Country music & me

I guess I go through phases. I was definitely one of those kids who grew up proudly declaring that I like "all kinds of music...except country and rap." Can anyone guess what two kinds of music I immediately scan the radio for when I'm in a car? And in particular, I listen to a lot of country lately. Usually, I come home from wherever I've spent the day, open up my radio laptop to either K95 or, especially on commercial-free Tuesdays, 98.7 WMZQ. The Big (Northern) City doesn't have a real country station... there's one that occasionally comes in on the car radio if I'm in the southwest corridor of the city, but don't expect to find someone who admits to listening to it. I couldn't even tell you the call letters.

K95 is the station I listened to when we were in Richmond. Even though I succumbed to enjoying country music well before then, it wasn't until Richmond that I discovered the healing principles of Nashville nostalgia. Mostly because they didn't play any of the good hip-hop I'd gotten used to in Durham, I switched to Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and Billy Currington on my afternoon commute. When we finally decided to leave Richmond for bulldozed pastures, I was surprised to suddenly realize how ubiquitous that southern musical twang really was down in the capital of the Confederacy. You'd walk into a 7-11 and it would be playing in the background. On a hot day, step into a local BBQ joint for a limeaid and it was crooning from the outdoor speakers. City festivals? State fairs? Children's Day at the museum? K95 was there.

So yeah, I listen to it a lot these days, because it reminds me of home. And because it's just so damn fun to sing along to. Don't believe me? Click here. Or here. Or here. And I even enjoy the commercials, which may be a little sick, I know.

On a completely different note, I came home from work today feeling emotionally draining, with that lingering sick feeling that comes from having heard or seen something very disturbing. I sense that I'm going to have to spend some time working through the internal distress of being exposed to some triggering situations. But now's not the time to write about that. Especially after spending 5 minutes having fun looking for country karaoke on youtube!