We know what "bell-bottom country" is (thank you, Lainey!). And we know what the "outlaw country movement" was (thanks, Willie!). But do you know what the "bro-country' trend of the 2010s was? According to Medium, it is now as extinct as the Brontosaurus and the Edsel. In its heyday, however, per the outlet, "The term, originally coined by journalist Jody Rosen, is defined by Rosen as 'music by and of the tatted, gym-toned, party-hearty young American white dude.'" The outlet cites a bunch of songs and artists that galvanized the craze. Among them are Luke Bryan with three momentous tracks including "Drunk On You," "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)," and "I Don't Want This Night to End," Jason Aldean with "My Kinda Party," and Florida-Georgia Line with their song, "Cruise."
Videos by Wide Open Country
Why Was Bro-Country Popular Back Then?
The outlet hypothesizes, "For a generation of college-aged individuals, bro-country was easy and accessible. Songs about parties, alcohol, drinking, and girls were exactly what many millennials were after."
Some senior members of the country genre even got in on the action alongside the youthful whippersnappers and upstarts. Stars like Tim McGraw ('One Of Those Nights" and "Shotgun Rider"), Alan Jackson (his song "Country Boy" slightly pre-dated the bro-country days), and George Strait (I Got A Car") helped lay the foundation.
There Is Room In The Country Tent For All Kinds Of Music
Country music is an elastic concept. There is space within it for the tough and the tender (both the singers and their songs). One need not muscle the other out of the picture. Per Medium, "There's room for both Haggard-esque barroom stompers and Kristofferson-esque portraits of lost love and regret." Whether your preference in country is a wistful ballad or a wild, whiskey-soaked toe-tapper, it's all good. Most important, it's all country.
The Best Country Artists Don't Have To Fit Neatly Into A Category
There will always be rebels and iconoclasts in culture, be it in music, art, cinema, dance, or literature. That is okay, folks. It is commendable. As the outlet wisely points out, some of country's most luminous legends fearlessly went their own creative way. "They stick to what they want to do. They never chased trends. They recorded what they wanted and how they wanted. The risk was and is great. But the reward is even greater. Perhaps that's the greatest lesson we can take away from the bro-country era."
