Gary Allan Explains His Comments About Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift

Only one day after Zac Brown made headlines for criticizing contemporary country music -- and specifically Luke Bryan -- Gary Allan seemed to make a similar statement about pop-sounding country artists in an interview with Larry King. But the singer says his comments were taken way out of context.

In the segment, which aired Tuesday night (Sept. 17),  Allan seemed to take aim at Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift -- two of music's most successful crossover artists. “I would say they’re pop artists making a living in the country genre," he said. But as his comments circulated all over the internet, the 'It Ain't the Whiskey' singer took to his Facebook page to clarify his comments.

"For the record, I always have and always will love country music," he states. "While our genre has evolved, I stand behind what I said in the interview, 'To me country is still about Monday through Friday, and pop is about what happens on the weekends. But it’s definitely changed.'"

Allan explained exactly how he thinks the genre has evolved. "When talking about country radio, I went on to say 'It’s very different. You used to be able to turn on the radio and you knew it instantly it was a country station just by listening to it. Now you've got to leave it there for a second to figure it out … and not that it’s a bad thing.' It’s not a bad thing. It’s just different than it used to be."

The 45-year-old insists there is plenty of room for all kinds of artists in country music. "Our genre has enough room in it for me, a country artist whose country leans towards rock and for more pop sounding country artists, as well as more traditional sounding country artists," Allan maintains. "None of us are the same, but we all make country radio our home."

Read his entire statement here.