Latinxs & Country Music
We parked and started the long trek from the parking lot to the Dodger Stadium entrance. I felt a mixture of pre-concert butterflies and a natural curiosity building up inside of me as I got closer to the box office. When I told my friend, Jormery Blandon that I hoped we wouldn’t see any red hats, half of me was joking and the other half was….cautious? Self-aware? Seeing a campaign flag for the current administration on the back of a pickup truck didn’t necessarily scare me, but that half of me that had been kidding about the red hats earlier quieted down for the time being.
We purchased our tickets from the box office and began yet another journey to our seats. Not being much of a sports fan, I had only been to Dodger Stadium once before so any memory of the endless stairs had been lost. As I caught my breath, it was apparent that this crowd was another breed. They were excited, just shy of obnoxious as they stood in line for a beer in the record-breaking heat. While I navigated my way through the sea of blue jeans, I couldn’t help noticing the brown skin I was wearing. However even more noticeable, were the others wearing the same.
It’s been some time, but you might have guessed I’m talking about Luke Bryan’s What Makes You Country Tour. Mostly because I clogged some of your Instagram Story feeds with clips from that night. I was invited to my first country concert by my friend and fellow country music fan, Jormery as a graduation gift this past summer (thank you, Jormery!). In the days leading up to it, that fact didn’t really hit me. As a music fan, I was just excited to be listening to some of my favorite artists live. Sam Hunt AND Luke Bryan? Sign me up.
While I took my seat for the beginning of Sam Hunt’s set, I checked out the crowds around me. Men and women poured into the stadium’s sections as Sam performed hits from his highly successful debut album, Montevallo. Taking into account this show was in Los Angeles, a metro area with the highest population of Latinxs according to Pew Research Center, it was still quite surprising for me to see the amount of Latinxs in attendance. Going into it, I didn’t expect to see so many of mi gente jamming out to “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)”, but when I did, it got me thinking. How many other Latinxs country music fans are out there? And how does country music react to this demographic given today’s political climate? If at all? By then Luke Bryan got onstage and I forgot about regular life for a while.
By The Numbers…
More than 10 years ago, Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee hosted a Hispanic Market Research and Strategy panel to discuss the growing Latinx demographic in the hopes of understanding how country music can appeal to this group of people. According to CMT writer Edward Morris, during this panel, Larry Rosin of Edison Research presented his findings on the “Hispanic” market and its views on country music. What caught my attention was a finding that stated, “41 percent of those polled said they believed country radio stations aren’t interested in appealing to Hispanics.” While the rest of Rosin’s research found that country music could benefit from appealing to the Latinx market, this was especially interesting because this was my same mindset when it came to country music.
Growing up, I had a white childhood friend whose family listened to Garth Brooks, Brooks & Dunn, and Toby Keith to name a few. Given the fact that my friend was the only white person I felt especially close to, in my mind country music was white people music. Makes sense to a kid, right? I didn’t necessarily have negative feelings towards the genre, it just wasn’t relevant in my life. I listened to whatever sticky sweet Radio Disney pop star was popular at the time. Country music was a genre I never really thought to explore.
While I can’t really pinpoint when I started listening to country music, but 2014 is probably a good estimate. Along with Luke Bryan, I also began listening to Blake Shelton, Sam Hunt, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Josh Turner, and Thomas Rhett. I’m fully aware of the criticism of hardcore country fans when it comes to pop sounding country music, but what can I say? Listening to them opened me up to a new genre and culture I had written off for a large part of my life. I won’t say I’m an expert now, but I’m open to learning more about the icons of country music now.
However, more than ten years after that panel, a lot of the questions remain unanswered. With new research on the Latinx demographic, we’ve actually got even more. But what exactly is country music missing if they overlook Latinxs fans? Well, first of all, we’re feeding the growth of country music as a whole. In a 2016 CMA study, it was found that country music gained 25% growth via Latinxs while only gaining 7% from white listeners. The strength of this demographic goes further when looking at their habits as music fans.
If those stats weren’t enough, Latinxs in the US also have almost 55 years of effective buying power, according to Nielsen’s Descubrimiento Digital: The Online Lives of Latinx Consumers. From a marketing perspective, country music could find the Latinx demographic quite lucrative should they choose to pursue it. We’re here, we listen to country radio, we go to Luke Bryan concerts.
What happens to country music when more and more of the audience is Latinx? Will artists begin to cater to them? Will country music lose authenticity or will it simply apply new marketing tactics to evolve? If Latinx have the money to spend and stats show that they are more willing to spend money on concert tickets and listen to the radio more frequently than white people, is it the smart move to cater to this demo and embrace them? These are tough questions and I don’t blame the country music industry having trouble with it. But I do question if not addressing something altogether is better than doing it and missing the mark.
