"What do you mean you don't listen to country music?!"

 "What do you you mean you don't listen to country music?! Your life could be a country song!"

... I get this response a lot from people when they bring up some newer song or artist that I've never heard of. Truth be told, I do listen to country here and there, but it's either older or non-mainstream. Not to be trendy, but the crap they play nowadays is just that, crap. Whilst riding in a pickup with a group of people the other day listening to the radio, I happened to pick up on some lyrics;

Me: "Did he just say 'Truck You'?"
Them: "Yeah, that's Tim McGraw"
Me: "And this is why I don't listen to country music."

  I grew up with Mom rocking out to country in the house and in the car, so yes, I do know mostly every lyric from 70's, 80's and 90's country. I like the majority of that and listened to country until I moved to college where I will say that I "found real, good music".

 My first dorm roommate, Elyse, would jam out to bands that I had never heard of and eventually I went into a head spinning love/downloading fit of Punk/Emo/Metal/Acoustic and back to my Northwest roots of Alternative. Somewhere around 2004 I found Flogging Molly and my life was therefor changed forever. Bagpipes + electric fiddle + punk + great lyrics about drinking among other things?! I was in. Now, I forever have to explain myself when I say I listen to "Celtic Punk".

 I found The Tossers and have a great respect for them, there's not much that they put out that I don't immediately love. They go from dark, brooding songs based on Irish history and the Irish immigration to the States to those that may have on occasion had me drinking whisky until the sun came up and attempting to destroy things. It'll happen to the best of us if the weather is favorable. Trust me. This is one of my favorites:

So while yes, I do listen to country... it's just a different breed of country. I just can't handle it. I would honestly rather set myself on fire then listen to 98% of the new stuff that they play on the radio. Hank III and a little gem from Kentucky named Chris Knight are the only two country musicians that I actively follow. Not trying to be a music snob, but it just ain't my thang. Remember ya'll, "I was country, before country was cool".  

Just another laundry night at The Homestead...

    So this thought occurred to me whilst (literally) sprinting up the stairs from throwing a load of laundry in... I need to share how my random thoughts, mindset and life come from... besides ADD. Maybe it would explain to some why I'm just completely odd, don't exactly fit in anywhere or why I occasionally just crack up in the weirdest settings.

Short back story: I live in an old farmhouse that sat (or "set" if you live in SE Iowa like myself) for many years. I've heard it was empty for 6-8 years so kids got used to "parking" here, but how long it sat empty is still a mystery. It's the last (and only) house on the left down a 1/4 mile dead end lane on a 280 acre farm. My closest neighbor is probably a 1/2 mile away and with the corn as tall as it is, I can't even see another house light in any direction for months. To the North and East, it's miles before there is another house, just corn, soybeans and timber ("woods" if you're from out West). It's just me and the dogs out here and I prefer it that way. My friends know I need a call or text before you come out to visit me after dark. You don't just "drop by" on me, otherwise you'll be greeted with: me with a scatter gun, Angus the over-friendly 120lb Great Dane and Finnegan the over-zealous cow dog. Me greeting you with my favorite shotgun comes with the territory, I'm a single gal that lives in the middle of a cornfield and the dogs just come with the territory. Also, I've had creepers. You're gonna get creepers. That being said, I feel safer living out here in the country then I ever did living in town.
    This lifestyle of solitude has brought me soo many boughts of laughter... you know that saying "Dance As If Nobody is Watching, yada yada yada"? Well, nobody is watching, so I dance. And I laugh. And I sing. A LOT.

    I've dubbed my basement "The Rape Basement" and if you're reading this, you already know I have an awkward sense of humor. It's just plain creepy and that's not due to the three, 3'+ bull snakes that have been pulled out of there since I've lived here. And HUGE spiders that weren't there from the time I started the dryer to when I turned around. It's dark, dingy and there's random stuff left over from past tenants: "Creepy Crawlers of the Dark" VHS tapes, a porcelain rearing horse, a 60's era fridge with the insulation drug out of it, a in the wall going back a dungeon like area and my favorite, a Nintendo Duck Hunt gun with the cord cut off. The Rape Basement is where my washer and dryer are, so that's the only reason I go down there.

