Signs of a country revival

Perhaps it’s fitting that a bottom-line town like Nashville has seen its fate mirror that of the U.S. stock market in recent years.

The boom days of the ‘90s are a long-gone memory. The past couple of years have been a painful period overrun by consolidation and overwhelmed by the dread of wondering just how far the bottom will drop. But more bullish insiders perceive signs that a turnaround is taking place.

True, the days of the explosive, multi-platinum country debut are through, at least for now. Radio playlists move so slow -- it’s common for country songs to stay No. 1 for a month or two -- that a new artist can barely release two successful singles within a year. It’s hard to attract a sizable following at that speed, and it takes several years to build enough of a catalog of hits to headline a concert.

Still, despite the obstacles, Nashville is concentrating more money and energy toward breaking new acts than at any time in the last decades. The good news is that a majority of them deserve a listen, and nearly all of the new artists are songwriters -- a complete shift in marketing theory for Music Row.

Joe Nichols has led the way. With a series of spare, tradition-leaning hits -- “Cool to Be a Fool,” “She Only Smokes When She Drinks” -- Nichols broke the mold of the Nashville hat act. Instead, he’s a tousle-haired, modern-looking guy singing old-school country hits. His first album earned him a Country Music Assn. Horizon Award as best new artist of 2003, two years of Grammy nominations and the respect of everyone from George Strait to Charlie Daniels.

Galloping fast behind him are Dierks Bentley and Josh Turner, two other young individualists who have managed to convince fans that they’re genuine country singers without having to dress like cowboys.

Bentley had a No. 1 hit with the cheeky “What Was I Thinkin’,” a high-energy romp steeped in fiddle and swampy rhythms that helped his debut album sell nearly 500,000 on the strength of one single. The self-titled CD is packed with an out-loud personality -- a rarity for a new country artist -- that pumps up its mountain-born foundation with urban energy.

Turner, meanwhile, has shot out of the gate even faster. His debut single, “Long Black Train,” didn’t crack the Top 10, but Turner’s distinctive baritone and gospel lyrics drew a passionate response from fans and record buyers. Ignored by some stations and celebrated by others because of the Christian content of the lyrics -- the chorus includes the lines “there’s victory in the Lord” and “cling to the Father and His holy name” -- Turner’s song broke ranks with those who claim country music is too formula-driven. What makes it work, though, is Turner’s sincerity -- it’s clear that he isn’t the careful creation of a marketing team but a young man who’s singing something that matters to him.

The one hat-act breakthrough of the last year is Buddy Jewell, winner of the “American Idol”-like Nashville Star competition. Much like Ruben Studdard, Jewell proved that fans pay more attention to talent than image, despite what record executives think. But Jewell, who’d been seen as too old and too out of date by Music Row talent scouts, writes his own material and had paid his dues with a decade of hard work in Nashville before getting his break.

At the moment, the new Nashville artist drawing the most attention, Mindy Smith, is a songwriter who chose to go with the independent label Vanguard Records after turning down several major-label offers. Smith wrote every song on her new “One Moment More” album in a delicate yet passionate style that’s completely out of step with the dense, rhythm-driven tracks favored by Music Row and country radio.

She’s proving that, for an iconoclastic artist, avoiding mainstream Nashville may be the way to go.