I "get" country music

At the core I'm a metalhead.

My first cassette was Motley Crue's Girls, Girls, Girls. My first CD was Motley Crue's Dr Feelgood. My formative years consisted of Black Sabbath, Pantera, Death, Type O Negative, amongst many other heavy bands (and also every single thing Nirvana ever did; not metal, but still). (I also listened to a lot of rap. Mostly Dre and Snoop Dogg.) I started playing guitar when I was 13 and my goal was to play loud, fast, heavy, and with precision.

But over the years I've vastly expanded my musical interests. In 11th grade I bought Fiona Apple's Tidal and fell in love with a softer side of music. It was a slow change.

I became one of those "I like pretty much everything except country" people. And it was that way for years.

Then I heard Merle Haggard. If you've listened to Merle Haggard then you know what I'm saying. If you haven't yet, then you'll know some day.

That was 3 or 4 years ago. I didn't find any other country music I liked, but at least I was no longer an "I like everything except country" person.

The Shift

I was in Austin hanging out with a friend who is also predominantly a metal head. But in the car she would only listen to the country station, KVET. Why? Because radio sucks. Rock radio sucks. Alternative radio sucks. Pop radio sucks. Rap radio sucks. Sure they all play songs I like sometimes, but the majority of the time spent in a car is spent flipping the stations because whatever is on sucks. Except for country stations. Being that we weren't country fans the music didn't annoy us. There weren't any songs or artists we couldn't stand listening to. We didn't have to hear Nickelback or Dave Mathews or Coldplay or whatever other garbage. We'd hear music we didn't know that could play in the background and mostly be there as white noise. And sometimes a song would catch and we'd sing along or laugh at the lyrics or make up our own lyrics or just enjoy it. It was the perfect "I don't necessarily like this, but I don't hate it, so I can just relax and drive" music.

But I still didn't "get" country music. Why do so many people listen to it even though so many others claim to abhor it?

Then it happened. I was driving and listening to the local country station (actually I was listening to the Windsor, Canada station) and it hit me. Simple stories. Country music isn't lyrically intellectual. The lyrics are what they are and you don't have to think or search for meaning. We can all relate to a break up, or a lost job, or a death in the family, or a story about childhood, or partying, or just going to the grocery store and buying some food. Put a simple story behind a catchy tune (country musicians are amongst the best) and you've got yourself good entertainment.

If you've always been one of those "I like pretty much everything except country" people, maybe it's time to give it another try. You might not love it, but I have a strong feeling you won't hate it.

A few of my favorite country tunes ...

Merle Haggard "Mama Tried" (by far my favorite Haggard song)