In country music, the men might dominate the radio waves. But it’s women―like Maren Morris, Mickey Guyton, and Kacey Musgraves―who are making history. This is the full and unbridled story of the past twenty years of country music seen through the lens of these trailblazers’ careers―their paths to stardom and their battles against a deeply embedded boys’ club, as well as their efforts to transform the genre into a more inclusive place―as told by award-winning Nashville journalist Marissa R. Moss. For the women of country music, 1999 was an entirely different universe―a brief blip in time, when women like Shania Twain and the Chicks topped every chart and made country music a woman’s world. But the industry, which prefers its stars to be neutral, be obedient, and never rock the boat, had other plans. It wanted its women to “shut up and sing”―or else. In 2021, women are played on country radio as little as 10 percent of the time, but they’re still selling out arenas, as Kacey Musgraves does, and becoming infinitely bigger live draws than most of their male counterparts, creating massive pop crossover hits like Maren Morris’s “The Middle,” pushing the industry to confront its racial biases with Mickey Guyton’s “Black Like Me,” and winning heaps of Grammy nominations. Her Country is the story of how in the past two decades, country’s women fought back against systems designed to keep them down and created entirely new pathways to success. It’s the behind-the-scenes story of how women like Kacey, Mickey, Maren, Miranda Lambert, Rissi Palmer, Brandi Carlile, and many more have reinvented their place in an industry stacked against them. When the rules stopped working for these women, they threw them out, made their own, and took control―changing the genre forever, and for the better. Featured in The New York Times ’s “Newly Published,” 5/4/22 USA Today ’s “5 new books,” 5/7/22 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ’s “2 new books examine racism, gender bias in the music world” Lit Hub’s “Most Anticipated Books of 2022” Holler ’s “Guide To: The Best Country Music Books” The Gazette ’s “8 book recommendations for music lovers who love to read” Tinnitist’s “Next Week in Music - New Books,” 5/8/22 “[Moss] examines the past two decades of country music through the distinct careers of Guyton, Musgraves and Morris ― exploring how women, queer people and people of color have charted space for themselves in an industry that was never built for them.” ― The Washington Post “Moss goes deep into the archives and shares the often tumultuous journey of countless women trying to pursue a music career in the male-dominated industry. Her Country is an eye-opening account of the gender bias…[and] Moss unpacks each singer’s story with precise detail and often harrowing accounts of sexism and racism.” ― Forbes “Marissa R. Moss’s Her Country is a serious interrogation of the cultural meaning of contemporary gender and race in country music. It is sharp and fun (at times) and critical in exactly the way we need.” ―Tressie McMillan Cottom, author of Thick: And Other Essays “Moss traces the history of Guyton’s, Musgraves’ and Maren Morris’ career against the larger dynamic that has defined women in country music…[This] is also a story of American politics, Moss argues. It shows how the battle for the soul of country music (and the dollar signs that come with it) mirrors a larger culture war in U.S. politics.” ― The 19th “ Her Country should be required reading for every music lover.” ―Sarah Arnold, director at Parnassus Books in Nashville, in Garden & Gun “The book is deeply researched…[a] history of the kind of industry―and world―that the white men of country music have always hoped to maintain and the women who wouldn’t let them.” ― Pitchfork “A highly-readable deep dive into the lives and careers of the women of country music…a celebration of the persistence and vision of these women and a call for change to the industry they’ve transcended…[ Her Country ] will be an inspiration to young musicians and a forewarning to anyone standing in their way.” ― Performer Magazine “There’s a lot of joy sprinkled in the narrative…The stories of support and female friendship within this orbit of songwriters are enough to make a reader cry like Garth Brooks in his Netflix special…But maybe most importantly, Her Country doesn’t shy away from the nitty gritty about who gets left out of Music Row and why.” ― Chapter 16 “[Moss] deftly makes a case for, among other critical changes, country music’s urgent need to embrace diversity…[and examines] the misogyny, inequity and racism embedded with the country music power structure.” ― Dallas Observer “[ Her Country is] an indictment of a music industry that has backed itself into a corner, and a celebration of artists who figured out their own shades and colors of the Nashville sound.” ― SouthBound , WFAE “This is an important read for anyone who wa