By: Sadie Christine
Rock and its subgenre, emo, share many similarities with country music. Both of these styles blend authentic storytelling and raw emotion, taking you on a journey through each lyric. Country music has long carried traces of rock influence, but lately, artists like HARDY, Ella Langley, and Russell Dickerson have been leaning even further into punk-inspired sounds. That raises an interesting question: Is country music starting to move in a slight emo direction?
Over the past several months, Russell Dickerson has gone viral more than once for showing off his love of 2000s emo pop punk and spotlighting those country fans who also love emo music. His 2024 radio hit “Happened to Me” weaves in pop-punk influences, especially through its rock-driven instrumental build. Some fans have even pointed out the song’s emo-pop-punk energy by creating their own pop-punk versions of it.
Dickerson has been vocal about growing up on both country music and alternative music from the ’90s and 2000s, and that mix clearly shows up in his work today. He recently posted a behind-the-scenes clip of himself singing an alternative/emo-style cover of “Red Dirt Road” by Brooks & Dunn. Fans in the comments immediately started asking him to bring pop-punk bands on the road with him, and he joined in by tagging well-known bands like All Time Low and New Found Glory. Some fans even joked about a “Lucchese Warped Tour,” blending country and emo culture. Dickerson also leaned into the crossover himself with the joke “Y’all Time Low,” a playful nod to All Time Low
HARDY’s music has always had a rock edge, and that comes through clearly in his collaboration with Ella Langley, “Never Met Anyone Like You,” which breaks into a heavier, pop-punk-inspired beat drop. His punk and hard rock influence has also been obvious across albums like The Mockingbird & THE CROW and QUIT!!. Even when he is not making emo music outright, HARDY consistently pulls from the energy, attitude, and instrumentation of rock-adjacent genres. In summer 2025, he performed “Hunger Strike” by Temple of the Dog with Stephen Wilson Jr. While that song is not emo, it still highlights the deep ’90s rock and grunge influence behind his sound.
Our favourite emo cowgirl, Megan Moroney, may also be inching toward an emo-pop-punk edge, while still keeping the emotional lyricism that defines her music. Songs like “Who Hurt You” and “Change of Heart” lean into heavier bridges, rock-style builds, and more forceful instrumentation, giving extra weight to the frustration and heartbreak in those tracks.
As country music continues to step outside the box and absorb influences from genres like hip-hop, Latin, and rock, it is fair to ask whether an emo-country crossover could be next. There is something about the emotional honesty of country and the intensity of emo that fits together naturally. It would not be surprising to see that blend become one of country music’s next big trends.
Stay Wild, Stay Emo, Stay Country
