Country has crossover appeal for pop artists
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Billboard) - During a recent Kenny Chesney concert in Albany,
N.Y., Poison frontman Bret Michaels joined Chesney onstage. Much to his
surprise, when he and Chesney launched into Poison's '80s power ballad "Every
Rose Has Its Thorn," the crowd sang along with every word.
In looking at the country charts during the past year, perhaps Michaels
shouldn't have been so shocked.
The lines between country and rock fans definitely are fading. And barriers
that once existed at radio are crumbling.
Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow had a massive radio/video hit with "Picture." Rock's
version of the song with country chanteuse Allison Moorer became the
top-selling commercial country single last year. Crow recently graced the
Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart with "The First Cut Is the
Deepest."
Uncle Kracker's duet with Chesney, "When the Sun Goes Down" (the title cut of
Chesney's multi-platinum album) reigned at No. 1 on the Hot Country Singles &
Tracks chart for four weeks.
Though he's no stranger to Nashville, Jimmy Buffett scored his first No. 1 on
the Billboard Top Country Singles & Tracks chart last fall with "It's Five
O'Clock Somewhere." The duet with Alan Jackson spent eight weeks at the summit.
And there's more coming. Kracker will tour with Chesney this summer, and
Kracker's label, Lava Records, plans to work a single from his next album to
country radio.
There are also plans to work Antigone Rising, a new female band on Lava, to the
country market.
Michaels is even prepping his launch in that genre.
At press time, he was close to signing a deal for a solo album on Music Row
indie Lofton Creek Records, headed by Nashville veteran Mike Borchetta.
For artists who have never cared about genres or barriers, it's just an
opportunity to work with admired acts.
For example, Michaels and Three Doors Down's Brad Arnold will be in Tracy
Lawrence's next video for "It's All How You Look at It." Jack White of the
White Stripes produced Loretta Lynn's new album, "Van Lear Rose." Phil Vassar
plays piano and sings on Kracker's new project.
But for the industry, all this activity raises many questions. One of them is,
Are these primarily pop artists watering down the country radio format? And are
they taking slots away from new country artists?
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Label executives from Nashville to New York primarily see the crossover as a
good thing.
"There's a whole world of people out there who will go to a Hank Jr. show one
night and go to a Motley Crue show the next night. Then they'll go to Aerosmith
the night after that and go to Alabama the night after that," observes Mike
Dungan, president of Capitol Records in Nashville.
"These kids don't care if you call it 'country' or 'rock' or whatever it is. If
they like it, they like it. God bless 'em for it."
For pop labels, it's a way to mine a new audience.
"Country fans love great songs, and that's something that thankfully Uncle
Kracker has a real knack for," says Jason Flom, CEO of Lava parent the Atlantic
Group. "The songs on the new album have a little bit of country feel to them,
so I'm very optimistic that Nashville may embrace the new album."
Flom says his artists' attitude plays a key role in their acceptance.
"People sense that with Kracker and Kid Rock there is a real love of country
music and a real respect for the fans and the whole institution of country," he
says. "It's not something that just occurred to them one day and they went
after the country market."
Kracker says, "We've always dabbled and kind of played around with . Even on my
first album there was a lot of rap stuff, but there was steel guitar. It's not
necessarily a matter of crossover but incorporating the music that I love with
the music that I do."
Michaels' interest also stems from a longstanding appreciation of country
music. "I grew up listening to traditional country," he says. "I'm not here to
change anything. I just want to add to it."
Not surprisingly, country programers greet this wave of crossover artists with
ambivalence. Some programers would rather devote the limited space on their
playlists to country's core artists.
" want to focus on artists who are going to be there for us as a station and a
format," KMPS Seattle music director Tony Thomas says. "Our audience knows
where on the radio they can hear pop artists. When listeners turn to us, I'd
rather be meeting their expectations with a uniquely country-branded artist
like Toby Keith or Alan Jackson."
Thomas admits there are times when stretching the boundaries works. "The
pairing of Kenny Chesney and Uncle Kracker on 'When the Sun Goes Down' seemed
like an ideal way to introduce a non-country artist to our air," he says.
"The refrain I've heard from Nashville label folks for years is, 'We want to
build careers.' We do too," Thomas says, "and we'd rather play the heck out of
Gretchen Wilson's 'Redneck Woman' or go early on Josh Turner's 'Long Black
Train,' knowing that these are going to be 'our' artists, than go fishing for
country-tinged tracks by artists who aren't out there saying, 'I'm country."'
Reuters/Billboard