My Adventure Into Country Music.....

I was born, and have lived most of my life in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. It's the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I grew up mostly listening to rock and pop music. But in truth, I like most music as long as I consider it good music.

However, I have never been a fan of "country" music culture. The boots, the hats, the twang, the pickup trucks. I have even been known to poke some fun at the fine folks from West Virginia. Had I grown up in Nashville, or on a farm, I might have a totally different attitude. The name of this blog might be Hangin' With That Good Old Boy Rich. But it's not.

This picture is a country song waiting to happen.

But as I said, I enjoy all good music, and that includes country music. Country music is usually all about a story, and if there's anybody that enjoys a good story - it's me. Lyrics to country songs also seem to use plenty of brand names. Something like -  I'm sittin' in my Chevy truck, gonna need help from Jack Daniels cuz my baby left.

My wife and I actually have been to a country concert before and it was fun. Decades ago we went to see Willie Nelson and his band at Blossom Music Center. Willie is hard to categorize. He's country. But he's also a rocker and even a crooner of standards.

I was looking for something different to do on a Friday night and I saw a promo for a Darius Rucker concert, also at Blossom. I've enjoyed his songs way back to the days of Hootie and the Blowfish. My wife begrudgingly agreed to join me for our "night in the country".

Lots of boots.

When we arrived the night of the concert, it didn't take long to realize things were different. We weren't in Parma anymore. Many of the ladies wore boots. Lots of different types of boots. Also, it didn't matter what size they were - they wanted to wear something tight and sexy. They poured themselves into their clothes until they started spilling out. Don't misunderstand, there were plenty of great looking young ladies as well. But the well dressed person at this show wore boots and a cowboy hat.

Now for the excitement! There was a big fight right next to me. I have been to plenty of concerts from The Rolling Stones to ZZ Top and I had never been close to a real fight. But here at this country show - a fight breaks out! I don't know what started it, but the primary combatants seemed to be a young lady and a middle aged gentleman sitting behind her. That meant their groups were involved too. A wild scene with pushing, punches, and scratching. Now I don't know if the young lady was drunk, drugged, or both. But she was so furious, wild, and aggressive it took 3 people to hold her back! I guess something like that could happen anywhere. I've just never seen it.

Old Hootie.

As for the show itself, it was what I expected -  sort of. I had never heard of the opening acts, But the rest of the crowd did, and they enjoyed them. Darius came out and had large video screens so you could see him pretty good. He sang a good mix of his songs, country songs, and even a few old Hootie songs, (that got a great reception). He worked hard, and saved his Grammy winning Wagon Wheel for the encore. He closed with Purple Rain as a tribute to Prince. But here was the BIG problem for the whole night. I couldn't understand a damn word.

The sound was loud, but terrible. It was so muddied and poorly mixed that you couldn't really hear or understand the lyrics. You could barely understand spoken lines between the songs. I like Rucker's songs because he tells a great story. He paints a good picture. Friday night, I knew what song was playing. But that's about it. This greatly irritated my wife as well.

I had heard that country concerts tend to be like that. If that's true it;s a shame.

But I'm still glad I went. I'll try anything. I liked being exposed to things I'm not familiar with. I don't know jack about country culture. That doesn't mean it's bad or wrong. I just haven't had much exposure to it. One question though. Where did those girls find all those cowboy boots? I've never seen them on sale at Kohl's.