Country Music in the 90’s: The Year is 1995

1995 was a year where country music was balancing tradition with major change. Bobby looks back at Shania Twain’s breakout with The Woman in Me, Alan Jackson winning Entertainer of the Year, Faith Hill’s rise, Martina McBride joining the Grand Ole Opry, Lonestar making their debut, and more. Plus, he shares artist conversations and mixes in the movies, music, and pop culture that made 1995 unforgettable.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Welcome to another episode of the 90s Country Podcast. On
this episode, I'll be counting down the top 10 events
in country music from 1995.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
That was a busy year in country music.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Some artists were holding on to tradition. Others were breaking
into new territory. And a few were just getting started. Together,
they made that year a turning point for the genre.
I'll also touch on some tragedy from 1995 and the
movie that changed the way we thought about animation forever.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
So without giving up too much, Let's get going. The
year is 1995. Number 10.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
For much of the 1970s and 1980s, country music carried
a reputation as a regional style of music. It had
its legends, its loyal audience, its own award shows, but
it wasn't often part of a larger national conversation. By 1995,
that had changed. Country had become part of the mainstream
American life. One of the most visible signs was television.

(01:09):
Garth Brooks had already established himself as a cultural figure
by the mid-90s, and he wasn't just performing at country
festivals or country award shows. He was a regular guest
on things like The Tonight Show, on Good Morning America,
primetime specials that reached viewers well outside the genre's core
fan base. I mean, you didn't have to listen to
country radio to know who Garth Brooks was.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Reba McEntire was also everywhere.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
She had grown into somebody who had a bunch of
country music songs to one of the most recognizable personalities
in the genre. By 95, she was appearing on TV
specials and talk shows and building the kind of recognition
that would later support her acting career.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
And then there was CMT, Country Music Television. It had
launched more.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Than a decade earlier, but by 1995, it was reaching
more homes than ever. And that meant a family in
California or in New England could flip on TV and
see Martina McBride or Alan Jackson or Brooks and Dunn
on a daily basis. It gave country music a consistent
national presence. similar to what MTV had done for pop
or for rock. And also, Hollywood was starting to take notice.

(02:12):
Country artists stepping into acting, I mean, it wasn't entirely new.
Dolly Parton and Kris Kristofferson had both done it in
the past. But in the mid-90s, it started happening more often.
Dwight Yoakam was even beginning to carve out an acting career.
His breakout in Sling Blade wouldn't come until the following year,
but 1995 already had him showing up in roles that
proved he could make the jump from music to film.

(02:35):
Movie soundtracks had also began to feature country songs. Major
studios realized the genre had an audience, and a big one,
and an audience that stretched more than.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Just its traditional base.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
A George Strait ballad, a Vince Gill track could add
to a film's reach. But the most obvious sign of
country expansion came in retail. In the late 1980s, a
country section in a record store, if you look, might
be a few shelves tucked in the back.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
By 1995, it was front and center.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Chains like Walmart and Kmart gave country albums the same
space and attention as pop and rock. Cardboard displays promoted
new releases, and country CDs sat alongside the biggest pop
and rock and even hip-hop acts of the day. The
shift was driven by sales. Garth Brooks had proven earlier
in that decade that country fans would buy records, and

(03:25):
they would do it in big numbers. So, stores wanted
to make money, adjusted accordingly. For longtime fans, it meant
better access to new albums. For casual listeners, it meant
more exposure. Even if you didn't plan on buying a
country album, it was hard to not notice them stacked
there by the checkout line. And the broader visibility meant
that by 1995, country music was no longer something listeners

(03:48):
had to seek out.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
It had come to them. It was on television. It
was in the movies. It was at the front of
the store.

Speaker 1 (03:55):
And that presence changed how the genre was perceived. It
wasn't limited to just country bands anymore. It had become
part of not country culture, but American culture. That shift
set the stage for what came next. When Shania Twain
released The Woman and Me in 1995, or when Faith
Hill took her career to the next level later that.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Year, those records didn't land in a vacuum.

Speaker 1 (04:17):
They landed in a world where country was already visible
and accessible to the mainstream. That's why this moment belongs
on this list. It wasn't tied to one artist or
one single song. It was about the genre itself stepping
onto a bigger stage and staying there.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
Number nine.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
So here's something that might surprise you about 1995. While
Garth was selling out stadiums and Reba was putting on
Broadway-level concerts, another artist was quietly making history. And she
did it without pyro, rope swings, or top 40 hits.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
Her name? Alison Krauss. Now, Alison's story?

Speaker 1 (04:54):
Pretty wild. She was basically a prodigy. She signed her
first deal at 14 years old. Fourteen. By the time
she was 18, she had already released her first solo album.
And with her band, Union Station, she became a force
in bluegrass, a genre that Nashville had always sort of
kept at arm's length. People respected it, but it wasn't

(05:14):
filling arenas or racking up CMAs. But in 1995, that changed.
Alison Krauss and Union Station won the CMA Horizon Award,
the honor given to the best new artist. Here's the kicker.
She was only 23, the youngest person to ever win
it at the time. That moment, put her and Bluegrass
on the same stage as the biggest mainstream stars in

(05:34):
the business. Now, why was this such a big deal? Well,
country music in the 90s was booming because of slick production,
big hat acts, power ballads. Bluegrass, on the other hand,
was raw, rootsy, acoustic. It wasn't supposed to cross over.
But Allison had a voice, a pure, almost haunting voice
that made people stop and listen. Even folks who didn't

(05:56):
think they liked Bluegrass found themselves hooked. But she wasn't
just winning in country circles. She was piling up Grammys.
By the time the decade was over, she was well
on her way to becoming the most awarded female artist
in Grammy history across all genres. That CMA win in
1995 was like the warning shot. Pay attention. This woman's

(06:17):
about to be a giant. Looking back, you can see
how influential that moment was. It cracked the door open
for a whole wave of roots-based artists like Nickel Creek
or The Rise of Americana, even the Oh Brother Where
Art Thou soundtrack, and that was a craze itself in
the early 2000s. You can trace a lot of that
mainstream attention back to Alison Krauss, showing up and showing

(06:37):
out at the 95 CMAs, accepting that Horizon Award, and
proving that bluegrass could stand shoulder to shoulder with country's
biggest names. So yeah, 1995 wasn't just about superstars that.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
We all know.

