I don't care for mainstream country music. Let me back up a bit. My job, as random and unstable as it may be, allows me the opportunity to go places that I most likely would never go to on my own. Case in point: the Watershed Festival in George, Washington. Yep, that's George, Washington. Like that president-guy. The Watershed Fest is two whole weekends--six whole days chock full of country music, camping...or "camping", and incalculable amounts of light beer consumption. America is everywhere. Hoots & hollers, "Fuckin A" yelled loudly, giant trucks pulling giant campers, string bikinis worn proudly with cowboy boots, and music that caters to 20-30something blue collar, beer drinking, flag waving, gun toting folks from...mainly Seattle? Yes, mainstream country music has no boundaries. With all this said, you probably get that I can be a bit sarcastic about this genre of music and its masses. You can probably see that it's fairly easy for me to prejudge these fans and these artists. Sure, it's very easy. My job at this event consisted of manning a VIP backstage tent for the artists and their crews and representing my company, which sponsored said tent. From the get-go there were folks filtering through the tent that may have been famous, may not have been. I don't know who these stars are, nor do I necessarily care. So instead of standing around all star-struck and acting like an awkward fuck, I sit down on a couch, relax, and start bullshitting with some folks. Just bullshitting. I didn't ask if they were famous. I didn't ask if they worked for famous people. I just shot the shit with them like I would any other regular joe. After some cool conversation revolving around drinking, fishing, hunting, and baseball, I find out that the half-dozen or so folks I'm chatting with are the crew for a country music singer. Then I quickly discover that this country music singer is Jason Aldean (whom I've actually heard of) and we have been chatting for 15 minutes now. Okay, fine. I still really don't care. All I really care about is that this dude, whether he makes a billion dollars or not, is nice as hell. So is his Stage Manager, Security Manager, Tour Manager, DJ, wife, and opening act. All of these folks took a liking to me for some reason. Maybe they thought I owned the company or something, but I think we just all hit it off because we talked about normal shit like normal people. Sure, there was the occasional "...my good friend Luke Bryan", or "...my good friend Chipper Jones", but it wasn't bragging, it was just the truth. I've got a good friend Bryan Foster and a good friend Jeffrey Johnson that I may have mentioned in conversation. Doesn't mean I was bragging, just means they're my friends. I chatted with these characters for hours before Jason's show. We were on a first name basis--all of us. Even during times when I felt I needed to give them their space and maybe chat with others, they'd come get me to pull back into their conversation. It was nice, not necessarily because they were big shots, but because I really enjoyed talking to them all. They were interesting as hell, but also extremely down to earth. Like a big, entertaining traveling family. There was mention at some point from Rhino, the Security Manager, that "everyone's always wanting a piece". I didn't. I just wanted to talk. Now, if they'd like to hire me as their "Beer & Bullshit Manager", I wouldn't turn it down. After the show and after I was officially off the clock and free to do as I pleased, we regrouped at the tent and drank somewhat heavily. Rhino gave me a handle of Crown Royal as a thank you gift, and we commenced to drinking it right there on the spot. More singers and crew members showed up and they were all equally as nice. What this means is that these guys that sing this type of music are not all douche bags. It's their art to a point, but also a business to a larger point. Out of all the country artists that I met over the past two weeks, only one was kind of a doucher. And he was an ex-rock singer with an ego. As far as the music goes, I was able to catch quite a few performances. It's still not really my bag, but I get it. It's modern-day good time party music for 20something beer drinking idiots. I was a 20something beer drinking idiot for over two decades, so I completely understand this big, dumb, brainless musical genre. It's Poison, Motley Crue, and AC/DC for millennials. Big dumb rock from the 70s and 80s has morphed into big dumb country of today. It's pretty much the same thing, only with the occasional cowboy hat and a little twang. This is not a bad thing. At the end of the day, I respect these folks. They've all worked really hard to get where they are, and are still writing, performing, traveling, and entertaining thousands. It's not the country music that I listen to, but it still speaks to droves of people, allowing them an anthem to a tailgate party, tying up at party cove, driving around in their ridiculously large trucks, or just getting shitfaced in George, Washington. And for the record, I did meet Merle Haggard's son, Ben. I acted like a total star-struck moron. He probably has a restraining order on me now. //re.
1 Comment
Bryan Foster
8/11/2016 08:42:27 pm
If you mentioning me in a conversation, you were god-damn bragging.
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