Growing up I always tried to distance myself from country music. It was the rebellious side of me trying to break away from my parents. However it seemed the harder I tried the more I related to the songs. I remember my first real girlfriend her name was Kelly I was young and dumb about 14 I thought it was going to last forever. Of course it didn't and we did break up what was the first song I heard, Alabama "Goodbye" also known as "Kelly's Song" talk about an emotional slap in the face. The tears came down like Niagara Falls I should know it is only 20 minutes from my door. I think I must have replayed the song 100 times that week, a hard task since it was on tape not a fancy CD or MP3. I did get a nice crack with a wooden paddle over that since I took the tape out of my dad's car without telling him. I was always late in the game with new music this relationship was in 1995 and I was still listening to a 5 year old album Alabama had already put 3 more albums out after Pass It on Down by that time.
I guess even back the. I had an old soul, because looking back on that album (which still may be my favorite Alabama album of all time) it is filled with songs of breaks up and hard times. The title track is about how we are destroying our own planet and how we need to start conserving the environment for our future generations. I may have not had acres of land at my house but I spent most of my summers on my aunts horse farm and when I wasn't out there I was camping with my neighbors, so nature was very important to me. This album is why I now turn to music after break ups, I still turn on "Until It Happens To You" and of course "Jukebox in my Mind". I am actually getting. It sentimental right now just thinking back on the relationships that I have had and the memories of getting over them with country music.
I went through a divorce 2 years ago and at first it was hard for me to listen to any music. We both love country music it was one thing that we bonded over. In the end it was our last fight as well. Our last fight was who got to take the 3rd row tickets for Blake Shelton. I had over 20,000 songs on my laptop and couldn't bring myself to listen to any of them. I was stuck on sports talk radio all day and night. I wanted nothing to do with my passion, my life. Finally after 3 months of no music I plugged in my IPod and let it play. For the next 4 hours all I did was cry, smile, and finally sing along. It was country music that saved my life, more precisely it was King George, Chris Cagle and Gary Allan. Between the 3 of them there was not one emotion I wasn't feeling. This was the first time in almost 20 years I was single I mean really single and I didn't know how to handle it. I was a wreck and spinning out of control I was losing friends and lashing out at everyone until that first song came through my truck speakers it was a song I have heard thousands of times and drunkenly sang at numerous bars, "Smoke Rings in the Dark" but this time it hit me like a freight train to the chest. It opened my eyes, dropped my jaw, and starting to heal my heart. My mind blanked for the first time since she left me I was free of her image if only for a couple minutes I was free. It was like that song after song note after note. All I wanted to hear we're done me wrong falling out of love songs. I honestly believe if not for the 3 men above I wouldn't be here. I had bad thoughts and mostly because I thought I was alone. I may not have had anyone around me but I wasn't alone I had three new best friends that I fell like I had just met for this first time. There are still songs I can't listen to fully because they take me back to a bad time and a bad place, but I know that if I ever have the chance to meet any one these men I will thank them for saving me. That is the power of our music it can grab us by the hand and lead us through any hell we are facing.
I have been told I have a great work ethic and when people ask me why I work so hard I tell them It's the only way I know. From early on I was told I have to be up at the crack of dawn and go to bed after Johnny Carson. Okay so maybe not that late but it seemed like it. For those who don't known who Caron is I am sorry you missed out. The winter had me up at 4:30 for hockey and the summer had me up at 5:00 to shovel horse crap. To this day if I sleep past 8 I feel as if the day is wasted. I get to work an hour early everyday so I can say hi to the 100 or so people I work with that day just because it's the right polite thing to do. I work my 8 hours a day and then some. You won't see me sitting at a desk or most of the time sitting at all. I have spinal stenosis which is a shrinking of the spinal cord and it makes it tough for me to get around some days, but I still don't stop. There are days when I have to use the cane that I keep in my truck which at 33 is embarrassing but I need it. On those days I may not lift as much but I still end up doing more work than most people. When they tell me to slow down all I can respond with is "How". I don't do these things because I want to but because I was taught by Aaron Tippin what a working mans PHD is all about. I think Brooks And Dunn summed me up with the following line "Got everything I own / By the sweat of my brow / From my four-wheel drive to my cowboy boots / I owe it all to my blue collar roots." Most of all I work hard so at the end of the week I can put some beer on the table.
Who out there doesn't like to live it up with our friends. It could be a simple drink on a deck or an all night tip it back night on the town. When I am getting ready to go out and have fun I don't know if anyone gets me more pumped up then the LoCash Cowboys. They are so up beat and bring it hard in almost every song. That's what I look for when I am having fun fast paced songs that are loud and speak truth. If your drink of choice is Jack, Jim, Jose or a longneck you can find your party song in a second. I know I always like when tequila makes her clothes fall off but it usually makes me wake up thinking Jack Daniels Kicked my Ass again. We go out to have fun and no matter where we go we find it. From empty parking lots to crowded bars, corn fields to tailgate parties there's a song for us.
So remember next time you think your all alone in the world and nobody understands you, we have all been there and done that. All you need to do is bring up your music player or CDs and play any artist and you will feel like they wrote a song just for you. Life is hard but we all go through the same things at some point. When your friends ask you how can you listen to that twangy mess simply look them in the eyes and say "This twangy mess is my life and your life and if you don't get that I feel sorry for you.". We the country music fans of the world have it made, our favorite singers and bands get us because they have been I our boots they have driven our trucks and had their hearts ripped out and stomped on. There is no other genre of music that relates more to everyday life with every song than ours. Wether you live in the south north east or west on a farm or in a city there is a song for you. It shouldn't be called country music is should be called life music because that's what it is. They are songs about my life and that will not change. Country music is my life and my life is country music I love it live and learn from it.
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