With the recent release of a country music album by a popular Black performer, there are people listening to that genre of music for the first time, as well as others acknowledging publicly how much they’ve secretly enjoyed it for years and decades. I’m in the latter category for the most part, except I’ve never been shy about proclaiming my affinity for country music.
As a kid, I was exposed to Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, maybe a few others, but it didn’t stick with me like that. Especially when R&B, pop, rap, heavy metal, and alternative were so much more prevalent in my world. It was like that until I was a grown man, but just like everything else in life, evolution is inevitable.
I was in my fifth or sixth month as a professional over-the-road truck driver, when something new slipped into my world. I was driving east on Interstate 80 through Wyoming. I owned cassette tapes, but I was tired of listening to the same stuff over and over, and in that part of America back then, the only choices were classic rock or country music. I found a station playing music created in Nashville studios. I would have kept searching, but I was about to experience ‘The Sisters’ (also known as the ‘Stairway to Heaven), and my attention was focused on the highway.
A song was playing about a relationship that had thrived despite the misgivings and tongue-wagging of society. I listened to this song ‘You’re Still the One’ by a young lady named Shania Twain and I liked it. It was followed by another song about ex-lovers residing in a particular state, which is why the singer lived somewhere else. I kept that station on until I stopped in Nebraska and then I bought a couple of cassettes at the truck stop featuring the songs I’d heard. That’s how my love affair began.
Years later, when I was going through an extremely rough time in my life, my friend Krystal invited me to spend Easter weekend at her parents’ home in rural Indiana. I was the third wheel on the drive, but I went and had an amazing time. Krystal’s mom, Robin, not only gave me an Easter basket, but that night, she gave me something even more precious.
The rest of the household was asleep, while Robin and me were wide awake. She retrieved a shoebox full of cassette tapes, and we sat at the table while we listened to Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, and a bunch of other artists. That night added so much more to my life. Robin has ascended to Heaven, and she is missed. The circle will remain unbroken.
I think my love affair with country music is just another ingredient to the gumbo of me. The lyrics of certain songs are haunting, moving, and inspirational, and I’m glad that I have been able to immerse myself in this genre. Sure, I still love other genres, and I’ll argue that the blues and country music have the same messages, with different instruments. Discover it for yourself, and as always, I do have recommendations.
P.S. ‘Jolene’ must have possessed Helen of Troy beauty, because there’s no way 1960s Dolly Parton would ever have to worry about another lady taking her man.
