neotraditional country

The tradition & historical record

Neotraditional country (also known as new traditional country, or hardcore country) is a country music style and subgenre that developed in the 1980s and emphasizes the traditional country instrumental background (i.e. fiddle and pedal steel guitar) and traditional country vocals found in subgenres popularized in the 1940s-60s. Neo-traditional country draws inspiration from styles such as honky-tonk, Western swing, and the Bakersfield sound and performers such as Hank Williams, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens, Tammy Wynette, Kitty Wells, Bob Wills, Ernest Tubb, and Merle Haggard. as well as often dressing in the fashions of the country music scene of the 1940s-1960s. The neotraditional country movement was ignited by artists George Strait, Ricky Skaggs, and John Anderson in the early 1980s as a reaction to the pop-country and Urban Cowboy scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and became popular in the mainstream country scene by the mid-1980s into the mid-1990s with artists such as Randy Travis, Clint Black, Dwight Yoakam, Alan Jackson, Highway 101, Patty Loveless, Kenny Chesney, The Judds, Brooks & Dunn, Mark Chesnutt, Toby Keith, and Keith Whitley. ¹

Neotraditional country rose to popularity in the mid-1980s, a few years after the so-called "outlaw movement", a previous "back-to-its-roots" movement, had faded in popularity. Neotraditionalism was born as a reaction to the perceived blandness of the mainstream country music at the time, which had been influenced by the rise of the "urban cowboy" fad. New (or "neo-") traditionalism looked to the elders of country music like Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams, Kitty Wells and George Jones for inspiration, and was a precursor to the more general categorization known as new country. The creation of neotraditionalism was also done in contrast to the more pop-oriented acts of the 1970s and 1980s, such as Ronnie Milsap and Anne Murray, along with the flood of former pop acts (see B.J. Thomas, Billy Joe Royal, The Osmond Brothers, Bill Medley, Dan Seals and Exile) switching to "country" to revive their careers. In 1981, George Strait had made his musical debut with the album Strait Country. The album was based on an approach towards traditional country music and its subgenres of honky tonk, Western swing, and the Bakersfield sound. The album was considered a sharp contrast to the then current trends of country music, at the time relying on the "urban cowboy" country-pop scene. AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine observed: ¹

And that's the genius of Strait Country—it showed how it was possible to be planted firmly in traditional country yet flexible enough to play softer stuff without losing that hardcore stance... by blending the hardcore honky tonk, Western swing and Bakersfield country with a few melodic ballads that weren't designed for the barroom, he set the template for years and years of modern country. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Neotraditional country”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

neotraditional country is style of country music emphasizing instrumental compositions and "traditional" vocal styles, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 5 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²