"This Is Country Music" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Brad Paisley Brad Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His first success came in 1997 as the writer of David Kersh's "Another You (David Kersh song), Another You". After this, he signed with ...

. After performing it at the

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) is an American trade association with the stated aim of promoting and developing country music throughout the world. Founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee, it originally consisted of 233 members and was the f ...

awards ceremony, Paisley released the song in December 2010. The song is Paisley's twenty-eighth single release overall; it entered the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

charts dated for December 4, 2010. It was included on his eighth studio album, of the same name, released on May 23, 2011 release via

Arista Nashville Arista Nashville was an American record label that served as a wholly owned division of Sony Music, operated under the Sony Music Nashville division. Founded in 1989, the label specialized in country music artists, including Alan Jackson, Brooks ...

History

Paisley debuted the song at the

(CMA) awards show on November 10, 2010. At the time, he had not recorded a studio version of the song and said that the CMA performance would be like a demo; two days after performing it, he announced via

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that he was working with producer Frank Rogers on the final version of the song. Paisley also said that he "almost

roke Roke is a hamlet in South Oxfordshire, about north of Wallingford. It has a sixteenth-century public house, the Home Sweet Home. It is now included in the neighbouring civil parish of Berrick Salome Berrick Salome is a village and civil ...

down crying" while recording it. He also made the studio version of the song available as a free

digital download Digital download may refer to: *Downloading, the processing of copying data to a computer from an external source *Digital distribution, a method of downloading software or audio-visual media as opposed to buying it at a traditional point of sale * ...

on his website. The song is the title track to his album '' This Is Country Music'', which was released on May 24, 2011.

Content

Paisley wrote the song with frequent co-writer

Chris DuBois Charles Christopher DuBois is an American songwriter and music publisher based out of Nashville, Tennessee. DuBois began his music career as ASCAP Nashville Director of Membership in 1993. He left ASCAP in 1999 to form Sea Gayle Music with busin ...

. The song addresses topics that are commonly used in country music songs, saying that these topics "ain't hip". He told ''The Boot'' that the song is "my love song to my fans, who live all our songs every day, and to this industry, which produces this music that does become the soundtrack to people's lives." The lyrics also contain references to "

He Stopped Loving Her Today "He Stopped Loving Her Today" is a song recorded by American country music artist George Jones. It has been named in several surveys as the greatest country song of all time. It was released in April 1980 as the lead single from the album '' I Am ...

" by

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

, " Hello Darlin'" by

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

, "

God Bless the U.S.A. "God Bless the U.S.A." (also known as "Proud to Be an American") is an American patriotic song written and recorded by American country singer Lee Greenwood, and is considered to be his signature song. Released by MCA Nashville on May 21, 1984, ...

" by

Lee Greenwood Melvin Lee Greenwood (born October 27, 1942) is an American country music singer. Active since 1962, he won a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award and he has charted 33 singles on the Hot Country Songs with seven singles reaching the number one. He has ...

, " Amarillo by Morning" by

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...

, "

Take This Job and Shove It "Take This Job and Shove It" is a 1977 country music song written by David Allan Coe and popularized by Johnny Paycheck, about the bitterness of a man who has worked long and hard with no apparent reward. The song was first recorded by Paycheck o ...

" by

Johnny Paycheck Johnny Paycheck (born Donald Eugene Lytle; May 31, 1938 – February 19, 2003) was an American country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member notable for recording the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job and Shove It". He achieved his greates ...

, "

Stand by Your Man "Stand by Your Man" is a song recorded by the American country music artist Tammy Wynette, co-written by Wynette and Billy Sherrill. It was released on September 20, 1968, as the first single and title track from the album '' Stand by Your Man''. ...

" by

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...

, " Mama Tried" by

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in country music, he was a central pioneer of the Bakersfield ...

, "

Take Me Home, Country Roads "Take Me Home, Country Roads", also known simply as "Country Roads", is a song written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver. It was released as a single performed by Denver on April 12, 1971, peaking at number two on ''Billboard''s U ...

" by

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American Country music, country and Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic m ...

, "

I Walk the Line "I Walk the Line" is a song written and recorded in 1956 by Johnny Cash. After moderate chart success, it soon became Cash's first #1 hit on the ''Billboard'' country chart, and eventually crossed over to the pop charts, reaching #19 on the Bil ...

" by

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

and "

A Country Boy Can Survive "A Country Boy Can Survive" is a song written and recorded by American musician Hank Williams Jr. The song was released as a single in January 1982 and reached a peak of number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart in March 1982. It is ...

" by

Hank Williams, Jr. Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style has been described as a blend of rock, blues, and country. He is the son of countr ...

Critical reception

Blake Boldt of Engine 145 gave the song a thumbs-down, saying that Paisley's vocal was "humble and heartfelt" but calling the song's lyrics "awkward and forced." Matt Bjorke of Roughstock rated it two-and-a-half stars out of five, also criticizing the lyrics but praising the "traditionalist" production.

Chart performance

The song debuted at number 52 on the

for the week ending December 4, 2010, the same week that Paisley's previous single " Anything Like Me" was at the number one position. It has sold 370,000 copies in US. On the next week's charts, "This Is Country Music" entered the top 40 at number 29.

Year-end charts

Parodies

* American parody artist

Cledus T. Judd James Barry Poole (born December 18, 1964) is an American country music artist who records under the name Cledus T. Judd. Known primarily for his parodies of popular country songs, he has been called the "Weird Al" Yankovic of country music, and ...

released a parody of "This Is Country Music" titled "If This Is Country Music" on his 2012 album ''

Parodyziac!! ''Parodyziac!!'' is the eleventh and final studio album by American parody musician Cledus T. Judd. The album was released on October 16, 2012 as his first for Warner Bros. Records Nashville. Critical reception Chuck Dauphin of ''Music News Nash ...

''.

References

{{Brad Paisley singles 2010 singles 2010 songs Country ballads 2010s ballads Brad Paisley songs Songs written by Brad Paisley Songs written by Chris DuBois Song recordings produced by Frank Rogers (record producer) Arista Nashville singles Songs about country music