“I like every genre of music … apart from country.”
“All country music sounds the same.”
“Country music is for cringey white guys who wear excessively revealing bro tanks and their hats backwards.”
Does this sound like you? You’re not alone. But I’m here to tell you why you’re wrong. As much as I know you want to cling onto these untrue, and honestly disrespectful stereotypes about country music to preserve a feeling of moral superiority, I urge you to hear me out.
Let me preface this by saying I am as un-American as you can get. I am from Moscow, Russia and before this summer I had never been out further east in the United States than Arizona. But over the break, I had the opportunity to spend six weeks traveling across Texas for a cultural research project focused on the origins, cultural significance and importance of honky tonks. It was during this couple of weeks that I fell head over heels for country life, culture and music.
I believe that my foreign identity actually provides an advantage when thinking about a genre of music that is so uniquely American and totally engrained in this country’s history, politics and communities. I can offer you an outsider’s perspective on something you may be taking for granted.
The most unique aspect of this country is that there really is no one official and defined culture, which is reflected by the American music scene. Pop, rock, classical, rap, hip-hop, R&B, jazz — these are all global music genres. But who makes, or even really listens to country music, outside of America? Barely anyone.
Country music is just one part of America’s diverse cultural landscape, and deserves to be respected and celebrated too. Or at the very least, country deserves enough of your attention to figure out why, or if, you really hate it.
I believe that there are three main reasons why you are inclined to say that you hate country music — let me debunk them for you.
1. Country music is just bad.
I’ll be honest: there is a lot of country music that sucks … Like really sucks. Perhaps you’re thinking of those cliché songs about driving trucks and eating catfish for dinner. Yeah, I’m not a fan of these either. But each musical genre has terrible music and musicians — a lot of them are the ones that you heard on the radio that instantly made you declare country music as just plain crap.
Country music encompasses a plethora of subgenres that are all inspired by different regions and communities in the United States. I’m thinking ballads, blue grass, honky-tonk, Tejano, alternative, progressive. If I had the space to go into the deep histories, cultural and political ties of each of these subgenres, I would.
But for now, explore some of my favorites: Tyler Childers, Midland, Sturgill Simpson, Lainey Wilson, Marty Robbins (I would like to believe that my fantastic taste in music might change your mind about country).
2. Country music is just for straight, white, American men.
Yes, this was the case 20 years ago, but in recent years the country scene has transformed beyond recognition. We are seeing more and more Black country musicians who are celebrating their Southern roots, like Beyoncé and Shaboozey, who’s track “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” has cemented the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 longer than any other song this year.
Perhaps the country music that you hear playing around Claremont McKenna College’s campus is by straight, white men, for straight, white men. But this statement totally disregards the abundance of Mexican-American country music, which is extremely popular in states like Texas and New Mexico.
Another aspect of country that often gets overlooked is its roots in some of the poorest areas of the United States, such as the Appalachian region where country music originated, heavily inspired by jazz and blues. Historically, country music has been associated with the working class, “disreputable” drinking joints and addiction — stereotypes deeply rooted in classism.
Country music has had a difficult history, excluding and harming people both inside and outside of its community. I am not advocating for the erasure or denial of country’s problematic past, but I am optimistic in the direction where the world of country is headed today.
3. The culture around country music is unrelatable.
If you’re not from the rural South, I do sympathize with this point, but living in California does not mean that you cannot engage with country culture and communities. There are so many aspects of country to explore that there is something for everyone.
Whether you’ve always been interested in watching a bull riding contest, or attending a rowdy rodeo, or picking up a line dance in a honky-tonk, or even just rocking a pair of bootcut jeans with a pair of shiny cowboy boots — you can do it all within 20 minutes of Claremont.
The nearby town of Norco, also known as Horsetown, boasts a variety of Western wear stores, country bars and rodeos. Diving deep into the unknown is scary, especially when everyone around you seems to already be ingrained in country culture, but I am almost certain that your courage will pay off.
Now, if you have truly given country music a fair shot and listened to the wide array of country subgenres out there and you still want to be a hater — so be it. Everybody has different musical tastes, and my goal is not to change that.
However, country music deserves a chance; by hating an entire genre that is bursting with talented, good-hearted musicians that want to make country more accessible to everyone, you are closing yourself off to something that you could fall in love with, like I did.
You do not need to check off any specific boxes to be a country music fan — country is for everyone. Because really, who can’t relate to drowning your sorrows over your sweetheart not loving you back in an ice cold beer, sitting on a ragged, wooden stool of a honky tonk, as neon lights of cheap beer logos cloud your vision?
Lisa Gorelik CM ’25 is from Moscow, Russia. She is eagerly waiting for the weekend to show off her newly learned moves at the line dancing bars in Norco.
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