There’s something stripped-down and honest about watching an artist perform a song that isn’t their own. It cuts through the noise of branding and chart positions and gets straight to why they fell in love with music in the first place.
That’s the heart of the Academy of Country Music’s new digital series Our Country, which launches Wednesday, June 3, across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels, and more. Six artists—Kaitlin Butts, Wyatt Flores, Jo Dee Messina, Thelma&James, Jackson Dean, and Craig Campbell—are taking turns performing acoustic renditions of songs that shaped them, then sharing the personal stories behind those choices.
The lineup reads like a masterclass in unexpected covers. Flores kicks things off with The Fray’s How to Save a Life. Upcoming episodes will showcase Butts tackling The SteelDrivers’If It Hadn’t Been for Love, Messina diving into Aerosmith’s Dream On, Thelma&James bringing Grease’s You’re the One That I Want to life, Dean performing Uncle Lucius’Keep the Wolves Away, and Campbell wrapping the series with Clint Black’s Killin’Time. Each performance is paired with genuine reflection—the artist explaining how the song landed in their life and shaped the musician they’ve become.
What makes this concept work isn’t just the novelty. ACM Head of Strategic Partnerships and Revenue Lauren Burchett nailed it in her statement: Our Country is about more than performance—it’s about connection. In a climate where content moves fast and attention spans splinter, taking time to let artists breathe, perform acoustically, and speak honestly about influence feels almost radical. It’s a quiet rebuke to the algorithm and a reminder that some of the most powerful moments in country music happen when the production drops away and the song speaks for itself.
Kaitlin Butts summed it up in the series trailer: I feel like what we just want out of this life is connection. I feel like music really provides that, especially with songwriting. Jackson Dean added the larger truth: Music being the universal language that it is, everybody can understand emotion. In a genre built on storytelling and shared experience, that’s not just marketing speak—it’s the entire point.
New episodes roll out weekly, so there’s time to let each performance settle before the next one lands. Whether you’re into Aerosmith deep cuts or Clint Black’s’90s hits, there’s something here about why these artists chose the songs they did and what those choices reveal about who they are.
About the Author
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
