Julianne Hough is a poster girl for country music's image makeover.

The 19-year-old first found fame as dance partner to world-class athletes Helio Castroneves and Apolo Anton Ohno on the TV series "Dancing With the Stars" -- where she moved to a soundtrack ranging from '80s rapper Young MC to yesteryear diva Dinah Shore.

Becoming a country singer wasn't a predictable next step for Hough, but Nashville is happy to have her.

Hough's self-titled album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard magazine's country chart in May, and she will appear as a supporting act for Brad Paisley June 26 at Verizon Wireless Music Center.

According to Hough (rhymes with "buff"), she's always been more "Hee Haw" than hip.

"What's funny is that everybody does see me as the dancer from 'Dancing With the Stars' who wears glamorous costumes and skimpy little outfits," she says during a telephone interview. "What people don't realize is that I grew up in Utah, where it's normal and laid-back. It's all about being real and wearing jeans and flip-flops."

Hough joins 25-year-old Carrie Underwood and 18-year-old Taylor Swift in a sorority of country starlets saturating pop culture. Jessica Simpson and Jewel, no strangers to mainstream exposure, have likewise turned to twang to revive their careers.

Country has become an easy sell for Indianapolis resident Donny Klotz, who listened to Seattle-spawned grunge in the early '90s. As a teenager, he viewed Nashville as the source of "redneck, Confederate-type stuff."

Klotz now drives to Louisville, Ky., to attend free "Hot Country Nights" concerts presented throughout the summer.

Ed Wenck, on-air personality for radio station WLHK-FM (97.1), says today's country acts capture younger fans who listen without prejudice. It's common, Wenck says, for the White Stripes and Kenny Chesney to carry equal weight on iPod playlists.

"There's no judgment about, 'Oh, you listen to country, you must fit into that segment of the population,' or 'You listen to rock, you must fit into that segment of the population,'." Wenck says. "There are no genre barriers in high schools anymore, and I think that's bleeding upward."

It's also true that sex appeal transcends all demographics. Hough, Underwood (set to appear Aug. 8 at the Indiana State Fair), Swift (who played Verizon earlier this month), Jewel (who's part of the June 26 Paisley show) and Simpson (set to appear Aug. 7 at the Indiana State Fair) don't wear cowboy hats or look like Minnie Pearl.

"There are some more traditional fans (who) have begun griping that it's all about skinny blondes," Wenck says. "I expect there's going to be a pushback. The pendulum will swing in the other direction."

Beyond pretty faces, Nashville's newest angels offer music built upon melody, storytelling and a common experience -- traits listeners may not be hearing in rock and rap.

Not to mention, "People are weary of all that angst and teen pain," says Wenck, who once worked at modern rock outpost WRZX-FM (103.3) with his on-air partner, Dave O'Brien.

The hottest rap song of the young summer, meanwhile, is Lil' Wayne's anatomically metaphorical "Lollipop."

"I think country music has a little more self-respect to it than a lot of hip-hop," says Lindsey Garner, 29, of Pendleton. "We don't feel degraded listening to it."

Paisley maintained his masculinity and recently reached No. 1 on the country singles chart with "I'm Still a Guy." Hough's breakthrough hit, "That Song in My Head," intertwines music and love, while Jewel makes a statement of self-affirmation in the lyrics of "Stronger Woman."

"When I was younger, I thought country music was depressing and sad," says Angie Hudson, a 30-year-old resident of Anderson. "Now, I just think country music is expression and what you go through in life."

Plenty of Hoosier lives connect with country music. Radio station WFMS-FM (95.5) has ranked No. 1 among local listeners ages 12 and older for more than nine consecutive years. Rascal Flatts is one of few acts that can sell all 24,000 tickets available for a Verizon show, and Chesney will perform Sept. 13 at Lucas Oil Stadium -- making him the first entertainer to play the new football stadium.

Country is cool enough that John Wade is converting the former Seven nightclub in Broad Ripple to BuckWildz, a joint where you'll find a mechanical bull and female bartenders who dance in the tradition of "Coyote Ugly."

Wade says rock will reign at BuckWildz, but he plans to make room for modern Nashville hits he equates to mainstream rock of the 1980s: "It has a great beat and you can dance to most of it."

He says country will account for roughly one of every four songs heard at the new nightclub.

"Would I do that everywhere? Not necessarily," he says. "In Indianapolis? Yes."

In concert: Country acts headed to Indianapolis this summer:

Brad Paisley, Jewel and Julianne Hough, Thursday, June 26, Verizon Wireless Music Center.

Brooks & Dunn, Rodney Atkins and James Otto, Sunday, July 20, Verizon Wireless Music Center.

Toby Keith, Montgomery Gentry, Saturday, Aug. 2, Verizon Wireless Music Center.

Jessica Simpson, Thursday, Aug. 7, Indiana State Fair.

Carrie Underwood, Friday, Aug. 8, Indiana State Fair.

Sugarland, Joe Nichols, Tuesday, Aug. 12, Indiana State Fair.

For more information about these concerts, visit www.ticketmaster.com.

Selected moments in country chic

1953 Hank Williams dies in the back of a Cadillac. Blamed on hard living, his death predates exits of Charlie Parker (1955), Jimi Hendrix (1970), Janis Joplin (1970), Jim Morrison (1971) and Elvis Presley (1977).

1962 Ray Charles brings Nashville compositions to a new audience by recording landmark album "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music."

1965 The Beatles place Ringo Starr in the spotlight when covering "Act Naturally" -- a hit two years earlier for Buck Owens.

1971 The Rolling Stones issue honky-tonk lament "Dead Flowers" on the "Sticky Fingers" album.

1980 Dolly Parton tops Billboard magazine's country and pop charts with movie theme song "9 to 5."

1985 Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp bring disparate acts Johnny Cash, Van Halen, B.B. King and the Beach Boys together for the first Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Ill.

1986 Dwight Yoakam makes twangy entrance with his "Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc." album. He later embarks on a celebrity relationship spree that includes hookups with Sharon Stone, Sheryl Crow and Bridget Fonda.

1990 Uncle Tupelo launches the "alt-country" movement with the band's "No Depression" album, which includes the title-track rendition of a Carter Family standard.

2008 Snoop Dogg issues "My Medicine" single. Guest collaborators include Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley and Julianne Hough.

Rock beats country

Album sales in 2007, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Rock: 149 million

R&B: 96 million

Alternative: 89 million

Country: 63 million

Metal: 53 million

Rap: 42 million

Christian/gospel: 34 million

Latin: 32 million

Soundtrack: 25 million

Classical: 18 million

Jazz: 14 million

New age: 3 million