For as long as there has been country music, there has been controversy over the legacy, and future of country music. One need look no further than the writings of Amanda Marie Martinez or Grady Smith’s YouTube channel to engage with the conversation about what country music is, and what it isn’t.
You can almost trace the last 20 years of country radio in the sounds of Dierks Bentley’s radio singles, from What Was I Thinkin’, his first number one from 2003, a bluegrass-infused country song to his 2021 collaboration with Breland and Hardy, Beers on Me.