3 Albums That Helped Define Country’s 21st Century Movements

As current events have clearly articulated, country music is no longer a term that applies to one sole genre. Instead, it is a genre umbrella that covers sub-genres such as Americana, pop country, bluegrass, country rock, and several others. Given the several genres residing under this umbrella, country music has seen its fair share of internal musical movements and genre transformations, and these movements and transformations can, to an extent, be credited to one album.

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Every musical movement, or any movement of a great magnitude, can not be credited to one sole person or entity. However, predominant figures and their actions can be credited for helping move the movement forward. Per that logic, these three musicians and their respective albums helped define country music and some of its different 21st-century movements.

‘Shotgun Willie’ by Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson‘s Shotgun Willie is a monumental album for a plethora of different reasons. Musically speaking, it went against the Nashville tradition of creating polished and pristine country music. Furthermore, it also went against the Nashville music scene, as Nelson released this album after leaving the establishment. Thus, it showed artists that they did not need to take part in the Nashville country music scene to create great country music.

If we were to place Nelson’s album in the 21st century, it would most likely fall into the Americana genre. Well, that is because Nelson’s Shotgun Willie inadvertently helped craft the Americana genre, as he showed contemporary artists such as Charley Crockett, Colter Wall, Tyler Childers, Sierra Ferrell, and Sturgill Simpson that they didn’t have to rely on the greater musical forces dominating the country music scene.

‘Come On Over’ by Shania Twain

Contrary to the Americana country movement is the pop country movement, and one person and album that helped turn that genre into what it is today is Shania Twain and her 1997 album, Come On Over. In essence, Twain’s pop country album blurred the lines between country and pop music. Consequently, it paved the way for pop country acts such as Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift, and many others.

One could make the argument that Twain’s 1997 album changed the trajectory of Nashville’s 21st-century country music scene. Now, that might be a hot take, but after the success of Twain’s album, it seems many different artists utilized similar tactics and benefited from them immensely.

‘Reasons Why‘ by Nickel Creek

As of today, bluegrass is flourishing thanks to acts such as Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull,
Trampled by Turtles, and several others. However, in 2006, Nickel Creek reintroduced the genre to the 21st century with a reimagined sound on their album, Reasons Why.

In short, this body of work is a crucial piece in the evolution of modern bluegrass music. Amidst the pop country boom of the late 90s and early 2000s, Nickel Creek proved that bluegrass was here to stay. And they did so by modernizing the genre, all while keeping the sounds of Bill Monroe, Ricky Skaggs, and Tony Rice alive.

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