Easton Corbin Talks Traditional Country Sound

Easton Corbin's sound has always been more traditional than the pop notes that come from many of his fellow country singers. Corbin says he didn't choose to be more traditional -- instead, the style chose him.

"[Traditional country]'s part of who I am and what I love," he tells the Oklahoman newspaper. "You know, I grew up loving Merle Haggard and George Jones and Keith Whitley and folks like that. It’s just what I love. And ever since I’ve been small, it’s just really spoken to me."

Country is being influenced more and more by other genres, from pop to rock to hip-hop, but Corbin thinks that makes it all the more important that someone represents true country music on the airwaves.

"You know, that makes me want to do traditional country even more, to see how the genre is kind of going over to the left over here," he says. "To see that, it just makes me wanna sing even more traditional country music, to keep that alive, ’cause there just ain’t that much of it out there being represented."

Corbin recently released 'Baby Be My Love Song,' the second single (following 'Clockwork,' which was released in January) off of his upcoming third album. The two singles give fans a glimpse of what to expect on the new album and a peek into how he is evolving as an artist.

"As an artist, you have to keep growing. I think that’s very important. You can’t stay stagnant. You’ve got to keep evolving," he says. "Still, with that evolution and developing, you’ve still gotta make music you believe in and that’s true to you. I think, like, 'Clockwork,' definitely, the melody and stuff shows growth, but it’s still right in that country vein. That’s what I’m gonna keep doing."