When T-Swift came out with her first album in 2006, she made pop fans everywhere realize it was possible to actually like country music. With songs like "Teardrops On My Guitar," Swift blended her country style with pop to create a sound fans of both genre loved. Now that she's left the country scene for good (1989 being her official first pop album) there's a space to be filled—and these new artists might just make you rethink your opinion of country.

1. Dan + Shay, "Nothing Like You"

You may have maybe heard Dan + Shay's first single "19 You + Me" on the radio once or twice, but the duo has so much more to offer from their 2014 debut album Where It All Began. Pairing guitar riffs that sound more rock than country and lyrics that would make any girl melt, Dan + Shay created the perfect summer soundtrack.

The two country artists, Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, didn't even meet until Smyers hosted a party at his Nashville home in December 2012. Apparently Smyers didn't have enough money to pay for heat, so he created a fort of blankets in his living room to keep the party warm. Soon, the two started jamming and the rest is history. "We’ve been writing three songs a day ever since," Smyers told Taste of Country. They're still good live—if you were wondering.

2. Kelsea Ballerini, "Love Me Like You Mean It"

Kelsea Ballerini's debut album The First Time just dropped May 18, but her first single "Love Me Like You Mean It" has already hit number 5 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart. Some people have compared her style to early Taylor Swift, and her history isn't too different: she grew up in Knoxville, TN but moved to Nashville with her mother at 15 to pursue her dreams of making music. Six years later, here she is, and she even scored a nomination for Breakthrough Video of the Year at the 2015 CMT Music Awards.

3. Brothers Osborne, "Stay A Little Longer"

Brothers Osborne is made up of John and TJ Osborne, two brothers in a family of seven who grew up watching their father perform in a shed in the backyard of their home in Deale, MD. By their teens, the two formed a band with their father and covered songs by artists from Bob Segar to Merle Haggard, influences that eventually created Brothers Osborne's unique blend of country and rock.

John, who plays guitar in the band, moved to Nashville first to play in other bands. Two years later, TJ joined him with vocals and guitar, and they created Brothers Osborne. In April 2011, the brothers received a publishing deal Warner Chappell/King Pen Music and a year later, Capital Records signed them as artists. The duo released a five-song EP in September 2014, and keep an eye out for their debut album expected later this year.

4. Mickey Guyton, "Pretty Little Mustang"

Mickey Guyton may have only hit the charts in 2014, but she's had a record deal with Liberty/Capitol Records Nashville since she moved to Tennessee in 2011. Since then, she has established herself as a songwriter in Nashville, released two EPs, broke records with her first single "Better Than You Left Me," made her Oprey debut, and sang at the White House. Not bad, huh?

Even though Guyton made waves with her ballad "Better Than You Left Me," her May 2015 EP Mickey Guyton features a mix of sad songs and girl-power anthems to help any teen get over her most recent heartbreak.

P.S. Does she look familiar? The judges cut her from American Idol Season 8 just before the live show, leaving her largely absent from the 2009 coverage of the audition rounds.

5. Josh Dorr, "Before the Summer Dies"

When Josh Dorr first picked up a guitar, he was a professional football hopeful healing from yet another frustrating injury preventing him from playing the game. In his official bio, Dorr stated that he "had a gut-check kind of thing, like, ‘Are you gonna keep rehabbing and rehabbing just to get back to where you used to be a year ago?’  And then finally, I just decided it wasn’t for me, and I had to quit."

Dorr moved to Nashville in 2010 and worked as an intern at a record label and music publishing company before his songwriting skills scored him a record deal with RCA Nashville. He released his debut four-song EP titled Josh Dorr in 2014, led by the single "All or Nothing" and rounded out by ballads like "Save Your Breath." His untitled debut album is about halfway done, according to an interview in February, so keep an eye out.

6. Maddie & Tae, "Fly"

Maddie Marlow and Tae Dye met through their mutual vocal coach at age 15 and relocated to Nashville in 2013 when Tae finished high school a year early and Maddie turned down college. They had a deal from Dot Records of the Big Machine Label Group, and within a year were making waves with a debut single that turned more than a few heads. The duo exercises impressive vocals similar to Carrie Underwood's signature slides and honest lyrics that teenage girls across the country can relate to.

If you're a feminist and unafraid of a little more twang in your country, check out "Girl In A Country Song," complete with boys in cut-off shorts and tied up flannel shirts (a la Britney) to mock the gender roles in many male country songs. (Even if you don't end up liking the song, the video isn't one to miss.) 

7. Steven Lee Olsen, "Raised by a Good Time"

Even though Steven Lee Olsen released his first EP on an indie label in 2009, the 29-year-old finally entered the country market in 2014 with a deal from Sony Music Nashville. His catchy debut single "Raised by a Good Time" is written from personal experience raising hell as a teenager and it might just make you want to go stir up some trouble of your own.

Olsen grew up in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada but moved to Nashville at age 12 to learn from the best songwriters country music could offer. "I'm a product of '90s country," he said in an interview for the Huffington Post. "I grew up listening to Garth and Bryan White and George Strait and Vince Gill. Those are the guys who made me fall in love with country." Olsen even got the chance to work with Garth Brooks when the country legend decided to record Olsen's song "Cold Like That" on the 2014 comeback album Man Against Machine.

Olsen's upcoming album has no title or release date, but with 10 years in the making, it's bound to be good.