Country singer Zach Bryan is making headlines after a snippet of his new song “Bad News,” posted on the singer’s Instagram, revealed what some observers have called “anti-ICE” lyrics and unpatriotic sentiments. Many on the right have criticized Bryan. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem found the song “completely disrespectful,” while country star John Rich took to X to express his doubt that country fans would keep supporting Bryan: “Who knows, maybe there’s a large ‘anti law enforcement’ wing of the country music fanbase. We’ll soon find out.”

Permeating the debate around Bryan’s song is the belief that country music, and its audience, are inherently conservative. But they aren't. Indeed, for much of the 20th century, country music furthered liberal politicians and progressive causes. The seeming symbiosis between country music and Republican politics is a fairly recent phenomenon—a product of Richard Nixon’s electoral strategy and the broader cultural and political realignment of the 1970s. The transformation of mainstream country music into a conservative, Republican genre both reflected—and advanced—the polarization of American life that shapes our politics today.

A century ago, the country music scene looked very different. The commercial country music industry emerged in the early 1920s with recordings of musicians such as Eck Robertson and Fiddlin’ John Carson. At this early stage, the music was referred to as “hillbilly music” and was an amalgamation of southern musical styles. Despite country music’s heavy debt to African American musical traditions, the record industry, reflecting racial politics of the early 20th century, segregated the musical styles of the South between white “hillbilly” music and Black “race records.”

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And yet, hillbilly music developed an audience among both Black and white listeners, predominantly but not exclusively in the South. By the early 1930s, country music’s most........

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