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Music is a powerful thing. It evokes feelings and has the power to bring people together. Music is also a way for people to express themselves and share ideas, whether through poetic lyrics or throbbing anthems. But today, artists are not known for their music, but for how extravagant their outfits are and how many times their wealthy relatives can get them out of jail. And thus music is lost. Pop and rap music has evolved into a shallow, image-obsessed industry that conforms to what the public wants to hear and see, eliminating the focus on the actual music. Mainstream music is no longer composed of emotion, but instead themes of money, sex, and fame. Pop and rap performers are notorious for their run-ins with police, their latest diet, or their most recent affair. Photos and rumors fly while the music is ignored.Not all musical groups or soloists begin like this. Many of these artists are original and talented, but they may feel the stress of being underappreciated and turn to the money side for support. Often their songs are written by experts who know what is appealing to a certain age group, and the musicians’ faces are plastered on as many magazine covers as possible. Soon their supposedly new and improved songs can be heard blasting out of car windows. But these songs are empty shells, devoid of creativity and the original thirst of the artist to make an impact or convey a message. Countless pop and rap songs today fit into a very slim mold – not just the music, but those who perform it. Some female musicians struggle with eating disorders because of the increased attention of the media and the public on their looks instead of their musical talent. Most popular songs follow the same pattern – singable, with a catchy beat and a flashy band. These songs teach listeners that what’s on the outside is important, and money matters. These messages are also shown through music videos containing sexual themes, as well as people wearing “grills” and other decorations meant to show their wealth. Many rap videos promote the “gangsta” image, encouraging people to act tough, embrace violence, and swear. These videos can propagate false views of African-Americans. MTV is not helping. It has become increasingly racy and plays only what the public wants to hear. And unfortunately, the majority seems interested in either sickly sweet, generic pop or stereotypical, bleeped-out rap. Kids and teens everywhere are swimming in these songs, which are often degrading to women and minorities, and inappropriate. This past summer at camp, almost all the girls in my bunk were obsessed with the same songs, which had been the case the previous year, and the year before that. These songs, including Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend,” were blasted in the bunk at all hours from campers’ iPods. Whenever I tried to play music I enjoyed, or introduce them to some decent songs (in my view), they would say that everyone except me liked their music. They had me there. None of this is to say that all pop and rap music today fits this mold. Artists like Sublime and Jurassic 5 produce rap without the silly extras – just great rhythm and pulsing lyrics. A lot of high-quality pop music exists as well. Although some talented musicians thrive, the entire music industry has devolved into something that’s almost unrecognizable. Music is no longer just for pleasure, but instead is a huge part of the economy. It is valued for its power to influence people everywhere. Not only does the music business make money from songs, but lots of useless products carry rap and pop stars’ names and faces. Why do most teenagers exclusively listen to pop and rap music when so many other genres exist? Maybe it’s because everywhere we look, we are bombarded with the same music: on the radio, on TV, on the computer. At school, pop and rap are discussed religiously. Perhaps they have never listened to anything else. Or maybe peer pressure is part of it. Another reason some people listen to popular music is because it is easy listening, with no abnormalities, since anything unique is considered weird.There is no solution to the “pop problem.” It’s called popular for a reason – many people enjoy it. People who like pop and rap music are the same as people who like rock and punk music – they are just fond of a particular genre of music. It’s not a heinous crime, and there’s no easy way to sway their views.Still, many artists are ruined because of the increased focus on money and image. My suggestion is not to buy into music like this when you can explore something new. Expand your horizons. Dig up your parents’ old records and CDs. You never know what you might find.

