The generational breakdowns that the media has created are very arbitrary — Silent Generation, Boomers, Gen-X, Millennials, Gen-Z. These divisions only fit a certain segment of liberals, while leaving out much of America. The goal of this post is to rewrite the American generations, using popular tastes in country music as the defining factor:
The Traditional generation, born between 1931-1940. The country music of the 1950’s, when they were coming of age, reflected a crooner style, with singers such as Elvis, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams Sr., Ray Price, Marty Robbins.
The Borderline generation, born between 1941-1950. Folks were somewhat traditional but many were breaking away and had a bit of a wild edge. The country music of the 1960’s reflected that, with the powerful voices of Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty.
The Outlaw generation, born between 1951-1960. Folks were a little bit more rebellious and wild. Coming up in the 1970’s, they were fans of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr., etc. Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson.
The Haggard generation, born 1961-1970. A little bit “trampled on,” like they missed out on the American dream. They were fans of the 1990’s “Prime Country” which now plays on Sirius XM, including George Strait, Garth Brooks, Brooks & Dunn, and Travis Tritt.
The Scrappy Generation, born 1971-1979. They were raised as “free range” kids who ran around with their friends, coming home only for dinner and for homework. They were fans of Siriux XM’s “Y2Kountry” — Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Trace Adkins, Rascal Flatts, Zac Brown Band. It’s a blend of new- and old- country styles of music, and many of the songs tell a distinct story.
The Bro generation, born 1980-1990. They were a little more “hovered” over. These kids didn’t play in the streets with their friends like the scrappys, but instead had “official” play-dates. The old red neck traditional family was losing ground in favor of tv redneck celebrities and reality television. Pop country like Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, Cole Swindell were the soundtrack to their coming of age. The old country attitude has been nearly lost to modernity.
I’m open to suggestions to fine-tune this blog post!