Of all the country music artists across history, who is the best performer? That’s what country music fans are debating over on Reddit right now.
Thanks to a prompt asking about country music artists that “really get on stage and perform,” Redditors over on r/CountryMusicStuff are currently giving their takes on who are the best performers in country music.
It’s a good question, and in the parameters of the original Redditor’s question, they asked which artist has the highest energy during their live shows, and even made a note that costume changes are important. That’s obviously a bit subjective when it comes to determining good performances, since I know I’ve been to plenty of stellar shows that have offered up zero costume changes.
But the answers that country music fans threw out there were interesting to read through. There were a number of modern names that were mentioned, while some of the genre’s biggest stars also got shoutouts. Here were the highlights as country fans tried to determine who puts on the best performances:
“Historically, Garth Brooks and Reba McEntire. As of 2019, Garth still puts on a great show, but not quite climbing lighting rigs anymore.”
“Brad Paisley puts on a heck of a good show!”
“Not doing costume changes but both Luke Combs and Cody Johnson are definitely on stage and performing. I’ve seen both of them twice and they were pretty high energy both times. Also Laney Wilson. I saw her as an opener for Luke a couple of years ago and then saw her as a headliner last year. Both times she put on a great show.”
“Sturgill Simpson, and the thread it now closed.”
“Toby Keith! Seen him about a decade ago and he put on a fantastic show. Lot of respect for veterans and even brought a couple from the audience upon stage with him. Was a super cool show.”
“George Strait does not ‘perform’ he just sings straight ahead country music. Yet he is the greatest country artist of all time. George Strait can fill up stadiums without gimmicky stuff.”
“Zach Bryan.”
“I was pleasantly surprised at how good Carrie Underwood’s stage show is. Lainey, Kacey, and Megan all have great shows. Midland and Ella also put on killer shows.”
“Eric Church… hands down.”
To no one’s surprise at all, Garth Brooks was mentioned a handful of times. He’s always been known as the ultimate performer, and he’s currently out on his Blame It All On My Roots Tour to further prove that.
Personally, I’d say Brooks & Dunn would like a word. Call it recency bias if you want to, but I just saw them in Nashville and the two 70+ year olds put on a heck of a show. I’d also put out there that Sturgill Simpson/Johnny Blue Skies is incredible live, even though he doesn’t opt for the extra theatrics (pyrotechnics, big video screens etc). And Tyler Childers can really entertain a crowd with vocals, visuals, and winding stories between songs.
At the end of the day, every country music fan has their idea of a perfect show in their head. That’s what makes the job of country artists so hard… they have to try to figure out what the people want, and where to draw the line. Too much extra curricular activity and it takes away from the music. Not enough and it leaves the people wanting more.
