By Holly Gleason

Country has been at a crossroads for over a decade. When bro country started to seem like too much of a good thing, it was inevitable that something new would emerge, much like the new traditionalist boom of the ’80s. For a moment it looked like Nashville would go hick-hop. But if the 2025 Grammy nominations are any indication, there are two new world orders in country music.

Beyond the radio-driven, populist vibe that has propelled the lion’s share of today’s country stars, streaming has now become a force to be reckoned with. Lack of airplay on KPLX in Dallas, WBOS in Boston or WSM and WSIX out of Nashville will no longer knock you out of the game. Indeed, Beyoncé—who is represented in all four country categories as well as Best Americana Performance—didn’t need Country radio at all to have a seismic impact with COWBOY CARTER.

Shaboozey, who had existed outside the mainstream for a decade despite major-label releases as far back as 2017, hit the top of the Country radio charts, propelled in part by his streaming success. His “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” wasn’t just a cultural moment, it has also gained recognition across genres, notching Best New Artist and Song of the Year noms.

No one would’ve bet on Post Malone being this year’s “sweetheart of the rodeo.” But his unabashed love of the genre, deep historical knowledge of the artists and deep dive into various Nashville wells has made him the most popular guy on campus. Rather than worrying about carpetbagging, Academy voters loaded him up with nods for Best Country Album (F-1 Trillion), Best Country Song and Best Country Duo/Group Performance, both for “I Had Some Help,” his collab with fellow disruptor Morgan Wallen.

In addition, Malone joined Nashville expat Taylor Swift on “Fortnight,” which is nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Music Video, and with Queen Bey for “LEVII’S JEANS” in Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Not bad for a guy who was on the Bonnaroo mainstage in a Dolly Parton short-pants/bowling-shirt combo six years ago.

The biggest merging agent may well be Jelly Roll. The hip-hop kid from Antioch, Tennessee, always had a taste for country. His WHITSITT CHAPEL invoked classic-era Merle Haggard, setting up the tattooed rapper to return the genre to its roots. His terrifyingly real “I Am Not Okay” deservedly pulled down Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance nods.

Jelly Roll harkens back to a kind of working-man’s country that was about tangled emotions, not a jacked-up truck or a black-out drunk. That porous kind of life that’ll give you splinters doesn’t always hit with people looking for low-hanging fruit, but it’s defined the genre’s legends (George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Tammy Wynette, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, even Tanya Tucker) for more than half a century.

That more classic approach to a songwriter-driven, hardship-and-hallelujah approach to life with classic turns of phrase and strong melodies has been inhabited over the last decade by progressive Texas songwriter and John Prine fave Kacey Musgraves and Kentucky’s bluegrass-steeped country-soul torchbearer Chris Stapleton. Musgraves pulled down Best Country Solo and Song mentions for “The Architect,” picked up Country Album for Deeper Well and Best Americana Performance for her turn on Madi Diaz’s “Don’t Do Me Good,” while Stapleton snagged nominations for Country Solo Performance for “It Takes A Woman” and Album for Higher.

Freight-train newcomer Lainey Wilson, who’s riding a two-year breakout, earned a single Country Album nomination for Whirlwind, but in a year with less strength from non-Nashville artists she might well have had several nominations.

The Duo/Group category has become a haven for top country names looking to stretch out: Brothers Osborne, Dan + Shay and Malone with Morgan Wallen, Kelsea Ballerini’s duet with rootsy pop chart-topper Noah Kahan on “Cowboys Cry Too” and Beyoncé’s pairing with Miley Cyrus on the yearning “Shotgun Rider” create space for hybrid exploration, space that may yield even more intriguing music.

While Nashville is embracing more folks from outside Music Row, the city’s denizens are also reaching into categories outside the typical country confines. With Ian Fitchuk nominated for Producer and Jessie Jo Dillon and Jessi Alexander both vying for Songwriter of the Year, it makes sense that country’s impact is leveling up. Twisters: The Album, which leaned country, is nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media, and Luke Combs’ “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” finds itself competing for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

Additionally, June, the documentary devoted to June Carter Cash’s life and music beyond her storied love affair with husband Johnny, is nominated for Best Music Film. The second generation of the first family of country music’s story competes with American Symphony, Run-DMC, Little Steven Van Zant and the doc that explores the recording of “We Are The World.”

Sometimes it’s not what you say, it’s what you do. Sometimes inclusion isn’t something that needs touting. This year’s Grammy ballot sure looks like that shift is happening. Hard to believe, and yet most things eventually find their way to where they ought to be.