As told from Urban Dictionary, “Fort Worth is the craziest dopest place in Texas”. From a different perspective, Urban Dictionary also says, “Save yourself some time and just move to Dallas.” Twenty years ago, I was born in Fort Worth, Texas and with every passing year, the love for my city grew. The people I familiarized myself with, including my family, friends, peers, etc., all felt the same way. When people ask where I am from, I simply say I am a Fort Worthian, or I originate from the Worthiest of Forts. Living in this great city for my entire life has led me to build a permanent and meaningful community. Those who are Fort Worth bred are proud and share a unanimous collective effervescence. This mutual feeling was accumulated most prominently in schools, where kids would share their ideas and family customs. The Fort Worth public school I attended allowed us to listen to our iPods during recess, and some teachers let us listen to them during class or passing periods. Music is one of the things that enabled me to bond with my fellow classmates. A wide array of genres was also blasted at McLean Middle School. One of the more prominent types of music blared was country music. Growing up in Fort Worth has inadvertently exposed me to the world of country music. Texas is teeming with country music, whether you think it or not. Living in Fort Worth supported the introduction to this type of music. One event that endorsed country music was the Fort Worth Stock Show. At the end of every January and beginning of every February, the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo comes to life. The promotion of livestock, horse and bull riding, petting zoos, roller coasters, and country music all coincide into a dollop of fun. This is just one of the factors that constructed my outlook on country music. When high school rolled around, more and more of my friends started going to country concerts at Lone Star. Mardi Gras Texas Style was the one country concert that every kid from Fort Worth and Dallas attended. Bands such as Randy Rogers Band, Turnpike Troubadours, Cody Johnson Band, and more, play their music. Being involved in the Fort Worth community really and truly helped formulate my outlook and perspective on country music. A song that everyone loved in middle school and high school, probably even today, is Chicken Fried by Zac Brown Band. This song was huge in Fort Worth. Radio stations including 99.5, 95.9, and 96.7 all repeatedly played this at the same time, almost as though they planned it. Listening to Zac Brown automatically lifted any dark clouds and always put my friends and me in a good mood.
Category Archives: Austin
My Randy Rogers Week
With great anticipation I was counting down the days until the The Randy Rogers Band in concert. I rounded up a huge group to see him live at Floore’s country store on Saturday, April 25th. The week before I listened to all my favorite songs on repeat. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I listened to the albums Trouble, Burning the Day Away, and Randy Rogers Band. Late Tuesday afternoon I realized I was missing something. Randy’s new duet album recorded with Wade Bowen had just been released at record stores that very day. I needed to go to Waterloo records to pick up a copy. I hopped in the car, picked up my best friend Jake, who introduced me to Randy Roger’s music, and headed for Waterloo. The savory smells of 24 Diner greeted us as we approached the record store. Randy Roger’s voice welcomed us over the loud speaker singing a song I had never heard before. We scanned the rows of records for the country music label that would lead us to Randy’s new album, instead it lead us to Randy himself, in the flesh. Yep, Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen stood in the far corner of the store signing albums and greeting fans. My soul began to soar as my dreams were coming true. My heart beat fast as Jake and I stood in line preparing ourselves to meet our favorite Texas Country artist. He wore a plaid button up and trucker hat. His sleeves were rolled up enough to reveal large tattoos covering his upper forearms. I said hello and that I couldn’t wait to see him that Saturday! He was a polite, but a shy guy, with a well groomed beard and mellow speaking voice. He was glad to hear I’d be joining him at Floore’s country store later that week and told me he would be performing a song or two off the new album. We discussed one of the songs, “Hold my Beer”. My day was absolutely made! What an outstanding surprise! Randy and Wade had performed live in Waterloo records earlier that day to promote their album and I arrived just in time to meet them before they moved on to their next obligation. It was my lucky day. By the time Saturday rolled around I was loving the new album and pumped for the concert. The songs I was most excited to hear were my old favorites, ”Buy Myself a Chance”, ” In My Arms Instead”, and my from the new album,” Standards”. “Standards” is Randy and Wade’s pledge to always sing good quality songs, not shallow fluffy pop without meaning like many country artists do today.