Speaker 1 (06:50):
It was also the year of a 23-year-old fiddle player
from Illinois named who took bluegrass to the big stage
and never looked back.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
Number eight.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
One of the more interesting storylines in 1995 is how
two artists, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, were both climbing
the ladder at the same time. They weren't yet connected personally,
but their careers were running side by side in a
way that made their eventual partnership seem, in hindsight, almost inevitable.
By the start of 1995, Tim McGraw was no longer

(07:19):
the scrappy newcomer he had been just a few years earlier.
His breakthrough came in 94 with the album Not a
Moment Too Soon, which turned him from a little-known hat
act into one of the hottest young stars in Nashville.
That record had songs like Indian Outlaw.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
Man, what a jam.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
But a controversial song, but it got him noticed, and
I loved listening to it on the radio. Also, Don't
Take the Girl, like the first song that ever made
me feel.

Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, I was a kid, but I was like, dang,
what happened to the girl?

Speaker 1 (07:48):
That was a heartfelt ballad that proved he could do
more than just have catchy songs. Like he could actually
sing a song that made people cry, that made people feel.
That success of McGraw spilled over into 95. Tim McGraw
became a regular fixture on country radio, and his presence
touring even bigger than that. He started to build the
kind of fan base that could sell out even bigger venues,

(08:11):
setting them up for arenas.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
And for an artist then, that's quick.

Speaker 1 (08:15):
You know, what's notable about Tim McGraw in this period
is that he was still kind of finding his identity.
He hadn't developed yet the mature sound that he'd been
known to have even in the 2000s. But all the
pieces were there, the charisma, the ear for catchy material,
a knack for connecting emotionally with his audience.

Speaker 2 (08:33):
Now, Faith Hill, a little different, but no less impressive.

Speaker 1 (08:38):
She had first appeared on the scene with her 1993
debut album, Take Me As I Am.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
That one had Wild One, number one song.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
That album introduced her as one of the most promising
female artists of the decade. But by 1995... Faith Hill
was preparing to release her second album, It Matters to Me. Now,
the record wouldn't come out until later that year, but
there was already starting to be a buzz about it.

Speaker 2 (08:59):
Now, she had already proven she could deliver hits.

Speaker 1 (09:02):
Now, the question was, could she build a career, and
did she have staying power? Like Tim McGraw, Faith Hill
was at that crucial point where she had moved past
being the new kid and was stepping into the role
of an established star, but.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
Could she last? I mean, she had the voice. She
had the stage presence. She had the appeal to reach
a wide audience.

Speaker 1 (09:22):
But the key thing about 1995, Tim and Faith rising
at the same time, but independently. They hadn't yet joined forces,
personally or professionally, and that wouldn't come until the next
year when they toured together. By the way, the name
of that tour? It was Tim McGraw's Spontaneous Combustion Tour.
That's pretty much when they became one of the genre's
most famous couples.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
Looking back, though, 1995, definitely the setup for Tim and Faith.

Speaker 1 (09:48):
It was the year where both were establishing themselves. They
were proven they weren't one-hit wonders. They were laying groundwork
for their careers, and the relationship that would dominate the
headlines would come.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
Just years later.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
And when you talk about country music in the 90s,
Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, those names just go together.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
They're inseparable. They became superstars. They toured together. Obviously, well,
they got married.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
But before all that was 1995, the year where their
stories were separate, but they were starting to move in
the same direction. For both, it was a year of
building momentum, one step closer to the spotlight that they
would have, own, and share soon enough. If you've ever
wondered how and where Tim and Faith first met before

(10:32):
they even started dating, I asked them that question when
they came to the studio one day. Here's what they said.

Speaker 3 (10:37):
It was the New Faces show, and we were both
doing the New Faces show, and Clay Walker was there.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
Who's still a good friend, a great guy.

Speaker 3 (10:46):
Yeah. And we were backstage and we did like this
big group picture. I was dating somebody at the time
and I met Faith. And when I left, the person
I was dating says, I don't know if I want
you to say hi to her anymore.

Speaker 4 (11:02):
Oh, she saw it immediately. It was immediate, yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:06):
Number seven. If 1995 was about parallel paths for Tim
and Faith, it was also the year where Faith Hill
broke through in a much bigger way. You know, her album,
which we talked about a second ago, It Matters to Me,
that took her from a promising newcomer to, okay, she's
here to stay. She is now a full-fledged country star.

(11:26):
It did not come out until August of 95, but
It Matters to Me built on the success of that
first album.

Speaker 2 (11:32):
It expanded her audience.

Speaker 1 (11:34):
The title track became one of the biggest singles of
her career up to that point.

Speaker 2 (11:37):
It was number one. It stayed there for multiple weeks.

Speaker 1 (11:40):
It was a ballad that struck a chord with listeners because, well,
it was a great song.

Speaker 2 (11:45):
And it was great storytelling.

Speaker 1 (11:47):
And what made the song work was Faith Hill's ability
to balance strength and vulnerability in her voice.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
Man, she could go. But she knew not to over-sing it.
And she knew that if she didn't.

Speaker 1 (11:56):
Over-sing it, that song had so much substance in it,
the song could also do the work. The storytelling, right?
This is the kind of stuff that artists just have.
It was the kind of performance that made you stop
and pay attention. Whether you were a die-hard country fan
or just someone flipping through radio stations. Other singles did well,
proving that, man, She had a lot of songs. She
could sing, and she wasn't just riding momentum anymore.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
She was creating it.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
The success of that album also pushed her into bigger spaces,
bigger stages, national award shows, high-profile tours. By the end
of 95, she wasn't one to watch. She was one
that you had been watching for a long time.

Speaker 2 (12:36):
She was there.

Speaker 1 (12:37):
Faith Hills Rise in 1995 marked a turning point for
her and other females in the genre. Alongside artists like Shania,
and Martina, she helped show that female performers could sell records,
headline tours, and draw major attention in a genre often
dominated by men. Her career would grow in the years
that followed, obviously, eventually leading to massive crossover success, but

(12:59):
in 1995, that was the year she planted that flag firmly.
It Matters to Me wasn't just an album. It was
a statement, and Faith Hill was saying in that statement,
I am here to stay. Let's take a quick break
from the countdown to talk about One of the most
tragic moments of 1995.

Speaker 2 (13:16):
On April 19th, the U.S.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
Experienced the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in its history
at that time.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
I'm talking about the Oklahoma City bombing.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
At 9.02 a.m., a truck packed with explosives detonated outside
a federal building in downtown Oklahoma City. The blast ripped
through the building, destroying a third of it instantly. 168
people were killed, including 19 children who were in a
daycare on the second floor. More than 600 others were injured.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
The shock was immediate.

