He's Gone Country

Lately I’ve been listening to country music. I’ve never liked country music before. Growing up I listened to mainly classic rock. I still love the “classics” to this day. I’m talking about bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, and so on. I used to really HATE country music. I could stand to listen to Johnny Cash but that was about it. However over the last few months my taste has changed a bit.

It all started one Friday night in Auburn. I was at one of my favorite places: Plainsman Park, watching the mighty Auburn Tigers baseball team. The local country station (97.7) carries the games. On my way home I listened to the post game analysis… eventually that ended, and they started playing the country music. The first song that came on was “Til Summer Comes Around” by Keith Urban. I ignored my initial instinct to immediately change the station to the local classic rock station. As I listened to the song I realized just how good it was. I can honestly say that I got chills after the second chorus when Keith launched into the guitar solo. It was one of those rare moments that happen when you hear a song for the first time. Not to be overly sensitive, but it was moving. The song tells a story that has been told a million times before in a million other songs… basically his woman leaves him and promises to come back one day. He is singing about waiting for that moment of reunion with her. Even though I have heard that story over and over again, this time I was moved by it.

I think I was initially drawn to this particular song because of its style. I don’t pretend to be an expert on country artists, but Keith Urban seems like he is a mixture of country and rock… a perfect transition for me, a rock lover. That particular song has a real slow blues/rock style with a country twist. Keith Urban is an excellent guitarist as well. I always tend to like bands/music with good guitar work since I am a guitarist myself.

So as the story unfolds, I basically kept my dial tuned to 97.7 for the next few weeks. I had decided to “give country another chance.” What I found was that there are a lot of good songs out there that I have been missing out on. Sure, there are some songs that have that “rednecky” country sound. I still don’t really enjoy those. However, there are a lot of great songs as well. The band I was/am in plays a song called “Chicken Fried” by the Zac Brown Band. Let me just say that I HATE that song. It IS totally redneck. Nevertheless, the song was a huge hit, and we always had good success when we played it. Over time, people kept telling me that the Zac Brown Band was amazing. I often scoffed at the notion… that is until recently. I downloaded the entire album last week to check it out. Let me just say that there isn’t a bad song on the album (except “Chicken Fried”). Zac’s music makes me feel a wide array of emotions. Songs like “Toes” and “Different Kind of Fine” are fun and happy. He also has songs like “Jolene” and “Highway 20 Ride” that bring out emotions of self-reflection and loss.

That is what I like about music in the first place. Emotion. As a man, I don’t show emotion very often… I would argue that I am worse at showing emotion than even most men. Nevertheless, believe it or not, I FEEL emotions. I have always loved the songs that make me feel something. It can be happy feelings or sad feelings. Either way, I just appreciate a song that is good enough to make me feel SOMETHING. I think this is what has led me to listen to more country music. I feel like a lot of the songs are more “honest” somehow. It makes me feel alive and like myself. It makes me feel southern. It makes me proud to be me somehow. My buddy Wil commented that country music is “like the Bible with pedal steel.” There is a ring of truth to that. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of country songs that have the opposite message of the Bible, but a lot of the songs have an almost gospel feel. I enjoy the honesty and the musicianship of it all. It is refreshing to hear some of the different sounds and instruments that are unique to country music. The pedal steel and Fiddle are prominent in a lot of songs. I still love a great electric guitar solo more than anything, but sometimes a Fiddle solo can be just as skilled and moving.

Maybe this is just a passing phase for me, I don’t know. Like I said, I still LOVE the classics, but right now I am enjoying something new and fresh.