Clay Walker has been in the business for a long time. In fact, he remembered when country music wasn't considered to be cool or hip. It seems like everyone and their grandmother is making a country album these days (sorry Post Malone). But that wasn't always the case.
Walker credits the country greats of the 1970s and 1980s for paving the path that he later walked.
"When I look at [Earl Thomas] Conley, Keith Whitley, George Strait, Merle Haggard, and even Randy Travis, those iconic singers and entertainers had such character and diversity, I felt like we had so much of it there...That's really what inspired all of us 90s artists," he told Country Now.
He also said he remembered a time when country wasn't considered cool.
He said, "Country just exploded at that moment. I mean, there were more country music stations than we'd ever seen before across the United States and it became widely popular...I was country at the time I was born, and it wasn't cool. You were considered hokey or whatever. But that era was beautiful. So much is carried forward with it."
Clay Walker Talks Country
Walker entered the stage after several of these great artists. The singer reflected on his own legacy within the genre. He said that an entirely new generation of fans have appreciated his music. It's something that makes him feel alive.
He said, "Even today, I'll be on stage and there's a quite a young audience. There are teenagers, 20s somethings and it's not like they're sparsely scattered in the audience. They're half the audience and so I'm like man, people grow up in this music and it means something to their fabric and to everything about them."
Walker expressed interest in re-recording several of his greatest hits and turning out a new album.
"The two reasons for that are, one, my voice is a little stronger now than it was when I recorded the songs. So I'm excited to record these songs again. And secondly, with better recording equipment. We can still make the same sounds and make them even better, the authentic sounds, the authentic lyrics and singing the way that I recorded them the first time."
He added, "I think the fans can look forward to a big release from all those. And also a new album to come with it. And we'll have another huge announcement coming in the fall and I think people will be very excited to hear it."