Speaker 1 (13:44):
Images of the destroyed building and the rescue efforts dominated
television screens across the country. For many Americans, this was
the first time terrorism felt so close to home, not
from abroad, but carried out by people from within. In
the days that followed, investigators worked quickly. Within 90 minutes
of the explosion, Timothy McVeigh was arrested for driving without

(14:05):
a license plate. Before long, evidence linked him to the
bombing alongside accomplice Terry Nichols. Both men were connected to
anti-government extremist groups and said they carried out the attack
as revenge for the government's actions at Waco and Ruby Ridge.
The trial that followed was one of the most closely
watched in the 1990s. McVeigh was sentenced to death and

(14:27):
executed in 2001. Nichols received life in prison without parole.
The Oklahoma City bombing left scars that went far beyond Oklahoma.

Speaker 2 (14:35):
It reshaped security at federal buildings.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
It changed the way Americans thought about domestic extremism and
reminded the nations of the devastating cost of hate-driven violence.
1995 had plenty of cultural highs, but this tragedy was
one of its darkest moments and one that still resonates today.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
Number six, number six, number six.

Speaker 1 (14:57):
If there's one artist who never quite fit into the
clean lines of Nashville, you know, the painting in Nashville
and the drawing in Nashville in the 1990s and exactly
how the 90s of country music was, that artist that
didn't quite fit in a beautiful way was Dwight Yoakam.
In 1995, while the genre was moving into a more polished,
crossover-friendly direction, Yoakum stood as proof there was still room

(15:19):
for grit and twang and tradition. But Dwight wasn't just
interested in repeating the past. He carried the Bakersfield sound,
that stripped-down, electric guitar-driven style made famous by Buck Owens
and Merle Haggard, and he took it into a new
decade while also experimenting enough to make it feel current, new.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
He even looked cool.

Speaker 1 (15:38):
In 1995... he found himself at an interesting crossroads, still
rooted in honky-tonk, but beginning.

Speaker 2 (15:45):
To step into other parts of pop culture.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
By the time 95 hit, Dwight Yoakam had already been
a star for nearly a decade.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
His 1986 debut, Guitars, Cadillac, etc., etc., had introduced him
as an outsider with something to say.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
And throughout the 80s and 90s, he piled up a
string of hits, like great songs, too.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
Streets of Bakersfield, which was with Buck Owens. Guitars, Cadillacs.
I Sang Dixie. Ain't that lonely yet. I mean, just
transformative songs.

Speaker 1 (16:14):
Now, he was never the biggest selling artist in Nashville,
but he was respected. And perhaps more importantly, he had
credibility both inside and outside of country music. Rock critics
loved him. Traditionalists respected him. Younger fans saw him as
a little different from the mainstream stars. And by 95,
he had already won a Grammy. He had sold millions
of records. But what really made him stand out was

(16:37):
his refusal to follow trends. 1995 was the year of
his album, Gone. It didn't top the charts the way
some of his other albums had, but it showed where
he was headed creatively. Tracks like Nothing, Sorry You Asked,
blended that Bakersfield sound, that foundation, with a slightly more
experimental edge. The production was lean, but there were hints

(17:00):
of rock and pop influences that did give it a
very modern feel for the time. Gone did not produce
a string of number one songs, but it didn't need to.
it reinforced Dwight Yoakam's identity as an artist's artist. Someone
who was in it for the craft, not just the charts.
For fans, the album was another reminder that Dwight Yoakam
was always going to do things his way.

Speaker 2 (17:21):
He kind of didn't care what everybody else was doing.

Speaker 1 (17:24):
What made Yoakam so compelling in 1995 was the way
he balanced tradition with freshness. The Bakersfield sound was decades
old by then. Yoakam gave it new life. So while
other artists were flying across stage or really changing an image.

Speaker 2 (17:40):
To create a crossover appeal.

Speaker 1 (17:42):
Yoakum was still leaning on Telecaster guitars, shuffles, and lyrics
about loneliness and heartbreak. But his sound did not sound dated.
His style wasn't dated either. His style carried a coolness
that made it accessible even for listeners who may not
have grown up on country radio. You could have not
liked country music. You could have even said, I don't
like country music and liked Dwight Yoakum.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
If you were a young fan in 1995, Dwight Yoakum,
Might have been your bridge into the genre. He looked
the part.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
You saw him and you knew he was country because
he had the hat and the tight jeans and the swagger.

Speaker 2 (18:16):
But he also looked like a rock star. And also
he felt authentic.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
1995 was the year Dwight Yoakam started making inroads into
acting as well. He wasn't approaching it as a side
gig or a vanity project. He was serious about it.
And casting directors were taking notice. For Dwight Yoakam, that
was important. It gave him another outlet for his creativity
and another way to reach audiences who might never listen

(18:41):
to a country record.

Speaker 2 (18:43):
He wanted to become a multi-dimensional figure. And he did.

Speaker 1 (18:47):
1995 was a year where he stayed true to himself
while the rest of the genre shifted for whatever reason.
He released Gone, an album that may not have been
his biggest seller, but captured his willingness to experiment within
the Bakersfield framework. He started stepping into Hollywood, getting in
the acting career that would become another defining piece of

(19:09):
his legacy. And he showed fans that country didn't have
to fit one mold. For the genre, Yoakum's 1995 presence
was a reminder that authenticity still had a place in
the middle of a changing decade. His influence would ripple
into the 2000s, heck, even to today. And it would
continue and still does continue younger acts that want to

(19:31):
hold on to tradition while still sounding modern.

Speaker 4 (19:34):
Hang tight. The Bobbycast will be right back.

Speaker 2 (19:45):
Number five.

Speaker 1 (19:46):
Every fall, Nashville hosts the CMA Awards, Country Music biggest night.
The ceremony has always been more than just trophies and performances.
It's a snapshot of the genre in a single event.
Who's winning, who's breaking through, and how the industry is
defining itself in the moment. In 1995, the CMAs captured
a genre in transition. Country was still holding on to

(20:09):
its traditional roots, but newer sounds and artists were just
beginning to reshape the landscape. And at the center of
it all was Alan Jackson, who took home the night's
top honor of Entertainer of the Year. Alan already was
one of the most respected names in country by 1995.
He had released a string of hits through the 90s,
like massive songs like Chattahoochee, Living on Love, Gone Country.

