learning country music

Being a five year old girl with an older sister who doesn’t live with you makes you want to be like them. You want to watch the same movies as them and have the same friends as them but in my case I wanted to sing the music the music my sister Brittany, or as I call her; Britt, did. Britt and I were very close when she would stay with us and I think part of that reason is because we shared a room when she would come to visit for the summer or Christmas. We would have to deal with (and learn to like…as our parents would say) sharing dresser space and the space of the room. Britt is three years older than me so I thought it was cool to have my older sister stay with me (until I was around the age of seven) even though she probably thought I was the most annoying person on the planet.

When I was five Brittany came to visit for the summer like she always would and at the time she was involved in doing beauty pageants. Part of doing beauty pageants is coming up with routines to perform at the competitions. I remember sometimes she would perform her talent acts to my parents but I would never pay much attention to them because I was either outside playing or I didn’t want to sit still but one night I was tired and bored so I sat down with my parents to watch her perform a song named “Why Haven’t I Heard From You” by Reba Mcentire.

I always knew that she could sing because she would sing in the shower or make my stuffed strawberry shortcake pillow sing “My Little Sunshine” when I would go to bed at night, but I had never heard her sing with purpose in front of me like she was standing on a stage. She sounded beautiful with a rich voice that seemed to have as much character as the expressions on her face. I was awed by the performance and only wanted to hear more of this thing she called “country music.”  I had always learned the simple nursery rhymes in school and the songs that we sang in church but had never really been interested in other types of music until Britt performed that day.

The next day, I asked Britt when she woke up if she would teach me how to sing like her so she sat me down at the kitchen table with a printed copy of lyrics and taught me the words of the song by having me recite the phrases back to her. After I had the basic idea of what the words were she got our dad’s stereo and got a white CD with the title “Read My Mind” out of our room. At first I listened to the song. The voice on the CD was much different from Brittany’s. It had a lot more rasp and had a deeper southern accent and was amazed to find I loved the sound of it. Brittany taught me the arrangement of the notes and by the end of the night I knew the chorus of the song. Every day that week I worked on the song and listened to it over and over again. By the end of the week I had the song memorized and perfected it as much as a five year old can and I was so proud of myself. I loved the way Reba sang it and I loved how I could add rasp and be powerful with the lyrics.  About a week after that Britt asked me to sing her and my parents the song because she knew I was excited about learning it. After I was done singing my parents’ jaws seem to hit the floor. My mom said I sounded like a mini Brittany and never thought I would be able to sing too. When Brittany left she accidently left the CD at our house and I slowly began to learn the other songs on the CD. I was hooked on country music.

Fast forward three years to the audition section of American Idol season four. I was sitting in the living room with my Disney princess blanket eating a bowl of strawberry ice cream. As I watch the screen a small town girl from Checotah, Oklahoma with an accent that would be noticeable from anywhere. As my eyes became glued to the TV and the rest of my family disappeared she started to sing, “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Riatt. It wasn’t a traditional country song but this girl added a recognizable tone to it that had made me an excited eight-year-old girl. I told my parents right then and there that she would win the competition.  They didn’t believe me because there were other good singers but all my faith was in this small town girl. A few months later my prediction came true, Carrie Underwood was standing on stage with a smile on her face and tears of joy running down her cheeks. she was a true inspiration and automatically became my all time favorite country artist. About 6 months after that I was learning all the music off her first CD and trying to perfect every song like I had with the Reba Mcentire album. I listened and knew the songs so well that my mom took me to her concert the following summer. I had told myself I wanted to be like her when I grew up.

To this day I still listen to and love country music. It’s actually the only type of music on my IPod. I love singing with the southern twang and even though I have done musical theatre and sang more technically, something always bring me back to the raspy, heartwarming sound of country because that’s where my voice started and where I am comfortable.  If it wasn’t for my sister singing a Reba song eleven years ago and Carrie Underwood being the first country artist to win idol and go on to inspiring success.  I would not love country music as much as I do today. Country music has made a large impact me because it was the type of music I listened to all through my childhood. My mom listened to oldies, my dad listened to classic rock, and a few years later my sister moved to listening to pop music and punk and my younger sister, Sierra, has always like pop music over all. I’ve tried to like other kinds of music but I always find myself changing the radio to the country station. The dream to record and perform country music still lives today. I work on about 5 different songs a week and sometimes record them on my computer. The dream may stay a dream, but if it weren’t for Reba, Carrie, and most importantly, Britt I would not be as connected to music or be as good of a singer as I am today, and for that I am forever grateful.