{"id":5068,"date":"2015-09-13T11:00:32","date_gmt":"2015-09-13T16:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/?p=5068"},"modified":"2015-09-09T16:29:05","modified_gmt":"2015-09-09T21:29:05","slug":"is-that-where-the-kardashians-are-from","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/2015\/09\/13\/is-that-where-the-kardashians-are-from\/","title":{"rendered":"Is That Where the Kardashians are From???"},"content":{"rendered":"

What comes to your mind when you hear the word \u201cCalifornia?\u201d 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 \u201cCalifornia.\u201d 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 \u201cKardashians:\u201d 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 \u201cmy community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"keeping-up-with-the-kardashians-cast-376659793\"<\/a>Yes, I am from Calabasas, but I never grew up intending to live up to the \u201cKardashian\u201d 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\u2019t be more proud of where I come from.<\/p>\n

Calabasas really shaped my outlook on country music considering the\u00a0genre 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.<\/p>\n

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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<\/em> 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<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

As an out of state student here at Texas it sometimes feels like I don\u2019t 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\u2019s where my heart and soul will always remain.<\/p>\n