(20:32):
When he won Entertainer of the Year, it felt like
a moment of recognition for his consistency. Because he wasn't
a crossover artist chasing a new trend. He was rooted
in country's core. There was fiddle, there was steel guitar,
there was working class lyrics, yet he still connected with
a huge audience all over the country. His win wasn't

(20:54):
just about sales or tickets or tours. It was about identity.
Alan Jackson represented the kind of artist who could modernize
traditional country music without losing its heart. Even though Alan
Jackson took the top prize, Vince Gill was still a
monster that night and a defining presence. By 1995, he
had hosted the CMA several times. He was beloved for

(21:16):
his mix of humor, humility, and he was just a
great musician. He won Male Vocalist of the Year once again,
his fifth consecutive time taking home that award. That streak
alone made CMA history. Vince Gill was the kind of
artist that Nashville respected deeply, not just for his talent,
but for how steady he'd been through all the changes

(21:36):
happening in the industry. So while the spotlight shined on
Alan Jackson for sure, Vince Gill was still the show's backbone,
the host who set the tone, the musician everybody admired,
and the guy who somehow made a massive live broadcast
feel casual and personal. The 1995 CMAs reflected the full
spectrum of where the genre was at that point. George

(21:59):
Strait was still there, getting nominated for male vocalist year
after year and serving as country music's steady hand. Faith
Hill was moving to bigger stages. making her rise from
promising newcomer to legitimate star. Reba, Brooks and Dunn, Alan
Jackson all rounded out a show that balanced familiarity with
fresh energy. It wasn't a year that was dominated by

(22:20):
one artist, because that's happened for sure, but it was
a year that showed just how wide the genre had become.
Looking back, the 1995 CMAs didn't deliver shocking upsets or
overnight stars, but they did deliver a clear picture of
the mid-90s. a genre-balancing tradition, and also growth. Alan Jackson's

(22:42):
Entertainer of the Year win felt like a statement that
in a time of change, the industry still valued artists
who carried the torch for country roots. Vince Gill's continued
success reminded everybody that talent and reliability still counted. Together,
their presence defined what country music was in 1995, authentic, professional,
and still deeply connected to its foundation, even as it

(23:04):
looked toward a more modern horizon. So that's number five
on the list, the 1995 CMA Awards, where Alan Jackson
took home Entertainer of the Year, Vince Gill continued his
incredible run, and both men symbolized the balance between old
school and evolving new school. Number four. Let's go back

(23:24):
to November 30th, 1995, the Grand Ole Opry's 70th anniversary.
In the middle of that show, Martina McBride was inducted
as an Opry member. Simple setup.

Speaker 2 (23:35):
But big meaning.

Speaker 1 (23:37):
What stands out isn't hype. It's the specifics. Loretta Lynn
handled the induction. That matters because the Opry's built on continuity.
You don't just get a plaque. A current member brings
you in, and that gesture ties you to that place
and its expectations. Now, Martina was not a surprise pick.
She first played the Opry in 1992, and she kept

(23:59):
coming back. If you ever watched a set from the
side of the stage there, you know how unforgiving that
room can be And I can tell you from playing
it 15 times myself, there's nothing fancy about it. There's
no pyro. Especially then there weren't any giant screens. There
aren't a lot of bells and whistles sonically. It's just
a room and you just gotta do your thing. It's

(24:21):
just the singer and the song and the band. And
Martina's voice was that. Martina's voice carried. And she treated
each appearance like it was a massive deal for her.
Not just a box to check. By 1995, Inviting her
to join the Opry felt like the Opry catching up
to the reality that was already in front of it.

(24:41):
Context matters too. Mid-90s country was expanding. More radio stations.
Bigger tours. New faces. It would have been easy for
the institution to drift into nostalgia or flip. Chase whatever
the trend was. And the Opry didn't do either. Inducting
McBride during a milestone show, that anniversary show, said... We're

(25:04):
current and we're selective. And it also said not everything
loud or new gets in. Not everything old stays by default.
Membership is earned in full view of an audience that
comes for the songs, not the spectacle. Again, there's no pyro.
There's also the straightforward work story here. Early on, Martina

(25:25):
and her husband, John McBride, did the unglamorous tour jobs. Merch, logistics,
all the things you do behind the scenes. They were
doing that. She was doing that before the spotlight found
her consistently. And that mattered to the Opry. The place
values people who know the whole operation. Loading in, waiting
your turn, hitting your time, respecting the stage. Membership is

(25:48):
partly about that reliability. Show up when you say you will,
bring the song, leave the room better than you found it.
And if you're wondering what member means beyond the shout out,
it's a standing invitation. and a standing responsibility. You return.
You support younger artists. You treat the circle on the
floor like a workbench, not a pedestal. Plenty of artists

(26:12):
have hits. Fewer choose to tie themselves to a place
that asks you to come back over and over. Actually,
you must. There must be consistency for decades. Martina said
yes to that. The induction also plays differently when you
remember who spoke the words. Loretta Lynn. She was not
an ornament on the program. She represented a standard.

Speaker 2 (26:32):
It was clear.

Speaker 1 (26:34):
She had lived-in perspective. She had the ability to turn
a three-minute cut into something you recognize as true. Welcoming Martina,
an artist known for control and range, felt less ceremony
and more like setting a new bar. So if you're
building a list of 1995 and country moments that say
something during this year, this belongs. It isn't splashy. It's

(26:55):
institutional maintenance done in public... where a respected venue added
a voice that can carry the room without any slogans needed.
Here's the takeaway I want to keep in for this.
In a year crowded with big releases and bigger tours,
the Opry's 70th anniversary show paused to add one person
to the roster. That quiet decision is how traditions stay functional.

(27:18):
Update the lineup with people who will actually show up.
Martina McBride did that and then kept doing it and
is still doing it. That's the story. You know, I
was talking with Martina one time. And I asked her
what she remembers about that special night. Here's what she said.

Speaker 5 (27:32):
It was part of a television special. It was like
an anniversary of the Opry. Loretta's so funny. She came
to do the rehearsal. They gave me a plaque. During rehearsal,
she said, is this what I'm supposed to give you?
This is what you get for joining the Opry? And
I said, yeah, I guess so. And so she said,
she kind of laughed. And during the ceremony, she said,
welcome to the Opry, honey.

Speaker 1 (27:53):
This is what you get.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
Yeah. That's super cool that it was her.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
Did you know that she was going to be inducting
you before like rehearsals? Because sometimes the invite is a surprise.

Speaker 2 (28:04):
Was that a surprise to you? Yeah, but they didn't
do it like they did back then. They didn't just
show up and surprise you at a performance?

Speaker 5 (28:09):
I went to lunch with the head of the Opry
and he asked me at lunch. And then I got
to ask who I wanted to induct me.

Speaker 2 (28:15):
So I chose Loretta. So you chose Loretta. Man, being
told at lunch by someone who, an executive, is like
being proposed to on the phone. I mean, you're still
getting married and that's awesome, but... You didn't even get
on a knee.

Speaker 5 (28:26):
Yeah, I don't think they did it like that back then.
Now I love how they do it now. I got
to be that person for Charlie Daniels. I got to
ask him to join the Opry.

