Snap, crackle … country? Contemporary country rocks

Two days ago, I didn’t know anything about Keith Urban. Two days later, I’m looking for a newer cave.

Most folks probably have heard or seen the name Keith Urban. But some don’t seem to know that, right now, Keith Urban is perhaps the biggest act in country music.

Urban has produced seven consecutive Top 5 country singles, four of which have hit No. 1. One of those hits, “Somebody Like You,” from the 2002 platinum release “Golden Road,” was a Bondsian right field grandslam into the San Francisco Bay, holding Billboard’s No. 1 country single spot two months longer than any other country artist that year.

Last year, Billboard Magazine named Urban country’s most played musician. So it’s safe to say that during the past two years, more people have heard Urban on country radio than any other artist.

Urban is a musical export of Australia, which also brought us AC/DC, Midnight Oil and Silverchair. But unlike any of those acts, Urban is largely considered a modern-day savior of his genre. Alongside less-than-household names including Gretchen Wilson, Josh Gracin and Dierks Bentley, and a few of the usual suspects such as Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith, Urban is helping to reinvent the current country music landscape.

The reinvention seems to be working. This year, country music sales are up almost 11 percent over 2003. The solution was simple. More rock.

Right now, I’m logged onto Urban’s Capitol Records Web site, streaming a few tracks from “Golden Road,” browsing his bio and press sheet, and fixing on a video of Urban looking like a countrified version of Owen Wilson imitating Jon Bon Jovi.

There’s no cowboy hat on Urban’s head, no cowboy boots on his feet. Instead, Urban dons a tight hipster T-shirt, faded blue jeans, and salon-styled mid-length hair with blond highlights.

In this particular video, Urban rips through an impressive blues-inspired guitar solo À la Dire Straights. And I think he’s wearing Pumas.

Country music is officially rockin’. However, according to Jim Votaw, general manager of Citadel Communications of Spokane, which oversees Cat Country 94 FM, country imitating rock is nothing new.

“There has been a long history of artists that appeal to some of the younger listeners and CD buyers, and Keith would certainly be in that vein,” Votaw said. “He’s a great guitar player, he’s a good looking-guy, he’s from Australia – those things make him a little different.”

What about the fact that Keith Urban comes off rockin’ like the Goo Goo Dolls? No matter, says Votaw, Urban is country to the bone.

“If you put his hits up on the radio against some of the more traditional artists, they don’t sound a heck of a lot different than some of those artists. He runs a pretty wide-gamut,” Votaw said.

You might say Urban is just country music gone metrosexual.

While hip-hop and hard rock continue to dominate the current pop charts, it seems country music has taken it upon itself to produce pop rock. What sounds a lot like some of the guitar-driven pop rock of the past, today can be categorized as country. Or more specifically, anything modern that doesn’t have crunchy distortion, or sound too much like John Mayer. Again, Votaw says the phenomenon has been developing for years.

“The reason why country music is so vital today is that it reinvents itself, not so much by looking for artists that cross over, but for new talent that brings in new styles. Keith Urban is definitely that guy. He’s huge,” Votaw said.

Most country music experts seem to agree, meaning 2004 might just shape up to be the Year of the Urban Cowboy.