) (2008)

Colt Ford grew up in Athens, GA in the 1970s and ‘80s. Being one of the birthplaces of alternative music, it may not be surprising that Athens spawned one of the first successful country rap artists. Ford presented a very traditional country image, championing a simple life described on his debut album, Ride Through the Country. And he did it with a level of self-deprecating wit that stood apart from the early Bros, who were often saying the exact same thing. “You can leave your door open, ain’t nothing’ll happen – Most country folks can sing, but I couldn’t so I’m rappin’.”

The debut album is comprised of duets he performs with artists who can actually sing – on this one, it’s John Michael Montgomery. Ford’s association with alpha-Bro Jason Aldean (he wrote several of Aldean’s hits) has tended to land him on a particular side of the political divide, though Ford has often maintained he doesn’t do politics. Ford, who has dealt with a series of health problems, suffered a heart attack earlier this year. He hopes to resume performing at some point, but that has yet to happen.

“Miss You Being Gone” by the Band Perry (2010)

The siblings from Mississippi (Kimberly, Reid, and Neil) hit the country-pop world hard in 2010 with their self-titled debut album and its monster hit “If I Die Young.” “Miss You Being Gone” shows the harder rock edge they brought to many of their songs, along with Kimberly's fabulously snarky and vindictive lyrical styling. “I’ll admit that I was wrong – You said I’d miss you – Of yes I do – Honey I miss you being gone.” After a follow-up album that yielded several more country-pop hits, the band somewhat inexplicably signed on with mega-label Interscope. Word spread rather quickly that the Perrys were going pop.

However, a third album never materialized, and the Band soon parted ways with Interscope. They released a few singles with Benny Cassette – most known at the time for his work with Kanye West, and it seemed that the Band Perry didn’t have a place in country music – or pop for that matter. Not much was heard from them until Kimberly announced last year that they had disbanded and she was working on a solo project. Being gone, I do kinda miss them.

“Hit ‘Em Up Style” by the Carolina Chocolate Drops (2010)

In the 1975 movie Nashville, which we referenced in part 1 of this series, there was a character named Tommy Brown played by the actor Timothy Brown. He was the token minority recording artist promoted by Music Row in an attempt to prove Nashville did not have a race problem. The character Tommy Brown closely resembled the actual country star Charley Pride, who, for a very long time, was the only African American who could claim to be a country music star.

Several decades later, and with little progress on the diversity front, Rhiannon Giddens, Dom Flemons, and Justin Robinson formed the Carolina Chocolate Drops to help revive a form of traditional music played by African Americans from the birth of country. If it wasn’t initially called country music, it sure shared a lot of country’s hallmarks. On “Hit ‘Em Up Style,” Giddons plays fiddle, Flemons plucks the banjo, and Robinson and Sule Greg Wilson handle percussion. Giddens, in her clear, literate vocals, offers advice on how to deal with a cheater, and if that isn’t country…

“Nobody to Blame” by Chris Stapleton (2015)

Chris Stapleton was 36 years old when he reset country music’s compass with his debut album, Traveller, in 2015. He did it by eschewing the Bro braggadocio and returning to a more traditional type of song. “Nobody to Blame” featured his electric guitar playing alongside pedal steel and mandolin. It was managed by legendary progressive country producer Dave Cobb.

And instead of reveling in booze and broads, it is an upbeat-yet-sad-eyed heartbreak song about accepting responsibility for a failed relationship. All delivered in Stapleton’s gruff, tender baritone. Since the release of Traveller, Stapleton has won the CMA Male Artist of the Year seven times, including the most recent award.

“Redesigning Women” by the Highwomen (2019)

Outlaw country music fans have been debating for years who the new version of the original Highwaymen would be. The Highwaymen were the country music supergroup from the 1980s, comprised of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash. Chris Stapleton was long rumored to be a likely member of the new Highwaymen, along with the likes of Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson. Then, wonder of wonders, while everyone was talking about the new Highwaymen, the Highwomen burst onto the scene.

They were led by progressive country titans Brandi Carlile and Maren Morris, along with Natalie Hemby and Isbell’s wife at the time, Amanda Shires. The first single, written by Hemby and Rodney Clawson and sung by all four, was “Redesigning Women,” a mid-tempo rocker about female empowerment in an ever-changing landscape. “Redesigning women – Runnin’ the world while we’re cleaning up the kitchen – Makin’ bank, shakin’ hands, drivin’ eighty – Tryin’ to get home just to feed the baby.”

“Burn One With John Prine” by Kacey Musgraves (2019)

The year isn’t right. I don’t know when Musgraves wrote this beautiful tribute to one of the godfathers of the entire Americana movement. She has never released it either on an album or as a single. But she has played it often, most notably in 2019 when she took the stage with Prine himself and after some of his folksiest storytelling about this young woman who once tried to get him high, Musgraves – by this point a major star herself – played the song as Prine, beaming with pride, looked on.

The song is obviously a loving tribute to one of Musgraves’ inspirations, but it is also a beautiful statement about the way she sees the world - “I ain’t good at being careful – I just say what’s on my mind – Like my idea of heaven – Is to burn one with John Prine.” Not long after this, Prine, among the greatest of all American singer-songwriters, would succumb to COVID.