Playlist

Country Music for Metal Fans

Country music seems to be having a moment with heavy rock, but it's nothing new. From HARDY to The Cadillac Three there's something for every metalhead in our playlist of Country Music for Metal Fans.

Holler Country Music

Country music seems to be having a moment with heavy rock, but it's nothing new. From HARDY to The Cadillac Three there's something for every metalhead in our playlist of Country Music for Metal Fans.

June 20, 2023 10:30 am GMT
Last Edited January 4, 2024 11:34 am GMT

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Here at the Holler offices, we’re all too familiar with hearing the same old “Anything but country” response when it comes to people talking about what sort of music they’re into. But we’re making it our mission to go out into the world and change that.

For someone who doesn’t like country music, our friend Dave has seen an awful lot of it over the years. We’ve dragged him along with us to gigs and festivals all over the world. He’s seen some of the biggest acts in country and remained resolutely indifferent to them all.

Dave is very much not there for the music. He likes the beer and the barbecue, and he likes the motorbikes and hanging out with us, his country loving friends. Dave grew up in the eighties with the NWOBM, listening to Iron Maiden and Def Leppard, ironing band patches onto his denim vest and headbanging with his shoulder length hair. He likes his rock heavy and loud. Sometimes at country music festivals we’ll find him just sitting quietly by himself under a tree with a copy of Kerrang, as far away from the music as he can possibly get without actually leaving the festival.

But all that changed a few years ago when we dragged him along with us all the way over to Arizona.

"We're a heavy metal country band," Cadillac 3 frontman Jaren Johnston told the crowd as he took the stage at Country Thunder way back in 2016 and our friend Dave looked at us like a five-year-old on Christmas morning. Finally, after all these years, he had a reason to be there.

The very idea of a heavy metal country band might sound like a musical fusion forged in hell, but actually it’s a melting pot that makes a lot of sense. Both genres ostensibly stemming from the blues, they just took different turnings at the crossroads. After all, early rock n roll was just country music repackaged to make it more marketable.

As the two genres continued along their separate paths, developing, and changing shape, they’d occasionally cross over. You could hear country’s influence in 70’s southern rock as bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers Band and ZZ Top turned their rootsy blues influenced country sound up to 11 and the licks became just as important as the lyrics.

In the 80’s and 90’s country and metal might not have had anything in common except the size of their hair, but in recent years it’s felt like their paths were crossing once again. Award winning country artists like HARDY, Whiskey Myers, Jelly Roll, Pecos & The Rooftops and Koe Wetzel are making records that sound louder and nastier than ever.

It’s crossing back over the other way too. Staind frontman Aaron Lewis’ solo output was so country it was produced by Buddy Cannon, Jonathan Davis from Korn collaborated with Big & Rich and Righteous Vendetta just put out a five-song EP called Country Goes Metal featuring some of country music’s biggest hits reimagined as metalcore. Artists like Hank Williams III, Kid Rock and Pantera have always drawn their outlaw spirit from both wells.

So, if, like Dave, you’re one of those metalheads who thought there was nothing in country music for you except an excuse to enter a corn dog eating competition and drink beer all weekend then think again. It’s time to let your hair down and crank our playlist of Country Music for Metal Fans. We're gonna rock this country! Right out of this world.

Check out the full tracklist below:

  1. 1.

    The Mockingbird & THE CROW

    HARDY

  2. 2.

    Muddy Water Rockstar

    Austin Snell

  3. 3.

    Holler from the Holler

    Stephen Wilson Jr.

  4. 4.

    This Damn Song

    Pecos & The Rooftops

  5. 5.

    Ain't My Fault

    Brothers Osborne

  6. 6.

    Save Me

    Jelly Roll

  7. 7.

    Wild Child

    Whey Jennings

  8. 8.

    Hell On Wheels

    Brantley Gilbert

  9. 9.

    Hard Out Here for a Country Boy

    The Cadillac Three, Chris Janson and Travis Tritt

  10. 10.

    Waiting for the Thunder

    Blackberry Smoke

  11. 11.

    Heartache Off My Back

    Kendell Marvel

  12. 12.

    Die Rockin'

    Whiskey Myers

  13. 13.

    Fuss & Fight

    Koe Wetzel

  14. 14.

    Steady at the Wheel

    Shooter Jennings

  15. 15.

    Copperhead Road

    Steve Earle

  16. 16.

    I'm Drunk Again

    Hank Williams III

  17. 17.

    Wasted

    Diplo, Kodak Black and Koe Wetzel

  18. 18.

    The Outsiders

    Eric Church

  19. 19.

    Wounded Mind

    Cody Jinks

  20. 20.

    White Trash Millionaire

    Black Stone Cherry

  21. 21.

    Whoop a Man's Ass

    Trace Adkins

  22. 22.

    I AIN'T IN THE COUNTRY NO MORE

    HARDY

  23. 23.

    Kick It In The Sticks

    Brantley Gilbert

  24. 24.

    Son of a Sinner

    Jelly Roll

  25. 25.

    That's Why We Fight

    Ella Langley and Koe Wetzel

  26. 26.

    Kiss My Country Ass

    Blake Shelton

  27. 27.

    La Grange

    ZZ Top

  28. 28.

    Midnight Train to Memphis

    Chris Stapleton

  29. 29.

    Snake Farm

    Ray Wylie Hubbard

  30. 30.

    Dear God

    Avenged Sevenfold

  31. 31.

    Bad Reputation

    Kid Rock

  32. 32.

    Northern Redneck

    Aaron Lewis

  33. 33.

    Leave The Light On

    Righteous Vendetta

  34. 34.

    I Got Bones

    Danny Worsnop

  35. 35.

    Save A Horse (Ride a Cowboy)

    Big & Rich

  36. 36.

    Take It Outside

    Brantley Gilbert

  37. 37.

    Backwoods

    Justin Moore

  38. 38.

    C'MON!

    Keith Anderson

  39. 39.

    Smoke a Little Smoke

    Eric Church

  40. 40.

    Cold Beer (feat. Jamey Johnson)

    Colt Ford

  41. 41.

    Small Town Throwdown

    Brantley Gilbert, Thomas Rhett and Justin Moore

  42. 42.

    I'll Bring The Music

    Parmalee

  43. 43.

    Lit

    Trace Adkins

  44. 44.

    Never Left Memphis

    Austin Jenckes

  45. 45.

    Gasoline

    Whiskey Myers

  46. 46.

    Welcome to the Show

    Cody Johnson

  47. 47.

    Something 'Bout A Truck

    Kip Moore

  48. 48.

    Outlaw You

    Shooter Jennings

  49. 49.

    Here Comes the Thunder

    Tim Hicks

  50. 50.

    Get Outta My Life

    Hank Williams III and Rebel Meets Rebel

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Written by Jof Owen
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