Country Roads to Globalization

            Country music is a genre of American music that originated in the South in the 1920s. While the genre is typically believed to only be popular in America (as its name implies), that hasn’t stopped the beloved American music style from transcending state borders. Over the years, country music has globalized and been heard around the world. Evidence of the globalization of the American born-and-bread genre is found in international country music festivals, like C2C (Country to Country) in London, and some of the most popular country artists traveling overseas to Europe, Asia, and Australia for sold-out concerts. Furthermore, country music artist and Australian native Keith Urban commented in an interview about how he loves the globalization of country music because it is making music more accessible to fans world-wide.

            A majority of country songs have themes of U.S. patriotism and life in the South – topics you may not think would resonate with listeners in Europe, Asia, and Australia. If you visit small, rural, Southern towns in America, it’s obvious that country music plays a significant role in shaping Americans’ identities and cultures.

But why has a genre that depicts small-town USA, American flag-waving, dirt roads on the countryside, and pick-up trucks gained popularity with foreign listeners who have no personal connection to the lyrics? On the surface, it appears as if the rhetoric of country music would not resonate with foreign listeners; however, the genre transcends borders and has resounded with fans across the globe.

Songs of the country music genre discuss universal topics like family, love, heartbreak, work ethic, faith, and overcoming struggles. Because the song topics are universal (even though they seem to cater more to American listeners), country music has been globalized.  As Franklin Foer argues in How Soccer Explains the World, people gravitate toward institutions outside of the state to find their identities. For some people, this is found in listening to music popular in other states. In the case of Foer’s book, soccer fans from across the globe identify with teams in states they have never even visited. Many of these fans passionately and whole-heartedly identify with the teams, as Foer explains in the first two chapters. Hooligan gangs of Red Star are merciless to the opposing teams, sometimes killing the rival fans. Furthermore, a Rangers fan can’t make it through a bar full of Celtic fans without getting mugged, and vice versa.

While international fans of country music aren’t as passionate or numerous as international soccer fans, the basic premise is still the same – in a globalized world, people search for identities outside of the state. Although many international country music fans have never visited America, they still strongly identify with the music and the culture depicted in the songs. As the sovereignty of the state disintegrates because of globalization, people are more inclined to identify less with their local cultures and view themselves as a global citizen.