Country music has earned a pretty well-deserved reputation for a few familiar tropes. Every other song is about beer? Sure. Country artists are proudly patriotic? That checks out, too.
But not every stereotype about the genre holds up.
Die-hard country fans already know that many of the most common assumptions about country music are more myth than fact.
Take songwriting, for example. If you’ve spent any time in Nashville, you know it’s a songwriter’s town — and the idea that every country star writes their own songs isn’t even close to being true.
Likewise, anyone who’s been to a country concert knows the idea that every show is packed with slow, acoustic ballads just doesn’t hold up.
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In reality, country music has been getting loud for almost as long as the genre’s been in existence. In 1943, Ernest Tubb became the first performer to play the electric guitar on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Ever since, there’s been a healthy tradition of rocking out at country shows. Just ask fans of Luke Combs, Brantley Gilbert and Jason Aldean!
Keep scrolling to read more untrue country music stereotypes. Some of these myths are about country stars, some are about country fans, and at least one is a stereotype that we wish was true.
Country Music Stereotypes That Just Ain’t True
There’s a lot of true country music stereotypes. The one about how every other song is about beer? And the one about country artists proudly flying the flag for America? Yep, we’ll cop to those.
But the genre gets a bad rap on a few different points. Keep reading for a list of country music stereotypes that simply aren’t true.
Gallery Credit: Carena Liptak
