Every bandwagon is just as bad as the next. Just like people are bandwagon New England Patriot fans, some are country music bandwagon fans.
For all my country lovers out there, ask yourself this- do you know Shania Twain? Big and Rich? Martina McBride? If the answer to these were no, then you probably hopped on that country music bandwagon in 2012 along with everyone else.
For the record, this is coming from a girl who grew up with country music. Car rides with my mom always meant the radio was on 97.5 WOKQ Country. Toby Keith’s “I wanna talk about me” was the song for my fifth grade talent show dance. Big and Rich music videos were playing on the TV every afternoon over the summer at lunch time, Reba McEntire taught me what a real accent sounds like and Faith Hill taught me that I do in fact have a soft side.
Not everyone has to have had these same experiences but face it, the majority of people probably started liking country when all their friends did, in 2012 precisely. This is when artists like Luke Bryan and Sam Hunt started making their debuts. You love the popular songs that you sing your lungs out to on your way to the beach over the summer. You love the songs that all your friends know, ones that are at the top of the charts week after week.
You then seek out those artists, listen to all their songs and then somehow become obsessed with not only the cute guys singing the songs but “country music” as a whole. You are suddenly Luke Bryan and Kenny Chesney’s biggest fans.
Don’t get me wrong, I love them too but they are not real country music. They don’t have the twang in their voice like old school Toby Keith in “Beer for my horses” or the big beards growing on their chins.
Instead, they have fan appeal. They are clean shaven, maybe with a little bit of shadow for a tease. They are tall and lean, no beer bellies accepted. They have the perfect “accent” that makes every girl melt. They sing songs that us girls relate to and want to listen to all the time.
So for all you crazy “country lovers”, do me a favor and look up Martina McBride, Jo Dee Messina, or Reba McEntire. Take a listen to their music and let me know what you think. If you like it, then maybe start listening to more of this real country before telling all your friends how much you love country music and posting Instagram captions with Luke Bryan lyrics.
