The Genre Trail – Class 10
I hate country music, I will never like it. At least I can appreciate it more now, that classics that is, I don’t think there’s much substance to appreciate in modern. One genre I do like, however, is folk which I find entertaining. I don’t know what it is, but whatever the difference between the two— that thin line that separates country and folk— is what I like. Maybe it’s just because my dad used to listen to folk and classic country all the time and I grew up with it… well that and 80s music. I think a significant chunk of a person’s taste come from what they grew up listening too, no matter what, even if you don’t listen to a genre because it’s what your parents liked.
I have this philosophy about pop music and why people seem to like it. It’s so easy to just accept what is frequently listened to and accessible. Therefore, people don’t go looking for other genres, they just accept what comes on. Instead of looking for new or different music they’d rather just not listen. The number of people I hear who claim, “I don’t really listen to music” is disheartening. It isn’t until some different song comes on the radio that’s a little different than typical pop songs that people’s interest is peaked. I say all this because it was my experience.
Way back in 7th grade (and honestly one of the only good things to come from middle school) I heard what I thought was a lesser known song called Bring Me to Life by Evanescence.
Now me, not really having considered that there was other music than typical radio pop, was fascinated. I remember being awestruck with the heavier guitar and intense lyrics/vocals. It wasn’t until the end of the song that I realized I needed more, so I went on a hunt for the song. Eventually I found it and was quickly sucked into the Evanescence void that was my dark middle school phase. I decided I wanted to investigate more bands like them so I found Nightwish, Flyleaf and my favorite of the four (given it’s the only one I really listen to still), Within Temptation. I then picked apart whatever genre it was, classifying it as alternative metal in my head (which was the beginning of my genre making, something I still do that is really just my best attempt to file separate genres under one classification in my head). From there I started investigating metal music, Metallica was my first metal band which I realize now is it’s own sub-genre of metal, and it just grew from there. Eventually I ended up on punk music, pop-punk, electro-swing and dubstep/electronic, there were and still are other genres I got into that kind of branched off from the main ones like steampunk, rockabilly, big band/swing music and so many others, even folk (particularly dark-folk) which I never had considered before.
It really is funny to trace people’s music trails. This whole semester we’ve been talking about how music has evolved and been adapted. I never really understood why that happened with my music taste but now I see why. Under the surface of every song and every band is the stuff you don’t hear without thinking about it. It’s those flavors that lead you down a path, you’re drawn to things you like.
On a completely unrelated note, I’ve decided I’m going to pay more attention to outfits of performers. Looking at Buck Owen and his Buckaroos and how they dressed in a very flashy appropriated Mexican garb. So why do a lot of artists like NateWantstoBattle (a YouTuber gone musician) perform in all black and skinny jeans? It’s an interesting thought.
One final note, and something that still bothers me… what happened to yodeling???
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