{"id":7647,"date":"2016-04-09T07:00:46","date_gmt":"2016-04-09T12:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/?p=7647"},"modified":"2016-04-04T21:57:10","modified_gmt":"2016-04-05T02:57:10","slug":"what-is-country-a-longwinded-rant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/2016\/04\/09\/what-is-country-a-longwinded-rant\/","title":{"rendered":"What is “Country?” A Longwinded Rant"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photo:<\/a>What is \u201ccountry?\u201d When listening to songs like \u201cTake a Back Road<\/a>\u201d or \u201cBoys Round Here<\/a>\u201d, people tend to get the impression that \u201ccountry\u201d means small town, trucks, and beer drinking. However, with global warming occurring as well as the increased urbanization of America, trucks and small towns will begin going away. No, small towns will never disappear, but they will become less isolated as the large cities expand. I sit here thinking about what that this means for the future of \u201ccountry\u201d and country music. Could it be that \u201ccountry\u201d is really more of a way of life? If so, what is that way of life? Having grown up in Houston, a big city with a huge sports and business culture, I never considered myself \u201ccountry.\u201d That said, I always envied the lives of people who grew up in small towns and always loved listening to country music. I think Easton Corbin sang about this concept when he sang \u201cA Little More Country Than That<\/a>.\u201d He sang about being a little more country than \u201ca dirt road full of pot holes with a creek bank and some cane poles.\u201d Either this guy literally lives in the middle of nowhere, or he is talking about his culture. He also sang about not two-timing and playing games because he understands that there is more to \u201ccountry\u201d than farming and roping cattle.<\/p>\n