Country music fans are a resourceful and dedicated group and they’ve taken to Twitter like a fish to water, starting accounts to help support the music they love. Every #musicmonday (a tag used by Twitter users to promote their favorite music on Mondays) and #followfriday (posts encouraging you to follow specific Twitter accounts on Friday) brings a slew of fan Twitters. Call it democracy in action or a publicist’s dream/nightmare, the fans are getting the word out for the musicians they love!

These accounts are not official or affiliated with the artist or the label. Some do get the objects of their affection to follow them and help promote their account. Blake Shelton follows his fan account http://twitter.com/BSersTweet, and every time he mentions it the account gets more followers. Same for http://twitter.com/cartertwinsorg; Zach Carter follows the account and mentions it regularly.

Ronna has run http://twitter.com/DBCongress for two years and does so with blessing of Dierks Bentley, who supports the account with an occasional tweet, provides signed merchandise for give-aways, and often acknowledges her work to other fans.

Jake Owen has yet to follow his fan account, http://twitter.com/JakeOwenFans, but the organizers are hoping for his blessing so the account will take off. Same with the Luke Bryan fan account http://twitter.com/xweloveLB. Getting a “follow” from the artist and the occasional mention is key to spreading the word and getting more followers, who in turn help promote the artist. It’s really a win-win for everyone involved.

Luke Bryan fan Gabs says she started her fan Twitter to tell the world about her favorite artist and share her love of country music, something she doesn’t get to do very often in Connecticut, which isn’t know as a country music Mecca. “I wanted to get in touch with some other Luke fans. And I wanted to show Luke how much I and the followers of http://twitter.com/xweloveLB appreciate him and his music.”

The fan Twitter accounts have been known to scoop the artists’ official Tweets, fan club sites and label announcements with news, reviews, gossip and tour dates. They also take very seriously their job of reminding fans to vote in online polls, call radio stations, support artists on message boards, watch television appearances, etc.

Right now http://twitter.com/JakeOwenFans is campaigning to get CMT to put Jake Owen’s “8 Second Ride” video back on its weekly countdown poll. And http://twitter.com/BSersTweet is promoting the new Blake Shelton single “Hillbilly Bone” by sending messages to radio stations and the country music press, and providing its Twitter followers with information on how to do the same.

Another particularly active fan Twitter account is http://twitter.com/TheChurchChoir, which gives its followers daily instructions on how to promote Eric Church.

New acts also have their Twitter fans. New on Twitter is the Whitney Duncan fan account http://twitter.com/whitduncanfans; and the Mallory Hope fan account http://twitter.com/mallarysfans. Mallory fan Halley said she started the account to spread the word: “She has such an amazing voice that I wanted to help her make it big.”

Fan accounts are just one of the many ways Twitter is changing the way fans and artists interact. Good luck to all the fan Twitters!

Vicky Dobbin is a country music lover in Falls Church, VA. Read her country music blog at www.lovemycountrymusic.com and follow her at http://twitter.com/vdobbin.