She’s Gone Country
When I was younger I thought the only Country music I could really like was the stuff I already grew up listening to. You know singers like Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton. I mean I guess we technically heard some other acts pretty often and liked those too, including, Tammy Wynette, I definitely knew how she told us to “Stand By Your Man”, and Loretta Lynn, I remember watching Coal Miner’s Daughter with my mom and we knew some of those songs and Hank Williams well he was super famous and just kind of didn’t even count as someone stuck in a genre, he belongs to everyone. Wait. What about Kenny Rogers? What the heck is going on? He was on heavy rotation? Was my family going country? Isn’t it funny? While there definitely is such a thing as music genres sometimes musical acts crossover without being a crossover act. Sometimes it's because they have made it to classics standing and sometimes it’s just simple, humans and music and connecting. I do remember when I officially started considering myself a country music fan though, it kind of snuck up on me and then I was ready for some “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”.
When I was about 18 years old I worked part time at a retail clothing store called Clothestime. It was a fun job with a great discount on all the floral print dresses with matching dress cinch back clips and hair scrunchies you could wish for. I learned all about upselling, cross-selling, loss prevention and country music. We had a specific pre-selected radio station we were supposed to listen to according to some marketing research based on the demographics of our key hopeful shoppers or it was just what our manager wanted us to listen to but it definitely wasn’t country music. It was your basic pop music, top 40 style radio station. Every day, like clockwork when our manager drove away, the assistant manager switched the radio to a country music station. She was a short lady who loved wearing denim skirts and cowgirl boots, it wasn’t exactly the style of the clothes on our racks. We were more like the wardrobe department for Beverly Hills: 90210. I remember hating this part of the day, when Cindy the assistant Manager took over the music. It sounded so bad to me, the other stuff wasn’t great either because it was all the same stuff every day but this was just torture. Somehow though, after days turning to weeks and then months I just kind of started liking the music. Suddenly I knew all the words and there were so many really good stories. I have always really loved a singer that was also a storyteller. Billy Joel and Paul Simon were some of my most favorites for that very reason and here I was crying because Tim McGraw was telling me the most gut wrenching story about true love and fear of losing the love of your life. Have you ever listened to “Don’t Take the Girl”? If you haven’t, you definitely should but first, get your tissues ready.
Not long after, I became an official country music fan, Brian and I were on a road trip to teach me to ski and there was barely any reception for music. Finally we got two choices, a station playing Tejano music which technically is like Mexican cowboy music so pretty similar and a country music station. We went with the country and Brian was reluctant at first but I told him he needed to give it a try and I thought he’d really learn to love it and how wonderful the stories are and promised him that they weren’t all like the joke, “What do you get when you play a country song backwards?” ….”You get your wife back, your dog back and your truck back.”. He gave it a chance and by the end of the trip he was a believer. Soon enough we were going to Garth Brooks’ concerts together, we got married and were “Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House”.
I still love listening to those country music stars from the 90s that were on the top of the charts when I had my Country awakening. Some of those albums are etched in my heart and brain, I have no idea how many times I belted out songs from The Woman in Me by Shania Twain especially “No One Needs to Know” and anything Reba, The Judds, The Dixie Chicks before they dropped the Dixie, Martina McBride, Faith Hill, Josh Turner with that deepest voice, and so many others. I love so many more recent acts as well. Chris Stapleton, Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini, the latest shooting star of the country music scene and again, so many more. I’m always on the hunt for new artists and music to listen to. When I finally made it to Nashville I spent a whole day walking the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and visited the amazing Johnny Cash museum also. On this epic Nashville trip we also had a night of wonderful performances at The Grand Ole Opry and hopped around to so many local live music venues with songwriter showcases. I know I’ll be back for more exploring neighborhoods, more live music and food in Nashville soon. With each visit, I’ll dust off my boots and send a silent thank you to Cindy for sharing a little bit of her Country with me.
I have to give a special mention to the following country artists who sing and say what they believe in no matter the potential backlash from an audience and industry that might not always be welcoming to progressive ideas and beliefs. Talent and courage together make for acts such as these.
The Chicks, formerly The Dixie Chicks, the changing of their name alone shows us they are hopeful for change and righting wrongs. Most of us know the price they paid and what they have been through. Tyler Childers, if you aren’t familiar please listen to “Long Violent History”. Kacey Musgraves, what a beautiful voice and message for a younger generation of country fans. Jason Isbell, listening to him feels like you are at a live show, he comes through the speakers and touches you with that honest voice. Of course the power couple, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, are classics who keep reinventing themselves like the recent addition of starring roles in the huge hit, 1883. In a heart wrenching scene with McGraw, I couldn’t help but imagine a GIF of him singing “Don’t Take the Girl”. In fact, Faith Hill could bust out, “Wild One” a few episodes earlier on the same show. This brings us back to the biggest of crossover stars, herself, the little girl who once sang about “Tim McGraw'' and now a mega star who waves a Pride Flag in solidarity on “You Need to Calm Down”, Taylor Swift has brought a huge number of youth to voter registration with simple messages to her Swifties. Another example of a celebrity using their voice for good.