Speaker 2 (28:33):
And he didn't know you were there. You guys kept
it completely secret.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
Okay, now it's time for my non-country 1995. Not talking
about Garth or Shania because they're already all a part
of this. But we're going to talk about music in
1995 that actually meant a lot to me.

Speaker 4 (28:53):
That wasn't that music.

Speaker 1 (28:56):
I bought my first two CDs ever with my own
money in 1995. Now I had bought tapes, but now
it's time for your boy to grow up and to
buy compact discs. It's quite the purchase, but it was
cool because they were all thin.

Speaker 2 (29:13):
It was like.

Speaker 1 (29:15):
The artwork was bigger. You just felt more sophisticated. You
felt more technologically advanced. Savvy even. This little disc, you
put it in. I had a crappy CD player.

Speaker 2 (29:29):
But you know what?

Speaker 1 (29:30):
I went to the mall. And the first two CDs
I bought, 1995, Mariah Carey, Daydream, and ACDC, Ball Breaker.

Speaker 4 (29:44):
Yeah, they really didn't go together, but I did love
them both.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
Now, Mariah Carey, Daydream, fantasy.

Speaker 2 (29:53):
Sweet, sweet fantasy, baby.

Speaker 1 (29:57):
Or how about You'll always be my baby.

Speaker 2 (30:06):
That was nothing.

Speaker 1 (30:08):
Nothing. Compared to One Sweet Day. Mariah Carey and Boyz
II Men. That song was number one forever. And I
know you're shining down on me from heaven.

Speaker 2 (30:20):
Like so many.

Speaker 1 (30:22):
That song was freaking awesome. I loved that CD. That
was one of the first CDs I ever bought. At
the same time, ACDC, Ballbreaker. And at this point, ACDC
was already a legacy act. Like all their hits, I
guess they started in the 70s. Bon Scott was their

(30:43):
lead singer. And then Brian Johnson hits. And then by
the time it was 1995, like they were doing their thing,
but it wasn't like they were new or people were
begging them to put out music. But they had the song,
Hot as a rock. That was a jam. And I
pulled up all the songs. I know any of them still.

(31:05):
I listen to all of them, but I don't know
any of them anymore. They had a song called Ball Breaker,
but I think I only know that because of the album.
I listen to that album a lot, but I don't think.
And look, I don't have much of a man card anyway.
I don't think I listened to that as much as
I did Mariah Carey. Because that Mariah Carey album was awesome.
That ACD record? Yeah, it was good. My first two.

Speaker 2 (31:28):
1995.

Speaker 1 (31:29):
Now, two other albums that ended up being played so much.
I didn't buy them new, as in right when they
came out, but I did eventually get them on CD. Oasis,
What's the Story, Morning Glory. Are you kidding me? I
don't even know what to say, except I was like, man,
I guess I like British people. And you saw them

(31:53):
on MTV. You knew they were brothers. I like Wonderwall
hit like crazy. And it was played on alternative radio,
which I listened to. It was mostly country and alternative.
I mean, a little bit of pop and like you'd
catch some of the pop songs because they were just everywhere.
But it was so big that it crossed over to pop.

(32:15):
I mean, I guess it's literally called Britpop. But holy crap. Wonderwall, freaking.

Speaker 6 (32:24):
Bop.

Speaker 1 (32:26):
Champagne Supernova, bop bop. My favorite song on the record
was Don't Look Back in Anger. And so Sally can wait.

Speaker 2 (32:35):
She knows it's too late.

Speaker 1 (32:38):
That song was freaking awesome. So I put that as
one of, and it did come out in 1995, one
of the greatest albums of my life, but that came
out in 1995. I probably bought either at the end
of 95 or early 96, but what a year for music.
And I'm also going to put in this, Frickin' Jagged

(32:59):
Little Pill from Alanis Morissette. Again, one of the greatest
albums of all time. She launched out of nowhere. The
music video with You Oughta Know, you didn't even see
her face. It was an alternative song. I think K-Rock
and LA started playing it first, and boom, it blew up.

(33:20):
MTV started playing the video, and you just saw her hair,
and would she go down on you in a theater?
and like it was hardcore so you ought to know
hits it's awesome and you're like what's she even about
it's probably why i didn't buy the album right when
it came out because i was like what's she even
about and i thought the song was cool but it

(33:43):
wasn't like my favorite song i just thought it was
cool but then the hits keep coming coming and coming
coming and coming coming the second song i think was
you learn i know it was on the album but
uh You live.

Speaker 4 (33:57):
You learn, you try. You learn, you live, you learn. Jam.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
Nothing, though, compared to I got one hand in my
pocket and the other one is a monopiece sign. I
loved Hand in My Pocket. Probably, at that point of
the three, of the singles, my favorite. So you ought to.

Speaker 2 (34:21):
Know You Learn Hand in My Pocket.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
But whenever Ironic hit, Everything was ironic. Everything was ironic.
The irony is, the song's not even really ironic, but
the music video, she gets in the car, it's like
an icy day and she's driving and then everybody else
in the car is her. Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

(34:45):
I think the line that goes... Was afraid to fly.
He packed his suitcase. Kissed his kids goodbye. He waited
his whole dang life to take that flight. And as
the plane crashed down, he thought, well, isn't this nice?
And isn't it ironic? And we're like, dang, that's so deep.

Speaker 2 (35:07):
I'm like, 15. That's so deep.

Speaker 4 (35:09):
I was like, 60.

Speaker 1 (35:10):
That's so deep.

Speaker 2 (35:12):
Ironic.

Speaker 1 (35:14):
Awesome. And then she hit us with, I had no choice.
But to you, head over feet, jam. So far, that's
five massive singles. And then, all I really want, that
was also on the record. It wasn't as big, but
it was still probably considered a successful song that was
a single. There's five number one songs there. You ought

(35:37):
to know, you learn, hand in my pocket, ironic, head
over feet, and I'll put all I really want on
there because that song was a jam too. Not sure
what it did on the charts. But it's always a
click away. All I Really Want is a song by
Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette. It was released by Maverick Records.

(35:58):
Let's just see where All I Really Want was on
the charts. Here we go.

Speaker 3 (36:04):
U.S.

Speaker 1 (36:04):
Alternative 14. Okay, so definitely wasn't a number one, but
the other songs were freaking monsters. So when it comes
to this year, 1995... It's the year I bought my
first ever CDs and felt freaking cool. But then when
I told people what I bought as my first CDs,
they did not make me feel freaking cool because it
was Mariah Carey and a band that my stepdad liked,

(36:27):
which I liked too and still do. And then it
was the year of Oasis and Alanis Morissette. That was
my parentheses non-country into parentheses 1995.

