Randy Travis Sets Alan Jackson Straight About Today’s Country

For years, any time a country music artist lashed out about the direction of country music or the quality of its current stars, they received pretty loud applause for their bravery and leadership from the true country music community. That’s still the case for many, and most certainly what is going on in the mainstream of country remains a cause for concern. But things are changing as well.

Ahead of Alan Jackson’s new album Where Have You Gone whose title track is a lament on how so many of the sounds and sentiments vital to country music can no longer be heard, the Country Music Hall of Famer was pretty outspoken about how he feels about today’s country music.

When speaking with Holly Gleason of HITS Daily Double, Alan Jackson said, “Country music is gone—and it’s not coming back. It’s like the 1980s again. I’m 62 years old; I’m not some 30-year-old stud. It’s not the same, but somebody has to bring it back, because it’s not just people in their 50s, it’s people in their 20s, too. All the kids and young people around my house? The older they’ve got, the more hardcore and traditional what they’ve leaned into has become.”

 

Alan Jackson continued, “It’s not old-school, it’s the real school. And I’m kinda pissed off like you are about what’s happened to the format, or whatever they wanna call it.”

Loretta Lynn—who helped induct Alan Jackson to the Country Music Hall of Fame a few years ago—also shared similar sentiments in 2020, saying in part, “They’ve already let it [die]. I think it’s dead. I think it’s a shame. I think it’s a shame to let a type of music die. I don’t care what any kind of music it is. Rock, country, whatever. I think it’s a shame to let it die, and I’m here to start feeding it.”

But where most true country fans usually cheer these sentiments, now some are starting to push back. Sure, when talking about country music on corporate radio, or many of the new artists on major labels, these arguments are correct. But now more than ever, a vibrant scene of independent and authentic country artists are challenging the monopoly of mainstream radio and major labels, and finding major success without their assistance.