I will be frank with whoever clicks on this link and decides that my electronic writings are worth the time in the day that it takes to read this post. I have little reason to write a blog like this. There are innumerable sites that specialize in country music coverage with a wildly diverse set of perspectives. I have little to no musical education. An in-depth discussion about chord progressions and stylistic strumming patterns or whatever passes for “Real Music Analysis” is not something that I relate to nor is it a topic that will come up in my writings. I feel the value in my perspective is that I am a discerning listener of country music who is wholly a fan.
By no means do I claim to have a thorough background in all decades or artists that make up the colorful tapestry of Country music history. Readers may be shocked to hear that I have only listed to a handful of George Jones or Willie Nelson tracks. For the modern country fan, the complaint is that I don’t listen to Sturgill Simpson and yet I consider myself a fan of the modern indie scene or that I have the audacity to occasionally enjoy mainstream Radio Country music. My bona fides are lacking. They may ask “Why do you feel as if your opinion holds value? There is so much that you do not know and you haven’t heard.” That is a valid feeling. I have said that to myself many times over the past month when I contemplated the writing of a blog or publishing of a podcast. I think the answer lies in this key point. The purpose of this blog is not to review music in the classic sense. This is not a blog of music criticism. This is a blog of musical discovery.
The typical Millenial or Gen Z musical discovery path is one that I relate to quite well. A healthy dose of radio followed by owning music on an offline media player (IPods etc.) and a final migration to streaming services as the mediums of music consumption changed. The nature of the medium in which we absorb content shapes our experience. This is a well-discussed topic and all that needs to be said is that I don’t think my experience any different from the average consumer of modern music. I bought CDs on sale and ripped them to my iTunes library and transitioned to buying from online media stores.
Part of the joy of the streaming experience in the modern age is the vast amount of music available at ones fingertips- assuming a decent internet connection of course- and that radically shapes the way we listen. As an example, I was introduced to the delightful Waylon Jennings song Where Corn Don’t Grow as well as the excellent Travis Tritt cover via a deep dive into songwriting demos on Spotify. A writer named Matt Mason recently branched out into stripped down covers and I ran into his rendition of the tune. At first, I did not know it was a cover and I enjoyed it as is. I chanced upon the original when I was searching for the song lyrics and all the hits on Google were for the Waylon Jennings version. The original since has become a mainstay on my playlists. This is an example of how music discovery has changed. The chances of discovering a song that was recorded by not 1 but 2 upper echelon Country music stars via a songwriter cover was unimaginable in the days before Spotify.
The aim of this blog is to take the readers along the journey of contemporary music discovery alongside me. The songs may be well known, or they may be niche material penned by an unknown indie artist. The common thread will be the thrill of discovery and the journeys we will be taken on by our shared love for music.
Welcome to Today I Heard. I hope you enjoy.
Joe