Luke Bryan has answered all the haters with a new song called “Whatever Makes You Country.”
It’s an argument that rehashed as each new era of country music artists begin making their way to the national spotlight. I have been in this industry for more years than I care to admit and have had the debate more times than I can count.
A country music fan says, “That’s not country” about a new artist or artists. I often use the example that when Alabama first started releasing music nationally many country music fans argued that they were not country because they didn’t sound anything like The Oak Ridge Boys, The Statler Brothers or any number of country music legends that preceded them. Now Alabama is considered one of (if not THE) biggest country band of all-time.
When it comes to Luke, many critics have said he “wasn’t country” because of his look and sound. Luke has been put smack in the middle of what many call “Bro-Country” and to many, that is not a good thing. Other artists that are often put in that category include Blake Shelton, Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean to name just a few. Some of country music’s biggest names.
At a recent stop on the “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day Tour” Luke unveiled a new song to those in attendance at the special VIP pre-concert experience of the stop. Luckily for us a fan caught the performance on video and shared it on YouTube.
Country Rebel reports that the song was co-written by Luke, Dallas Davidson and Ashley Gorley. The website also states that Luke told those in attendance that he has been working hard on new music that will be released before the end of 2017, but did not indicate if this song would be included on the new project.
The new song is an obvious retort to those critics that say that Luke is not country. The lyrics of the song touts his “country pedigree” by explaining his upbringing on a Georgia peanut farm learning to hunt, fish and do everything that most people would consider to be a “country life.”
Luke explains that “country” can be different things to different people with the line, “You can be a cowboy on the Texas plain, or a plowboy waitin’ on the rain. We’re all a little different, but we’re all the same. Everybody doin’ their own thing.”
When I am pulled into the debate about what is or isn’t country, I typically make the statement at some point, “All music evolves. One of the best things about music is that it is subjective. You don’t have to like everything by everybody. However, just because you don’t like a person’s music doesn’t mean it is not country.”
Luke addresses that same point with the song’s final lyrics, “You do your kind of country. They doin’ their kind of country. I do my kind of country.”
In other words why not “Live and Let Live.” Of course, that is just my opinion.
Watch the video of Luke Bryan singing the new song “Whatever Make You Country” below.
By: Buck Stevens