Speaker 4 (36:41):
And now let's get back to the countdown.

Speaker 1 (36:43):
Number three. When you look back at 1995, it wasn't
just a year of superstars tightening their grip on the genre.
It was also a year where the seeds of the
future were planted. Now, alongside solo artists dominating the genre,
something else was happening. The arrival of a brand new
band that would go on to leave a big mark

(37:04):
on country music. That band was Lone Star. And in 1995,
that's the year they introduced themselves to the world.

Speaker 2 (37:12):
Kind of like this. Hello, we're Lone Star. Kind of.

Speaker 1 (37:16):
Lone Star's self-titled debut album was released in October of 1995.
At first, it did not make a huge splash, at
least not compared to other blockbusters of the year. But
for a new group, it was a strong beginning. The
kind of debut that put them on a map and
possibly hinted at much bigger things to come. The lead
single from that album, Tequila Talkin', was released earlier that year,

(37:38):
obviously before the first album came out, the single comes out,
and it climbed into the top ten on the Billboard
Hot Country Singles chart. It didn't go number one, but
it was lighthearted. It was catchy. It wasn't going to
change the world, but it served its purpose. It got
their name on the radio. And for a new act,
that was everything. The band's first number one also came
from that album. The song was called No News. Now,

(37:59):
the album itself leaned into a mix of traditional and
contemporary sounds. They were mixing it up. Because you had fiddle.
You had steel guitar. So you could play it next
to a George Strait or an Alan Jackson. But there
was also a bit of polish in the production and
the harmonies. that suggested Lone Star had ambitions just beyond
a traditional honky-tonk band. Now, what made Lone Star interesting

(38:20):
in 1995 is that they were a true group in
a landscape of really mostly just solo artists. By then,
the big sacks were Garth and Alan Jackson and George
Strait and Reba and Vince. I mean, there were groups,
of course. Alabama had been massive since the 80s. Diamond
Rio was active in the early 90s and beyond, but

(38:40):
there weren't many fresh bands breaking through at the time.
Lone Star filled that gap. Fronted by Richie McDonald on
lead vocals, they presented themselves as a unit, not just
a singer with a background band. Their harmonies gave them
a fuller, more layered sound. And their image as a
full band gave them a different kind of appeal. Fans
weren't just connecting with One Star personally. It was the

(39:02):
chemistry of five musicians. It was the sound of a band. Now,
breaking into country music in 1995 was not easy because
radio was crowded with all those names I just told
you about. Very established names. And the market was booming
with high-profile releases one after the other. For Lone Star
to land that first song, that top 10 debut single,

(39:22):
that itself was no small achievement. The real significance of
Lone Star's 1995 debut is.
How it set the stage for the future now fans
that picked up that first album probably could not have
guessed that just a few years later the band would
release songs like Amazed 1999 which became one of the
biggest songs ever I mean in country for sure but

(39:43):
just it was gigantic everywhere it topped all the charts
They couldn't have known the band was going to go
on to score multiple platinum albums, a string of chart-topping singles,
and a reputation as one of the defining groups of
the late 90s and early 2000s. In hindsight, though, you
can trace it all the way back to 1995. The

(40:04):
release of Lone Star, that self-titled debut album, gave the
group a foothold. It introduced them to the industry and
showed there was still an appetite for bands and country music.
So why does Lone Star's arrival in 1995 deserve a
spot this high on the list as a top 10 moment?

(40:24):
Because it represents the transition of generations. The early 90s
had been about the Garths, the Alan Jacksons, the Clint Blacks,
the solo acts. By the mid-90s, well, it was time
for new stars. Shania, Faith, Tim. In the background, slowly
crawling into your screen, Lone Star, the kind of band

(40:44):
that would help carry this genre into the next era
and the next decade. Their debut may not have dominated
the charts, but it was the first chapter in a
story that would soon include some of the most recognizable
country songs of the late 90s. What's funny is Lone
Star was originally named Texas Sea, like a group from
Texas trying to make it in Tennessee. And I was

(41:06):
talking to Richie McDonald, the lead singer of Lone Star,
and I was like, hey, that name, not the greatest name,
when did the name change come? Here's what he said.

Speaker 7 (41:17):
Well, we were actually in the studio recording our first
album with Don Cook and Wally Wilson. And word gets
out that bands are in the studio looking for songs.
And Costas had called Don Cook one morning and said, hey,
I hear that the label's asking the band to change

(41:37):
their name. And he goes, they're all from Texas. He goes,
what about Lone Star?

Speaker 8 (41:41):
Nice.

Speaker 7 (41:42):
Pretty sure that's where that happened.

Speaker 1 (41:44):
Did people think that you guys were, and I'm not
sure the environment then, but there's such a distinction now
between Texas country and Nashville country. Whenever Lone Star was
a band, was Texas country such a definitive thing and
do they think you guys fit in that category?

Speaker 7 (41:58):
You know what, I don't think, I really don't think
it was. Not when we started, not like it is now.
I just, I spent a week back in Texas last
week and love Texas where I'm from visiting my mom
doing a local TV show, but You know, and listening
to some of the local stations and the Texas music
that is now, it's just, you know, it's its own animal,

(42:23):
you know. But back then, I don't know that we
were really categorized that we, just because we were from
Texas and our name was Lone Star, I don't think
it really put us in that category as Texas music,
not like it is right now.

Speaker 1 (42:38):
Yeah, I think Lone Star was the right name choice
for the band. Let's take a quick break from the
countdown because in November of 1995, moviegoers were introduced to
something they had never seen before. A full-length feature film
created entirely with computer animation. The movie was Toy Story.
And it didn't just entertain audiences. It changed the entire

(42:59):
future of filmmaking. Toy Story came out of Pixar Animation Studios,
a relatively small outfit. At the time, it was a
working partnership with Disney Studios. The team spent years developing
new technology that could animate entire worlds inside a computer,
frame by frame. Now, at the time, it was a
massive gamble. Computer animation had been used in short sequences,

(43:21):
but never for a full movie. Obviously, you know, the
gamble paid off. Toy Story, box office hit, opening at
number one, and eventually earned over $ 350 million worldwide. And
that was a whole lot back then. Critics praised it
because it looked cool. Woody, Buzz Lightyear. They weren't just
like flashy computer graphics. They were fully developed characters, and

(43:44):
they were also written smart and funny and emotional. The
film's success established Pixar as a major force in Hollywood
and kicked off a whole new era of animation. Traditional
hand-drawn films would continue for a few years, but by
the end of the decade, CGI had become the standard.
Without Toy Story, there's no Shrek, no Finding Nemo, No

(44:06):
wave of computer animated films that followed the greats. Culturally,
it also gave us lines and characters that became instantly iconic.
From Buzz's To Infinity and Beyond to Randy Newman's You
Got a Friend in Me. Looking back, Toy Story wasn't
just another kids movie from 1995. It was the start
of a revolution in animation and one that blended cutting

(44:29):
edge technology with timeless storytelling. And it forever changed the
way audiences watched cartoons on the big screen.

