Well, folks, it’s happened again. Another unassuming, country-tinged pop ditty has set the country music community ablaze with contention, fueled by an almost unreasonable amount commercial momentum.
Like “Meant To Be,” “Old Town Road,” “Last Night,” “A Bar Song,” and so many others before it, Stella Lefty’s viral crossover single “Boston” has captured the ire and intrigue of country fans across the genre spectrum, from grumpy traditionalists to laissez-faire Wallen bros. Right now, if you say the name “Stella Lefty” in a country music comments section, you’re almost bound to evoke some kind of reaction.
Now, the song itself offers little to dissect. It’s not very lyrically profound, the instrumental bed is subdued and unassuming at best, and even the melody was lifted from Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season.” In a vacuum, it shouldn’t be the kind of song we spend all summer talking about.
However, for better or worse, that’s exactly what’s happened. This little ditty has lit the fuse on a powder keg of nerdy discourse, inviting riveting questions like “is this really a country song?” “What does Stella’s success mean for country music?” And “does she have a future in this format beyond this one hit?”
I’ll admit, I’m not exactly on the cutting edge of this conversation, but enough has transpired around Stella lately that we can make some thoughtful comments about the non-troversy of “Boston’s” success, and Stella Lefty’s own place as a breakout star. So this obviously isn’t a reaction, but more of a reflection, and perhaps a bit of projection on the side.
Let’s start with the “what is country music really?” corner of this.
Obviously, this format has always had its core instrumental base, with its acoustic guitars, pedal steel, fiddle, and the like. Still, there’s a dubious middle ground where singer-songwriter music intersects, exacerbated lately by genre-agnostic stars like Zach Bryan.
Last year, I made a long-winded case for why raw quality should be more important in a country fan’s judgments than the work’s “country quotient.” Much like the nebulous term “rock music,” “country” is presently a sort of catch-all category for anything with a modicum of influence from the American heartland.
And that’s not a bad thing!
Nowadays, it’s very reasonable for a young artist like Stella to have a diluted assessment of what country music is. When everyone from Zach Bryan to the Eagles to John Prine has been grandfathered into the genre, kids introduced to this expansive space for the first time would be justifiably confused about our country criteria.
But if “Boston” is a qualifiedly country song, then we can also make a good case for the collective discography of Jason Mraz, James Blunt, the Plain White Ts, and Jack Johnson. This is where a more cynical take on Stella Lefty’s fit emerges:
The stripped-down nature of “Boston” and some of Stella’s other tracks makes you wonder whether their “country” assignment is born of passion for the format, or just pure convenience.
Right now, it’s kind of a commercial win-win; country music is no longer disparaged like the red-headed stepchild of mainstream music, and every pop artist you know is flirting with it in some form or fashion.
At the same time, the country market is still drastically less competitive than the Top 40 markets; if Bebe Rexha taught us anything, it’s that a moderate, mainstream pop hit can look like a decade-defining smash on the Hot Country Songs chart. If Stella makes it in country music and doesn’t forsake the label like Maren Morris or the Dixie Chicks, her staying power is much more assured.
Granted, the country-ness of it all is interesting, but far less important than our next question: is Stella a net positive for country music?
In her brief time on the scene, despite receiving a tremendous platform in Nashville, she’s remained fairly aloof to the mainstream country scene. You don’t really see her rubbing shoulders with her peers in the scene (except for her boyfriend, Vincent Mason, and a smattering of guest slots with Wyatt Flores and Cameron Whitcomb), or going out of her way to present as a committed country artist, either in aesthetics or art.
Much like Zach Bryan, she’s doing numbers that dwarf most true-blue genre purists, but prefers to remain “around” country music rather than in it.
Integration in the Nashville community isn’t an inherent strike against her “country cred,” but skeptical fans ought to be excused for seeing her as an interloping pop act. For now, she’s not the crossover star destined to “country-pill” non-ball-knowing pop listeners, the way Morgan Wallen has.
The second key reason is unfortunate, but simple: Stella’s songs don’t justify her remarkable stature as one of the format’s biggest breakout stars in recent memory.
With over half of her debut album Long Way Home already released, Stella Lefty is rapidly amassing a catalog of “fine” songs. Of the eight we’ve heard, there isn’t one you can point to that feels wildly personal or introspective. In singer-songwriter music, where the listener’s connection with the storyteller is so paramount, this is a dangerous Achilles heel.
As a purveyor of catchy ditties, you would hope that the native Chicagoan could show a penchant for outstanding, infectious melodies; so far, the whole of Long Way Home has been “fine;” cuts like “I Know, I Know” and “Slow Dancin’” are spirited and fun, but it’s hard to spot the next smash hit on this track list.
This brings us to our last question: What is Stella’s future in the format?
Currently, her ceiling depends entirely on her. “Boston” has a catchy hook, but there isn’t an “X factor” that puts her above her peers in her niche, or certainly to the status she’s achieved thus far.
It’s fair to ask if more “Lean In, Kiss Mes” will propel her beyond this one moment. She’s an affable listen, but presently doesn’t have the songs for anyone to declare that she’ll be a commanding presence for years to come.
Consider Megan Moroney and Ella Langley’s first years on the scene following “Tennessee Orange” and “You Look Like You Love Me,” respectively; at the time, there was little doubt that each had the goods both as writers and personalities. If this feels like an unfair standard to hold Stella to, think how much bigger “Boston” is than either one of those songs.
To reject the question of whether or not she can be a perennial A-lister is to sell her short relative to what she’s already accomplished.
As we’ve discussed before, the barometer for whether an artist should be allowed in the big tent isn’t their country quotient but whether they bring something fresh and cool to the table. For Stella to rise above the snide comments about her background and remain a fixture of this industry, we will need more than a few catchy snippets.
In the months to come, as “Boston’s” heat starts to subside with the cooler weather, Stella Lefty’s second act will be one of the more interesting storylines to follow.
