Country Music Is Becoming One of Western Culture's Biggest Gateways
For many people, country music is their first invitiation to western culture and in today’s digital-first world, there is a way that western brands can meet this new audience where they are and bring them into their business, product, and audience.
For many people, country music is their first invitation into western culture—and in today’s digital-first world, that invitation is louder, more visible, and more influential than ever before.
They may not grow up on a ranch. They may not know the difference between bronc riding and bull riding. They may never have been to a county fair, a rodeo, or a livestock show. But they know the songs topping the country music charts, the viral TikTok dance trends, the western fashion aesthetics trending on Instagram, and the massive summer music festivals drawing crowds from across the country. They recognize the feeling that western culture sells so well: grit, nostalgia, independence, heartbreak, humor, and home.
As Allen Montgomery, the Wrangler’s Western Vice President and General Manager, said on our podcast, “Country Adjacent.”
From artists like Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson to crossover hits blending country with pop and hip-hop influences, country music has become one of the fastest-growing genres in the entertainment industry. Platforms like Spotify, YouTube, and TikTok have amplified its reach, turning songs into viral moments and artists into lifestyle influencers. This surge in popularity has created a powerful gateway into western culture—one that brands can no longer afford to ignore.
That creates a major opportunity for Western brands looking to expand their audience, increase brand awareness, and tap into new revenue streams.
Rodeos, ranches, western retailers, tourism destinations, and agricultural businesses are all operating in a world where country music has become a cultural bridge. A country concert fan might also become a rodeo ticket buyer. A festivalgoer might become a western fashion customer searching for cowboy boots, denim brands, and western hats. A social media creator who starts with music content might eventually become a trusted voice for western lifestyle, ranch life, or rural entrepreneurship.
We’re already seeing this crossover in action. Major events like Stagecoach Festival in California blend country music with western lifestyle branding, featuring pop-up shops, influencer activations, and western fashion showcases. Brands like Ariat, Wrangler, and Tecovas are leveraging influencer marketing and digital storytelling to connect with younger audiences who discovered western style through music culture. Even tourism boards are capitalizing on this trend, promoting “authentic western experiences” tied to music festivals, rodeos, and ranch stays.
The rise of “cowboy core” and “western aesthetic” trends on social media platforms has further accelerated this movement. Hashtags like #WesternStyle, #CowboyCore, and #CountryMusicLifestyle are generating millions of views, creating organic discovery channels for brands that understand how to position themselves within the conversation. This is where SEO-driven content marketing becomes critical—blogs, videos, and social media content optimized around keywords like “western lifestyle,” “country music culture,” “rodeo events,” and “western fashion trends” can drive significant traffic and engagement.
The crossover is not accidental. It is the new front porch of western culture—a place where tradition meets modern marketing, and where storytelling becomes the most valuable currency.
Turning this into a business strategy:
To turn this cultural momentum into real business growth, western brands must move from observation to execution. Start by aligning your brand with the moments where country music and western culture intersect—sponsor local concerts, collaborate with emerging artists, or create experiences that blend music with your product or service. Invest in content that tells a story, not just sells a product. Highlight the lifestyle behind your brand through behind-the-scenes videos, customer stories, and partnerships with creators who authentically live the western way of life.
Next, build a digital presence that meets your audience where they already are. Use social media platforms to engage with trending conversations, leverage influencer partnerships to expand reach, and optimize your website and content for search engines so new audiences can discover you organically. Consistency is key—brands that show up regularly with valuable, relevant content will build trust and long-term loyalty.
Finally, stay rooted in authenticity. While trends may bring new audiences to your door, it’s your commitment to genuine western values that will keep them there. By combining cultural awareness with strategic marketing, western businesses can transform country music’s popularity into a sustainable growth engine—one that connects tradition with innovation and turns curiosity into lasting customer relationships.
Podcast Episode 13: Angela Meyer & Dean Marten
She's a singer-songwriter and he's a bull fighter. They met in high school over bad horses he tried to sell her as a kid but that didn't stop these two from creating a fun and exciting relationship! Join us as we bring our first couple onto the podcast, Angela Meyer and Dean Marten. Angela shares her songwriting journey with us, while Dean blames his brothers bad bullring for getting him into professional bullfighting and bull stock contractor.
Join us in Episode 13 of the That Western Life podcast!
(June 26, 2019) - She's a singer-songwriter and he's a bull fighter. They met in high school over bad horses he tried to sell her as a kid but that didn't stop these two from creating a fun and exciting relationship! Join us as we bring our first couple onto the podcast, Angela Meyer and Dean Marten. Angela shares her songwriting journey with us, while Dean blames his brothers bad bullring for getting him into professional bullfighting and bull stock contractor.
Join us in Episode 13 of the That Western Life podcast!
If you liked this episode, we suggest you also listen too:
Episode 3: JJ Harrison
Tara Trask - Fashion Designer & Podcaster
A background on cattle ranches led Tara Trask through her western lifestyle roots as first a rodeo queen and then a communications specialist in the western lifestyle. This former Miss Rodeo South Dakota, she is thankful for the opportunities presented to her from her families Quarter Horse ranch to her education at South Dakota State University. She’s now an avid western fashionista, designs her own fashion line, produces her own western fashion podcast, and also produces a few other podcasts along the way!
