I grew up hearing my parents, alumni of the University of Tennessee at Martin, talk about the great concerts they attended on campus when they were students. UT Martin is much smaller than our state’s flagship campus, the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, but it pulled in some big acts back in the day.  The school hosted fewer concerts when…

More than melody or rhythm, harmony or tempo, texture or form — music is made of memories.   Songs take us back in time, reconnecting us with old friends and special places.   Perhaps no other artist in country music plays our memories better than George Strait. With a sound that is pure country and an uncanny ability to choose…

I was 12 years old when Mom let me tag along to the state FHA/HERO Convention in Nashville. Sitting in the back of our minivan, timidly eavesdropping on her high schoolers’ chatter, I vividly remember one of her star students — a friendly, outgoing junior with a beautiful voice — singing along to Reba McEntire’s For My…

Faith Hill One of my favorite parts of writing Roots & Rhinestones is binging the music for each post. To borrow from Clint Black, melodies bring back memories — and Faith Hill’s first three albums take me to simpler times.  Back then, I thought I was the stuff with my three-disc CD changer. (I only recently learned some lucky ducks had five-disc changers.) When I convinced…

Martina McBride  Before I ever saw Martina McBride in color, I saw her in black-and-white on a hand-me-down TV with rotary dials and rabbit ears.  We didn’t have cable out in the country, and my parents weren’t interested in a satellite dish. So, I watched what I could: ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX. In the early ’90s, that was enough —…

The early ’90s shaped my music education — and just about everything else.  Garth Brooks was HUGE, and I sang “Friends in Low Places” with all the twang I could muster. In fact, my first country cassette was his second album, No Fences, and I can still picture the cover art.  Before that, I was into Debbie…