Full disclaimer. I was a country music DJ in Central New York for more than 30 years. When I started in 1989, the “newcomers” who were changing the sound of country music were Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, Clint Black, Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Vince Gill, Trisha Yearwood, and others. Newcomers? Yup, that far back. So classic country music, the sounds of Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn et. al. was starting to shift gears a bit.