Among my Latinx friends who don’t like country music, there’s the running joke about its racial undertones. Though country music lyrics tend to lean towards personal experiences instead of politics, the lifestyle a country song has typically been synonymous with conservative, Republican values. When the current administration has made it clear its feelings on Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Central Americans, it has become difficult not to associate the platform with the party (especially when not many within the party are willing to speak up). And though there are fewer country artists who include the Confederate flag as part of their brand, according to MusicRow magazine columnist Robert K. Oermann in an article for the Chicago Tribune, that shift is still very new.
Por Que?
So why do we listen to this type of music? While this piece is based on my own ideas and experiences, I did want to incorporate the opinions of fellow Latinx country fans to get more insights. Luckily I’ve got a few around me to draw from.
Dominic Bristow
I found out Dominic Bristow is an avid country music fan by accident when in a group project meeting for a class. I had my laptop connected to the study room’s tv screen and didn’t realize I left my music playing until we needed to play a video and my jokingly titled “Yee-Haw” country playlist poured out of the speakers. It became a point of common ground between us.
When I asked him what sparked his interest in the genre, he told me,“I never listened to country, but we went to the [Colorado] river and that’s all my cousin played. It’s catchy and brings the family together.” He’s gone to Luke Combs and Billy Currington concerts as well as popular West Coast festivals like Stagecoach and Route 91 multiple times. Dominic told me that the carefree essence of country music is what speaks to Latinxs. “You go to a Mexican party, they play Mexican music and drink, so when you have catchy [country] music and beer, that’s a good time.”
On the future of country music, Dominic confessed that he doesn’t think it will change any time soon. “I see it staying where it’s at. I know there are a few Latino artists, but I think it’s [going] more pop than anything.” Dominic’s right. While there are accomplished Latinx country artists within the genre’s history like Freddy Fender, Johnny Rodriguez, Rick Trevino, and Linda Ronstadt, today, there is a lack of Latinx visibility on the musician side of things.
Vanessa Aranda
“I got into it [country music] probably four years ago from my sister, she got me into GoCountry FM. I started listening to the songs consistently and then I went to Route 91 in Vegas and I got to put faces to songs. That’s where I saw Thomas Rhett, Chase Rice, Florida Georgia Line and I was like ‘oh my god I love all these songs, they’re so awesome live.’ That was my full circle moment.” Vanessa Aranda explained to me. Vanessa is one of the first country music fans who comes to mind. She’s got the boots and if you get in her car, country music is always playing. That’s why I found it surprising that it’s a passion that arose within the last few years.
I was quite interested in talking to her as she had recently gone to the iconic Nashville, Tennessee which would prove to be a fun experience for any country music fan, but especially one from Southern California. “I think the spirit might have been a little higher and a little crazier because those are people in their roots celebrating and going to see someone that they love, and here it’s different. [Here] it’s people who like country music and just want to have a good time.” she related.
Ultimately when it comes to her vision of country, she admits there is a bit of separation between the classic vignette of the genre and her day to day life. “For me, I relate in a hopeless romantic way, not in an ‘I grew up in a truck on a dirt road’ way. It’s the fantasy of like, living there and that freedom of going away to the lake every day. But I don’t think I would actually survive.” At the end of the day, you need to have easy access to a good taco, am I right?
Well?
I started this piece off wanting to have a deeper understanding of the Latinx presence in country music and have concrete opinions on what country music should be doing to capture the demographic. However, that’s not what happened in the end. Part of me wanted to say that the artists shouldn’t be expected to speak on controversial issues and instead be judged solely on their music. I wanted to say that music is supposed to be a neutral ground among politics and opinions, but I don’t truly believe that. The greatest musicians reached legendary status because they chose to push the limits with their music.
When I look at the artists that I connect with, I realize it’s because they have a deeper message that they want to share with the world. When artists like Will Hoge, who are born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee can evolve over time and come to write albums like My American Dream (full of criticisms against injustice and racism), the extent of my appreciation changes. I’m always going to love the fun and romantic songs country music produces, but when my personal experiences as a Latina from a community of immigrants, are acknowledged and even defended, that’s a gamechanger.
I’ve come to believe that this discord in country music speaks to the greater growing pains the United States is experiencing. Latinxs and other minorities are changing the image of what a “traditional” American looks like and though it may be hard for a portion of this nation to handle, we aren’t going anywhere. (Sorry, not sorry.) Country music, like other institutions, is going to have to ask itself how it chooses to position itself in a future where Latinxs have a substantial buying power and only grow as a demographic with each generation. Country music may not be ready to make a Nike/Kaepernick sized shift, but making more appeals to the Latinx demographic, especially through common values like family and love would be a step in the right direction.
