Justin,
I just don't see it because of the nature and development of the business. It doesn't go backwards. With each successive generation away from a type of music (traditional country and cowboy type songs), the listeners have less and less of a connection to that type of music. You always get your growth and new customers from people coming up, not the people from the past.
Just like the "Cowboy" and the range, wild west and the horse, gave way to pick up and the tailgate out in the field, the styles of music have changed. Like always there will be niches'. People like Lee Anne Rhymes was a throw back to Patsy Cline, Dwight Yokum to Buck Owens, and Josh Turner to Johnny Cash, there are always going to be certain artists that are "throw backs" or retro to another era. But that doesn't mean the whole industry turns around to fit that model. As a matter of fact, any subsequent people who try to follow those trends are called "sellouts" and just "jumping on a bandwagon."
The entire aspect of Texas is that it is a very large niche market. While the artists there are passionately embraced in Texas, can make entire careers there, playing the Honky Tonks and Roadhouses, having songs on the Texas Charts, doing Texas events, rodeos, and other things endemic to Texas. And once again, there is NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. But when they step out of Texas, it is harder to gain traction. (Pat Green had trouble selling outside of Texas, which was the purpose of the "pay cut" comment.) And one of the negative things that a lot of Texas artists do, is come to places like Nashville, LA and New York and build resentment because the rest of these places don't buy into that persona. There is always a pretty big "Chip on the shoulder" attitude from many of the artists that come out of there.
So when you ask "how would Nashville react to .... artist?" You can pretty much answer that yourself. A style of music that is dated in markets outside of Texas, with the cowboy hat theme which is pretty dead and gone, with subject matter and a "cowboy" persona, that has never really been Nashville in the first place, if you really think about it, you should come to the same conclusion.
Again, I could always be wrong. But I just don't think so. Again, one of the main things I do is be around artists who are doing this and going through it all the time themselves, as well as their audiences. And I am around enough label and publishing people, and catch their "behind the scenes" comments and attitudes, that I don't think I am.
Time will tell.
MAB