Country boy Luke Bryan bringing 'bro' style to North Little Rock

In 2007 Luke Bryan, a 30-year-old country singer-songwriter from rural Georgia, released his major label debut, I'll Stay Me. Now in 2017 -- five full-length albums into his career -- Bryan comes to North Little Rock's Verizon Arena on Friday as the headlining act on the Huntin', Fishin' and Lovin' Every Day Tour. Seth Ennis and Brett Eldredge are the two opening acts.

Though Bryan might not be able to find the G's at the end of his words, he has found success that arguably puts him at the very top of Nashville's main industry. He has his name on a slew of No. 1 country hits and albums. He has picked up his share of industry trophies such as the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year in 2014 and 2015. He also sang the national anthem at this year's Super Bowl. Bryan has accomplished these hallmarks while veering slightly off the standard course for male country acts.

Bryan's foothold in the crazy competitive country music world began in a fairly standard way -- as one of many songwriters plying his trade in Nashville. It wasn't long before he was helping craft hits for Travis Tritt, among others.

In the year Bryan struck out on his own, country music was still dominated by male stars such as Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley and Tim McGraw. Those acts more or less sported a stereotypical approach and stereotypical look, i.e. singing country hits about normal country topics (love, trucks, outdoors and drinking with various combinations of each topic) while wearing a cowboy hat. Bryan's I'll Stay Me debut colored within Nashville's narrow lines, except Bryan appeared hatless on the cover.

Going without a cowboy hat might seem like a nothingburger in terms of the overall picture (and certainly Bryan did not need it then as a way to hide male pattern baldness) but it did differentiate him from the pack. As he kept making albums, it became clear that Bryan was not beholden to the old-fashioned, pedal steel purity of country icons like George Strait or George Jones.

The music Bryan made was a more modern pop-rock openly flirting with dance/white soul music. Hits such as "Country Girl (Shake It for Me)" summed up this approach as it pushed the sexual envelope in country music -- even if only ever so slightly. Country audiences, generally considered conservative in nature, never blinked and quickly turned "Country Girl" into Bryan's signature hit.

His work has dovetailed into a wave of what's called bro-country, with its male-centrenic, pop-heavy approach. Florida-Georgia Line, Jason Aldean and others are in this category. There are quite a few Nashville defenders who still fight for a traditional country approach -- the honky-tonk over the frat house as the soul of the genre. How much audiences register this rift in country is debatable.

Nevertheless, there is no arguing the vaunted place that Bryan holds among fans. It probably doesn't hurt that Bryan is a model that Nashville can only dream about -- a handsome Southern man who loves to hunt and fish, and who speaks and sings in that golden country drawl. A lack of a cowboy hat hardly seems to slow his progress.

Weekend on 06/08/2017