In 2023, indie artists like Mitski and Olsen offered an alternative to the pop-country acts dominating mainstream charts like Morgan Wallen (in picture), Luke Combs, and Jason Aldean. The movement is led by female performers, for one, and artists who don’t immediately fit into a traditional genre format. They also offer an alternative to traditional images of indie rock: instead of shying away from their geographic identities — like moving to New York and smoothing out to “y’alls” and “ma’ams” from their speech and music — they’re embracing them. Banjos and lap steel abound . Songs about God, rural roads, trucks, guns, humidity, and crickets do, too.
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