MUSC 1800: Popular MusicCountry Since 1990

Dr. Matthew C. SaundersLakeland Community College

C-1078

The New Nashville

• After a time outside the mainstream in the 1980s, country music found renewed interest in urban and suburban white audiences after ca. 1987.

Looking like a country star…

• “Hat acts”

• Pop country

Country in the 1990s

• “Hat acts” (1980s and 1990s)– Alan Jackson: “Chattahoochee,” 1992

• Country pop (mid-1990s)– Shania Twain: “Honey I’m Home,” 1999

• Roots revival (late-1990s, early 2000s)– The Dixie Chicks: “Wide Open Spaces,” 1998

Country in the 2000s

• Patriotism and Redneck Life– Toby Keith: “I Love This Bar,” 2003– Gretchen Wilson: “Redneck Woman,” 2004

• Rock influences– Rascall Flatts: “What Hurts the Most,” 2006

• Country pop redux:– Taylor Swift: “Should’ve Said No,” 2008