Farce the Music: Sierra Ferrell

Nov 5, 2025

2025 Country Music Vocabulary

Gatekeeping: Making artists or fans of those artists feel bad for claiming the genre but not adhering to any of the genre’s basic elements

Evolution: Copying what was popular in hip-hop or pop music 1-5 years ago

Songwriting: Rearranging words from previous hits over a slightly different composition

Songwriter: Producer, actual writer, guy who bought a beat online, 13 dudes in a room trying to think of the most current slang term to use, DJ, the singer (who only added 2 words), etc.

Country music: Has no definition. If the radio/bookers/agent/record label/media lets you call whatever crap it is you’re performing country, do so

Americana: Country music

Hipster country: Americana with fashion sense and/or social messages

Country cosplay: Artist was not born in the rural south or Texas (OR) has not been a country artist since the moment they popped out of the womb

Sellout: Artist who selfishly got sober or clean

Hick lib: Country or Americana singer who is not MAGA

Live Nation: Entertainment/concert company requiring half a month’s income and your firstborn child to afford a ticket to one (1) of their events

Traditional country: (sounds like the 90s)

TikTok country: Offensive term demeaning the hard work of curly haired young dudes who developed a following due to their attractive appearance and ability to autotune themselves singing about being sad and problematic

Steel guitars & fiddles: Americana instruments

Bruh-Country: Music by and of the tatted, plain tee and chain wearing, mumble-rap-loving young American white dude, fr fr.

TikTok Americana: Offensive term demeaning the hard work of not-as-attractive dudes standing in a field singing about coal in a style not dissimilar to Tyler Childers or Zach Bryan