Country's comeback: Inside the genre's explosive growth – Spectrum News

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INDIO, Calif. — As the desert dust settled from Coachella, another wave rose in Indio. This one clad in denim, boots, and a new kind of country spirit.
Stagecoach, the country music festival that turns the Empire Polo Club into a honky-tonk paradise, is back, and so is the genre’s infectious popularity.
Randy Savvy’s roots run deep in Richland Farms, an agricultural enclave in Compton that has been tilled and tended since 1888. For him, it’s more than just land, it’s a legacy.
“Still here, there were some farms, still agriculture, still land animals. I put that up on the wall just to pay homage to it, you know,” Savvy said, gesturing to a wall covered with an illustration of Richland Farms.  
Through the Compton Cowboys, Savvy has carried on the farm with a twist — using horseback riding as a tool for youth intervention, preserving Black cowboy culture while offering young people a sense of purpose. But another passion has been simmering just beneath the surface: music.
“My aunty was a cowgirl. She actually is the person who started this place. She always had a big raggedy truck, ‚til she got a nice one,” Savvy laughs. “Boy used to be back there and it used to be country music on the radio. That’s all she had really was radio.”
Raised on a mix of country melodies and his father’s love for hip hop, Savvy has crafted a blend he calls “street country,” a raw, magnetic blend of his world’s that takes him to where country music took him as a kid.  
“Street country is my favorite elements of both of both of those worlds. I just like been whipping up a batch to try to land it right down the middle. That makes me feel how I feel,” he explained.
Savvy and the Compton Cowboys will bring their horses, mission and unmistakable style to Stagecoach this weekend. Though he’s not performing, not on the main stage yet, he’s clear-eyed about his goals.
“Seeing yourself on those big old screens and hearing your voice through those massive speakers. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to build my career and end up one day on that on that big stage,” he said. 
He’s arriving at a pivotal moment for country music. According to data from Luminate, country streaming has surged 287% over the past six years. Music journalist and author Erin Osmon isn’t surprised by this energy.  
“Country music is exploding and we have Beyonce to thank for that in large part, but also artists like Shaboozy and Tanner Adell,” Osmon said. “And a question I receive a lot from people is, how could country music become so popular again? And my response is always how could it not?”
At its core, Osmon says, country music’s staying power lies in its ability to connect.  
“Country music is such an art form rich in storytelling and emotional resonance. And to me, that gives it an enduring quality that is always going to make it relevant in popular culture, particularly in America,” she said.
While some argue that today’s country is not what it used to be, Osmon points out that country music has always reflected artists’ roots.
“Big artists have always reflected the places they come from, their culture, their specific regions. That has always been the sound in the artistry of country music. And today it’s just reflecting contemporary culture,” she said.  
And as the genre continues to evolve, blending sounds, identities, and regions, Savvy is carving out a place for his voice.  
“We’re all different ingredients in that. I bring the streets to the sound, you know what I mean?” he said. “And I’m the one that got to do it. I’m going to come to cowboy, but it’s just my way. It’s just going to be going to do it. Why are we going to do it the cowboy way? Yeah.”

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