Bryan Andrews Sounds Like Who He's Fighting

Two things can be true at the same time:

This is both interesting and limiting — but that might be alright.

Music at the intersection of Nü Metal and Country Pop has been co-opted by the right-wing propagandists as its vehicle of choice. Built to elicit a reaction from a key right-wing target audience, this music sounds like what Angry White Dudes (AWDs) like, regardless of the lyrics. The fact that elites — critics, magazine editors, urban country music fans and other folks like me — tend not to like this music makes it all the more palatable.

Propaganda needs a means of delivery to a targeted group, and what better vehicle than the music the target already loves?

And now that the infrastructure of mainstream country music has embraced not only the movement’s figurehead, but many of the social changes it advocates, such as Christian nationalism (or at the very least Christianity as the unifying element of American culture), it has both the means and content to influence the masses still unconvinced of the fascist’s rhetoric.

An AWD from a small Midwestern town himself, Andrews is the target audience. His perspective is rooted in religion, family and community — it just lands on the other side of what people expect from that group.

While embraced by the left (see Rolling Stone coverage below), the music he makes is sonically akin to music that aims to advance the MAGA movement. Or at the very least, similar to what AWDs understand as modern country music.

Andrews’ latest songs sound like what mainstream country makes for angry young men. But his message isn’t in line with what most offer this cohort. He’s counter-programming — not in a snarky pop-culture context, but rather a very real and scary socio-political one.

While his message has been amplified due to this seeming disconnect, his music has not been broadly embraced by either side of the political equation.

In a recent interview, he noted that, while he has over five million followers across his platforms, he regularly has difficulty filling smaller venues.

To speak in sweeping generalizations, the people who agree with him don’t like his music, and the people who like this music don’t agree with him. He doesn’t look like he would fit in very well at the White Horse in Austin, but he wouldn’t make many friends at Aldean’s in Nashville.

Yes.

People paying attention to country music and its participants have come to expect protest songs from left-leaning folks like Dylan Earl, Carsie Blanton, Croy and the Boys, Lizzie No and Nathan Evan Fox, as well as larger names like Rhiannon Giddens, Jesse Welles and Margo Price. We know they will stand up and speak out.

They have long been dismissed by the country mainstream, and for the most part, want nothing to do with Country Radio™.

These individuals and bands are the opposition, the cultural resistance. Their brand depends on them speaking out. This isn’t to say they aren't genuine in their protest, but the audience expects cultural leadership from these artists that aligns with the audience’s beliefs.1 It would be disappointing if the artist behind “Fuck I.C.E.” did not stand up during this period of unrest. It’s part of the appeal that we can expect these artists to say something clever (or direct).

However, these folks don’t sing to AWDs. Some may even go so far as to say they don’t want them as fans.

Yet, Andrews sings the songs AWDs want to hear. He aims to reach the same people targeted by the mainstream. His music speaks to those on the other side, and perhaps those not yet still unconvinced of the fascist’s rhetoric.

Not at all.

Music is subjective. And frankly, it might be good. The folks who dismiss me out of hand, and potentially the people who will unsubscribe from this newsletter after reading this update, might need a different way to hear these messages.

And there are likely AWDs out there who feel like no one speaks for them in a voice they want to hear — maybe that person could be Bryan Andrews.

Andrews isn’t for me, but he’s for everyone.