…And Two Husbands Ago: Reflections on Twenty Years of Country Universe

It’s often said that time passes more quickly as you get older, and that has certainly felt true in 2024. Plans made in the Spring and Summer had more than enough runway for full flight, and now, suddenly, it’s Mariah Carey’s bankroll season out of nowhere. And those lofty plans are still getting fueled up in the hangar.

And that’s fine, really. If anything, it’s indicative of how Country Universe has always operated at its own pace, and we will get around to celebrating a milestone anniversary when we get around to it.

While the vibe here has never been about anyone’s ego or personal brand, we are going to acknowledge exactly how long we’ve been around. Kevin founded Country Universe in August of 2004, which means that this blog’s been around for a full twenty years now. That longevity is rare– blogs that started well after this one have long-since shuttered– and is not something we take lightly. For any type of publication– even a niche blog that occupies a tiny corner of the internet, where it champions the notion that country music has always deserved to be approached with thoughtful consideration and an openness to the breadth of human experiences– to survive for twenty years as the media landscape turns content into chum is something to celebrate.

So we’re going to do just that.

Now that the Every #1 Single of the 80s feature has wrapped, we will be taking a moment to reflect on the past twenty years of the greater country universe… and on where we go in the next twenty years. We’ll share our picks for the best albums, singles, and artists of the “Country Universe era” and will highlight the artists we believe will define the next era. We do love a good list here, after all.

Afterward, we’ll forge ahead with more of the historical content you, our readers, have come to expect and more of the coverage of new music that you very kindly put up with. It’s hard to anticipate exactly what 2025 will bring, but we’re as committed as ever to the notion that the radical empathy at the core of country music is something vital. Ours is indeed a vast universe, and country music in all its forms can build the connections that help us find significance.

So a tip-of-the-hat and a sincere thank you to our founder, Kevin, for creating this space that celebrates everything the best of country music is and can be!