NASHVILLE, Tennessee: When Beyonce dropped a country tune inside her new visual album “Lemonade,” it was the biggest crossover news in country music since Justin Timberlake brought down the house at the Country Music Association Awards last year alongside Chris Stapleton.
The Houston native’s Southern music roots are interwoven throughout the No. 1 album, but on “Daddy Lessons,” she mixes New Orleans horns and country lyrics and messaging with a sprinkle of Texas enthusiasm. And many in Nashville are welcoming music’s reigning queen to the format.
Country singer Dierks Bentley said he loved the whole album, but when he heard “Daddy Lessons,” he immediately thought it was a country song.
“There is just something intangible about it that it feels like a country song,” Bentley said. “It’s not just choruses that are catchy and verses that could be intermixed anywhere as some pop songs are. It’s a real story that she tells about what’s going on in her life growing up.”
Added Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town: “She has some stories to tell — that’s clear on ‘Lemonade.’ And that’s what makes country music great.”
The Dixie Chicks covered the song during their current national tour and even Blake Shelton defended the song from critics who say it’s not country. Female country artists in particular have loved Beyonce’s emphasis on the feminine perspective in pop music for years: Reba McEntire cut a version of Beyonce’s “If I Were a Boy” in 2010.
Even country superstar Garth Brooks said he can learn from Beyonce.
“I was lucky enough to get to see Beyonce’s Vegas show ... I mean, take out your notebook and take notes. No matter how long you’ve been on the stage — take notes on that one,” Brooks said.
“Daddy Lessons,” which debuted at No. 41 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, starts off with an extended horn intro, but then Beyonce namechecks her home state of Texas.
The Houston native’s Southern music roots are interwoven throughout the No. 1 album, but on “Daddy Lessons,” she mixes New Orleans horns and country lyrics and messaging with a sprinkle of Texas enthusiasm. And many in Nashville are welcoming music’s reigning queen to the format.
Country singer Dierks Bentley said he loved the whole album, but when he heard “Daddy Lessons,” he immediately thought it was a country song.
“There is just something intangible about it that it feels like a country song,” Bentley said. “It’s not just choruses that are catchy and verses that could be intermixed anywhere as some pop songs are. It’s a real story that she tells about what’s going on in her life growing up.”
Added Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town: “She has some stories to tell — that’s clear on ‘Lemonade.’ And that’s what makes country music great.”
The Dixie Chicks covered the song during their current national tour and even Blake Shelton defended the song from critics who say it’s not country. Female country artists in particular have loved Beyonce’s emphasis on the feminine perspective in pop music for years: Reba McEntire cut a version of Beyonce’s “If I Were a Boy” in 2010.
Even country superstar Garth Brooks said he can learn from Beyonce.
“I was lucky enough to get to see Beyonce’s Vegas show ... I mean, take out your notebook and take notes. No matter how long you’ve been on the stage — take notes on that one,” Brooks said.
“Daddy Lessons,” which debuted at No. 41 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, starts off with an extended horn intro, but then Beyonce namechecks her home state of Texas.