“Never let anyone dull your sparkle.”
A background on cattle ranches led Tara Trask through her western lifestyle roots as first a rodeo queen and then a communications specialist in the western lifestyle. This former Miss Rodeo South Dakota, she is thankful for the opportunities presented to her from her families Quarter Horse ranch to her education at South Dakota State University. She’s now an avid western fashionista, designs her own fashion line, produces her own western fashion podcast, and also produces a few other podcasts along the way!
Rodeo Background
Rodeo Queen Roots
The three-time South Dakota High School Rodeo Queen, she literally has a banner hanging in her high school gym next to the other sports championships. Living most of her life on the back of her horse at her family’s Quarter Horse ranch, she went on to South Dakota State University where she became the SDSU rodeo queen and then Miss Rodeo South Dakota; the pinnacle of her career.
“I am very honored and humbled by my past in rodeo… it’s opened up the doors to who I am today.”
Podcast Bonus Story: Some of the biggest changes that Tara has seen in rodeo over her span in rodeo with an emphasis on her master's thesis for public relations and social media for pro rodeo cowboys.
Most Influential Lesson From Being a Rodeo Queen:
“While I learned how to be a good public relations specialist… the biggest life lesson I learned from being a state rodeo queen, especially, is to be humble enough that you may think you know everything and you are at a level where there is sometimes a pressure to know everything, be humble enough that you can learn and be open to learn from absolutely everybody!”
Studying for Miss Rodeo America, you are expected to know all of this information and be able to speak to it at the drop of a hat. You should also know that you can listen to an announcer and that they are going to know ten times more than you.
“I gained a bigger respect for announcers and I really honed in on who they are and learned from them because, at the end of the day, they see rodeo from such a different perspective. They get to know the contestants, stock contractors, animals… they’re knowledge base deserves MAD respect!”
Social Media & Rodeo Today
“What the PBR is doing with Ride Pass, they have literally taken the sport of professional rodeo by storm with that and introducing it to a whole new level of people,” says Tara. “I see professional rodeo in the next few years continuing on that past and expanding more into … lifestyle pieces and what happens outside of the arena.”
Getting to see the personalities of those in the rodeo arena when they are outside of the area, for example the Tuf & Tif wedding series, allows for more fans to connect digitally. It creates an overall growth for the western lifestyle and the sport of rodeo to gain in traction with sponsors and audience size.
Tara predicts that podcasting will be one of the biggest steps moving forward for mainstream rodeo. Rodeo may have used to want to be mainstream but they weren’t ready; now they are. Co-host Katie Schrock talks about the PRCA Convention from the 2018 National Finals Rodeo which was covered in Episode 2 of the That Western Life Podcast.
If you could change, add or remove one rule into the PRCA rule book what would it be?
Tara goes more in depth on the podcast about her concept of tweaking the current PRCA patch program so that they can respect the National Sponsors of the PRCA but also allowing those competing sponsors that are helping those cowboys compete and get down the road.
“Healthy competition is a good thing!”
When we start to alienate certain brands out of a specific market place like rodeo, it’s only hurting the cowboys, the fans and professional rodeo as a whole. We need to make sure that we have those gates open to all sponsors for healthy sponsors.
Molly & Gidget
The Backstory
What started as a boutique named after Tara’s two former dogs, Molly & Gidget, she adopted Molly’s high class diva attitude and Gidget’s free spirit into her fashion designing.
“I always knew I wanted to open some kind of store,” says Tara about the start. At the end of grad school she felt ready to go for it and started an online boutique which it stayed as such for two to three years.
“I knew that I wanted to evolve it into something bigger, I wanted to create its identity and give it legs,” continues Tara about the adventure of Molly & Gidget. She didn’t want to spend her time worrying about how much she could carry, she wanted to have a brand that was tailored and a different energy than being focused on carrying mass product.
In the last two years, she has spent more time working on the designing of her fashion line which is a mix of 1950’s to 1970’s fashion that she finds and her own designs. Her designs are western shirts, leather jackets, and more; her focus is on the western clothing worn as the glitz and glammer for the stage of a country music singer.
Podcast Bonus Story: Who Tara would LOVE to design for? Listen to the episode to find out!
Podcast Bonus Story: What IS western fashion?
Future Plans
Tara’s plans for Molly & Gidge is to get more into the country music scene to design for both stage shows and the red carpet. She also wants to get into Nashville Fashion Week as well.
She hopes to continue to provide outfits and designs to help women feel beautiful and to be more of a beautiful place. Tara wants women to be confident in their own skin and to help every client stand out!
Stylish Podcast
Gearing Up For Season 3
Stylish is the official podcast of Molly & Gidget that was founded two years ago. In April, they will launch with a “Hot or Not” episode after the American Country Music Awards for Season 3. In its initial start, they interviewed for 32 episodes and showcased the stories of not just western designers but also more Indie designers.
