Lindsay Ell has praised the likes of Beyonce and Lana Del Rey for “blurring genre lines” with their forays into country music.
The Canadian-born country pop musician – who is currently Shania Twain’s touring guitarist – has lived in the home of country, Nashville, for more than a decade and has witnessed changes in the industry and more acceptance of artists from all genres and backgrounds.
Discussing Beyonce’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ LP, she exclusively told BANG Showbiz: “I think it’s incredible. You know, I think that the fact that Beyonce is bringing more fans into country music and inviting more people into the format is awesome. I love that. You know, genre lines are blending and are blurring more I think that that’s what should happen. I think that music should be more so on what makes you feel good and what what makes you connect to who you are compared to what what genre it is, which, you know, growing up in country music and moving to Nashville 15 years ago, music was a lot more about where it fell in between the genre lines. And so I think it’s a really exciting time right now for country music. And it’s amazing that artists like Beyonce and and Post Malone and Lana Del Rey are coming into the form of being like, I want to make a country record when really it’s just I want to make music that’s maybe inspired by previous country things. But it’s just good music, you know?”
Kacey – who hosts ‘Canada’s Got Talent’ – only sees the genre getting “wider” with “everyone welcome”.
She said: “I think it’s an exciting time. You know, I think there’s always going to be that middle thread of something that you know, pays homage to a more traditional country music sound I think that you know, you’re even hearing a lot of the male Country artists like Morgan Wallen and then you’re still seeing that flair of traditional country with like Lainey Wilson, and then you’re seeing like Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves that you could say are still within the larger tent of country music. I think everybody’s welcome. You know, I don’t think it should be about who does or doesn’t belong? I think it’s an exciting time for the genre because I think that If anything, it’s just gonna get wider.”