Preeminent Nashville country-rocker Will Hoge and the Black Opry Revue founder Holly G assemble some of country music’s most dynamic and diverse voices to ask “Can I Be Country Too?”, an answer song to stereotypes that abound in much of mainstream country music. You know the kind: that country fans are all white, drive pickups, live in the sticks, and lean conservative in their views.
Hoge wrote “Can I Be Country Too?” a couple of years ago, but was compelled to finally record and release it following the polarizing success of Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town.” From the jump, Hoge and the song let you know exactly where they stand:
“What if I believe that Black lives matter, what if I believe that the world is round/What if I don’t care about the chatter, of what everybody’s doin’ in this small town,” Hoge sings, before being joined by Black Opry Revue artists like Carmen Dianne, along with the Kentucky Gentlemen, Cheryl Deseree, Michael Allen, drummer Jerry Pentecost, and the ethnically diverse Country Any Way Collective.
Other lyrics ask if it’s all right to be country too if you, say, “drive a bright green Honda,” “like sushi more than steak,” and support “gays getting married.”
“Growing up in Nashville and always being an outsider, I have questioned myself if I fit into the ‘quote unquote’ country world or not,” says Hoge, who was nominated for a Grammy for co-writing “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” and went on to write and release songs like “Still a Southern Man,” disavowing the Confederate flag.
Both of those songs are what drew Holly G to Hoge. “[Black Opry’s] story is about Black artists trying to fit into country music,” she says in a video interview with Hoge. “But everybody has that feeling of not fitting into something. It’s something anybody can identify with, if they lay their guard down and listen to what we’re actually saying. I hope that’s what this song will do too, break down some of those walls.”
Hoge, meanwhile, has a message for his fellow singers, songwriters, and touring acts. “Artists, I would challenge you that if you look out and you notice the Black person at your show, you may not be doing it exactly right. To look out and see folks of color, to know that our trans brothers and sisters feel safe, and people of any ethnic background feel comfortable at your show … it doesn’t mean everybody is going to like your music, but the folks that do, we need to have a safe space for them to come hear music.”