It is kind of strange, though, how in the span of time since I have graduated from high school, country music has changed excessively. I used to laugh at my dad when growing up, because he hated a lot the music I listened to (which was odd, because I listened to everything- even the stuff he listened too). "It all sounds the same"; "that's not country music!". Either I am getting old, or maybe just my ears can't distinguish the differences, but it seems like all this new "Bro-country" on the radio sounds the same; and all the female singers are a bunch of man- hating, wanna-be pop star gold-diggers. I used to think country singers were classy, handsome, and were the epitome of what men were supposed to be; apparently that ideal has gotten pushed to the side since the new fad is for them to try to act and dress like city boys. It annoys me that these guys can sing about how they want to take a girl out in their truck on a road trip, you know, like cowboys do; but yet they dress like a bunch of freaks (sometimes they even look like they borrowed a pair of their sister's jeans... not exactly something a cowboy would do). I would guess most of them can't even ride a horse. While I admit some of them are easy on the eyes, they shouldn't be singing country music. It isn't that their music is terrible, it just isn't country. I don't know what it is, but I highly believe it is starting to cause young guys to have an identity crisis when it comes to what is country.
Have you ever noticed how feminine the men's section at the local western wear store has gotten? While I can't find a single pair of jeans for myself half the time, there are more brands and styles of "retro" and so-called "cowboy cut" jeans in the guy's section than shoes at the Famous Footwear store three doors down. And since when do men's jeans have bling on them??? This is outrageous. I believe the only "bling" a man should ever wear is a belt buckle he won or was given as a gift, or a Superbowl Ring. The only thing that should draw your eye to a guy's rear-end is the "W" snug on his cheeks from his well-filled out Wranglers. NOT sequins or embroidery or tinsel stitched across the pockets. If you have ever spent very long in the saddle in a pair of jeans with any amount of jewels on the back pockets, it will cure you of that choice ever again... they aren't comfortable, and should be left for evenings spent on the town. For ladies, not gents. I am sorry, but guys should look like guys, not like they got in a fight with their girlfriends' Bedazzler.
I guess what I am trying to say is that being true country folk is something you are; something you live; not something you buy at the local farm supply store. Just because you know the latest Luke Bryan song does not make you an aficionado of country music. Driving a jacked up pickup truck does not make you sexy, it makes you look like an idiot because if you really used that truck for work instead of for looks, you wouldn't waste your money jacking it up. Wearing blinged out jeans and a pearl snap shirt, with boots that have never seen a stirrup or a dirt road and a cowboy hat that has never seen sweat, is as fake as calling Florida Georgia Line "country". Ladies, do yourself a favor, and listen to some Conway Twitty... "Don't call him a Cowboy, until you see him ride; Cause a Stetson hat and them fancy boots, don't tell you what's inside..."!
~ Til next time, Richelle