Now, more than ever, North American bands and music fans are becoming more open to music originating somewhere outside the continent. Sri Lankan-born M.I.A.’s unique sound rules the club scene, while the Afro-pop inspired Vampire Weekend have seen their debut album enter the Billboard Top 20. New York City’s Yeasayer have also recently garnered acclaim from music fans and critics alike for their experiments with Middle Eastern and African musical styles. Closer to home, there are the weekly drum circles held in Trinity-Bellwoods during the warmer months of the year (moved from Queen’s Park last year, much to my chagrin). The barrier of self-consciousness seems to be non-existent to those who allow themselves to be hypnotized by the tribal rhythms produced by at times, upwards of a hundred drummers, dancing in the middle of the circle in a spiritual/drug-induced bliss. The North American musical landscape has never been so diverse.Alas, all is not well in the music world. It has often been a cause for debate amongst those who take their love of music (too?) seriously, asking whether integrating other cultural styles into Western music is a good thing. What’s wrong with doing this, you may ask? For a number of critics, music biographers and internet bloggers, it’s a constant debate about whether it’s appropriate for a bunch of stoned twenty-something hipsters in T.O. and NYC to co-opt established styles from other cultures, to make their own music more interesting. This argument has been raging for decades, ever since the Beatles befriended Indian musician Ravi Shankar. Some critics go as far as to call it stealing, and say that it cheapens the cultures in which the various styles have their origin. When viewed through such a negative lens, the “stealing” perception makes sense, but what I think the critics are failing to realize is that these style-blending bands often produce some incredible music. It shouldn’t be seen as a form of musical robbery, but instead as songwriters from all over the world coming together and trading musical ideas. Writing original and inventive music in the new millennium isn’t easy; there are plenty of bands that have felt the strain of coming up with exciting rock music using the long-established and somewhat stale set-up of guitar, bass and drums. Some counter this malaise by delving into the world of electronics, but why spend countless hours trying to figure out a sampler that costs a fortune to buy, when there are plenty of wonderful musical ideas from around the world that have yet to be introduced to a Western audience? Vampire Weekend’s recent self-titled effort is the equivalent to a breath of fresh air for the ears. The Congolese rhythms, Afro-pop guitar melodies and energetic backing vocals on tracks like “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”, “Bryn” and “Blake’s Got A New Face” add an entirely new layer to well-written, but otherwise nondescript, pop music. Barcelona’s El Guincho has recently become the darling of American indie music scribes with his wonderful musical landscapes, fusing together elements of Afrobeat, Latin music and Spanish chanting. Like Vampire Weekend, he is only one example of the many talented musicians with ears for music outside the archetypal rock band sound. On the other side of the coin, musicians from around the world often collaborate with Western musicians and songwriters, in an effort to be introduced to a wider audience. Paul Simon’s 1986 album, Graceland is a perfect example; Ladysmith Black Mambazo had gained some notoriety on the world stage, but after the release of Graceland, which featured Simon collaborating with the South African choral group, they instantly became more appealing to Western audiences. Their success piqued an interest in other African acts, while Graceland itself sold over sixteen million copies. Some questioned whether it was appropriate for the intensely spiritual music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo to be imposed upon by Simon’s middle-class, angst-themed lyrics, but the remarkable music Simon and Mambazo songwriter Joseph Shaballah made together spoke for itself. Listen to great tracks like “Homeless” and “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes,” and you can be the judge. It wouldn’t be right to assume that every musician wants international recognition, but it surely can’t be wrong to expose a set of fresh ears to styles of music from around the globe. For all those who think that music’s golden age of talent and originality is long over, I would say that a closer look at today’s music scene is all it takes to reveal that this is one of the most exciting times to be a music fan.

“Romany Soup” is absolutely classic: haunting, hypnotic, melodic. Please do get started on Bolan. Please do. (And don’t you dare leave out “One Inch Rock”.)

Indeed they are. When the young musical trio rolls into the Fox Theatre for a pair of shows on Saturday, they’ll arrive riding a wave of explosive buzz — the sort of shriek-saturated hype made familiar by so many of their teen-pop predecessors.

And it’s only primed to get bigger: Last month, fresh off a breakout national tour with fellow Disney sensation Miley Cyrus (”Hannah Montana”), the group signed a multimillion-dollar touring deal with Live Nation that will put the brothers into more than 140 concert venues in the year ahead. The Jonases’ own Disney Channel series will debut this summer, along with a feature film called “Camp Rock.”

