{"id":5159,"date":"2015-09-16T11:00:43","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T16:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/?p=5159"},"modified":"2015-09-14T12:32:54","modified_gmt":"2015-09-14T17:32:54","slug":"the-houston-rodeo-thats-what-country-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/2015\/09\/16\/the-houston-rodeo-thats-what-country-is\/","title":{"rendered":"The Houston Rodeo, That&#8217;s What Country Is"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Houston Livestock and Rodeo is one of the most prominent events every spring in Houston. Every March I bring out my cowboy boots and look forward to three weeks of entertainment and Texas culture. Growing up, my dad was always very involved with the Rodeo and still is today. Those who are involved in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo are a family, and it is a community that will always remind me of country music.<\/p>\n<p>The Rodeo embraces country music of every sub-genre. George Strait, Eric Church, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Alan Jackson, Blake Shelton, and Miranda Lambert can all play within the same three weeks and be equally appreciated and enjoyed.<\/p>\n<p>One of my favorite country songs is an underappreciated Luke Bryan song from one of his first albums. This is a song long before the \u201cCountry Girl Shake It\u201d days. \u201cWhat Country Is\u201d is a catchy but adamant tune.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Luke Bryan - What Country Is\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cydGNrdzMm8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The song follows the tradition of many mainstream country singers in the present day by putting out a song that speaks against typical country music stereotypes. Every time I hear this song I am reminded of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo community.<\/p>\n<p>I am reminded of the Houston Rodeo for two different reasons. It reminds me what the Houston Rodeo can do for a young, aspiring entertainer. Four years ago, Luke Bryan was a relatively unknown country artist.<\/p>\n<p>The Rodeo took a chance on him, and his success one Saturday afternoon helped propel him to where he is now, a two-time Entertainer of the Year. At the same time, the Rodeo honors and appreciates more traditional country singers like Brad Paisley, George Strait, or Rascal Flatts.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/09\/lukeb123.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5160 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/09\/lukeb123-300x181.jpg\" alt=\"lukeb123\" width=\"300\" height=\"181\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/09\/lukeb123-300x181.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/09\/lukeb123.jpg 432w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>The song \u201cWhat Country Is\u201d also argues against the stereotypes thrown at country music. The Houston Rodeo itself faces stereotypes from those who know little about the extravaganza. The song describes how country music is not a \u201crebel flag you bought at the mall,\u201d referencing how people who listen to country music can be unfairly judged.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the song, he talks about how a love for country music is something that cannot be bought, but \u201cit\u2019s something you\u2019re born with\u201d. As a Texan and a Houstonian, I grew up immersed in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo community.<\/p>\n<p>Being involved in this community has introduced me to the different facets of country music and culture, and overall made me a more open-minded and appreciative person of <em>everything <\/em>country music has to offer. I see country music, whether old or new, representative of American values that are celebrated and cherished, especially during those special three weeks in March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Houston Livestock and Rodeo is one of the most prominent events every spring in Houston. Every March I bring out my cowboy boots and look forward to three weeks of entertainment and Texas culture. Growing up, my dad was &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/2015\/09\/16\/the-houston-rodeo-thats-what-country-is\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96,55,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-post-1","category-country-pop","category-new-country"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5159"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5210,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159\/revisions\/5210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}