Hey MAB! Good to hear from you again! I sure wish I could spend more time in Nashville. Just love it there! Really good people there I've met.
Well, Jason Aldean has a new song out, "Lights Come On". It is a typical Jason pop/rock tune, with some great imagery in it. It is currently #19 on the country billboard. The reason I bring this up, is because Brent Baxter, a top writer in Nashville, wrote an article about the song explaining how, in his opinion, the song did so well. It is a really good article, and shows songwriters what the "Nashville bar" looks like, and what it takes to write a hit these days.
Here is a link to the song; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5cv1d_m4g0
Here is a link to Brent's article: http://manvsrow.com/2016/04/25/aldeanlights/
I hope y'all get some insight into what it requires to write a song for current country.
phil g.