If you were to take a look at my Apple Music Replay over the last several years, the vast majority of songs you would see would fall into the genre of country music. For as much of a country music fan as I pride myself on being, even I can see that the new campus concert announcements are becoming heavily saturated by the genre.
Last week, Clemson Athletics announced a new concert series in Jervey Meadows that would serve as a precursor to the Death Valley Nights concert series that will kick off in May. Following the announcements that country stars George Strait and Morgan Wallen would headline shows at Memorial Stadium, I was hopeful that this new series would feature something other than country music.
Those hopes were quickly shattered when I learned that Jake Owen, another country music singer, would be the headline artist.
Don’t get me wrong, I love much of Jake Owen’s music, with hits such as “Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” “Anywhere With You” and “The One That Got Away” appearing on my main playlist. In fact, at the time of this story’s publication, I will probably have already purchased a ticket for the event, much like I purchased a ticket to see George Strait in May.
This is not about me, though. This is about the all-encompassing Clemson student body.
In a 2018 Statista survey, respondents ages 16-24 specified their favorite music genres. Topping the list were pop and hip-hop/rap, while country music was a mid-tier response.
While country music is among the more popular genres in this part of the United States, the University is home to students from all over the country and the world. The music tastes of the student body are likely less represented by the preferences of the surrounding area.
In years past, Clemson has done a much better job of diversifying the music genres at the Clemson Music Festival. With performances by artists such as T-Pain, Mt. Joy, DaBaby and Jessie Murph, among others, the festival offered a variety of genres sure to appeal to most students.
The recently announced concerts, though, have done the complete opposite. Instead of being inclusive of several genres, the concerts announced so far fall into a niche that many college students do not identify with. Even last semester’s Tigerama, the annual Homecoming celebration, was headlined by Lanco, yet another country band.
If Clemson is going to continue hosting concerts on campus, the University should consider genres and artists that will further excite the student population. It would be unrealistic to suggest having an artist like Taylor Swift perform in Death Valley, but there are other alternatives that can expand beyond the country genre.
As it stands, though, it appears that we might be stuck with country concerts for the foreseeable future. Personally, I can enjoy that, but I know many of my peers may feel excluded, and for them, I hope there will eventually be a variety of genres for future concerts.
Nathan Inman is a junior sports communication major from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Nathan can be reached at [email protected].