Signs that the brothers’ pop-star fantasy was transforming into big-time reality were obvious in December at the Palace, where the trio’s opening set elicited screams nearly as piercing as those for headliner Cyrus.

“It’s been an amazing journey the last couple of years,” says Kevin Jonas, 20, who as the eldest of the brothers serves as the de facto spokesman. He modestly recalls the group’s pre-poster-boy days, slogging away on promo tours through small clubs and amusement parks to play for listless crowds of several dozen people.

The brothers are still young enough to gush wide-eyed over the “couple of” Bruce Springsteen concerts they’ve attended, and to gleefully make Wiffle ball the backstage pastime of choice. But the New Jersey-bred Jonases — Kevin, Joe, 18, and Nick, 15 — are also wise beyond their years: three articulate guys, seemingly solid and well-grounded, carefully groomed under the tutelage of such music-biz veterans as John Fields and Steve Greenberg, who once guided Hanson along this same path.

That ’90s pop trio is frequently referenced by Jonas Brothers observers, perhaps more often than this threesome would like. But it fits. With their nods to vintage rock, their classic guitar-drums-bass setup, the Jonases have far more in common with the Hanson brothers than they do with the dance-pop groups — ‘N Sync, Backstreet Boys — who came in between.

“We think it’s really cool that we’re able to introduce, sort of, rock ‘n’ roll to our younger fans,” says Nick Jonas. “Even the parents get into it because it does sound like the things that they used to listen to when they were young. And, you know, we just really try to find really great music, and write songs like the really great music that we’re listening to. Because people love good music.”

For the Jonas Brothers, that means citing such touchstones as the Beatles and Prince when discussing the sound of their third album, recorded in part on their tour bus last year and scheduled for release in July. And it means learning their way through the catalog of Brit-pop icon Elvis Costello, whose “(I Don’t Want to Go To) Chelsea” was recently added to the Jonases’ live set list.

It’s another raising of the bar on the group’s headlining theater tour, which kicked off Jan. 31 in Arizona. The group has also tinkered with its own songs, toying with the arrangements and integrating new sounds into familiar material.

“You might hear something and not recognize it right away, but then all of a sudden realize that it’s a song we’ve been playing for five years now,” says Kevin Jonas. “Our fans will have a whole other way of listening to it.”

The brothers say they’re carefully heeding the advice of seasoned industry veterans, eager to avoid the personal pitfalls that have tripped up so many while navigating the fame game. And they respond patiently when confronted with the question that’s been posed to probably every young pop sensation in the half-century history of rock: Can you endure beyond flash-in-the-pan status?

“We would love to be a band that really does last,” says Joe Jonas. “And because we’re brothers, I think it really helps. Because we do write our own songs and we’re in the studio where they’re made, I think that will be a big part of it.”

“The fact is, we don’t want to ever be anything we’re not,” says Kevin Jonas, who describes the upcoming album as a natural evolution: “We grew up a little bit. We wrote some deeper songs and experimented with new instruments and things like that.

“So I think for us it’s really all about sticking to your fans and knowing that if you work with them, and play to them, then hopefully you’ll always be there.”

