Growing up, my musical interests centered around Radio Disney and Kelly Clarkson. However, what took me a short amount of time to realize was that country music was really what genre fit me best and what I enjoyed the most. It was actually from my mother that I came to like country music since that was what she played in the car every day. I got so used to it that eventually I knew the words to every George Strait, Blake Shelton, and Carrie Underwood song that came on. To put it accurately, stations like Radio Disney were not requested anymore. I looked forward to hearing the city's country stations everyday on the way to and from school, and then would come home and play them on the radio in my room.
The moment I clearly remember best was when I got Taylor Swift's first CD as a Christmas present from my grandmother. I could not contain my excitement. She was the best new country artist at the time and she was all I wanted to listen to. In fact, I'm listening to her music as I write this. Country music somewhat became a part of my lifestyle and growing up in Kansas probably ensured that too. To have something that you enjoy that much is really a big deal; I feel like it shapes my personality. It even speaks the truth to add that the only concerts I've attended were country artists. (To be fair, the only artists that even come to my hometown are country for the most part.) I even went to Kansas City for a Kacey Musgraves concert for my 18th birthday last year, and was probably the best I've ever been to. When you're a die-hard fan from the beginning of a new artist's career, you will do anything to see them in person.
To this day I still enjoy my country music, even though I do have other tastes as well. My playlists mostly consist of classic rock, rap, some pop--but I hate that techno stuff--and then of course, 90% of what I listen to is country. Over the years, it has come to be a genre that I have never gotten tired of. The artists will actually be more than one-hit wonders since they are still winning awards to this day, compared to half of the pop artists I've tried listening to whom I don't hear anymore after about two years. Currently, my top daily favorites are Eric Church, Kacey Musgraves, Tim McGraw, Dierks Bentley, and Miranda Lambert. I usually save my classic favorites for any day when I feel different from the usual. As for Taylor Swift, I still always listen to her old and new albums. I will continue to say that from the start, she was a country singer; in my personal opinion, her first three albums were country in terms of the instruments used and the songs in general. I do like her more recent pop albums, and I accept the fact that she has changed since she began. I'll still hold her as a country singer deep-down, since I'm pretty sure she still listens to her country favorites that inspired her from the beginning. Country tunes will never leave my heart, and I will always stay faithful to one of my favorite childhood interests.
Long live country music!
