Musical Realization

For the self-proclaimed music enthusiast that I am, and for the self-proclaimed musician I am, it sure did take me a long time to really find my own musical taste.

I always thought I knew, and when I was kid I proclaimed that I hated anything that wasn't country. I only listened to country (and in one weird twist of musical indecency, Ace of Base). I was stubborn. But time when on, and something in the back of my mind started nagging at me, telling me that this Top 40 Country Radio stuff wasn't all there was to life. Growing up in rural Montana, though, where driving four hours to play basketball and driving home again was a normal occurrence, there wasn't much else to listen to, unless you were a big fan of the 1960s. I was content, though. Music speaks to certain demographics, or as my pop/rock teacher last year put it, "tribes." I led a perfectly charmed childhood, and so had no need to seek out angsty indie punk, and even found it hard to feign interest in Avril Lavigne when the rest of the world either loved or hated her. Popular country fit my small town life perfectly.

Something unknown tugged at me, though, in certain new artists something inexplicable would whisper to me, and I began feeling a distinct lack of satisfaction with my musical choices, the older I got. When I first went to college, the friends I made, though not purposefully, were based directly on our similarities in musical taste, and so even then, I didn't branch out too much. Finally though, about half way through my sophomore year, I met an incredible fiddle player who introduced me to bluegrass. I didn't know bluegrass existed beyond the stuff grandfathers were rumored to listen to, and that fiddle player, who has since become a best friend, really opened my eyes to this entire world. In it I found the aesthetic that I'd been so subtly drawn to in the more contemporary traditional country music I'd since been listening to. I also found a real purity in much of it--of course it was commercialized to some extent, but not nearly to the extent of the stuff I'd been listening to my entire life. I was immediately hooked.

From there, my taste only expanded. While truly a fan of the bluegrass aesthetic, I began realizing that the non-commercial purity existed everywhere, if I only opened my eyes and ears to it. Not only that, but I began connecting with artists who had significant commercial success, but I had never given half a thought to in the past, because of declared influences and "sounds like" recommendations.

The old adage, "You can take the girl out of Montana, but you can't take Montana out of the girl," has proven somewhat true-- I'm not a big fan of radio, but when I do listen, I still tune into the local country station. Most of what I hear is a contrived commercial product (sorry Nashville, but it's true), but now and then something real rings through, and I fall in love all over again.

I find the rest of my music largely online-- and I'll admit to being completely susceptible to TV and ad placement as well (Landon Pigg- I think that possibly maybe I'm falling for you. Oh, swoon.) And what all of that has taught me is that my musical taste is ever evolving.

Sadly, I missed out on much of my generation's life soundtrack because of my slow musical realization.

What should I know?
Do you have any suggestions for me?