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Music students will showcase the skills they have learned in their classes for a midterm grade next week. It is a mandatory grade for students enrolled in ensemble music classes to perform and attend these concerts in the auditorium of McAllister Fine Arts Center.Music Professor Alice Gomez will direct the Latin jazz percussion ensemble class in performing Latin jazz style compositions at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. The group will perform compositions from Stevie Wonder, Duke Ellington and a Latin version of “Flight of the Bumble Bee.”The Latin jazz percussion ensemble consists of 10 members.”We practice for this a lot to see how they pull it off onstage,” Gomez said.In a departure from the calendar of concerts for the music department, music Professor Peter Kline will direct the brass ensemble class instead of a band concert at 2 p.m. Wednesday. The ensemble will perform compositions by Richard Wagner and play a march usually played by a band. The instruments include french violins, trombones, baritones and tuba. “This is the first brass ensemble concert in a while,” Kline said.Music Professor Stephen Gollihar, will direct a jazz ensemble performance with a variety of famous jazz and Latin jazz compositions at 2 p.m. Thursday.The compositions include “Easy Groove” by Bob Mintzer, “A Child’s Blues” by Phil Woods, “A Riff in Time” by Jack Feierman, “Just Foolin” by Sammy Nestico, “Coral Reef” by Neal Hefti, “Moving Right Along,” “Powder Blue” and “Contessa” by Lennie Niehaus.The instruments used will be four saxophones, four drums, four trumpets, three trombones, two guitars, two bass guitars, and one piano, Gollihar said.Voice Professor Cynthia Sanchez will direct a choral pop concert at 1 p.m. Feb. 29. Students will sing selections from “West Side Story” and Richard Rogers pieces. The chamber singers will perform pieces from The Manhattan Transfer, an American vocal group from New York famous for mixing jazz, big band and popular styles of music, and Take 6, an African-American a cappella gospel music sextet.”We don’t do pop music often. These compositions will not be quite so serious,” Sanchez said.All concerts are free.

Like most men, I love pop music. Listening to it is OK, but whatreally floats my boat is learning a new, deeply obscure fact aboutthe people who recorded my favourite songs.

Music factoids are hard currency to the average man. We tradethem like football cards and use them to trump each other at thepub/pool table/tennis court.

For example: Man A observes that Ozzy Osbourne bit the head offa bat during a concert in Des Moines in 1982. “Oh yeah,” says ManB, “but he thought it was a stage prop and needed a rabies shotbecause the bat bit him back”.

Man C yawns and prepares to deliver his coup de grace. “My dadwas in jail with him in the late ’60s,” he says. “That’s when hegot the letters O-Z-Z-Y tattooed across his left knuckles and happyfaces on both knees.”

It’s game over. Men A and B grip their beers - they are dyinginside.

As a general rule, women are not as fascinated as men by theminutiae of Ozzy Osbourne’s life; they are less thrilled to learnthat Keith Richards routinely removes the bottom E string on hisguitars. Perhaps this discrepancy is explained by remarks made thisweek by Lesley Douglas, the co-ordinator of popular music at theBBC.

“For women, there tends to be a more emotional reaction tomusic,” she said. “Men tend to be more interested in theintellectual side: the tracks, where albums have been made, thatsort of thing.”

The remarks prompted howls of outrage from both sexes. Meninsisted that they too felt a lump in their throat when ArtGarfunkel sings “When you’re weary, feeling small” at the start ofBridge Over Troubled Water. Aggrieved women pointed out thatthey were quite capable of appreciating Jimi Hendrix’s use of theminor seventh chord and a wah-wah pedal on Foxy Lady.

Well, yes, of course. But as Nick Hornby and his New Ladacolytes have pointed out, the music “anoraks” - the kind that likethe smell of vinyl and keep back copies of Mojo magazineunder their bed - are almost always male. Many men would ratherdiscuss their Top 5 albums, Brian Jones’s mysterious death or theHoodoo Gurus shifting line-up, than their feelings. It’s a cliche,but that doesn’t make it any less true.

And surely, if we accept that women are generally more relaxedabout discussing their feelings, doesn’t it follow that they arelikely to be more open to music aimed squarely at the emotions?This, after all, would explain the success of James Blunt, aphenomenon many men find as appealing as male pattern baldness.

Certain women of my acquaintance love it when Blunt sings “Weshared a moment that will last till the end”. They wonder who he’ssinging about. I wonder if he shot anyone in Kosovo.

If Lesley Douglas is right, men and women can hear the same songin very different ways. This is certainly true.

When I hear Lionel Richie’s All Night Long I hear awell-crafted, but rather soppy pop song. My female friends hear apersonal invitation to join Lionel on his private jet for a nightof passion spanning two time zones. Their hips start to wiggle whenhe sings “We’re going to party” and they smile knowing smiles at”Let the music take control”.

Oddly, the same women struggle to understand the glory of JimmyPage’s guitar work on Kashmir. But let’s not get carriedaway. Look at the photographs of the front row at the Big Day Out:they show men and women equally gripped by the ecstasy of loud,hard music. One nation under a groove.

