The 'anti-city' country song is a well-worn trope, one that pits idyllic country life against the corruption of the city. But Aldean's controversial song reveals the dark heart of the tradition.
The country music star is known for his songs about rural life, but critics, especially those on the left of the political spectrum, say his latest music video takes the nostalgic themes too far.
NPR's Scott Detrow talks to NPR's Ann Powers and Marcus Dowling of The Tennessean about how two country songs sit atop the Billboard Hot 100, and the context for this moment.
Out of print, odd and obscure, Souled American's esoteric take on country music is now available digitally for the first time. We asked composer Sarah Hennies to pick a place to begin.
In Luke Combs' unexpected cover of the Tracy Chapman classic, NPR's Stephen Thompson found hope for a world with fewer boundaries and binaries and roped-in genres.
Lainey Wilson won album of the year for Bell Bottom Country and Chris Stapleton was named entertainer of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.
Mya Byrne loved country music since her childhood in New Jersey. But it took years of searching and traveling to lead to the place where she could make her new album, Rhinestone Tomboy.
17,000 fans turned up to the Hollywood Bowl for a concert by Willie Nelson and his famous friends. Owen Wilson, Helen Mirren, Ethan Hawke and Jennifer Garner all did the introductions.
On the duo's latest album, its first full-length released on a major country label, Tanya and Michael Trotter Jr. sing piano-driven originals with a grown-up sense of devotion.
A pop critic looks at two benefit shows in Nashville that put a rainbow-hued spotlight on the way a buzzword like "visibility" can become more than symbolic, especially in moments of crisis.