When “Rich Men North of Richmond” by Oliver Anthony went viral last month, Republicans seized on lyrics that echoed right-wing talking points. For many, it confirmed country music’s reputation as irredeemably white, conservative, and Christian. But the reality — both about Anthony’s song and country music in general — is more complex.

Nick Shoulders is a contemporary singer-songwriter from the Ozarks region in Arkansas, and he’s spent his career countering the myth that country is right-wing, both in his music and by drawing attention to the genre’s sometimes radical history. As he points out, although it was born in the shadow of slavery and the trail of tears, country music was a working-class tradition that reflected — and often challenged — an oppressive reality.

The heart of the country tradition, Shoulders says, is an “unwillingness to back down from expressions of joy and camaraderie,” and an “insistence on selfless love for one another.”