To say I didn't like country music when I was young would be the ultimate understatement. I hated it. I was a rocker. I was a head banger. I like AC/DC and Van Halen. I liked Ozzy Osbourne, Cinderella, Queensryche and the like.
Country was my parents' music.
But one summer when I was in college I met a guy from Texas. Our musical tastes were not directly compatible. Tom's musical tastes tended more toward alternative music. It was music I was somewhat familiar with, since some friends at the college radio station had similar tastes. But it's wasn't stuff in my personal musical catalog.
Tom and I were both interning at the Corvallis newspaper. (I wrote some about Tom and Texas in this post.) One day we had no particular assignment, so we were just cruising around the city and talking. We got talking about music and both expressed a dislike for country music. But Tom surprised me by saying there was one guy who's stuff he liked. The artist's name was George Strait.
I'd never heard of this George Strait guy. We ended up going to a record store and bought a couple of cassette tapes "Ocean Front Property" and "Greatest Hits". We drove around Corvallis with the music playing and before I knew it I was singing along. Good thing we weren't on the normal payroll because we were not working. As we listened to those tapes, the music got into my head. It shouldn't have. It contained all the things I thought I hated about country music -- those steel guitars and that twangy sound. When Tom left town, he left the tapes with me and I kept listening. The music was infectious and I grew not just to like it, but to love it.
I've been listening to George Strait music for nearly 22 years now and have seen him in concert more than any other artist. I saw him perform first at the Pendleton Round-Up at at his country music festivals featuring other up-and coming artists in San Bernardino, Anaheim and Las Vegas and with another artist at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
CBS broadcast the all-start concert tribute to George Strait as the Academy of Country Music's Artist of the Decade tonight. Congratulations Mr. Strait and thank you for decades of great music. And thanks, Tom, for introducing me to the King of Country Music. Fifty-seven No. 1 songs, and he's not done yet.
Now, in this digital music age, I don't buy as many full albums as I used to. But George Strait's music I will continue to buy by the album because each one is well worth the price. Here's to many many more years of George Strait music.
