Linda Ronstadt and Tom Petty both expressed dislike for modern country music, arguing that it had moved too far from the genre’s roots. The article presents their views as a shared preference for older, more authentic forms of American country and rock music.

Ronstadt contrasted contemporary country with the older music she associated with genuine rural origins, dismissing it as overly commercial. Petty similarly described much modern country as rock music with fiddle added, while noting that rock and roll itself drew heavily on country traditions from the late 1950s and early 1960s.