Music Appreciation

Christmas 2010. I sit in my room, listening to Taylor Swift’s Speak Now album as I wait for our guests to arrive for my family’s holiday get together. I hear my brother call for me from down the hall. I oblige and head to the living room to find that my grandparents had arrived, and they were each carrying something. One carried in a TV for my brother and the other carried in my present, an acoustic guitar. My dad had tricked us into believing we weren’t getting anything this year and had hidden our gifts at our grandparents’ house. After thanking my dad and grandparents, I dashed to my room and began to figure out how to play the instrument. Although we had family over, I spent the entire afternoon cooped up in my room, learning the basics and by the end of the day I had
The melodies of Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and Deana Carter could always be heard throughout our house. One time, I spent a whole week creating imaginary concerts of Shania Twain’s albums The Woman in Me and Up!. I just loved the idea of pretending to be the characters in the songs and telling their stories. There was a time in elementary school, however, when I strayed from country music for a while. I started listening to pop music like all the other kids. It wasn’t until fifth grade that I was brought back to country music. My dad bought me Taylor Swift’s debut album and I was instantly hooked on her music. From then on, I started to listen to other country artists again and fell back in love with the genre. In December the next year, I attended my first concert, Carrie Underwood’s Play On Tour, and caught the bug. Since then I have been to over 50 concerts. My love for country music goes back to the days of blaring Shania Twain, standing on my bed, a stage in my adolescent self’s eyes, and singing along. I may have gotten lost for a while, but Taylor Swift brought me back, even if she has now left the genre for pop