Speaker 2 (44:36):
You are a toy! You weren't the real Buzz Lightyear!

Speaker 4 (44:41):
You're an accent figure!

Speaker 2 (44:43):
You are a child's plaything! You are a sad, strange
little man.

Speaker 4 (44:49):
Hang tight. The Bobbycast will be right back.

Speaker 1 (45:00):
Number two. When you look back at country music in 1995...
It was a year of a lot of firsts. The
genre was stepping out into new territory while trying to
keep its traditional roots as well. The next spot on
this list is no different because 1995 brought some rookie
and some veteran artists their very first number one song.

(45:22):
Let's start with Ty Herndon and his song, What Mattered Most.
Ty came in with the kind of ballad that works
because it sounds lived in. The vocal felt honest, no
extra seasonings, Just the right tone at the right time.

Speaker 2 (45:37):
You don't even really need to know anything about him
to get it.

Speaker 1 (45:40):
It's the I've been there kind of song that country
fans love and reward. But then there was David Lee
Murphy with Dust on the Bottle. There was nothing flashy
about that song. Just a chorus that.

Speaker 2 (45:51):
Lands and stays.

Speaker 1 (45:53):
It's the kind of record you like to listen to
when it matches, well, if you're having a good day.
Or if you're having a bad day and you want
the day to be better. David Lee Murphy wrote this
song by himself. So I asked him about the origin
story of the song.

Speaker 2 (46:04):
Here's what he said.

Speaker 8 (46:05):
I wrote that the second day, the morning after we
started recording my first album, Out With A Bang.

Speaker 1 (46:11):
I had the title for the song and.

Speaker 8 (46:14):
I was sitting at the kitchen table. I'm playing this thing.
And I was, you know, damn, man, I like that groove.
And I remember I had this little idea written in
one of those spiral notebooks, you know, yellow spiral notebooks,
dust on the bottle. And I think I just.

Speaker 2 (46:34):
Went, might be a little dust on the bottle.

Speaker 8 (46:38):
And then I thought about this guy from my hometown
named Creole Williams who made homemade wine. And the story
just fell out.

Speaker 1 (46:45):
That's a real dude, huh? All Creole?

Speaker 5 (46:47):
How do you feel about it?

Speaker 4 (46:48):
He's dead now. But I mean, was he alive when
you wrote it?

Speaker 7 (46:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (46:53):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (46:54):
He's dead. His sisters thought it was pretty cool.

Speaker 8 (46:58):
He used to camp with my cousin at Crab Orchard
Lake in Southern Illinois. They used to go camping. I'd
set up a tent and leave it there all summer.
Guys were crazy.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
Jeff Carson delivered an everyman vocal that fit anywhere with
his first number one, Not On Your Love. First listen,
you're nodding along. Second listen, the chorus is familiar. That's
usually how momentum starts. Steady spins. Zero fatigue.

Speaker 2 (47:24):
Then you have Wade Hayes. Wade checked the box for people.

Speaker 1 (47:27):
Who wanted modern records with a traditional read in a song.

Speaker 2 (47:31):
Old enough to know better. Great song.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
Song has clean Telecaster lines, very clear phrasing, and a
melody that sticks really without leaning on gimmicks. Familiar. but
not stale. And that's a tough line to walk, but
he did walk it. And then there's Pam Tillis. She
had a song, Mi Vida Loca, which is My Crazy Life. Now,

(47:54):
Pam wasn't new in 1995, but that year finally.

Speaker 2 (47:57):
Put her on as a number one artist.

Speaker 1 (47:59):
Now, she had been turning in strong work, but this
was the song, the cut, that actually got her that first.

Speaker 2 (48:06):
Ever number one. And if you're wondering why.

Speaker 1 (48:09):
These firsts cluster in the same year, I mean, there
are a few practical reasons. Country Radio was open to
bigger hooks, a little more sheen, but it still valued.

Speaker 2 (48:19):
Clear storytelling as we've talked about in this episode.

Speaker 1 (48:22):
And music videos mattered. If your visual matched your song,
it could actually take a song and push it over
the line. And listeners were flexible. They were willing to
hear something that could carry a Saturday night, but still
make sense on a Monday morning. If your record worked
in both places, heck, you had a plan.

Speaker 2 (48:40):
In 1995, Ty Herndon....

Speaker 1 (48:43):
Brought heart without drama. David Lee Murphy supplied feel. Jeff
brought steadiness. Wade bridged new and classic. And Pam closed
the loop with a veteran's payoff. Different approaches, same result.
Their first trip to that number one spot. And if
you're building a playlist from this, try them back to
back to back to back to back. And listen for

(49:05):
a common thread. Efficient writing, focused vocals, arrangements that don't
get in the way. And that's the through line. Trends
come and go, but those three things usually win. Number 111111.

Speaker 2 (49:20):
One. That's not an effect.

Speaker 1 (49:20):
That's my voice. Number one. If there's one moment from
1995 that truly changed country music and the course of
all music, it was the release of Shania Twain's second album,
The Woman in Me. This was not just a hit record.
This was a turning point. The moment when country music cracked...
wide open, and embraced a new kind of star. Shania

(49:45):
did not just score radio hits. She redefined what it
meant to be a country artist, period. And the ripple
of that, and that release of The Woman in Me,
those ripples are still felt today. Now, it's hard to
really explain the significance because it was so long ago.
But to understand, we have to rewind. Shania's self-titled debut

(50:09):
album in 1993, as we mentioned before, did not set
the world on fire. It did introduce her, but it
didn't yet give her a clear artistic identity. At the time,
she was just another talented newcomer in a very crowded field.
But what was happening behind the scenes would change everything.
Shania had connected with producer Mutt Lang, known for his

(50:29):
work with Def Leppard, ACDC, Bryan Adams... Together, they began
crafting an approach that didn't sound like anything else on
country radio. Mutt Lang's influence brought in pop and rock sensibilities,
layered production. It had soaring choruses like the big 80s
stuff when I think about that, like Def Leppard. Big

(50:50):
anthemic hooks. And Shania brought the charisma, the voice, the
confidence to carry it all off. By the time 1995
rolled around, they had built an album that was going
to rewrite all the rules. Released in February of 1995,
The Woman in Me did not perform well. It freaking exploded.
The album sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. An

(51:11):
unheard of number for a country record at the time.
On the Billboard country charts, multiple hits. Whose bed have
your boots been under? You know that one, right? I
asked Shania the origin story behind the day she wrote
the song. And this is what she said.

