There are many reasons why country music should be respected way more than it is and one of the reasons is what it’s doing for the music industry as a whole. As of writing this, two of the top five Billboard artists are country musicians, Morgan Wallen and Zach Bryan at fourth and fifth respectively. They fall behind the obvious power houses such as Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift which would take a miracle for anyone to overcome. Yet the proof is there that shows country music is alive and well. With some of its biggest artists set to release albums soon, this year is bound to be one of the best years that country music has seen in a while. Let’s dive into what makes this year so special!

It all started back in January when one of the genre’s most prominent writers released an album that shocked the country music world. With the release of “Mockingbird & the Crow” by HARDY, the country music world, and everyone else for that matter, was put on notice that a new era of country music was here and here to stay. With the first half of the album sporting traditional country songs with the stereotypical lyrics that everyone knows, and maybe loves, it seemed to be normal, but the twist shows HARDY’s dual nature with the second half showing his writing ingenuity with it all being metal music/hard rock. With songs that call out the country music industry like “RADIO SONG,” it’s less of an album for money purposes but a glimpse as to what will come in the future. After the shock HARDY brought us, no one could have prepared for the monster March that would soon follow.

If someone were to ask me “What month would best incapsulate modern country music?” I’d point to March. Only three days into the month, Morgan Wallen, arguably the biggest artist in MUSIC drops a MONSTER album that consists of 36 songs! Though this album does hold more of a country vibe to it vs “Mockingbird & the Crow,” it still shows some signs of mixing between genres of music with Wallen sporting less of a rock mix but a rap/pop mix. One of the more well known songs “Last Night” has that pop ring to it and held the coveted  top spot in Billboard’s Hot 100 for 13 consecutive weeks. It also claimed the top spot in Billboard’s Hot Country songs for 22 consecutive weeks, which made it the sixth best chart time of ALL TIME. It’s also good to mention that these two achievements have Morgan Wallen in extremely elite company as he surpasses Michael Jackson for having both the album AND lead single be number one on their respective charts, therefore making Wallen the best solo male artist with the greatest chart double up in HISTORY! Not to mention his double album “Dangerous” from 2021 is still charting very high for an album that was released two years ago, which shows his chokehold on the music industry as a whole.

On top of the Wallen album release, another industry giant, Luke Combs, released his album “Gettin’ Old” which is the sister album to his previous album “Growin’ Up.” “Gettin’ Old” peaked at number four on the charts, mainly in part to Wallen’s history-making album being released just three weeks prior as well as  Lana Del Ray’s “Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” and Jimin’s “FACE” album being released. However, after running the numbers, Luke Combs’ album had more time in the top 50 and also a higher average ranking on the charts(Combs average ranking was 13, while Jimin’s was 34 and Lana’s was 42) Luke Combs has had 16 number one radio singles and is looking for his 17th with his release of “Where The Wild Things Are” to country radio.

Now for the most recent album and perhaps the biggest of them all in terms of success. Zach Bryan released his self titled album “Zach Bryan” with 16 songs to a wide variety of people. The album reaches out to those who have experienced heartbreak, and those looking for a beautiful album to get lost in. It exploded out of the gate debuting at No.1 on the Billboard’s top 200 and sold an equivalent to 200,000 albums. It’s been met with awards and high praise and has also enjoyed a healthy amount of time at the top spot in many album and song rankings. The lead single “I Remember Everything (feat. Kacey Musgraves)” has been the one that has received the most praise out of any song.

Hopefully that gives good insight on how the year has gone so far! There still so much to look forward to with more top notch artists planning to release new music. I’d say Country Music is in a position for success, with young and upcoming artists finally breaking through as well as the boundaries being pushed a little bit by the already proven artists. Country Music has proven time and time again this year that it warrants the respect us fans believe it deserves!