Everything Except Country

Think of how many times have you heard someone say "I listen to everything except country music." That exception at the end is always stated with a bit of pride and there's always an air of understanding, a bit that's unsaid but understood - "because you and me both know that country is crap." Chances are that you've said something similar at some point in your life or at least nodded your head in agreement when someone else said it. It's become part of pop culture to hate country music. So much so, that I don't think many people really think about what they're saying when they say they don't like country.

How many of the everything-except-country people have actually listened (not heard, listened) to country music and honestly given it a chance? I definitely wouldn't call myself a big fan of country - I hardly even know any songs or artists - but I've come across enough appealing tracks to realize that this entire genre definitely does not deserve to be written off as too corny for the cool people.

I'm a latecomer compared to other folks that like his music, but I've been a fan of Johnny Cash ever since I heard his cover of Nine Inch Nails' Hurt. Just recently, I found out that Almeda Riddle is the singer of an old acapella song that I love - Hangman Tree. The O, Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack is one of the best soundtracks I've heard. Everyone knows and should love Patsy Cline's Crazy. I'm not sure if Ray Charles did it first or if it was a country song before he touched it, but whichever version you listen to, Your Cheatin' Heart is a great song. Many people could probably relate to Bonnie Raitt's Let's Give them Something to Talk About.

If I can come across all this stuff without even trying, imagine how much more must be out there? I wouldn't say that I'm a country music fan - I find much of it to be boring and tedious -but there are plenty of gems out there. Actually, I bet if I dug deeper, I'd find that the boring, tedious stuff is not representative of most country - kind of like smooth jazz could make you think you hate jazz.

I'm not saying that you should dive into the world of country music head first and with reckless abandon, saturating your senses with the vivid story telling and copious amounts of guitar playing (not saying that you shouldn't), I'm just saying give it a chance. You may be missing out.