Day 14
The weekly videos have started:
I love country music. It’s a genre I genuinely listen to on a daily basis. In fact,
a bucket list item of mine is to go to a proper country music festival, out in Tennessee
or somewhere similar. Now, when I say American Country, I’m not talk old
traditional Johnny Cash style songs. Oh no, I’m talking cheesy guitar-layered
throaty-voiced pop songs about trucks, dirt roads and late-night dancing. To
clarify, I do not own a truck, cruise down dirt roads or go late night dancing.
Being someone who grew up in the fields of Cambridgeshire, UK, I’m a little far
removed from the American back roads. My location of birth and upbringing meant
that I wasn’t introduced to the wonders of country music until 2014 – when I
first ever headed to the USA.
In 2014, I travelled to California. For me,
California was nothing short of a Hollywood movie-driven childhood dream.
Everything felt like a stereotype but in the best way. I flew out to San Francisco;
spending a few days in the city (somewhere I really want to return to), then
heading to Santa Cruz – a beach town, full of the representative surfer dudes.
I then headed over to Yosemite Valley for a wild experience like no other and
finally ended in Los Angeles, which, was actually a bit of a disappointment when
compared to the previous places. I plan to return again soon.
(A youthful me in the hills of San Fran.)
Anyhow, one thing that caught my attention
whilst cruising the 101 was the music playing on the radio. These pop songs
being sang with thick deep-south accents, with lyrics that were all about
trucks and working the farms. At first, I couldn’t take it seriously but as I
listened I could see why it was one of the most popular genres across the whole
of the United States. These superstar artists that are selling out arenas, are
barely known across the pond here in old Grey Britain. It was surreal but I
left that trip with a new-found love and haven’t looked back since.
American Country has definitely grown in
popularity in the UK since I returned from that trip and in an ode to my love
for it, I have decided to cover a country song. (I have also written songs in a
country style which I will release soon.)
(Yosemite Valley, CA, USA – January 2014)
The video in today’s post marks the first video of a series that I intend to
upload on a weekly basis. Wednesday is my chosen day and I am going to try and
stick to the regimented time of 12 noon GMT. Yes, that’s right, every Wednesday
at 12 noon I will release a video that includes a song that I have either
written or covered, and a video to go with it. This is all part of goal number
1, from the “things I want to achieve this year” post.
Please like, subscribe, etc if you wish to
be part of this journey with me. Let me know what you think of the song, as
well as any constructive advice/critique so I can improve on future videos. The
whole idea here is to not let perfection get in the way of productivity and mainly
put my creative endeavors out in public eye for anyone and everyone to see. As
Austin Kleon says in Steal Like An Artist: Show your work. It’s not going to
get anywhere whilst it’s sat on a computer hard drive.
It wouldn’t be a blog post if I didn’t talk about running. My Garmin’s Bluetooth has given up and it means I can’t sync my workouts with Strava… technology. I might just go back to the stop watch days and writing splits down on my arm. Anyway… incredible weather yet again on today’s 8 miler.
Peace & love.
BG
benedict. 