In Praise of Country Music

I know what many of you are thinking. Country Music? Twanging guiitars, Southern accents, a couple of hayseeds sitting around with jugs of moonshine and pickin' and fiddlin'...Nah, that ain't country music anymore, if it ever really was. I'm talking about the kind of music that performers like Alan Jackson, Gretchen Wilson, Blake Shelton, Terri Clark, Tim McGraw or Faith Hill sing. Songs that come from the heart. Songs that tell a story. Songs with a melody. Songs that do not depend on a monotonous, repetitive beat that any computer can generate. Songs like "Too Much of a Good Thing"--Jackson or "When I Think About Cheatin"--Wilson. Songs that stay with you, that touch you, that make you feel good about life, about the values you hold, the country you live in.

There was a time I listened only to Rock, and when I mean Rock, I mean butt-kickin', guitar-smokin' Heavy Metal. I had all the Black Sabbath albums, couldn't wait till the next one came out. I saw them in concert at the Long Beach Arena back in the late 70's. Also saw Led Zepplin at the Los Angeles Forum. I've seen Jethro Tull, Robin Trower, Rory Gallagher, Deep Purple, Black Oak Arkansas... Bought their albums and followed the latest news about Ozzy, Tony, Jimmy, Robert, etc. Yes, I lived and died with them.

But times change. Have you heard Rock radio lately? I mean besides Green Day, U2 and a few other groups, everything sounds the same. So what are you left with? Classic Rock. Here is the problem with this--how many times can you listen to "Stairway to Heaven"? I wanted to listen to new music. Not the same stuff I listened to in high school, college and my 20s and 30s. Then one day I turned on CMT on cable TV and started to listen to the music. I got hooked and let me tell ya somethin' I ain't goin back. Yeah, I'll listen to an occasional Dylan or Beatles song. But I'm country now and I stickin' with it.