This semester, my students who arrive early to class to hang out request their favorite country music videos. For the last sixteen weeks, I’ve listened to more Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Thomas Rhett, Sam Hunt, Brett Eldredge, Raelynn, and Blake Shelton than I’d like to admit.
I learn the genre country pop. One student tells me to please just try the Kelsea Ballerini on Pandora.
I do it.
And now, it’s all I do. It only takes one good country song, and you’re hooked. Every five years or so, I return to country music, and it takes over. I play it in the kitchen and in the car. I listen to the stories and smile. There’s something about country music that hits your heart at the right time, in the right way.
So I’m back to country music.