This blog may appear to be braggadocios. Folks may think that I’m only concerned with name dropping. I see it differently and I hope by the end of this post, you will understand. When I think about sharing country music experiences with y’all, I want to include some of the my most exciting moments. I love the genre and the artists. In fact, I really enjoy meeting celebrities, especially those whose music is woven into our collective culture. So for me, meeting some of my favorite artists has been a dream come true!
It all started with Taylor Swift. I was a freshman in high school. This was back when Taylor Swift was considered country. I had Fearless Tour floor seats. My friends and I arrived early with an elaborately decorated poster and entered first. We had barely taken our seats when a producer came up and asked us questions. Next thing I knew, Taylor’s Mom came out to meet us. Mrs. Swift took us on a backstage tour and into Taylor’s Green Room! Taylor visited with us and then we took some photos. It was definitely one of the best days of my life.
The next country artist I met was the Rascal Flatts. My friend, Ariella’s Mom had been listening to the radio for chances to meet the band. After a week of calling the station, Landa won a pass for two! We met Rascal Flatts and participated in a live Q&A session that aired on 93Q! Both Ariella and I skipped class to go meet them. They were such nice guys! It was the best “sick” day I had ever taken from school.
I was also fortunate enough to meet Keith Urban. This story is similar to my last one about the Rascal Flatts. Landa became unstoppable at winning prizes on the radio. She also gifted us with passes and a private concert with Keith Urban! After he performed a few of my favorite tunes we had a photo op. Keith is kind and an incredible guitar player.
My most recent country celebrity encounter is my favorite. Last year I signed up for Grammy U, a program for college students who love music. I never went to any of the events until I got an email last semester about a free sound check for none other than the Zac Brown Band! I got to the venue and was pleasantly surprised to find out that we were actually going on a backstage tour. The tour guide told us that in the past, the groups never had a chance to meet with Zac. However, lucky for us, Zac Brown himself joined our group and spoke with us for about 20 minutes! I stood right next to him while he explained his process in writing a new album. He even named some of the music he currently listens to, none of which is country. I mustered the courage to ask him if he ever gets tired of performing the same songs over and over for so many years. His response was that he loves performing his more popular singles because those are the songs fans respond to the most. The energy of the audience is what keeps Zac and his peers pumped on long tours. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a picture with him.
My experiences in meeting these country music celebrities has enriched my love for the genre. I am grateful to the artists and my dear friends for these moments that I will always cherish. I’m also looking forward to my next country artist encounter!
This post was really cool to read! I have never been to a concert where I’ve been able to go back stage or meet the performer, so reading about your experiences was really interesting. The closest thing I’ve had to that was Thomas Rhett holding my hand at a concert this past summer! I remember listening to Fearless right when it came out, so that’s awesome that you got to see her perform those songs live and even meet her back stage.
I really liked reading this post! It was great to hear that you got to meet all these cool celebrities. I’m a personal fan of Rascal Flatts. The closest I’ve been to an artist was during my first birthday. My parents held my birthday in one of the ball rooms at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore and you’ll never guess who was having a party in the next room… Michael Jackson! I can’t remember this, but I regret not being old enough to appreciate and comprehend it. I hope you have the same luck in the future and get your long lost picture with Zac Brown!
I really enjoyed reading your post! I can relate to it a lot because I have a friend who is constantly winning prizes from the radio station and drags me a long! Not that I mind though, because I get to go meet a lot of different artists. Most of the time, they aren’t for big names like this and they’re more of pop singers like James Bay or Jordin Sparks, and through random encounters at the rodeo and SXSW I’ve met people like Panic at the Disco! and different actors like Zac Efron and Kevin Hart. But the closest I’ve gotten to a country artists was Dan and Shay at a SXSW and they were standing next to me the whole time and we started to talk for a while and we just enjoyed the performance. I’m totally jealous about being able to go backstage. I’ve always wondered how that is and I’m sure you get a better appreciation of the music through that experience!