I’ve never been to Nashville, I can’t knock back shots of whiskey, I’ve never smoked cigarettes or drunk moonshine, I can’t ride a horse, and I’m unsure as to the accurate definition of honky–tonk. I don’t think anyone should own a gun and I have zero interest in dirt roads or trucks. However, country music speaks to me in a way no other genre does. When I tell people that, they eye me with suspicion: do I have “questionable views”, and enjoy Deliverance for all the wrong reasons? (I don’t.)
I have to confess I’m no fan of Tammy Wynette standing by her husband or any of the other songs from years ago that declare various forms of domestic abuse should be tolerated because “after all, he’s just a man.” But Dolly? Oh I’ll fight to the death for Dolly, make no mistake. The woman is immensely talented, clever, kind, generous, no–nonsense and very , very funny, (“I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb… and I also know that I’m not blonde.”)
The next big thing to hit country is a phenomenal young woman called Lainey Wilson, whose song WWDD (What Would Dolly Do?) I blast and sing along to on car journeys. Yes I DO know how cool I must seem when I’m waiting at traffic lights sounding alarmingly like a caterwauling Benoit Blanc.
What can I say? Fiddles, banjos and guitars just do it for me, y’all. I love country and I don’t give a rootin’ tootin’ rat’s ass who knows it!