Thompson Square say they were upset when Beyoncé‘s Cowboy Carter album won the Grammy for Best Country Album in 2025.
It wasn’t the music as much as it was that Grammy voters picked her debut country album over artists who spent years in the genre.
“It’s just sad that we’re turning our back on ourselves as a genre,” Kiefer Thompson says as his wife sits alongside him, nodding in agreement.
“You’ve got people who have dedicated their entire life who are in some of these same categories, who are out there singing their ass off every night singing country music because they lived it, they loved it … And then they make it, you know, and then they have massive hits or selling out arenas or selling this stuff out, and then you get beat out by somebody who’s not even in the genre. I know exactly how that feels.”
Out-of-genre collaborations should not be the norm, the male half of the country duo says during a lengthly exploration of the state of country music. Country stars behaving like Hollywood celebrities goes against everything the genre stands for.
“I think country’s cool enough, and I wish that we could look at it ourselves and go, ‘We’re cool enough, man,'” he says.
The full unedited interview will drop as part of the Taste of Country Nights: On Demand podcast on Wednesday. The above video shows significant portions unedited. Included is Thompson Square’s assessment of the state of country music and the story behind their new song “You Were There.”
Part of the problem is social media’s influence on which artists get signed and promoted. Kiefer describes an environment where TikTok users are more or less dictating which artists are worth it and which aren’t. There’s not nearly as much consideration on if someone can sing, perform live, write, etc …
“And the industry’s looking at that stuff too and go, ‘Hey, they just popped off on TikTok. Let’s sign them and soak all that juice off the plate and then throw that biscuit away.’ You know what I mean? It’s the same thing that’s kind of always been going on.”
As an example, the pair point to a recent CMA Fest experience where they were in a room with an artist who’d written just a handful of songs and was hoping to soon record one. Ten or 20 years ago, that artist would not have been allowed anywhere near that room. The pair know this is true, because they were kept away early on.
“It’s not supposed to be, ‘Everyone’s welcome.’ Everyone’s not welcome. And if you think about it now, that sounds harsh, but everyone’s not,” he says.
“If you don’t put any time in, and you don’t love it, and you don’t work it, and you didn’t grow up like this, and you don’t have that passion for it, you’re just like, ‘Man, I can sneak in there and maybe try to get some money. I got this TikTok thing that popped off and I’m gonna go in there and get some money’ … It should be hard to get in. If it’s just easy to get in, what’s the point then?”
Without naming names, Kiefer says his thoughts on Beyoncé and country music are widely shared.
“Everyone’s saying it off a microphone. Everybody in town, you know,” he says.
The industry has carved out an exception for Post Malone, who — alongside Kacey Musgraves, Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson – was up against Beyoncé for the Best Country Album Grammy. Kiefer says that’s because Post did it differently.
“I don’t know Post, but I highly respect what he’s doing,” he says. “I love the music he’s putting out, and he’s doing what Darius did when he came over with from (Hootie and the Blowfish). He’s embracing the community. He loves country music. I’m not sure the Beyonce’s busting out some Haggard in her car, you know.”
Cowboy Carter and songs from Cowboy Carter were nominated for several Grammy Awards, but shut out at the ACM and CMA Awards. Beyoncé did not attend either show.
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