Speaker 6 (51:26):
I wrote that in a little bush cabin in Canada
by my wood stove.

Speaker 7 (51:30):
Really?

Speaker 6 (51:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (51:31):
Sounds like Abraham Lincoln. Just you? You wrote that song
by yourself?

Speaker 6 (51:34):
Well, I wrote that before I met Mutt. And then
when we met, that was one of the songs I
pulled out of my hat. And then we finished it together.
I don't really even remember what we did collaboratively on that.
But we threw everything in the hat at that point,
you know, once we were collaborating as songwriters.

Speaker 1 (51:50):
Then there was Any Man of Mine. The song that
became her breakout, reaching number one. And that was like
the first, oh, this is going to be a force song.
And it wasn't just that her songs were hits. It
was they sounded different. They were undeniably country. Fiddle, still, twang, yeah,
all there. But they were packaged in a way that
felt bigger, even slicker, and more accessible to non-country audiences.

(52:16):
And a big part of that impact and appeal came
from Shania herself. She wasn't just singing songs. She was
embodying the songs. Her image is bold. It was glamorous.
It was playful. It stood out in a genre that
where female artists were often expected to stick to a
more traditional mold. Shania leaned into fashion and charisma and
stage presence in ways that hadn't fully been embraced by

(52:38):
Nashville before. For some traditionalists, this was controversial. I can
only imagine how angry the old school people in Nashville
were at the time. Oh my goodness. Was it too polished?
Was it too pop? Was she stepping outside the bounds
of what country was supposed to be? Those questions swirled
around her, but they didn't slow her down. If anything,

(53:00):
they made her more intriguing. For fans, especially women, Shania
brought a sense of empowerment and relatability. Songs like Any
Man of Mine, they weren't just catchy, they carried a
confidence that felt fresh and modern. The numbers tell the
story as good as anything else, because you can't dispute them.
By the end of 1995, The Woman in Me had

(53:22):
become one of the best-selling country albums of all time.
Shania took home the ACM for Album of the Year.
She also won a Grammy. She also got a CMA.
She was everywhere. For a sophomore album from an artist
who had been virtually unknown just two years earlier, the

(53:42):
leap was staggering. Inside Nashville, her success created a lot
of conversation. Some embraced her as the future. Others worried
the genre was losing its identity. But whether people loved
it or resisted it, no one could ignore it. The
woman in me changed the conversation. Suddenly, it was clear
that country music could be marketed to a much wider audience.

(54:04):
The line between country and pop was blurrier than ever.
And for Shania, that was exactly the point. Her success
also raised the bar for female artists. In a genre
often dominated by men, Shania proved that women could not
only compete, but, well, outsell and kind of crush everybody.
That mattered. and it opened doors for others who followed.

(54:25):
Beyond the charts and awards, Shania's breakthrough represented something larger,
and that's a cultural shift. Now, if you were a
casual listener in 1995, you might have first encountered her
music on country radio, but it didn't stay there. You
probably then got it walking through the mall or a
pop station once it crossed over, or in living rooms

(54:46):
that maybe would have never been on CMT otherwise, or
even MTV. She made country cool for audiences who had
previously written it off as old-fashioned or corny, younger listeners.
Even fans of rock and pop were now paying attention.
That broadened audience would only grow with her next album,
which hit in 97, Come On Over. But the foundation

(55:09):
was built with the woman in me. When we talk
about the top country events of 1995, there's no doubt
that Shania Twain's breakthrough belongs at number one. It wasn't
just the album sales. It wasn't just the awards. It
was about the way she changed the landscape. She brought
in new fans. She challenged expectations of what a female

(55:31):
artist and country could be. She blurred the boundaries between
genres and ways that would influence the next two decades
of music. And she did all of it while staying
unapologetically herself. I asked Shania once how long it took
until she felt like she had her first hit. And
if she was ready for stardom, this is what she said.

Speaker 2 (55:51):
I did very fast.

Speaker 6 (55:52):
It was like a year.

Speaker 1 (55:54):
Did it sweep you up like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
before you kind of realized what was going on and
you were a star?

Speaker 6 (55:59):
I was so ready for it because, first of all,
I was all ready. By the time I was really
what you would consider famous, I was 30. I wasn't young.
I spent my whole youth preparing for that. So it's
not like all of a sudden I was, you know,
22 and famous. I was 30. I don't know. I mean,
I didn't have any recording experience. I didn't have any

(56:20):
fame experience, but I'd spent my whole childhood and all
of that, all of my twenties working toward it. You know,
singing in bars and any type of show that I
could get into festivals, writing, writing, writing, writing, writing. I mean,
I really, you know, wrote all the time, you know,
by myself, I was just a solo writer. So by
the time I made it, I was so ready. I mean,

(56:43):
by the time I met mine and made that first
record with him, I had a whole stash of songs,
and it went very fast, that record.

Speaker 1 (56:51):
Were you told you're not country, like everybody's told now?

Speaker 4 (56:54):
Yeah, sure, I was.

Speaker 6 (56:56):
It was good for me that I really didn't know
that that would be the case. I didn't really know
what the definition was or what was considered the definition
of country because I grew up listening to such a,
I think, a different country than the country that maybe
you guys grew up here in the U.S. to because
in Canada we had, you know, we had Gordon Lightfoot.
We had a lot of folk singers. a lot of

(57:17):
folk artists that were considered country. So my country was
a lot of, you know, Joni Mitchell, you know, Jim
Crochet to me was country. The Carpenters were considered country
to me. Willie Nelson and Chris Christopherson and even Elvis,
you know. So it was kind of odd that I,

(57:38):
I sort of thought, I felt like I fit into
that scope of the more soul folk type, country. And
of course, you know, my youth was eighties rock. So
that was always in me anyway, too. That's how the
music came out. I think in the end, that hybrid.

Speaker 1 (57:58):
That's our look back at the top 10 moments of
country music in 1995. It was a year of balance.
Tradition on one side, change on the other and plenty
of new voices stepping in. Some of the stories we
covered shaped the decade immediately after while others laid the
groundwork for the years ahead. Thanks for listening. Make sure
you follow us on socials at BobbyCast. Keep up with

(58:21):
all the episodes. All right, we'll talk to you in 1996.

Speaker 4 (58:25):
Love this episode of the BobbyCast? Subscribe on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to podcasts.