The other day in class we watched a video called “This Beat is Killing Country Music.”

It made me realize most hit music lately is doing the same snap/clap in the beat/rhythm.

It’s not just country music. 

I didn’t realize it until I watched this video. 

I like country music, pop music, classic rock and any other genre of music. 

I tell people this and they reply with the question: why country? 

Mainly because it’s what we listen to where I am from, also because country has so many aspects that they’ve tried out. 

It’s also a way of life that I feel most people do not understand.

There’s a stigma or stereotype around being from a small town and honestly, I get how some stereotypes are true. 

The video says country music used to be about the story and lyrics and it is. 

Country music helps me. I wish people would hear and listen to the lyrics. 

Country music isn’t just about big trucks, chilling on a dirt road and drinking. 

It’s about life and relating to small town life. 

I guess I could understand why most people do not like country music and why they cannot relate, everyone is different.

I just want people to give this genre a chance. 

Do not focus on who is singing the song or the rhythm, focus on the story the song is telling.

Also, start listening to Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Randy Travis or older Blake Shelton. 

Country music takes me back to high school, when all my friends and I would hang out in the high school parking lot after school, just talking.

I do not like talking a lot about where I am from and high school. 

Honestly, maybe I should stop feeling ashamed of the stigma and stereotypes around small town U.S.A. 

I know I am not the only person from a small town but sometimes it feels like it. 

Maybe because my hometown is an extremely small town and we must go to the state of Kentucky for everything, or maybe because I feel like my hometown has had a lot of attention on it lately. 

I have also been afraid of what people might think of my values and beliefs because, yes, some might be a little stereotypical of small towns, but I also try to keep an open mind about everything and everybody. 

Country music helps me feel less homesick, and there is nothing wrong with that and nothing wrong with being from a small town.

Kaitlyn Eddington is a senior journalism major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].