Country Americana mainstay Will Hoge has joined forces with members of the Black Opry Revue to release the very timely and hard-hitting ‘Can I Be Country Too?’ Let’s hope Hoge plays this one from the stage of the upcoming Long Road festival here in the UK where he is guaranteed to be joined on this sing-along, inclusive anthem by the UK crowd.
The song is a fiddle-driven anthem that kind of echoes a ‘Where the Green Grass Grows’ sort of vibe in its opening before Hoge comes in with his vocals with lyrics that ask questions like, ‘What if I drive a bright green Honda and not a jacked up, jet-black four wheel drive?’ The ensemble also ask ‘What if I like sushi more than I like steak?’ and ‘What if I vote for democratic politicians and what if I think gays getting married are ok?’
The song is a direct response to artists like Jason Aldean and John Rich who have both released very right-wing, anti-politically correct songs recently and received a lot of attention for it. Special guests on the track include The Kentucky Gentlemen, Michael Allen, Cheryl Deseree, Carmen Divine and the Country Any Way Collective.
The Black Opry founder, Holly G launched the ‘Country Any Way’ collective as a way to bring fans, artists and industry leaders into a more inclusive Country community. Hoge, meanwhile, told American Songwriter magazine, ‘”I’ve always been a bit go an outsider when I’m working on the fringes of the Country music world….and the reasons for that sometimes are incredibly frustrating. Over the last couple of years I feel the genre, commercially at large, has really shown how small and homogenous it can be.’ ‘Can I Be Country Too?’ is the rallying question designed to counter that.
