13 New Age Artists That Are a Little Country + A Little Rock

Donny and Marie might have been on to something when they first sang about being a little bit country and a little bit rock ‘n roll back in 1976. Though the cheeky song poked fun at the Osmond sibling “rivalry” as they co-hosted a variety show on ABC, when it comes to the two music genres at least, they have more in common than might appear at first.

Both can be traced to American roots music – as Elvis Presley was changing the game for early rock ‘n’ roll, Johnny Cash was establishing a new kind of country music, with the two legends even teaming up that fateful night at Sun Record Studios in what has become “Million Dollar Quartet” infamy.

Decades later, and those dividing lines are becoming even blurrier as many artists dip their hands in both styles – viewed as the country capital of the world, Nashville has now become a mecca for rock stars as well. Staind’s Aaron Lewis, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Hootie himself Darius Rucker have all successfully released country music while Detroit cowboy Kid Rock has made a whole career of toeing the line between both styles (with some hip-hop thrown in, of course).

This fall, Five Finger Death Punch and country singer Brantley Gilbert are even teaming up for a co-headlining arena tour that shows plenty of music fans in fact like both rock ‘n’ roll and country.

As we get further away from standard record store bin categorization as more and more artists genre blend, it’s no surprise these two styles are becoming bedfellows. For these 13 acts, some imbue rock ‘n’ roll with country heart and soul, while others have turned the twang up to 11 with songs that could just as well be rock anthems.

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