![\"Me](\"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/01\/Backcountry-Backpacking-4-real.jpg\")
<\/a>Me taking in the view from a remote overlook in the backcountry of the Guadalupe Mountains (the backpacking trip I just mentioned).<\/p><\/div>\n
Here\u2019s how these vivid details bias us against Country music. Well, for instance, let\u2019s reflect on the song \u201cMud On The Tires<\/a>\u201d by Brad Paisley. When he talks about muddying up his tires driving to a place \u201cwhere the dirt road runs out,\u201d the fact that he\u2019s even driving there already disinterests my community a bit, let alone that it\u2019s his impression that that is the \u201conly way to get there,\u201d even though a good moonlit hike is far harder to beat than barreling through the night in a big old, exhaust-emitting representation of nothing but industrial America.<\/p>\n So now you can see how his idea that \u201chis perfect place in mind\u201d seems the farthest thing away from the \u201cmiddle of nowhere\u201d to a group who has hiked for three days straight and seen no more than 3 other human beings. Or even how about an old hit like Dolly Parton\u2019s \u201cSweet Summer Lovin’<\/a>\u201d, with lines like, \u201cby a stream in the country, running barefoot and feeling free.\u201d Sounds to us like she\u2019s a ten-minute walk from the farm-house (at the most). Even Jason Alden\u2019s \u201cDirt Road Anthem<\/a>\u201d makes us feel like even though they \u201chit the dirt road\u201d and \u201cjumped the barb wire\u201d \u2013 they still couldn\u2019t be more than a 10-minute drive from some semblance of civilization, you know?<\/p>\n You\u2019re probably thinking, \u201cReally!? You\u2019re basing the whole genre on a few songs!\u201d Well, these act as a microcosm for our perception of the rest of country music (however accurate or innacurate it is). Our outdoorsy community talks about country music as pedantic tunes pandering to listeners who wish they could get a glimpse of some semblance of remote outdoors without actually taking the necessary risks and efforts to do so. I guess it\u2019s just that we\u2019ve heard enough country songs with buzzwords about being alone on dirt roads that just don\u2019t seem genuine to a bunch of bros used to hiking hard-to-find footpaths, leaving even the dirt roads behind. However, songs like \u201cFar From Any Road<\/a>\u201d from Handsome Family give us hope that others out there have experienced the thrill of the remote wilderness as we have.<\/p>\n It\u2019s safe to say our community avoids country music, for, I\u2019ll admit, an obscure and fairly arrogant reason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There we were \u2013 all six of us high school dudes putting our feet up in The Middle of Nowhere, East Texas, soaking in the starry night sky. Six years of outdoor adventures had forged an unbreakable bond between us … Continue reading