Priscilla Block and BRELAND on the Future of Country Music
BY
Erica Campbell | Nov 12, 2024
Country music is changing. In October, PAPER traveled south to discover firsthand what that evolution looks and sounds like.
As part of Music City's inaugural Red Bull Jukebox, we sat down with Billboard No. 1 hit-maker Shaboozey, wore thigh-high Western boots, learned to line dance, left Tennessee with an oversized cowboy hat and even took part in the Jukebox tradition (using wristbands to vote on song selection or performance style in real-time). Of all the stars that weekend, Nashville shinned the brightest — a city that acts as a necessary backdrop, studio and incubator for singer-songwriters to build their country careers.
The Red Bull events also gave hints of where the genre is headed now, from mixing pop melodics, hip-hop delivery and house beats, to singing about topics that might make Dolly Parton blush. A new generation of country stars are bending all the rules — and two of those stars, who took the stage that weekend, spoke about how.
"As a kid, I didn't think I was going to have a home here," BRELAND said, nodding to being a Black artist in the mostly homogenous genre. "I didn't think that I was necessarily going to be accepted into this world. I moved to Nashville during the pandemic and was really surprised to see how open-minded people were in town as far as creating some of the cross country sounds that I've been making."
BRELAND's viral track, "My Truck," has often been referred to as "country trap" by listeners. "It really started when Sam Hunt hopped on the 'My Truck' remix," he said. "We developed a really strong relationship, but it continued when I came down to visit and work with Keith Urban earlier that summer of 2020. He was one of my biggest champions going around and letting everyone know who I am and sharing the music we were creating. I feel like both of those situations laid the groundwork for me to be able to move here. I've seen a lot of other artists with similarly improbable odds of making it in country music move here since then, and hopefully, there are more that are able to find their way out here. Nashville has a lot to offer, and I think everyone who has diverse perspectives and sounds should be able to be here, as well."
For singer-songwriter Priscilla Block, country music "is life," as she said. In tracks like "Bad Guy," Block takes on the antagonist role, playing a villain instead of the typical love interest of many hit songs that come from Music City. "I moved [to Nashville] almost 11 years ago from North Carolina and hit the ground running. I performed at any bar that anyone would let me play in and I slowly started building fans, one by one. Apart from that, whether it was a guitar player or a songwriter in town, I began to surround myself with people who I also believed in and before I even knew it, I had a small team that really believed in me and would take on this journey with me. To this day, those people are still a part of my team." That was just the start for Block, who has continued to grow with that same group of people.
"2020 was the year that really changed it all for me," Block said. "The world shut down and I started making videos behind my phone. I wrote 'Just About Over You' one month after being evicted out of my apartment and the rest is history. I had fans all over crowdfund the recording of that song. The day I released 'Just About Over You,' I had every single label in Nashville calling me. It was, and still is, a wild ride, but I am super thankful for all of the high and lows that have gotten me to this point in my career because I truly feel like it's given me a different perspective."
Photos courtesy of Redbull
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