How Nashville's New Year's Eve 'Big Bash' will balance authenticity amid glare from global spotlight
Between the years they've had in 2023 and the year to come in 2024, Megan Moroney and Bailey Zimmerman will play somewhere in the range of 250 concerts in front of nearly 10 million pop-loving country music fans more able to name hit songs by Creed, Nelly and Nickelback than by Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.
However, Lynyrd Skynyrd is also playing Sunday night's "New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash," airing on CBS and Paramount+.
If the kids don't know "Ring of Fire" or "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain," that's sure to rankle many feathers.
But the upsell in gambling on the kids knowing "Freebird," falling back into downtown Nashville New Year's Eve Bicentennial Park headliner Lainey Wilson's "Watermelon Moonshine" and landing on Moroney's "Why Johnny" or Zimmerman's "Rock and A Hard Place" is keying country music's evolution into unprecedented commercial strength and cultural renown.
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On Dec. 31, over 50 back-to-back performances from acts, including the previously mentioned quartet, plus Old Dominion, Elle King, Thomas Rhett, Trace Adkins, Grace Bowers, Kane Brown, Jackson Dean, HARDY, Cody Johnson, Dustin Lynch, Parker McCollum, Brothers Osborne, Jon Pardi, Carly Pearce, Blake Shelton, Trombone Shorty and Morgan Wallen will be featured.
That's almost 125 No. 1 country radio hits worth of stardom.
Fascinatingly enough, that's stardom achieved without the peak focus of mainstream popular culture that country music will receive in 2024.
How the genre's Nashville industry — and Nashville itself — blends into the broader social consciousness while still maintaining its core strengths is a story as extensive as the over 200,000 people expected to watch the music note drop at Bicentennial Park.
Young country stars mature in mainstream pop's spotlight
Moroney and Zimmerman spoke to The Tennessean at Lower Broadway honky-tonk The Stage while recording their contributions to CBS and Paramount+'s five-hour broadcast of Music Row favorites playing live at Bicentennial Park or numerous other spots in Nashville.
"This is all insane," says Moroney, whose rise from a University of Georgia-graduated TikTok sensation singing "Tennessee Orange" to a chart-topping country star opening for Kenny Chesney in 2024 continues her whirlwind rise to fame.
"I'm confident that sad, vulnerable songwriting will always remain relatable," adds the performer about her success.
A conversation about sad young people in country music can't be had in 2023 without talking with Zimmerman.
His brand of bittersweet pop power ballads blends well with a new generation of 20-something male country music-driven culture.
The Illinois native ends 2023 with two songs ("Religiously" and "Rock and a Hard Place") in the top 50 of Billboard's all-genre Hot 100 year-end chart. He also achieved No. 1 songs for roughly two months of the year on country radio while ending up with nearly half as many monthly Spotify listeners as Morgan Wallen.
He's excited for 2024, as his artistry will plunge deeper into the realms of radio-ready country and rock as an artist who once regularly listened to the likes of HARDY, Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger and Wallen is now being mentored by them on the road, nightly.
Zimmerman turns 24 on Jan. 27, 2024.
Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" was released when he was 18 months old.
Strangely enough, this places the young country star as modern rock's first "throwback" rocker.
"I'm still just a kid who found out one day in the bedroom of my mom's house that I was good at singing, took a leap of faith and suddenly signed a record deal. It's unreal."
A premier global celebration epicenter
"Nashville's a premier global epicenter for celebrations," says the Brothers Osborne's John Osborne.
Music City tourists have spent almost 20 percent more annually in the past five years as the city has welcomed five percent more visitors than before COVID-19's quarantine.
"Country music's culture is built on living lyrics and stories," Moroney adds.
In that case, the span from "Tennessee Orange," "I'm Not Pretty" and "Girl In The Mirror" to the Brothers Osborne's "I'm Not For Everyone" becomes more significant.
The 15th annual concert sees its seventh year at Bicentennial Park arriving as an event generating $40 million in direct visitor spending from a blend of local attendees and tourists.
"Big Bash spotlights Nashville's vibrant live music scene to the rest of the country," said Deana Ivey, the President and CEO of Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp.
Texans represent country's traditions
If you're looking for country music in what "country culture" is becoming, look no further than the genre's Texas roots. Texas has always presented a level of wild, outlaw sensibilities to Nashville. However, what was once "outlaw" is currently presenting the genre with both its historical essences and style appealing to its crossover moment.
While in conversation with Walker County, Texas, native Cody Johnson and Houston-to-Austin transplant Parker McCollum, the strength of the genre's timeless roots at the core of country's mainstream moment are apparent.
"Even in the past 20 years, there's always been a road from Texas to Tennessee," says McCollum smilingly. He names Johnson, Miranda Lambert and George Strait as "iconic" modern country stars born in the Lone Star State.
"We're proud to represent [Texas'] legacy in country music's history because when you claim it, you're giving 110 percent of yourself even to attempt to reach that level."
"I'm not just thinking about having No. 1 hits on radio and selling out arenas. Making bodies of work that are an appetizer to an entree that's benefitting the rest of my career is important," says Johnson.
Alongside McCollum's work, the Texans appearing on "New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash" have nearly 30 years of experience combined.
However, they're still both at a place — because of mainstream country music's largely Nashville and not-so-neotraditional focus in pop culture in the past decade — where 90 percent of crowds new to them are sometimes watching them for the first time.
"Being somehow timeless and new inspires artists to create work that translates to fans whether they've never seen a horse or ride horses often," jokes Johnson.
"It's all about keeping it old school. There are no viral social media hits here. It's still strong songwriting and constant touring. The hard way is the right way to earn it. Everyone I grew up idolizing, be it Randy Rogers or George Strait, that's how they got the awards in their hands and plaques on their walls," adds McCollum.
"I've got songs that are 12 years old that are still performing well on streaming services, and a new double-album ("Leather") for 2024. I'm proud that songs that require years of effort are lasting over the lifetime of my career," says the multiple-time award-winner.
'Maintaining country's original traditions'
Between newcomers like Moroney and Zimmerman to established traditionalists like Johnson, the space for country's growth to springboard has presented itself.
It's a dynamic, important one.
"Betting your life on whether or not you can consistently write good songs is a crazy way to make a living, but I wouldn't have it any other way," McCollum says.
"We're going to remain authentically as much as possible and not lose ourselves in how unbelievable this moment is becoming," adds Zimmerman.
"At the end of the day, this is going to boil down to real bands playing real songs and hitting the road hard, every night. Maintaining country's original traditions is the only way this moment sustains itself."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville's New Year's Eve 'Big Bash' to showcase country traditions