Author Archives: Carilu Martinez

by | December 3, 2014 · 1:05 pm

Hey, Jason Aldean

For my birthday, my awesome roommates bought all three of us tickets to go see Jason Aldean perform at the AT&T Stadium in San Antonio! I was super excited to have had the chance to share this experience with them because this was the first official concert I had ever been to! Not to mention, that this was the end of Jason Aldean “Burning it Down” tour. Jason Aldean is probably one of my favorite country artist and knowing that I was going to be able to see him perform live was super exciting! Getting to San Antonio was a bit hectic because there was so much traffic but while we impatiently waited, it allowed us to get our vocals warmed up!

Florida Georgia LineWe FINALLY made it to San Antonio and the concert started at approximately 7:30 p.m. As we were going up to our seats Florida Georgia Line was performing on stage already! From our section, we were able to see them straight ahead! Some of the earlier songs they performed were “Anything Goes” to “Here’s to the Good Times.” Their performance lasted for about an hour but within that hour they were able to execute a great performance! Florida Georgia Line knew exactly how to get the crowd going! While performing they would run from one side of the stage to the next trying to engage as much as possible with the audience. As their performance was getting close to an end they performed “Stay” and “This is How We Roll.” Their performance ended with “Cruise” and the crowded went wild!

Jason AldeanAs we all impatiently waited for Jason Aldean to come out, I couldn’t help to notice that the stadium had reached its full capacity! On stage there were four video screens and a giant letter A. Aldean came out performing his first single in 2005 “Hicktown.” He got the crowd moving with “My Kinda Party” and “Fly Over States.” One of my favorite parts about concert was when he performed “Don’t You Wanna Stay” with Kelly Clarkson. Even though she appeared on a pre-taped on the screen, I found out that was still pretty awesome that he was able to perform that song! Aldean did not take a break during his performance. He sang for about an hour straight! There was a time when he teased the audience in making us believe that he was going to sing “Burning it Down” but he assured the audience that he was going to perform it later on. He finally performed “Burning it Down” and the audience went crazy! He followed the song my performing “Dirt Road Anthem” and “Crazy” which at this point I had already lost my voice.

I can finally be able to scratch off my bucket list seeing Jason Aldean in concert! By far this has been one of the best experiences ever but I was so glad to have had the opportunity to share this with my closest friends! They are just awesome!!

2 Comments

Filed under Bro Country, Live Music

by | December 2, 2014 · 4:15 pm

Scotty McCreery

Austin Rodeo

I remember growing up and thinking that “country music” was music for older people. I had that mentality until I was a sophomore in high school. I remember being in the car with brother, on our way from school and he had the country station on. As he was driving, I recall that day I was having a really bad day at school, so there I was in the car urging to get home, not wanting to carry a conversation with my brother, when all of a sudden I began to listen to the music that was being played in the radio and that was all it took for me to fall in love with today’s country music! Since that day country music stood out to me because I felt like I could relate not just to just one song but also to multiple songs because every country song tells a story.

Scotty McCreeryAs I was still discovering more country artist my cousin introduced me to Scotty McCreery. When I first listened to McCreery I was blown away because for one he really had that country voice and two at only 18 years old McCreery won the 10th season of American Idol. I remember hearing him perform “Your Man” by Josh Turner and I fell in love with him! He has that deep country voice!

It was this past Spring Break that my best friend and I were very fortunate to have had the opportunity to see McCreery in concert! McCreery performed at the Austin Rodeo. It was my first time attending a concert so I was super excited! When we first arrived, I noticed that Rodeo Austin was having its annual fair. I love the fair so being able to attend the concert AND going to the fair afterwards made me an even more very happy girl! Before the concert began, they have proRodeo events where basically they have men riding bulls and horses. I had never found an interest in seeing bull riding but being able to watch it in person was a whole different story, I actually found it very interesting.

Once the proRodeo events were over, all these staff members went out on the field and began to clear everything for the concert. At first I did not know whether they were going to put a huge stage for McCreery to perform but as I was thinking about the endless possibilities, all the lights in the rodeo shut down and all you could see were the lights on people’s phones. McCreery entered the rodeo in a pick up truck! Since the rodeo is in a circular shape, he performed in the middle of the rodeo so everybody was able to see him at a good angle. He first performed “Your Man” by Josh Turner! But before he began to sing he took the time to acknowledge how his career began. I though that was just so awesome! Throughout his performance he performed his biggest hits like I Love You This Big, The Trouble with Girls, and See You tonight

Even though this was not your typical concert I really enjoyed it because it was at an actual rodeo and to me that is very country itself. The capacity was approximately from 250-300 people and there were people from all different ages. I really enjoyed this concert from beginning to end! When the concert ended McCreery got in the back of the pick up truck and went all around the rodeo was waved at the audience. A couple was kind enough to let my friend and I take their place at the very front and… I cannot end this blog without mentioning that I TOUCHED SCOTTY McCREERY’s HAND!!

6 Comments

Filed under Live Music

by | November 28, 2014 · 8:00 am

Darius Rucker

dariusJust like everybody else, I probably listen to music everyday. I love listening to music when I am getting ready to go somewhere. It tends to put me in a really good mood. My go-to station on Pandora is Darius Rucker! The majority of the time I feel like his station is always on point! I feel like I can relate to his music so much! Rucker is a solo country artist who first began in a band called Hootie & the Blowfish. In the mid-90s his band would perform pop/rock songs. Unfortunately, this band did last very long and Rucker launched his solo career singing R&B and country.

One thing that I enjoy about Rucker’s music is that most of his songs have a positive vibe. The very first time I heard one of his song’s, It Wont Be Like This for Long, I immediately fell in love. This song is in his album Learn to Live. Even though this song is talking about someone’s child and how eventually one day that child will be on their own. I can relate to this song in two different ways. In one way, coming from a family of five older siblings (which I am the baby of the family) I feel like in my parent’s eyes, I will always be their baby. When I was in high school, I felt that my parents were in denial that sooner or later I was going to have to leave their home and go off to college. Those four years were probably the fastest four years of their lives. The day that they brought me to college was the day first time that I had ever seen my mother cry. Seeing my mom cried made me feel sad! I didn’t want to see her like and I felt horrible and right away I though if I had made the right decision about attending college in a different city. Without a doubt, my parents were very understanding and supportive about my decision of leaving home and furthering my education. In another way, I look back and realize that little girl that my parents dropped off in college is now a senior at the best university there is! I can’t believe that four years have passed by so quickly! I now think sooner or later I will be going through the same thing! It gives me the chills knowing that one day I will be the one dropping off my own kids in school!

Another favorite song by him is I Got Nothin’ . There is obviously no perfect relationship. In a relationship, you are going to have to probably go through the highest and lowest points (if you are in a “serious” relationship) and there are going to be times when you really don’t have anything to say. Arguments are inedible. Who knows how long they are going to last. In most cases, someone in the relationships is not going to want to make things worse and they are not going to say anything. I fell like this is the message he is trying to send out. That if you don’t say anything you are going to lose the one you truly care about.

7 Comments

Filed under New Country