What comes to your mind when you hear the word “California?” Most people would think Hollywood, the beach, nice weather, hippies, surfing, big city, entertainment capitol, etc. All of those descriptions come with positive connotations surrounding that one word “California.” I have experienced these stereotypes first hand as I was born and raised in the valley of southern California, otherwise known as Calabasas. Whenever I describe where I am from, most people immediately associate me with being similar to the “Kardashians:” rich, stuck up, fortunate, famous, fake, pretentious, and typically someone who looks down upon others. Despite those negative descriptions, that is not at all what I consider to be “my community.”
Yes, I am from Calabasas, but I never grew up intending to live up to the “Kardashian” lifestyle. The community where I consider myself a part of is full of busy and motivated pedestrians, crowded streets, big rolling hills, grand houses, and people who love to be outdoors enjoying the warm southern California sun. But underneath the surface level depictions, Calabasas is a community that will open its arms to all types of people regardless of race or sexual orientation, and for that reason alone, I couldn’t be more proud of where I come from.
Calabasas really shaped my outlook on country music considering the genre is almost non-existent there. No one that I know of enjoys or often listens to country music, so I was never introduced to it formally until I moved here to Texas. This is the exact reason why I chose to take this class so that I could begin to learn about this specific type of genre and surrounded myself with people who share the same interest as me.
Unfortunately, not knowing many country songs to begin with, choosing one that reminds me of my community was more challenging than expected. I originally had chosen the song Feeling Fine California by Kristian Bush because I thought it was a perfect song to describe where I grew up in California, but I wanted to dig deeper into the meanings of some of these country songs, which led me to choose Boondocks by Little Big Town. This song really hits home for me especially since its lyrics talk about how he is proud of where he comes from. Even though the artist and I come from different small towns, I can relate to him and the way he feels about his hometown through his passion in his voice and the powerful lyrics he sings. Additionally, he sings about the things that he has learned from being in that small town such as learning about life, love, working hard, and Jesus, just as I did while being from my small town.
As an out of state student here at Texas it sometimes feels like I don’t belong simply because 95% of the students here were born and raised in Texas. But despite what others think, just as the song states, I am proud of where I come from, and that’s where my heart and soul will always remain.
Sierra! I love how honest you are in this post. It’s so cool that you can bring in a whole new perspective to this class being from Cali. Maybe you can even bring some of the things we will learn in this class back home and teach them a thing or two!
Sierra, I really enjoyed this post and think it’s really interesting and admirable how you enjoy country music even though it was almost non existent where you came from. I think having pride and a love for one’s hometown is such a huge part of so many country songs, and can see how you would relate to that, even being from California.
As a fellow out-of-stater I definitely know the feeling of being out of place down here in Texas, as well as many misconceptions about where you come from. This was an awesome song choice, not only is a great song, but the message it carries fits with moving to a completely different place really well. Your writing about what Calabasas was great, and I’m sure this class will help you better understand the completely different culture in Texas and the country music genre as a whole, as I hope it does for me too.
Sierra, this is such a cool post! I was really intrigued to see where it was going with the Kardashians being mentioned in the title and I really liked where you went with it. I know nothing about Cali or Calabasas and it’s super interesting to know it’s not all Kardashian-y there. I love how interested you are in country music even though it’s not popular where you’re from. Very neat!
This post rocks. Your title was solid, as seen by just about every comment above mine. It really did make me want to know what you had written about! The entire post was really genuine and I could tell you took it seriously. I am apart of that “95%” born and raised here in Texas, and naturally grew up listening to country music, so it’s refreshing to get the perspective of someone who has grown up without country music. GREAT find with your song- you related it in a way I never would have thought of.
Hey Sierra! I totally get where you’re coming from-I’m from Southern California too. It’s definitely weird being from out-of-state, and like you, no one listens to country music where I grew up. I think you took a creative perspective with this article and I like how the songs you picked talked about being proud of where you came from. Nice job!
I loved reading your blog! I don’t come from a family that loves or listens to the country that everyone else is most familiar with as well. And one of the first country songs I ever listened to was Boondocks! That song brings back memories with my older sister. The order of this blog was perfect! You did an excellent job grasping the reader’s attention. I thought this post was creative and genuine. You did a great job at describing your city, too. The stereotype I normally correlate with California is that everyone surfs and listens to Bob Marley. When I visited a couple years ago, I didn’t hear country music once. I wonder if the Kardashian’s listen to any country music?
Hey Sierra! I knew I had to read your post because of its hilarious title. I loved your post because I can totally relate to being from out of state and being prejudged because of it. I also enjoyed how you could’ve gone the easy route by picking “Feelin’ Fine California” but instead you found a great perspective to write from in “Boondocks.”
I read this post and was immediately interested in reading it simply because I was vastly confused/curious how it was related to country music! After reading it, it makes much more sense! I can’t exactly relate to it from the perspective of being from out of state, because I’m one of the many born and raised in Texas, BUT I can relate to the part of not knowing much about country at one time and not feeling that sense of belonging. I didn’t listen to too much country music before the end of high school/ beginning of college and only listened to a select handful of artists. This song was also one of the few songs I have listened too that i didn’t really listen to the artist in general also!