#CountryStorytelling

After hearing nearby classmates talking about their musical interests I was intrigued and made sure to listen in. Living in Portland Oregon I have found country music to be looked down upon and not a favorite among many of my peers and I began to wonder why. Knowing country music was loved by so many people across the country I was confused by the amount of people who seemed appalled at the mention of country music. With this in mind I took a poll in attempt to understand why people dislike the country music genre.

Though I agree with the opinion of some poll takers who believe country music is “all about guns, trucks, alcohol, and girls,” I know it’s so much more than that. Country music has a bad stereotype of being too discriminatory towards women or of having the sound of a banjo thus confusing country with the bluegrass genre. But there’s a different side of country so many are entirely unaware of. That’s where the storytelling comes in. Along with the amount of hours spent per day listening to music and whether you like country music or not, I asked all the poll takers to choose whether they like a song that tells a story or not. Though the majority (54.5%) of poll takers disliked country music, all but one poll taker chose yes when asked about liking a song which tells a story. This side of country music is found in the lyrics and songs of so many women of country artists as well as a few male artists. Take Hunter Hayes and his song “Invisible.” It’s not that we have to keep pushing new artists into the country music scene, well we do, but to really make a change beyond current country music fans, we have to change the way people view the country music genre itself.

I later continued to ask the poll takers to select the artists they have already heard of, listing women of country artists ranging from Carrie Underwood to Kalie Shorr and Kaitlyn Baker wondering if people who dislike country music had ever heard a country artist whose songs tell a story. Thanks to American Idol I found 95.5% of all poll takers had heard of artists Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, but beyond those two the turnout was lacking. Therefore I found that non country music listeners had no experience with country’s storytelling side and continue to base this genre we all love off songs such as Tom Hall’s “I Like Beer” or Luke Bryan’s “Rain is a Good Thing” encouraging the presence of alcohol.

With this I declare we make a change by sharing the storytelling side of country music with our peers unaware of the impact these songs may place upon their lives. So join me in sharing the music of your favorite women of country artists and make sure to use the hashtag #countrystorytelling for a chance to win a Jana Kramer exclusive album.

Click here to view the full poll results