A few people have said this to me through the years and with some bewilderment or confusion or maybe surprise I would think to myself… wow why would they say that?
I guess having spent a lot of time and energy in leaving behind what I thought had been a somewhat simpler time or perhaps a less generous viewpoint would be to say a more backward thinking time in my life; a decision to direct my efforts to move forward in what I believed to be growth by seeking other types of music, more complicated, progressive perhaps is the right word and except for the occasional deep appreciation of artist’s such Reba & Garth, I’ve repeatedly scoffed at the simplistic approach and have been critical of that one aspect and in hindsight I can see how others might interpret or think I was too stuck up or high brow to like such music.
A recent business trip to Nashville and visiting the new Grand Old Opry, the Ryman Auditorium (Old Grand Opry) known as the Church of Country Music along with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, something stirred bringing back memories as a child listening to Merle, Buck, Charlie, Conway and of course Loretta. I came back home having really enjoyed the trip but could not quite put my finger on it.
Then just recently on PBS’s American Masters a documentary about Loretta Lynn; an understanding a long time hidden in my memory and while I hesitate in the overused term “what speaks to you” I nevertheless get more of what life is about in those songs which of course is what country music is and always has been about.
Hopefully having matured and become a little wiser, a much better understanding and appreciation for lyrics accompanied by a simple guitar and of course a fiddle are now once again what I cherish most and while my tastes in music continue to be varied, I can only hope that one day someone will say “I always knew you were a country music fan”
