Cole Swindell is to blame, y’all! Ever since he had a monster hit with ‘She Had Me at Heads Carolina’ with Jo Dee Messina Country music writers, record labels and artists have been rushing to try and jump on the gravy train by incorporating the sounds, lyrics and melodies of other songs into new tracks. Those mash ups and collaborations have been everywhere in 2023!
This increasingly popular strategy within Country music is the biggest trend of 2023, although the genre as a whole still lags a little behind other genres in the prevalence of sampling and re-purposing as a tool for creativity. Critics would argue that the purity and authenticity of Country music is a sacrosanct thing and that originality of thought and idea is a key component of the genre whilst we would argue that creativity can take a myriad of forms and using the ideas and melodies of other musicians and creatives is just another form of creativity in itself.
Previously, Sam Hunt and his writing team famously used a sample of Webb Pierce’s 1953 hit ‘There Stands the Glass’ as the basis and structure for ‘Hard to Forget’ whilst Thomas Rhett’s ‘Marry Me’ is a country ballad that samples the melody from Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major, a classical composition. Other examples of artists using pre-existing ideas include Lil Was X’s ‘Old Town Road’ which incorporates a sample from the Nine Inch Nails track ’34 Ghosts IV.’ Mo Pitney’s ‘Country’ is a country song that uses a sample from Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ but we’ve seen unprecedented use of sampling or incorporating the melodies and lyrics of other songs into new songs this year. Here are the notable examples:
Jake Owen – ‘On the Boat Again’
Jake uses the structure and melodies of Willie Nelson’s huge hit ‘On the Road Again’ as the basis of this song. The original, famously written on the back of a napkin during a plane flight, is a bona fide Country classic. Jake’s version is infused with energy and humour and we think he deserve some credit here.
Kane Brown – ‘I Can Feel It’
This one is a little more subtle but you can still hear the melody and lyrics of Phil Collins’ monster hit ‘In the Air Tonight.’ Speaking on the Bobby Bones show recently Kane revealed that they had had to give up 80% of the royalties from this song to Collins just to be able to use the samples!
Dustin Lynch – ‘Chevrolet’ ft Jelly Roll
This melodic banger sees Lynch and the well-deservedly ubiquitous Jelly Roll using the exact melody of the timeless classic ‘Drift Away’ by Dobie Grey. Lynch, himself, says of the song, “There is something in the air in Nashville right now, where writers are on the same wavelength and doing cool things like interpolating classic songs into something new. When ‘Chevrolet’ came across our plate, it floored me. Everyone knows Dobie Gray’s ‘Drift Away’ – the melody of that song is timeless,” shares Lynch. “Having Jelly Roll on it adds an extra edge.” Have a listen to the song below, we think it’s great and very clever.
Madeline Merlo – ‘Tim & Faith’
This melodious ode and moving tribute pays homage to the era of country music that launched superstars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill and solidified the devoted marriage between Country music’s power couple. Part Tayor Swift-esque tribute, part Old Dominion song title usage and part Dustin Lynch in that Merlo uses the melody of McGraw’s iconic ‘It’s Your Love’ as her chorus, but with slightly different lyrics.
Tanner Adell – ‘Luke Combs’
This delightful, acoustic tribute to Luke Combs uses some of his song titles as lines and reference points in the song. Adell has just released a deluxe version of her ‘Buckle Bunny’ mixtape and ‘Luke Combs’ is one of two new songs added in. Think Taylor Swift with ‘Tim McGraw’ mixed with Old Dominion’s ‘Song for Another Time.’
Austin Burke – ‘Crazy, Crazy’
Burke uses the main lyrics & melody from Patsy Cline’s iconic hit on this song in the same way that Sam Hunt used Webb Pierce on ‘Hard to Forget’. It works well and the juxtaposition of old and new Country music is cool.
Kimberly Perry – ‘If I Die Young Part II’
In a ground-breaking move that sets her apart from all the other artists on this list, ex The Band Perry lead vocalist Kimberly Perry samples one of her own biggest hits, updating the lyrics to reflect her older years whilst keeping the melody and the song structure the same.
Chris Young – ‘Young Love and Saturday Nights’
Another slight departure here but one that gives David Bowie a writing credit on this song! The track is built around the use of Bowie’s guitar riff to ‘Rebel Rebel.’ Its a clever re-purposing of an existing idea and the whilst the rest of the song is new and original the guitar riff is a classic one!
Morgan Wallen – ‘180 (Lifestyle)‘
The biggest selling artist in Country music even got in on the sampling and re-purposing craze on this song which samples ‘Lifestyle’ by The Rich Gang ft Young Thug from 2014. There are 11 writers credited with this song, from Ernest and Ashley Morley through to Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan!
Chapel Hart – ‘Welcome to Fist City’
Whilst this song doesn’t really use samples of Loretta Lynn’s 1968 hit ‘Fist City’ it certainly uses similar melodies and updates Lynn’s original with some verve and vigour, keeping a promise to the now deceased singer after the band had a message from her on Facebook when appearing on America’s Got Talent!
Ronnie Dunn was on the Bobby Bones show last week and during his segment he revealed that he has been approached by a major artist and asked if they could use ‘Neon Moon’ as a sample and structure for a song being recorded right now so it looks like this trend might even be one that runs into 2024 as well!
