Am I just a bit “country?”

As we very rarely do, last night we almost watched the entire 46th Academy of Country Music Awards on CBS, from nearby Las Vegas, and that way, kept up with what was going on in that very special music genre.

For me country music conjures lonely drinking sessions at some bar, rusty pick up trucks, hay balls all over, broken hearts, cheating partners, fear of God or Jesus, cigarette smoking, and a host of other vignettes that are generally seen as low class, white trash and the like. I must confess that I like some of the sounds but can't tell which ones in particulars. As for artists, I'm at a loss and wouldn't know where to begin...

Country music also evokes in me some powerful personal memories about the American West, my first visits there and almost was always the backdrop sound of mountain living and skiing in the Rockies (thank you, John Denver, but you weren't a true “country” musician, right?) At any rate, last night was a good refresher course, and as of today I kind of remember who Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Lady Antebellum and The Band Perry look like and sound like. Yeehaw!