What is country music?
Country music is defined as “a style and genre of largely string-accompanied American popular music having roots in the folk music of the Southeast and cowboy music of the West, usually vocalized, generally simple in form and harmony, and typified by romantic or melancholy ballads accompanied by acoustic or electric guitar, banjo, violin, and harmonica.”….Right and we play the best of it including artists like these!
Morgan Cole Wallen (born May 13, 1993) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He competed in the sixth season of The Voice, originally as a member of Usher’s team, but later as a member of Adam Levine’s team. After being eliminated in the playoffs of that season, he signed to Panacea Records, releasing his debut EP, Stand Alone, in 2015. In 2016, Wallen signed to Big Loud, releasing his debut album, If I Know Me, in 2018. The album includes the singles “Up Down” (featuring Florida Georgia Line), “Whiskey Glasses,” and “Chasin’ You.” If I Know Me reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Wallen’s second album, Dangerous: The Double Album, was released in January 2021, and in February 2021 became the only country album in the 64-year history of the Billboard 200 to spend its first seven weeks at No. 1. It spent a total of ten weeks at that spot, the first album to do so since Whitney Houston’s Whitney in 1987. The album included Billboard No. 1 singles “More Than My Hometown,” “7 Summers,” and “Wasted on You.”
Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on the Top Country Albums charts, with his 1994 breakthrough album Not a Moment Too Soon being the top country album of 1994. In total, McGraw’s albums have produced 65 singles, 25 of which have reached number one on the Hot Country Songs or Country Airplay charts. Three of these singles – “It’s Your Love”, “Just to See You Smile”, and “Live Like You Were Dying” – were respectively the top country songs of 1997, 1998, and 2004 according to Billboard Year-End. He has also won three Grammy Awards, 14 Academy of Country Music awards, 11 Country Music Association (CMA) awards, 10 American Music Awards, and three People’s Choice Awards. His Soul2Soul II Tour, which was done in partnership with his wife, Faith Hill, is one of the highest-grossing tours in country music history, and one of the top five among all genres of music. He has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Parmalee is an American country music band consisting of brothers Matt Thomas (lead vocals, guitar) and Scott Thomas (drums), along with their cousin Barry Knox (bass) and Josh McSwain (guitar), who is a best friend since childhood. They are signed to the Stoney Creek division of BBR Music Group and have released three studio albums: Feels Like Carolina, 27861, and For You. The band has made six entries on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, with two number-one singles on the latter: “Carolina” in 2013, and “Just the Way”, a collaboration with Blanco Brown, in 2021.
Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is a New Zealand-born Australian musician, singer, guitarist, and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban is considered one of the leading exponents his music genre, also earning fifteen Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves International Award, thirteen CMA Awards and six ARIA Music Awards. Urban is also the songwriter and performer of the song “For You” from the film Act of Valor, which earned him nominations at both the 70th Golden Globe Awards and at the 18th Critics’ Choice Awards in the respective Best Original Song categories.
Charles Edgar Walker Hayes (born December 27, 1979) is an American pop country singer and songwriter. He has released three studio albums: Reason to Rhyme in 2011 on Capitol Records Nashville, and Boom and Country Stuff the Album in 2017 and 2022 on Monument Records. Hayes has charted multiple singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts; his highest-peaking is “Fancy Like”, which reached the number one position on both charts between late 2021 and early 2022.
Jason Aldean (born Jason Aldine Williams; February 28, 1977) is an American country music singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 2005, Aldean has been signed to Broken Bow Records, a record label for which he has released ten albums and 38 singles. His 2010 album, My Kinda Party, is certified quadruple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His 2012 album Night Train is certified double-platinum, while his 2005 self-titled debut, 2007 album Relentless, 2009 album Wide Open, 2014 album Old Boots, New Dirt are all certified platinum. Aldean has received five Grammy Award nominations throughout his career, twice for Best Country Album.
Thomas Rhett Akins Jr. (born March 30, 1990) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is the son of singer Rhett Akins. Rhett has released five studio albums for Big Machine Records’ Valory Music imprint: It Goes Like This (2013), Tangled Up (2015), Life Changes (2017), Center Point Road (2019), Country Again: Side A (2021) and Where We Started (2022). He has received four Grammy Award nominations with two albums being nominated for Best Country Album in 2017 and 2019. His five albums have produced 21 singles on the Billboard Hot Country and Country Airplay charts, with 17 reaching the No. 1 position on the latter: “It Goes Like This”, “Get Me Some of That”, “Make Me Wanna”, “Crash and Burn”, “Die a Happy Man”, “T-Shirt”, “Star of the Show”, “Craving You”, “Unforgettable”, “Marry Me”, “Life Changes”, “Sixteen”, “Remember You Young”, “Look What God Gave Her”, “Beer Can’t Fix”, “What’s Your Country Song”, and “Country Again”. In addition to much of his own material, Rhett has written singles for Jason Aldean, Lee Brice, Florida Georgia Line, LoCash, and Michael Ray, among others.
