A few months ago, if I’d put on a country music playlist in my student house in Bristol, everyone would cringe and cries of “noo!’” would fill the room. Now we openly argue over my cowgirl hat for summer festivals and caption our Instagram pictures “#letsgogirls” — an ode, obviously, to Shania Twain, who was serenaded at Glastonbury recently by thousands of Gen Z fans too young to have heard her music the first time around.
While clubbing is on the decline in the UK — five nightclubs a week on average are closing, according to a recent report from the Night Time Industries Association — country-style events are selling out. “Cowboycore” on TikTok has 11.4 million views and as a result, my friends are frequently sending me ticket links to honky-tonks. These niche bars, Buck N Bull Saloon in London, for example, offer line-dancing events, country music and, if you’re lucky, bull riding.
Forget the drum and bass, grunge-style music scene I’ve been used to in Bristol. Since Beyoncé’s new album, Cowboy Carter, was released, John Lewis has reported a 62 per cent rise in searches for cowboy boots, and there’s been an, ahem, country-music flare-up. Why is it my cohort at the vanguard?
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It seems that while drinking culture is declining (about a third of people aged 18-24 do not drink alcohol at all, according to research in March by the market intelligence firm Mintel), Gen Z are looking for alternative evening activities that make a change to the increasingly empty bars. “The dance routines and karaoke-style songs make it easier to take yourself less seriously; you don’t have to have a drink,” my friend suggested. Or maybe it’s the excuse to dress up and sing to music that actually has words rather than sway like zombies in a crowd.
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Last month I went to another friend’s Country Cruisin’ boat party on the Thames. After initially raising my eyebrows in cringe-horror, the foot-tapping music got me researching for another chance to dance in my cowboy boots. They are white leather and have been eyed up by all my flatmates. I told them to go get their own accessories from Jessie Western in Portobello Road or even Depop, which has had searches for “fringe” rise by 58 per cent.
I can’t say we will all be going as far as adopting the vow of the country queen Dolly Parton, who gave us the mantra “the higher the hair, the closer to God” (we’ll stick to our big scrunchies). But I can say that Gen Z are nothing if not committed to a theme.
That may be why I chose to spend my 21st birthday last month singing Jolene with a fluorescent blue cocktail in hand and a giant sculpture of Parton’s head staring back from across the bar, at the Graduate hotel in Nashville. Here 9 to 5 is played 24/7, and a multitude of twentysomething girls flaunt triple-denim outfits and gawp at the sparkly purple wallpaper that lines every inch of the lobby. A good portion of the night was spent elbowing other Gen Zers for the best selfies in front of neon Dolly murals.
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My next stop has to be a “hoedown” bottomless brunch at Tonight Josephine, a quirky chain all over the UK. It includes country drag performers and I’m hoping they play songs by Morgan Wallen and Zach Bryan, heartstopper country artists that have topped the charts.
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Square dancing might have been reserved for subpar hen parties in the past, but by my reckoning it’s not square any more.
