The other night I was flipping through the channels and I came across Nashville Star, NBC’s country music answer to Fox’s American Idol. There were a couple of things that caught my immediate attention. The first was the public’s ability to not get bored with the multiple variations of the Idol format or that Billy Ray Cirus, of “achy breaky heart” could be given a second chance.
But more importantly than that, or that Jewel is a judge of the show and now a bonafide country-star, was the fact that one of the participants was Latino and the other one an African American. There they were, Gabe Garcia and Coffey singing contemporary western hits and making it to the next round. It seems that country is finally all-american, no guilt or shame attached.
Country is becoming bigger and more attractive to both whites and non-whites and it’s going to get bigger. Here’s why. America has become more comfortable in its cultural skin, shedding the haughtiness of the eighties. It’s something our fast-paced culture is craving in a post-911 society that values return to simpler times. As a result NY professionals welcome a restaurant called hill country, and texas hold’em poker becomes one of the most played games online, as well as watched on ESPN.
At the end it seems that the US is ready to embrace its humble Honky Tonk roots. The result is that we’ll see more country, healthy comfort food, albeit all with new touches and accents reflecting our cultural pluralism.
And we’ll see more of this throughout this year as both Republicans and Democrats need to speak to that other disenfranchised group, the rural white. So get your country records out, practice that two step, and put some ribs on that barbeque and celebrate the new old face of America.