Tara wanted to not only introduce some of these brands but also show with people why they should learn more about them. For Season 3 they are going to be taking a different spin with a whole lot more personality! Different guests, hot topics, and some broadcasting live from the top music festivals like Coachella and Coachella fashion.
They’re still going to embrace their western lifestyle roots but also go into mainstream fashion where Tara draws a lot of her designing fashion inspiration. She hopes that this will help open everybody else's creative juices with the western lifestyle.
Ask Annie
Launched in February, Tara produces the “Ask Annie” podcast which features host Annie Kennedy who is your girl next door and best friend that you’d go to for product advice for anything horse related. She tries produce from saddle pads to supplements, saddles to trainers, and so much more. After she tries them, she gives her honest review of these products.
You can find Ask Annie on all social media sites as well as anywhere podcasts can be found. The more that she gets into it, the more of her personality that comes out!
A "Relapse" For The Positive
Relapse is defined as the deterioration back to addiction after a period of improvement, but what is “improvement?” A subjective term to the viewer, listener and proclaimer. Modern country music has found itself “improving” with a deep bass, vocal alterations, and a hip hop undercurrent; a style that country crooner James Carothers of Nashville, Tennessee found himself trying to imitate before he hit his relapse. A relapse back into the old school country sounds of Waylon Jennings, George Jones, and Johnny Cash. A relapse back to an album, fittingly called, “Relapse.” This is James Carothers and this is his addiction to true country music.
April 12, 2018 (Eugene, Oregon) - Relapse is defined as the deterioration back to addiction after a period of improvement, but what is “improvement?” A subjective term to the viewer, listener and proclaimer. Modern country music has found itself “improving” with a deep bass, vocal alterations, and a hip hop undercurrent; a style that country crooner James Carothers of Nashville, Tennessee found himself trying to imitate before he hit his relapse. A relapse back into the old school country sounds of Waylon Jennings, George Jones, and Johnny Cash. A relapse back to an album, fittingly called, “Relapse.” This is James Carothers and this is his addiction to true country music.
Relapse is an album dedicated to the true style of the all time greats of traditional country music. In fact, the dedicated ear of Outlaw Country music fans will notice that every song on the album plays tribute to a different style of traditional country music, even including the Bodhran drum on the Irish influenced song “Frost.”
How does traditional country music today get discovered? In a not so traditional way, that’s how! Social media fan pages such as, “I Hate Pop Country,” with almost 900,000 cult-like followers, can help an artist hit unprecedented level of viewership that assists them with booking. Such luck hit for Carothers when his song, “Back to Hank,” reached 244,000 views and over 7,000 shares.
“It’s been great!” Carothers said about the assistance of social media. “Before, when my wife [who also doubles as his manager] would contact for me to play, instead of saying, ‘Hey, could you please book him?’ she can just simply show them the link and they can see the fan reaction.”
Carothers got his start in the Church of Christ, singing acapella. His connection to the church runs deeply, he’s currently a deacon in the same church he started at.
“It’s more modern now, but I still go to church… and, probably, if I was a country singer and it was the 1960’s, they would have kicked me out, but now they are more accepting,” he said with an appreciative laugh.
Growing up, Carothers was a fan of the greats, such as Hank Williams, Jr., Merle Haggard, and George Strait. His father was a songwriter and once had a song that made it all the way to the big stage of the Grand Ole Opry where it was played on a daily basis by an artist named Mike Snider. Carothers talks about how SEEING that song on television, which was a big deal back then, was really inspiring and the hard work, long days, and the process that it took to take that song from a piece of notebook paper to a song on television, always kept him moving forward.
Three years ago, an opportunity came knocking and it was in the form of Mrs. Nancy Jones, the widow of the famous country singer George Jones. Soughted and hand-picked by Mrs. Jones herself, Carothers was asked to be the voice of The George Jones, a smokehouse music hall created around the memorabilia and brand of her late husband. With his uncanny impersonation of traditional country music, he has been able to take his new country music with old school roots to new crowds.
Fans who turn up in droves at James Carothers concerts are usually in Cody Jinks hats, been to a Sunny Sweeney concert and know at least all of the songs of Ward Davis. These artists are all a part of the strong grass roots efforts of Texas Red Dirt Country and Outlaw Country.
Not sure if you're a fan yet of James Carothers? You will be soon because he’s just an average, hardworking guy with a dream, just like you and I. A dream that keeps getting better and better as he is set to take the stage as an opener for one of his idols, Alan Jackson, next month at the Grand Ole Opry.
“I am just like any rodeo contestant,” Carothers mentions. “I may not ride broncs or bulls or rope, but I spend my money every day to get in my vehicle and go up and down the road to take a gamble on a performance and just hope that at least some of them pay off.”
To see James Carothers and band at an area near you, check out his schedule on his website where you can also buy his new album “Relapse,” and stay tuned for information on the George Jones Tribute Album that will be released soon. If you’re looking for your next country music opener or headliner for your rodeo, convention, event, or music festival, don’t hesitate to relapse back to traditional country in a new way with the up and coming James Carothers.