Braxton Keith Embraces His “Neotraditional” Label, Says Classic Country Is Officially Back: “It’s Here”
You can call Braxton Keith whatever type of country you want to, as long you agree that classic country is back.
Braxton Keith stopped by the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast for our final episode of the year (don’t worry, we’ll be back in 2026). The young country star talked about how he avoids burnout with a busy touring schedule, his recent cover of George Strait’s “The Chair” (and when fans can expect a live version to drop), and that he actually comes from a family of dentists.
Obviously, he veered off his family’s path and has become one of the shining examples of neotraditional country music. Braxton Keith is helping to keep that sound alive, and spoke on how important it is for real, genuine music to exist with the surge of AI in music as of late, and even touched on how often he’s asked if he’s related to Toby Keith.
But back to the neotraditional label that has been assigned to Braxton Keith.
In case you missed the memo, that’s basically what new artists that sound like old artists are being called. It’s a big time surge in the modern landscape of country music, and the young Braxton Keith is one of the names at the forefront of the movement. When we asked him about how he felt about being called “neotraditional,” Keith said that he loves the label, mainly because he loves the power and storytelling of older country music:
“Absolutely. Yeah I love that (neotraditional label). That’s the country I fell in love with. If you go through my phone, most of the songs are just old country songs. I just rediscover old classics and I go, ‘Oh I remember that one, that one’s good.’ Listen to it for a little while, then move on.
I’ve always been that way. The songs just tell stories differently. They capture you in the moment. They allow me to just close my eyes and visualize what the writer is saying, which has always been the coolest to me. I think that’s the coolest way to write.”
@whiskeyriff @Braxton Keith #whiskeyriffraff #whiskeyriff ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff
And Braxton – along with other notable artists like Zach Top and Jake Worthington – are helping to keep that form of writing alive.
The “Cozy” singer likens country music’s turn back to the glory days to the cycle that fashion often follows. Things will go out of style, but only momentarily in the grand scheme of things. The resurgence of the classic country song doesn’t mean that it’s taking over… it just means that enough time has passed for people to crave it once more:
“It’s back, and it’s been back. The fact that we’re all here, the fact that I’m on this podcast. It’s back, and it’s here. I don’t think it’s going anywhere. I think the fact that people are listening to it right now just means that… fashion always goes back to the old school (look).
My dad used to wear hushpuppies back in the day, and now they just came back around in fashion. It always comes back around. Same with music. It’s just coming back, and it’s not to say that everything else is disappearing. I still think there’s gonna be a lot of modern music.”
Amen to that.
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Cheers, y’all.