Strange as it may seem, there was a time when younger country artists would knock out a cover of an old Hank Williams or Lefty Frizzell favourite to win over an audience. However, these days it's all about lowest common denominator appeal and that means 80s stadium rock anthems are the way to go for encores – if they're used in Rock Of Ages, so much the better. Recently Taylor Swift thrilled her fans in Newark with an acoustic version of Livin' On A Prayer which seemed like a sweet spontaneous gesture even if Martina McBride had been covering the same Bon Jovi tune at shows for the last couple of years. As it turns out, just about every touring artist in country music is now mining arena-rock gold.
By: Mitch Plier