Mahoney Cyr

I took this course because of my love for the sound of music (not the renowned film starring Julie Andrews hahaha). Instead, I have always enjoyed listening to the beat in songs. I rarely hear nor can understand the lyrics as I am often too focused on how the song makes me FEEL. Throughout the years, this way of listening shaped what genres I gravitated towards. I enjoyed pop music, rap music, jazz music, blues music, reggae, musical theater, indie rock, and folk music. To me, these genres had a wide range of emotions and all sounded completely different from each other. Meanwhile, I actively detested one specific genre; country music. Admittedly, when I heard country music, it didn't make me feel the same way that folk music did and it didn't sound as diverse as rap music and did not convey as much emotion as musical theater and did not include as many instruments as jazz did. Instead, it felt uniform and masculine, all songs sounded the same and only made me feel one feeling; the feeling of summertime driving to the beach. Oddly specific, but that is the only association I had with the genre. Being from Boston, it was rare to hear country music on the radio or to know someone who loved the genre. People who did love the genre however, were the popular rich white girls with bleach blonde hair and a love for partying…I did not necessarily associate with them…therefore, country music was not my thing (great logic huh?). To be honest, I judged people who listened to country music. I viewed them as less intelligent and less open minded and less attune to the ‘true beauties of music’. Country didn't have as much history as jazz, it didn't have the enlightened lessons that were conveyed in indie music, it didn't have as much effort as rock music and it didn't have as diverse of a following as rap music. Country music, instead, pushed conservative views, objectified women, was only listened to by republicans who are overly obsessed with America and not aware of the inequities in our society. I also wasn't a fan of any country artists in particular. No one stood out to me as being different or paving a new path for country music (mostly because I didn't think country music was able to be modernized or reworked). It wasn't until hearing Kasey Musgraves that I started to question my past notions. For one, she was a woman, so inherently her music did not perpetuate sexist ideals. Secondly, her music didn't sound like traditional country; it was more indie and folk sounding and her audience wasn't the stereotypical listener. I knew people from all across the indie board that listened to her music, even my musical theater friends would play her songs in the dressing room on occasion. My view of the genre completely flipped and I opened myself up to listening to more artists and different songs. Therefore, when I was signing up for this class, I thought I had a good basis understanding that would help lead me in this honors class. It wasn't until the first few weeks when I realized I knew so much less than I thought. I knew nothing about the history of country, I didnt grow up listening to it, like my classmates did. I recognized only a fraction of the artists that were mentioned and that the book referenced. I had never thought about country music or the beats of the genre as deeply as this class urges us to do. I began to have a shift in perspective as we learned about the culture surrounding the country. I never thought about how narrative it was, because I rarely listen to the lyrics. I had never previously thought about how maybe the audience is actually the working class people who want to be reminded of the simple pleasures in life while having a strong sense of community. Through listening to my 100 songs, I also realized that there, in fact, was a wide range of emotions and sounds across the genre. Some songs are busy and some are more acapella, some songs are repetitive, while some are varied. I have begun to recognize different ‘types’ of country music. So far I have discovered: classic country, honky tonk, bluegrass, folk, rock, and pop country. I paid closer attention to the themes across different songs and those seemed to be similar; nationalism, sexism, alcoholism, etc. However, I still have difficulty recognizing chords and beats. When we would learn about it in class, it would make sense, but the knowledge doesn't stick for me past a few weeks. What I have most started pondering, is how to define country music. The best description I have so far is that it is like pornography; it's hard to define, but you know it when you see it. The best example I have was from the past class when you played Greetings from Amarillo by Hayden pedigo and It took the night to believe by sunn )). I knew these were definitely not country, but  I Couldn't exactly tell you why. Perhaps it was the instruments used. There was a lack of drums and pedal steel guitar sounding instrumentals. They also did not follow a specific narrative as much as classical country did. My one theory is that it has to do with the singer’s voice. If a person's sounds like they have a legitimate accent (and that they hold the same values as traditional southerners), then it was country music. But there is still an issue in this thought process; what if you replaced a traditional rap song with a country accent, what if the song was instrumental? This is where a better understanding of beats and chords would come in handy. With a better grasp of these concepts, I would be able to better understand how country music should be defined. Going forward, I think it would be beneficial to not ask myself why a song IS country, but why a song IS NOT country. I have put this into practice recently in my day to day music listening. Now when I listen to other genres I think about how they differ and why they differ from ‘country’. I liked the shell analogy; If you pick up a shell on the beach and put it on the shelf, is it art? What even makes music, music? What are the essential elements and what do we leave out to create a country tune? This class has urged me to start thinking of these questions as I shape my perspective of country music. Overall, I have broken down my naive stereotypes surrounding the genre’s target audience and traditional sound since I have now since seen first-hand examples that challenge my original way of thinking. I realize that country is so narrative since it is the way they were taught and socialized to share their story, and that country music actually CAN have some good beats.

I was on the event management team. Its hard to define my specific position but I took the role of correcting minor imperfections or adding niche details to the event; making the schedule, deciding theme and logistics, and making sure everyone was on the same page. Other members of the group attempted to reserve a space or make a mood board, but I've never been one for aesthetics. It was difficult to divide labor evenly since we had no rubric of what was expected or budget. In the future, it would be more beneficial to have a budget so we can break up the team into planning, finance, set up, breakdown, etc. Overall, I would say that my group put the most effort in that we could, trying to make our efforts as equal to the creative team as we could. My expectations were honestly nonexistent, I went into this project with the intention to create a cool event to showcase all that we have learned this year. In my ideal world, there would have been more bells and whistles such as decor and food and video at the showing. I also think more weeks spent on this project would be more appropriate for this course. That way we can focus on learning the basics of country music, then each group could make 1 song each and then transition to the event planning aspect for a week or two. I did not feel that my knowledge from the class applied to my group. I do feel that my group's work was divided as evenly as possible. We each held our own weight, I just wish we had more defined goals for I did not wish for my group to feel as if I didn't contribute. I suggest that the project have more guidelines so grading can be equitable and all teams have equal work. I also suggest that to incorporate different majors and backgrounds, there is a project where you apply your major to country music somehow. For example, with my psychology major, I would love to research studies on how country music affects the brain compared to metal or classical. I would also love to survey people about what the country means to them. This way I am engaged in my major while also learning about a different discipline. However, I do find the final project beneficial. I was able to piece together the country music-making process. It starts with the knowledge of the themes and motifs in country music, the conceptualization of an album theme, what songs would fit best, what they should sound like, who the audience is, how we should produce the music, where we should play it, how will we market the songs, and how to work as a team. It made me realize that the music industry is a machine. A machine that equally relies on all of its parts and if one malfunctions, the whole machine comes crashing down. I also understand the importance of the audience. The audience decides how well the artist fits into the schema of talent and thus determines their success. An artist can claim that they made country music, but unless it is perceived that way, there is no objective determination of how well you fit into that box. If there is no listener, there is no music. I still struggle to define country music, but I feel that I'll know it when I see it. I understand its history, its contents, and how much it means to different communities.