    Every time I go to leave the basement, I feel like Kevin from Home Alone. (And then I just laughed aloud thinking about the part in the movie where his Mom is on the flight and realizes she forgot him and yells "KEVIN!!!!") Anyways, not trying to sound like a hardass, but I'm not afraid of anything. There are things that creep me out, but there's nothing that I'm truly afraid of that will keep me from anything. It's a good, yet probably stupid way to live I've come to realize. C'mon, at 20 years old I picked up a hitchhiker carrying a gun on his back on a snowy Montana pass... sorry, Mom.
   Alright, back at 'er... I start up the basement stairs and I COULD NOT stop myself from sprinting up them and today, I did something that surprised even myself... I THREW A 'BOW. Like I was going to catch a Zach (Zombie, not Morris) in the face, I THREW AN ELBOW, WHILST SPRINTING up my basement stairs. I mean, c'mon, my angle would have been terribly off for a face blow, but there was no thought put in it, I just did it. Complete impulsive reaction that I didn't know I had, just like the time in Middle School when Sarah Gavin scared me and I immediately dropped into a Karate position... I took 3 Karate lessons in 2nd grade. Oh yeah, I also have an infatuation with "Zombie Attack Scenarios" that I play out in my head. That would probably be good information to have, if you do not know that about me.

    So I got to the top of the stairs, looked down the empty stairwell and just cracked up. I think this is the reason I love to live alone so much... I'm my own best company. As Paramore says "Nothing compares to, a quiet evening alone".  Yep. I just quoted Paramore. Suck it.

Musical Meth Pt. 2

 Sometimes I am strictly in the mood for a certain genre of music and it typically is not country. This song, the entire group, bends those molds though. This was the first song I heard from Old Crow Medicine Show (I was living in Cd'A, Idaho and I believe it was 05-06, summer) and I have loved everything that they have done. Sometimes it takes me a second, third or forth helping of music (in general) to really fall for it, some of those multiple listenings catch me, so I try to never give up on a first listen. The album, "Tennessee Pusher" was one of those albums I listened to once, put it away and didn't dig it out for months later then really fell in love with it and I'm so glad that I did. Now it's one of my top 15 Go-To's. I'm sure a song off there will come up sooner than later...

 This song does something to me where I cannot help but shake my head whilst singing my heart out and, for some reason I find myself scrunching my eyebrows while I belt it out. It's a good thing that the dogs do not judge me for my singing/dancing capabilities or I would truly be out of friends! I never skip over this song, it makes my heart smile and I can't help but sing and stomp along. Most of their other tunes are more haunting and dark, which you'll come to find out is a norm for the songs that I typically prefer, for reasons that I haven't figured yet.

 Here's Wagon Wheel: I hope you get a smile on your face like it does to mine... or even, eyebrows creased!

 PS: I have a thing for the banjo, stand-up bass, chops, flat-caps and the men that sport them, or all of them. Obviously I am smitten at this video!

Musical Meth Pt. 1

 So this idea hit me this fine Wednesday morning at 5:25am on my way to work whilst I was practically attempting to break my steering wheel in half with the palm of my hand and also attempting to stomp through my floorboards. "Why so angry?" you are probably wondering but fear not... there was simply no other way to try to release my Musical Meth.

 Music can completely control my mood. Most mornings I turn the iPod to Shuffle right after I get out of the shower and I'm typically either skipping or punch-dancing my way out of the door in a fit of awesomeness. I have an eclectic taste in music and it's not for everybody, at all. But; if it can brighten your day, introduce you to a new artist/band/group/genre, I'm all for it.

 This mornings little jewel of Musical Meth was Hank William the III's "Trooper's Hollar"

 The Unofficial Video, but it fits pretty good:

 Back story: I've been a Hank III fan since 2002 when I found "Broke, Lovesick and Driftin'" at Best Buy in Olympia, Washington. I had been a Hank Sr. and Hank Jr. fan and so when I saw there was a III, I bought it without knowing what it was. In the ten years since hearing it for the first time, I have bought that album 3x over. The first two either got donated to a house at which I frequently partied at and or/scratched beyond repair.

 Hank III is a different dude and I love him for that. He's got two sides- "Outlaw Country" and "If you liked that, you probably should leave now" at his live performances for his "Hellbilly" part of the show. The Hellbilly is metal/outlaw country/vulgarity. While I love metal, I just haven't really connected with the Hellbilly genre, which I'm surprised about myself. Best of both worlds, right?

 I'm lost for words on how to describe this song, but... banjo to open with? F' yes! And that's III's hound, Trooper, in the song! Outlaw Country/sweet banjo and drumming/hounds... how could I NOT love this song? It's as if it was made for me. I've been listening to this (2 disc) album for about a week now, but this is really the only song that has caught my attention. I need to give the others another go, but I restart Track 8 every time I shut off the truck so that this is playing when I get in. Good luck on that one, Yaya!