Last week Michael Jackson’s Thriller celebrated it’s 25th anniversary as the most successful and influential pop record of all time. This week The Ruckus examines the album that changed the landscape of American popular music forever.

I have a modestly healthy record collection that defines my knowledge and love of music. This collection fills numerous shoeboxes that all carry individual identities based on the music they hold. I have a long Nike shoebox that’s tattered and faded, but it’s the most structurally sound box I own. Michael Jackson and Prince call this cardboard castle home.
You can find Thriller in the second row of the shoebox, positioned protectively between my Michael Jackson and Notorious B.I.G. catalogues, where it’s riding out the title of “Top Record” in my collection.
When revisiting the career-defining record that is Michael Jackson’s Thriller, it’s almost too easy to list the ways the album broke music-industry ground in 1984. The album that spawned seven top 10 hits on its way to winning Jackson eight Grammy Awards has sold over 104 millions copies to date.
The popular video trio of “Thriller,” “Beat It” and “Billie Jean” redefined how fans literally “watched” music by establishing a blueprint for MTV that gave way to numerous MJ-inspired videos. Most importantly the album’s success helped take back ground lost by black artists to early 80’s punk rock and synth-pop.
If there’s only one great quality of Thriller it’s the albums playability.
Here we are, 25 years after its initial release, and it’s still one of the most relevant pop records you can spin today. “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin” starts with the type of chaotic energy that Jackson no doubt picked up from then-friend and mentor Paul McCartney.
On the surface, the lyrics are fun and playful, as Michael raises self-confidence by taking shots at tabloids and media hoopla. By the end of the track Jackson’s fierce delivery reaches levels that weren’t there on his first solo effort Off The Wall. It’s apparent that Jackson is singing with more emotion on many of Thriller’s tracks than he ever did with his brothers.
Filler tracks “Rock With You” and “Thriller” do great jobs of pulling the listener into the album’s climax. The later, which was originally conceived as a campy spook-song, benefited from a video that was nothing short of visual spectacle; and while you won’t find many pop songs with a better hook, the Vincent Price rap in “Thriller” is a little much.
All of the album’s hype is realized, though, when the listener reaches the two monster singles. “Beat It” was a revolutionary track that had dance flair and rocked harder than anything the 80’s hair bands were doing. Eddie V spent 15 minutes blistering away in the studio, while producer Quincy Jones cut-n-pasted the now-legendary axe solo.
“Beat It” was an autobiographical tune that Jackson penned in response to accusations that he fathered the child of a former stalker. When the set beat drops and the bass line runs in, Michael takes full ownership of the track. His vocal performance on the record mimics an over-sexed James Brown, only Michael’s crying falsetto puts the godfather of soul to shame.
Jackson’s memorable videos for both singles only solidified his place as THE icon of his generation.
Thriller closes with the surprisingly warm “Human Nature,” a record that made the final album cut only after Jones discovered a piece of the song on the back-end of a demo tape. The only blemish on this otherwise flawless album is the Jackson, Alvin and the Chipmunks duet track “P.Y.T.” I think there was good intentions with the production, but the track sticks out like a sore thumb on an album as lean as Thriller.
Constructed with the perception that filler-tracks could stand out too, Thriller changed the way contemporary pop musicians made records. Jackson’s vocals are so raw and emotionally-charged that they have no problem standing alone. Michael’s ability to sing out on tracks that Jones had stuffed with soul horns and catchy synth melodies is what ultimately made Thriller such a universally loved album.
While MJ became a certified star after its release, Jones’ contributions to Thriller cannot be overlooked (the seasoned pop arrangements, his ear for perfection, and the creation of all those killer bass lines that hit you in the spine). The amazing artist and the amazing record rode each other to even greater heights that transcended the genre of pop music.
To this point in American-music history Thriller has undoubtedly withstood the test of time: A truly phenomenal album that has served as a measuring stick to all who have tried to duplicate it.

