Country Music?!?!?!

I’ve mentioned this before, but in addition to my passion for softball & baseball, I have an almost equal love of music. I’m one of those people who can hear a few measures of a song on the radio and know the song (for the most part). I have an appreciation for most styles of music, the notable exceptions being hardcore ‘gangsta’ rap (you can’t spell crap without rap), and some classical music.

Notice that I did not include country music in my exceptions. If I had written this blog 5 years ago, I would have. I used to think that country music was strictly for the hicks of the world (i.e. Rednecks). And most of the people I knew who listened to country music – and admitted it – fit that bill. But something strange happened. Rednecks became cool (thank you Mr. Foxworthy), and country music started taking up more and more of the airwaves. It’s to a point where it’s almost impossible not to listen to it in some areas. Country songs are even popping up on Top-40 stations and Adult Contemporary stations as well, so eventually, you’re bound to hear a country song.

I started to ‘learn to appreciate’ country music about 5 years ago. I’m one of those people who needs to have a radio on at work – sometimes to act as background noise, sometimes to drown out the background noise. At one of my previous employment locations, the only station I could get in on my radio was a country station. I didn’t want to bring in a CD player, because the position was temporary, so my choices were to turn the radio off, or listen to the country station. I chose the latter, and before I knew it, I was humming along to the music. Shortly thereafter, I found I knew the words to the songs. It was only a short time after that where I was able to admit that I was actually enjoying the music. (somewhere, my sister has just cringed painfully).

Truth is, the more I listen to it, the more I like it. Not because I consider myself a redneck or a hick, but because there is some phenomenal music being written and performed in the country world. If you listen to enough Pop or Rock music, every third song is a remake of another song, or a cover of another artist, or just plain nonsense in terms of lyrics and music. There’s very little in the Pop/Rock world that is original anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I still listen to Pop and Rock (Bon Jovi’s currently playing on my iPod as I write this), but when I’m looking for something new and original - or when I need a good laugh - I’m punching up a country station.

But don’t worry. I promise I’m not buying a pickup truck anytime soon.

Factoid that may only interest me:
- Over the last 10 years, the only genres of music to increase each year in sales were Country and Christian. That should tell you something...