Walking the line between country and pop

FOR A LARGE CHUNK OF THE 2010S, country music was defined by the bro. The stadium-rocking, beer-chugging subgenre dominated radio and arenas, thanks to the popularity of artists like Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean. Characterized by copious “Southern” signifiers (trucks, girls, nights out with the guys) and elements of modern-day hip-hop (drum machines, gruffy pattered vocals), these bro-country songs have the type of sonic