Mal Holmes, former drummer with electro-pop giants OMD, now runs an internet based record label, finmusic, and is looking for six musicians to contribute to the showcase acoustic album.Mal will choose the best six entries that he receives and will take them to a top studio in Liverpool to record two songs each for the album.He said: “I’m looking to find six of the best acoustic artists from the North West of England and North Wales who will record an album.”The chosen six will record two songs, simply vocals and guitar, and I will release the tracks on an album which will be available on a number of digital sites including itunes.”It should be a great showcase and a great opportunity for unsigned artists to get their music heard.”Mal has been involved in the music industry for more than three decades and recently set up finmusic as a record label having established it as one of the first legal download sites in the UK, in 1997.He is offering his wealth of experience in both music and technology to six talented singer-songwriters who hope to further their musical career.Anyone interested should visit www.finmusic.co.uk or email their demo or link to their myspace to Mal directly at 6ofthebest@finmusic.co.uk.

Indeed they are. When the young musical trio rolls into the Fox Theatre for a pair of shows on Saturday, they’ll arrive riding a wave of explosive buzz — the sort of shriek-saturated hype made familiar by so many of their teen-pop predecessors.

And it’s only primed to get bigger: Last month, fresh off a breakout national tour with fellow Disney sensation Miley Cyrus (”Hannah Montana”), the group signed a multimillion-dollar touring deal with Live Nation that will put the brothers into more than 140 concert venues in the year ahead. The Jonases’ own Disney Channel series will debut this summer, along with a feature film called “Camp Rock.”

Signs that the brothers’ pop-star fantasy was transforming into big-time reality were obvious in December at the Palace, where the trio’s opening set elicited screams nearly as piercing as those for headliner Cyrus.

“It’s been an amazing journey the last couple of years,” says Kevin Jonas, 20, who as the eldest of the brothers serves as the de facto spokesman. He modestly recalls the group’s pre-poster-boy days, slogging away on promo tours through small clubs and amusement parks to play for listless crowds of several dozen people.

The brothers are still young enough to gush wide-eyed over the “couple of” Bruce Springsteen concerts they’ve attended, and to gleefully make Wiffle ball the backstage pastime of choice. But the New Jersey-bred Jonases — Kevin, Joe, 18, and Nick, 15 — are also wise beyond their years: three articulate guys, seemingly solid and well-grounded, carefully groomed under the tutelage of such music-biz veterans as John Fields and Steve Greenberg, who once guided Hanson along this same path.

That ’90s pop trio is frequently referenced by Jonas Brothers observers, perhaps more often than this threesome would like. But it fits. With their nods to vintage rock, their classic guitar-drums-bass setup, the Jonases have far more in common with the Hanson brothers than they do with the dance-pop groups — ‘N Sync, Backstreet Boys — who came in between.

“We think it’s really cool that we’re able to introduce, sort of, rock ‘n’ roll to our younger fans,” says Nick Jonas. “Even the parents get into it because it does sound like the things that they used to listen to when they were young. And, you know, we just really try to find really great music, and write songs like the really great music that we’re listening to. Because people love good music.”

For the Jonas Brothers, that means citing such touchstones as the Beatles and Prince when discussing the sound of their third album, recorded in part on their tour bus last year and scheduled for release in July. And it means learning their way through the catalog of Brit-pop icon Elvis Costello, whose “(I Don’t Want to Go To) Chelsea” was recently added to the Jonases’ live set list.

It’s another raising of the bar on the group’s headlining theater tour, which kicked off Jan. 31 in Arizona. The group has also tinkered with its own songs, toying with the arrangements and integrating new sounds into familiar material.

“You might hear something and not recognize it right away, but then all of a sudden realize that it’s a song we’ve been playing for five years now,” says Kevin Jonas. “Our fans will have a whole other way of listening to it.”

The brothers say they’re carefully heeding the advice of seasoned industry veterans, eager to avoid the personal pitfalls that have tripped up so many while navigating the fame game. And they respond patiently when confronted with the question that’s been posed to probably every young pop sensation in the half-century history of rock: Can you endure beyond flash-in-the-pan status?

