Take a look at your social media feed. If you’ve ever liked or followed anything remotely close to Florida Georgia Line, chances are you’ve begun seeing the new “FGL LFG” accounts ramp up sharing of old clips of Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley tearing it up onstage. Following the duo’s reunion, marketing and PR efforts are underway to hype up the band’s official return to the country music scene after a brief separation. It sounds like a tour or some run of shows is being planned for 2027, and there’s always a chance they’re back in the studio working on a future album.
Whatever FGL gets up to in the near future, it couldn’t come at a better time.
The state of country music is interesting. You have artists competing left and right to be the most country, the most in touch with their roots, the most Coors Banquet-obsessed. You have those who want to be the edgiest, the grittiest, the ones you’d only hear at a bar in the Appalachian Mountains where the most expensive beer is a $4 20oz PBR.
And you have your misfits, the ones who want to make a sound for themselves and spark some larger trend. Everything from adult-contemporary influences to full-blown Wiz Khalifa- co-signed stoner anthems is floating around the country ether, taking things to the opposite extreme from the country country-est artists.
These two extremes have widened the playing field so much that almost no one exists in the middle (except, y’know, old heads who lost touch with the industry years ago). Maybe you don’t want to hear Alan Jackson ripoffs every time you turn on your radio or hit play on the All New Country playlist on Spotify. Perhaps you can’t bear another attempt at country EDM from Marshmello and some up-and-comer. Maybe all you want is an enjoyable country song that doesn’t require a deep thought, a moment to reflect, or a tolerance for synthesizers.
There’s a market for the type of country that scratches this itch, and it’s ol’ reliable bro country. Yes, the sub-genre many despise and blame for the downfall of country music years ago is the one that effortlessly cruises down Main Street in Nashville. It’s not offensive; it’s not trying too hard to prove its southern authenticity, and if paired with the right vocal talents, it can make for some songs that you’re proud to call your guilty pleasure.
As the industry continues to evolve, artists like Florida Georgia Line have an unexpected opportunity to bring forth a resurgence of country music that’s here to serve nothing but a vibe. As the often-credited pioneers of the bro country movement, FGL have an infectious knack for making songs that are hard to justify critically but rarely fail to get the party started.
It’s no secret that FGL is getting back together. After all, they performed onstage for the first time in years at CMA Fest twice – once at Nissan Stadium, once at Spotify House. The duo was met with plenty of frenzy from fans old and new, those who have been following since the days of “Cruise” and those who may have just tapped into their music.
Seeing Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley back on stage signaled several things (beyond the likelihood they realized their solo careers need a few FGL shows to survive). It meant that both Hubbard and Kelley felt some calling to reunite, that enough label executives were comfortable with the band back on the charts, and that the industry has realized there’s room for them despite their sound regularly being frowned upon.
But here’s the thing: bro country has never disappeared; it’s just never been executed as well as FGL could. Bro-country songs regularly make an appearance from artists like Gavin Adcock, Morgan Wallen, Hardy, Jordan Davis, Luke Bryan, and countless others. Have any of them hit quite the same as the obnoxiously bro efforts of FGL? Not quite. While each of those artists has had their fair share of hits, none have reached the astonishing peaks of some of FGL’s records.
Beyond just popularity, Florida Georgia Line also knows how to make enjoyable bro-country songs. Whether it’s Tyler’s lead vocals, BK’s background echoes, or the Joey Moi-infused production, the crisp sound of an FGL record satisfies a music craving like diving into your favorite fast food burger after fasting all day. Artisan burgers are tasty and all that, and some claim to be as good as your favorite chain’s, but nothing will come close to getting that tasty burger directly from the source.
There’s a reason fast food chains claim to have served billions of customers. Whether it’s commonality in people’s tastes, accessibility to said food, or the cost of consuming each item on the menu, everyone can agree that a little fast food once in a while hits different.
Florida Georgia Line is that for country music, at a time when the kale salads and beans-on-toast are running rampant. The evolution of the genre over the past five years has served it well, helping to highlight more neo-traditional sounds that faded away in the 2010s that many gravely missed. But as a result, it sent everyone else off in the opposite direction, almost as a resistance. The bro-country of the 2010s became even more influenced by hip-hop and EDM by the time we entered the 2020s, calling into question who cared about the genre’s integrity and who just wanted to profit from its recent successes.
We need a great reset in the discussion. We need someone who can toe the line of quality country tracks and fun party anthems we all need now and then. FGL’s anticipated return to the stage in 2027 could be the answer to all that, assuming it follows similar musical stylings to the band’s earlier work. That’s never a guarantee with any act that was once considered retired, but at least we’ll get to hear the old hits and remember a time when the whole world was cruising.
