Country music is having a moment.
Even in Melbourne, one of the least ‘country’ places in the, uh, country, cowboy fever is catching. Bars are investing in mechanical bulls. Girls are investing in bandana tops and leather boots. Somewhere in the past handful of years, people went from saying they listened to “anything but country” to going full yeehaw.
And it’s not just a feeling. According to a study by the Country Music Association of Australia, the value of country music has doubled in the past two decades, selling more tickets, getting more radio play and climbing the charts.
Keep up with the latest music news, features, festivals, interviews and reviews here.
As a result, it’s no wonder why festivals like Ridin’ Hearts have emerged. Following a successful debut last year, the event has returned with a cracking lineup featuring modern stars including Riley Green, Bella Mackenzie, Tanner Adell, Austin Snell and Cooper Alan.
It’s artists like this who are transforming the industry, using new tricks to sweep up fans and convert the non-believers.
Perhaps no one better represents this ethos than Cooper Alan. After moving to Nashville in an attempt to kick off his music career the old-fashioned way, the North Carolinian singer-songwriter started making TikToks. In them, he sings snippets of songs, hangs with friends, teases upcoming releases and sips Coors Light.
Long story short, he blew up. Now, he’s got over 10 million followers and a healthy music career to show for it. “I hated social media. I still kind of hate social media, but I love my fans. I love connecting with people,” he tells me.
“I remember the first viral video we had – my mum handed me a guitar and asked me to sing stuff. It was kind of silly, but I saw more followers come in that night than I’d ever had on Facebook, Instagram, or any of that stuff combined. So that’s when it felt real. It was like we could actually build something organically for the first time.”
Blonde hair peeking out from under a Winston-Salem baseball cap (hometown represent), Alan is as overtly sweet and affable as he appears in his videos. He’s radiating what they call Southern charm. He even laughs politely at my “not your first rodeo” joke regarding his previous trip down under for last year’s CMC Rocks.
View this post on Instagram
“When we did CMC, I knew it was going to be pretty big… I was not expecting it to be how it was,” he tells me. “It blew us away. All the guys in my band, my wife, my crew, everybody was like, ‘this is probably the best thing we’ve ever done.’”
It’s not just his social media presence that sets him apart from past generations. He isn’t afraid to borrow from other genres, dabbling in sampling and remixes, a result of his diverse music taste.
“My favourite artist, technically, is Kid Rock, which I know sounds weird,” he says. He lists a few more: Eminem, Third Eye Blind, Blink 182, AC/DC, Hootie & The Blowfish, 50 Cent and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
“My first big phase of music was freaking disco music… I’ve been through about every genre. I think the only hard phase I haven’t gone through is jam band because that’s not totally my thing, but there’s some good stuff there too.”
Alan, who says his work is “sort of all over the place”, has released everything from wedding-ready love songs to EDM-infused bangers. Toss his discography on shuffle, and gospel track Jesus Saves could follow Colt 45 (Country Remix), an adaptation of Afroman’s Crazy Rap transformed to be about crushing beers.
A personal favourite is Climate Change, a mournful ballad that likens the environmental phenomenon to a love gone cold. Alan smiles when I mention it, telling me it was the first song he dropped after he moved to Nashville.
“I think my dad had said, ‘Why don’t you write a song called climate change, but like, love?’ and I was like, ‘That is so stupid’. But then I brought it up in a room one day and we came up with that, and it actually turned out really cool,” he says.
“We don’t play it live anymore, just because nobody really knows it, but I’m glad you know it and maybe when we see you we’ll have to play it because I miss that song.”
It’s this outlook – open-minded, positive and not afraid to get a little goofy – that has helped Alan win the hearts of fans across the world. Maybe it also gives us a clue as to why the genre on a whole is on the rise, even among us city slickers. It’s just damn likeable.
“Hey, country is for everybody,” Alan says. “I don’t really know why it hasn’t been having this moment for such a long time.”
Catch Cooper Alan at Ridin’ Hearts 2024. Grab your tickets here.