“…..I don’t have hits, I’ve got standards” is a line that pretty much sums up the song and The Randy Roger’s Band. My friends and I loaded up in a van Saturday night and headed to Floore’s. Everyone wore cowboy boots; boys in jeans, girls in cute dresses. The venue was smoky and crowded. Every audience member held a beer and most wore cowboy hats. My group shoved our way through the crowd and found a spot with a great view of the band. I’m not sure that we had room to two step but we did it anyways. We sang our favorite songs at the top of our lungs as the stage lights saturated the band with orange, blue and white light. My favorite moment of the entire concert was during the song “Too Late for Goodbye”, my best friend and I sang as loud as we could and jumped up and down. Toward the end of the song the boy I have a crush on lifted me up high above the crowd. I could see the band perfectly and everyone looked up at me. I reached out and felt like I could almost touch the band. I was on cloud 9. Randy ended the concert with “Kiss Me in the Dark”, probably his most popular and beloved song. My Randy Rogers week was one I will never forget. I now love him even more if that is possible!
Filed under Austin, Live Music, Texas
iHeartRadio Country Music Festival
This weekend I was lucky enough to attend the 2nd annual iHeartRadio Country Music Festival here in Austin. To say it was an extraordinary showcase is an understatement. Hosted by Bobby Bones, Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland, and Darius Rucker this festival was a special once in a lifetime event with a stellar all-star lineup. This year it included Justin Moore, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Tyler Farr, Sam Hunt, The Band Perry, Little Big Town, Brantley Gilbert, Dierks Bentley, Darius Rucker, and the icing on the cake was Tim McGraw. It was only fitting that the newest and hottest artists in country music traveled to the “Live Music Capital of the World” for a concert of a lifetime.
The iHeartRadio Country Music Festival is one of the largest and grandest country music festivals in the country and Austin has been lucky enough to host it for the second year in a row. It is sister concert to the iHeartRadio Music Festival held in Las Vegas and the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Concert Tour. John Sykes, President of iHeartMedia Entertainment Enterprises, shared with Rolling Stone that “Every single one of these artists can headline an arena or stadium on their own, but on this night they will share the stage to celebrate the amazing music on our iHeartRadio country stations”. Clearly, this was not an event to be missed.
What I did not realize was that the concert was actually being filmed to air on NBC May 27th. Given that, walking into the stadium I was not expecting to see huge cameras pointing in every direction or camera crew pacing the floor. This aspect actually made the event more special because I felt like I was a part of something big. Cameras were set all around the arena and throughout the show there were segments of staged cheering and applause conducted by Bobby Bones and Jennifer Nettles themselves. It was pretty cool to see what it was like behind the scenes and how a televised show comes together.
Brad Paisley kick started the show with a bang. I had never seen him in concert before so he was someone I was looking forward to watching. He definitely made it a production and got the crowd going wild. The Band Perry surprised the crowd by singing a cover of party song “Uptown Funk”, making the whole audience jump to their feet and dance. The trio sounded like they could’ve been the original artists of the song, which was remarkable considering they were country artists singing a pop party song.
I have always like Brantley Gilbert, but I did not enjoy his performance as much as all of the others. Before he took the stage, there was a video shown of him and his band looking like they could’ve been a part of a gang. Glimpses of head to toe bling and tattoos were not the quintessential things I expected to see at a country concert. In my opinion, the video jut didn’t fit the “country” mood of the night. Regardless, he was fun to watch and had abundant energy. Little Big Town sang hits like “Day Drinking” and controversial song “Girl Crush” which the audience cheered and supported despite the recent backlash. Overall, they were entertaining with Karen Fairchild standing out with her astounding vocals.
