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.
As 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!!
Nice post. I used to be the same way. I used to not be very much into country music and thought that it was for old people and hillbillies. BUT my mind has changed completely since then and I really do enjoy country music and find it so interesting. Every song does tell a story, and they all have much meaning, which is what I feel makes country music very unique. I actually do not think I have ever heard any of Scotty McCreery’s music before, but I will definitely check him out because he seems so awesome the way you described him!
I was the exact same way in middle school. My parents always had country music playing as I grew up so I always thought of it as old people music. That made me never want to listen to country because who as a middle schooler wants to listen to “old people music”. That was definitely not the ideal cool thing to do as a middle schooler. Looking back I wish I would have been more interested in my parents music and more appreciative of the music the current artists of the time were producing. I would be a lot more knowledgable now if I did.
I love stories about concerts — and how cool that Scotty traveled in and out of the arena in the back of a pickup truck!
I definitely had the same feelings growing up, especially since my dad listened to country music and he was really the only one in the family that did. It wasn’t until I moved to Texas and started going to the rodeo in Houston that I really started to understand that it wasn’t just for old people. I am not the biggest Scotty McCreery fan, but I think that’s just because I haven’t really listened to him too much. His season of American Idol was actually the first season that I stopped watching the show, so I didn’t know about him until I heard him on the radio. His music is actually pretty good, so I’m kind of jealous that you got to go to that concert!
I completely agree, I never was really into country music and never understood what the big deal was. The only times I heard it were in the car with my friends’ parents dropping us off somewhere. I personally think it is a lot more enjoyable when you actually get to listen to it live in a good environment where everyone is thoroughly engaged like the rodeo you went to. I have definitely switched my allegiance to The Voice recently but I did watch most of Scotty’s performances on Idol and his voice just blew me away. You’d never expect that from someone so young. I bet he also sounded great live since he has a lot of experience performing on stages. So jealous!
I grew up listening to country music, so I cannot really relate to the beginning of your post. I actually remember in middle school when I wanted to start venturing out from just country, I would secretly listen to 96.7 kiss fm– the Austin station. I say secretly because I was embarrassed by the vulgar and quite often ‘dirty’ lyrics and I did not want my mom to know. It is kind of funny looking back on that now, especially since how much country music has changed as well. I could probably think about a few country songs that I listen to now that I would have been ashamed of back then. I also love Scotty McCreery because of his deep voice and think it is really awesome that you got to touch his hand!