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Description of New Country

 
Country music's popularity took off in the early '90s like never before. Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Clint Black, Travis Tritt, Vince Gill, and Alan Jackson were among its top-selling artists. All came from a Neo-Traditionalist background, but to varying degrees, each incorporated elements of 1970s rock into their sound as well. Brooks, who soon became the top-selling country artist of all time, frequently cited arena rockers Journey and the Eagles as musical inspirations, and even covered a Billy Joel song, "Shameless." This was "New Country," which would later be dubbed "young country" for all the fresh, young and clean-cut new faces it brought to the country music landscape. In the mid-'90s Shania Twain entered the picture, bringing an MTV-ready pop sound to the music and selling millions of copies of her albums The Woman in Me and Come on Over. Newcomers like Mindy McCready and Bryan White seemed barely out of high school, whereas LeAnne Rimes was literally just starting high school when her hit "Blue" became a top-selling country smash.
 

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New Country Key Artists

 
Alan Jackson

Throughout his incredibly
successful career, Jackson
has tried to maintain a pure
fiddle and steel guitar
sound. Before Alan Jacks...

Big & Rich

Big & Rich don't take country
music as seriously as many
of their peers, but that's
partly what makes them so
fun. "Big" Kenny Alphin o...

Brad Paisley

Brad Paisley sings new
traditional country in a
mature voice and plays
wicked, Bakersfield
country-influenced lead...

Brooks & Dunn

Kix Brooks and Ronnie
Dunn were the bee's knees
of Nashville in the early '90s,
popularizing the "electric
slide" line dance. Their sli...

Deana Carter

Deana Carter is a country
chanteuse whose
buttermilk-sweet voice can
make songs about shaving
her legs sound romantic....

Diamond Rio

This bluegrass-inspired
band included members of
the Young Ambassadors,
Osborne Brothers and the
Nitty Gritty Dirt band. Dia...

Dixie Chicks

By fusing a passion for
old-timey Bluegrass with a
love of modern pop, the
Dixie Chicks take country
music to new ground. Cha...

Garth Brooks

The most stunning success
story of the early-Nineties
contemporary country
music boom was that of
Garth Brooks. Blending ro...

Gretchen Wilson

Gretchen Wilson is one of
the few contemporary
country artists who grew
up in the destitute realm
she sings about. Hailed as...

Jo Dee Messina

Her stellar singing voice and
barbed song hooks put Jo
Dee Messina in more
credible company on the
new country circuit. Jo D...

John Michael Montgomery

Montgomery's records
tread a well-worn line
between middle of the road
rock, new country and
line-dancing honky-tonk....

Kenny Chesney

It took him nearly a decade
to get there, but in 2002
Kenny Chesney began his
ascent to a Garth
Brooks-like status in coun...

Lee Ann Womack

Lee Ann Womack's
character-filled mellifluous
voice makes Shania Twain
sound like a Dallas Cowboy
cheerleader. Lee Ann Wo...

Lonestar

Lonestar could be the
slightly slower, hayseed
cousin of Journey -- they
blend country twang with
'80s-inspired stadium rock...

Martina McBride

Martina McBride sings
catchy, radio friendly
traditional inspired country
pop. Her versatile voice can
both woo and rock. McBri...

Rascal Flatts

Rascal Flatts mix twangy
pedal steel licks with
contemporary R&B to create
a soulful yet countrified
version of a boy band. So...

Sara Evans

Sara Evans is a seasoned
country singer who
balances new traditional,
country grit with more
commercial sounding twa...

Shania Twain

Shania Twain gave country
pop a sexy new stadium
rock image and paved the
way for Jo Dee Messina and
the Dixie Chicks. In an od...

SHeDAISY

SHeDAISY use harmonica,
female harmonies and
warm, familiar progressions
you've been hearing on the
radio since childhood. SH...

Terri Clark

Terri Clark's country music
sounds like a more
traditional take on Shania
Twain--she sticks closer to
the roots of country. Clar...

Tim McGraw

Tim McGraw mostly blends
roadhouse honky-tonk with
country rock to make gritty
country songs, but he also
sings ballads. He is the so...

Trisha Yearwood

Trisha Yearwood is a
contemporary country pop
singer with a chaste,
womanly voice and a knack
for silky inflections. Trish...

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