Following them was the great Darius Rucker. His performance was one of my favorites. His audience interaction was spot on and you could just tell how much he was enjoying singing in that moment. Rascal Flatts was also one of my favorite performances, which I wasn’t expecting. Despite having lost popularity in recent years, I thought their performance was amazing. From singing new hits like “Rewind” to throwing it back and singing “What Hurts the Most” and “Life Is A Highway”, I had so much fun singing along with them.
Finally, the one and only Tim McGraw closed the show and was nothing less than flawless. He was definitely the most anticipated artist and that showed when Darius Rucker crowd surfed the audience to introduce him to the stage. After we all sang a loud and proud “Happy Birthday” to him (since it was his birthday), he sung hits “Shotgun Rider” and “Diamond Rings and Old Barstools”. He also threw in the oldies, “Something Like That” and a grand finale of “Live Like You Were Dying”. Those two songs are some of my favorite Tim McGraw songs so I was over the moon when he played both. He was the perfect closer to an unbelievable concert and made every second worthwhile.
The iHeartRadio Country Music Festival will be back in Austin for a third time next year. This wonderful showcase of beloved artists and songs will not disappoint anyone who loves country music. Grab your tickets while you can because you definitely don’t want to miss it! I know I don’t!
Filed under Austin, Live Music, Reflection
Daniella’s Experiences
Coming into this course I really had no idea what to expect except for the fact that we would be covering country music in one way or another. As a part of this course I was able to experience and discover things that I probably would not have done on my own.
Coming into this course I really had no idea what to expect except for the fact that we would be covering country music in one way or another. As a part of this course I was able to experience and discover things that I probably would not have done on my own.
Coming into this course I really had no idea what to expect except for the fact that we would be covering country music in one way or another. As a part of this course I was able to experience and discover things that I probably would not have done on my own.
https://storify.com/dgt347/expanding-my-horizons-daniellas-country-music-expe
Filed under Austin, Class work, Storify
Joshua Fleming life with Country Music
Written by Joshua Fleming
Written by Joshua Fleming
https://storify.com/joshuafleming_1/joshua-fleming-s-life-with-country-music
Looking back on this semester I have Experienced a lot of new things like two stepping and watching Nashville. Although I thought I knew a lot about country music coming in to this class, I now know there is a lot more to learn and I am up for the challenge. I have enjoyed going to concerts and doing similar things of that nature in this class and will continue to attend these types of event.
I have learned a lot about how space between a country artists and their crowd can affect how enjoyable a performance is. I experienced this through two concerts one with Eric Church and one with Dierks Bentley. they were both in two different venues which did affect my experience with the concerts because i didn’t enjoy the Dierks Bentley Concert as much as I did Eric Church due to the fact I couldn’t connect to him that well because the venue was too big and your not close enough to interact with him like the crowd did with Eric Church. Which i think with country music concert i think there has to be that connection with the crowd because thats what country music thrives off of it that interaction.
Another thing i have Enjoyed this semester was getting close to country music through dancing and it has helped me to understand the reasoning for the certain tempos and rhythms that go along with a country song. If it wasn’t for me taking this class i probably would have never found one of my all time favorite past-time nor would I have found out that i was so good at Two Stepping so thank you class for that.Really though I have gained more of respect for the backing of the song rather than just the lyrics.
Though there are so many things I could say about this class i will say this i have deeply enjoy learning where country music came from what is and what to look for in the future to know what it is. This class has open my eyes to a more variety of country music and has made me fall in love country music all over again and i hope one day i can show someone what country music is and what it can do for them. in conclusion you could say that i am now a more well rounded student of country music and will continue to become more knowledgeable of the subject at hand.
Thank you Dusty for a Wonderful Semester and teaching so much more about country music it truly has been great
Filed under Austin, Class work, Live Music, Reflection, Storify