George Strait has seen plenty of style changes in country music. In his nearly four-decade-long career, he’s seen a number of trends come and go.

In a recent interview with the Dallas Observer, Strait shared his thoughts on modern country music and shed some light on the cyclical nature of the genre.

George said 'The country music scene is always changing, and the music is always changing. I’ve seen the pendulum swing this way and back this way. It’s very country, and then not so country. I think right now it’s kind of trending back to more traditional country music, which is what I like and I like to do.'

Strait also said that he doesn’t discourage anyone who is achieving success in the country music business today because it 'is just tough.'

Strait also commented on how country music was changing in a similar way when he began his career in the early 1980's saying 'I think it’s just a natural thing, I don’t know why it is. When I got signed at MCA records in 1981, you had all kinds of things going on, shows like 'Pop Goes the Country.' The thing was to get a crossover hit, and that would sell more records. They wanted a pop sounding country song to get the pop music lovers and country music people to buy it. And I never was into any of that. But I came around at the right time. Traditional country music kind of came back and there were a lot of artists who started doing it, like me, Alan Jackson, Randy Travis.'

Country music is rooted in tradition, but, like all major commercial formats, needs to make a profit to survive. Mass audiences demand trendy sounds, but they also eventually become disenfranchised by those trends.

The natural transition from pop-saturated eras in country music is to push for a return to styles that captured the spirit of the genre’s traditions. Many country music fans are yearning for a return to the spirit of more traditional country music.

What are your thoughts? Please leave your comments below!

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