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Five Modern Country Singers Actually From the Country
And why you need to listen to them right now.
We’ve exhausted too much ink at this point dogging on Jason Aldean’s claims to represent small town values, while himself growing up in a mid-sized city and the suburbs of a major metropolitan area. But now we turn to a positive story: highlighting five of my favorite country artists who actually did grow up in the country.
This is not a discovery piece. All of these artists are accomplished and popular in their own right. This is about why they’re real and why that makes them worth a listen.
Zach Bryan: Oologah, Oklahoma
Hailing from the tiny town of Oologah, Oklahoma, Bryan seemed to come out of nowhere over the last few years to become one of the hottest country music artists in the country. With a population of 1,305, Oologah was previously best known as the birthplace of writer Will Rogers.
Like many from small towns, Bryan escaped by joining the United States Navy at the age of 17. It was here, behind his barracks in 2019 that Bryan recorded a video of himself singing his song Heading South on his phone and uploaded it to YouTube. The video ended up going viral, and three years later Bryan is headlining some of the largest venues and festivals in the country.
