On the horizon, a new crop of young country stars

There's a new kid in town. Several of them, in fact.

Nashville's record labels have gone on a signing spree to rope in teenage talent. The reason for the roundup?

"Taylor Swift. It's two words," says Phyllis Stark, executive editor of country music for Radio-Info.com, who dubbed the new crop the Clearasil Brigade in a recent column.

First up is Tyler Dickerson, a 16-year-old traditionalist signed to Disney's Lyric Street imprint (home to Rascal Flatts), whose first single, "Tell Your Sister I'm Single," earned Hot Shot Debut honors on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart three weeks ago. The tune bowed at No. 51, making Dickerson the youngest solo male to debut on the chart since 12-year-old Billy Gilman in 2000.

Capitol Nashville has signed 17-year-old Jennette McCurdy, who stars on Nickelodeon's "iCarly." Sony Music Nashville released 15-year-old Jordyn Shellhart's debut album, "In a Room," through Best Buy, but has not put out a single to country radio yet because the sophomore's school schedule doesn't allow time for a radio promotion tour.

Scott Borchetta, president and CEO of Swift's label, Big Machine, inked a deal with Shel, four sisters ranging in age from 16 to 21, to Republic Nashville, although he stresses that the "first strike" for the band will be touring and TV, not country radio.

"This is not the first time that when something big breaks through, you're going to have, like artists have, an opportunity to get out there and break through," Borchetta says. "There's a certain number of us who always felt that the younger end was there; we just have to figure out how to engage them. But it's still a square peg in a round hole."

That's because country radio staunchly remains an adult format. The average country radio listener is 43, according to Stark. The broad audience demographic is 25-54 with a core target of 35-44. (By contrast, Top 40's demo is 16-34.) When Big Machine took a then-17-year-old Swift's first single, "Tim McGraw," to radio in 2006, Borchetta says, "there were certainly no phone calls that we ever got saying, 'Hey! Do you have anything by a female teenage artist?' That wasn't a slot they were looking to fill."

Radio notices

Still, as not only Swift, but artists in their 20s, such as the co-ed trio Lady Antebellum as well as Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood, attracted younger listeners, country radio started to pay attention. On Feb. 16, Citadel Media officially launched "The Jeremy Show," a fast-paced program hosted by 29-year-old Jeremy Robinson that airs from 6 to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday on more than 100 of its country affiliates nationwide; the station closest to Washington is Crisfield, Md.'s WBEY (97.9 FM).

"We react to what the needs are in the marketplace," says Citadel Media senior vice president of programming Carl Anderson. "Country stations, like a lot of formats, want to make sure they play to their core, but they always are looking for a way to attract that new, young audience into their tent." The "bull's-eye" for "The Jeremy Show" is females, 25-34, says Anderson.

If folks seem a little skittish to alienate the older demographic, that's because unlike Top 40, which occasionally finds room for teen acts such as Justin Bieber, the Jonas Brothers or Miley Cyrus -- who appeal largely to their peers -- country radio has no such niche. (Cyrus's "The Climb" stalled at No. 25 on Billboard's country chart, before reaching No. 7 on the Pop 100 chart.)

"There definitely has to be an adult appeal," Borchetta says, no matter how old -- or young -- the artist. "Taylor writes what I call naturally nostalgic [songs]," he says. "She's talking right to her [peers], but if you're [older], you say, 'I remember feeling that way.' "