Country music became big corporate business a long time ago and that’s why the singers are being corralled into political “correctness”.
I started listening to country after 9-11 when I realized that while many artists in many genres were recording patriotic music, country artists were the only ones writing new music. Everyone else was just covering old stuff.
I enjoyed the story telling aspect of the genre. But between the liberalism and the advent of mindless bro-country, I’ve completely given up on it.
It’s gone completely formulaic and is frankly completely boring.