Falling for Country

I grew up listening to 90's Country music. I loved Mark Wills, Blackhawk, Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, Jo Dee Messina, Kenny Chesney, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain, and my idols were the Dixie Chicks. I would set up a stage made of bars stools and coffee tables in my living room and sing for my mom. I thought I was the fourth member of the Dixie Chicks. When I was five I knew all the words to "When You Were Mine". I remember I would sing it to my neighbors, bless their good hearts. I loved them so much that when everyone started boycotting them, I hid my tapes and CD's and claimed that I didn't know where they were. I was scared someone was going to take them from me and throw them in the waste bin. My 9 years old self wasn’t going to let that happen.

But when I hit the 6th grade I became the ruler of the school. With that new title I had a reputation to uphold. I wanted to be independent and listen to my own style of music. It was Pop Rock for me. I didn't really pay much attention to Country again until my junior year of High School when I met a boy named Trent Ingram. To this day he is the world's BIGGEST country fanatic, in a good way of course. He would try to get me to listen to Garth Brooks and I would laugh and change the song. One time he reset all the channels in my car to Country stations, I was too stubborn to learn how to fix it {it was a 21 year old car and the process was much different than the newer cars. Don't judge} so I tolerated the music and listened to it on my drives to and from dance lessons. I caught myself singing along to old familiar songs and tapping my foot with the beet. My inner child came alive and I couldn't stop listening to it. I got home from lessons one day and put all my old Country CD's on my iPod.

A few weeks later Trent had convinced me to give good ol' Garth Brooks {basically the king of 90's Country, I have no idea how that fan train passed me up} a listen to. I distinctly remember where I was when I listen to "Every Now and Then". I was driving alone in my car, it was dark outside and the music flowed from the speakers and into my heart. Tears welled up in my eyes and I was horrified that a song could make me feel so sad. It was the best awful song I'd ever heard. I was feeling raw emotion in its purest form. I pulled over, stopped the car, and gave Trent a ring. I was gonna give that boy a piece of my mind. When he answered I'm sure I sounded upset and I demanded why he would let me to listen to that terrible song. I told him I hated it, it was so heartbreaking. I asked him endless questions about why those two people couldn't be together. They clearly were perfect for each other. His reply was simple and kind he chuckled a little at how upset I was and said, "Tami, it's just a song. Plus, that's why I love Garth Brooks and Country music so much. It makes you feel something real." After that I listened to Garth Brooks almost daily. I fell in love with the emotions his songs created in me. Music had never made me feel that way before. It turned into a passion, a wild fire burning out of control. I started going to concerts as much as I could and I would hang on to every word that artists would say. My favorite things is when they talk to the crowd and share something personal, like what inspired a specific song.

I wasn't really a big dreamer until all this happened, and I can't put my finger on the exact moment it triggered. In fact I don't think it was one moment. I think it was a cluster of moments. It was being a Dixie Chick in my living room as a child, getting my first Blackhawk CD, going to my first concert, meeting Trent, getting my heart broken by Garth Brooks, and it was the first time I picked up a pen to write my emotions down on paper. Those moments changed me. They shaped me. It truly is the small and simple things in life that make all the difference. Thank you mamma for bringing Country music into our home, thank you Aunt Reeda for giving me your Blackhawk CD just because I loved it, thank you big sister for taking me to my first concert. Thank you Garth Brooks for following your dreams, but most of all thank you Trent Ingram for coming into my life and sharing your passion with me.