“We would love to be a band that really does last,” says Joe Jonas. “And because we’re brothers, I think it really helps. Because we do write our own songs and we’re in the studio where they’re made, I think that will be a big part of it.”

“The fact is, we don’t want to ever be anything we’re not,” says Kevin Jonas, who describes the upcoming album as a natural evolution: “We grew up a little bit. We wrote some deeper songs and experimented with new instruments and things like that.

“So I think for us it’s really all about sticking to your fans and knowing that if you work with them, and play to them, then hopefully you’ll always be there.”

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HOW do you know if you are already in Baguio? This was a question that we asked ourselves back when we were still in college a handful of years ago.

The answer was … you can hear country music over the airwaves. 99.9 F.M, the only country music station in the city then was one of the most popular stations. It was therefore not surprising that one of the most crowded bars at that time especially on weekends was the Wild (Wild) West. From the very few times that I’ve been there before it permanently closed, I found the atmosphere lively. The music was good but my ears simply couldn’t stand the decibel level. I like my sounds smooth and mellow.

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Unfortunately, country music these days seem to have taken a back seat. PUJs plying the city is either playing pop music or teeny bopper music with the occasional wailing that pass for music from rock groups. Thank God the Republic of La Trinidad where I live still has many jeepneys with die hard country loving drivers.

Country music did not start as such. It used to be called Western Music with singers like Don Williams, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams and Willie Nelson. And I sure am proud to say that I already loved the genre at a time when it wasn’t popular. “I loved country when country wasn’t cool” as one song goes. Call it genetic but our father (God bless his soul) never did play anything on our old turn table but western music although at times he would relent and allow the voice of Nat King Cole to fill the house. The staple though was either Jim Reeves or Glen Campbell. I was already in High School when I first heard the mellow voice of Don Williams. Growing up in Tabuk (it was a long way from becoming a city then) I had the sophistication of a Neanderthal when it came to music. I most often woke up to the voice of Yoyoy Villame being played on the one and only A.M radio station in the area.

Now, I would like to think that I have gone up a few notches above the hapless Neanderthal man in music appreciation. I still do not remember the lyrics and quite frankly I don’t even recognize songs from mere titles but hey, now I have other options aside from Yoyoy. No offense meant. But one thing is certain; I would most likely go through a lot of genres but would eventually return to country music.

For one, this genre does not mince words. Some songwriters have this tendency of using metaphors that at times, one wonders if the song means anything at all. Country songs are not that complicated. Toby Keith in one of his songs said … “I like talking about you usually but occasionally I wanna talk about meeeee.” If that aint direct then I sure don’t know what is. It is also a direct reference to the tendency of the fairer sex to dwell on everything about them.

Another characteristic that has drawn me to country is the story that goes with almost every song. Right, so most songs have a story (duh) but if you really concentrate, pop songs tend to focus on one recurring theme and that is love. We have songs for the newly in love, the broken hearted, the recovering sot who got dumped unceremoniously for one reason or another and so on and so forth. Country songs are similar in that area but once in a while, you get a song like Alan Jackson’s tribute to 9-11 (Where were you when the world stopped turning). I am really bad at titles (I had to look it up on the internet) but I do remember that the first time I heard this song in the jeepney of all places, I had goose bumps. It tells of different reactions after that fateful day when America realized that despite its superpower status is far from safe after all.

Lastly, country songs have their own kind of oomph that seems to be missing in other genres. I don’t know … call me a prejudiced country bumpkin but despite my forays into other music styles, I always find myself gravitating toward western music. (I am repeating myself.) Never mind that my friends kid me about it. I even owned a pair of boots once that was confiscated for qualifying as a deadly weapon.

Still unconvinced? Well it doesn’t matter. Once you hear Alan Jackson howling about having a “Hurricane” at lunch because though it is only half past twelve, it is five o’clock somewhere you’d most definitely get hooked. So …go ahead, Pour me something tall and strong. Make it a “Hurricane” before I go insane. It’s only half past twelve but I don’t care. It’s five o’clock somewhere.