Country Music Listeners

Did you know that Genially allows you to share your creation directly, with no need to download?All ready for your audience to view it from anydevice and share it anywhere.

Kendra Cherry

Music Preferences

Rob Tanner

Music Personality

Hayley Miller

Storytelling

Why Do Country Music Listeners Love Country Music?

Brooke Tynon

Interviews

Cecilia Tichi

American Culture

These two sources both talk about personalities that go with country music listeners. Both authors mentioned that country music listeners have an outgoing personality and tested to see what other traits are a common occurrence.

Both authors talked a lot about the storytelling behind country music and that's what keeps country music listeners listening. Most people love listening to music because of the story behind the lyrics because it makes it special.

My interviews relate to this article about the story behind country music songs because during each interview, the story behind their favorite songs were brought up. They said the lyrics are what makes the song so special.

My interviews go with this article about certain music personality because specifically the outgoing personality trait the author describes with country music listeners is a trait all four of the friends I interviewed have.

Kendra Cherry (2022)

Key Ideas

• The author dives deeper into the psychology of music by stating that most people use music to relate to other people and to help them find themselves.

• Kendra Cherry describes country music listeners as “hard working, conventional, outgoing, and conservative.” She explains how most country songs are focused on heartbreak but that leaves listeners being more emotionally stable.

Role In Conversation

This source isn’t all about country music specifically but it talks about music preferences and personality which I think is important to understand before we dive into country.

Music Preferences and Your Personality: What Your Music Taste Says About You

Overview

In this article about what your music tastes says about you, Kendra Cherry goes into detail about several music types and personality types through the website, Very Well Mind. This research study conducted 36,000 participants and 104 types of music styles. She claims that people use music as a way to define themselves and that’s why sometimes it becomes a defensive topic. Cherry also went into detail about the effects music has on your everyday life, how listening to music connects to your brain, and how it can have a long lasting effect on the brain.

New Study Says Most Country Music Fans Have This Personality Trait

(Rob Tanner 2020)

Overview

Key Ideas

Role in Conversation

Rob Tanner briefly explains that the music you listen to can indicate different personality types. He conducted a personality test with 5,808 volunteers to rate their openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and emotional stability. Tanner concluded from the survey that country music listeners are typically more extroverted even though the lyrics are telling a personal story.

This source is about the different types of personalities that typically listen to country music. I think these studies match up with personal experiences I have withh country music listeners.

• Rob Tanner mentions that country music listeners “who enjoy Blues” are actually “more emotionally stable” after collecting his evidence from the 5,808 participants.

What Can Country Music Teach Us About Storytelling

(Hayley Miller 2018)

Overview

Key Ideas

Hayler Miller goes into depth about the stories behind a couple of country music songs.

• Watching You by Rodney Atkins

Song about a husband raising his son. It’s about a son that copies everything his dad does because he’s been watching him and wants to be just like him. The dad tears up when seeing his son pray before bed because he realized how much his actions have an affect on his kid.

• You’re Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins

An 18 yr old girl leaving for college and her mom drops her off and tells her she is gonna miss this. Flash forward, she’s now married and talking about having kids. Her dad tells her the same thing her mom told her. Flash forward, the plumber with two adult children told her she will miss the chaos of little kids.

Role In Conversation

As Hayler Miller explains through a couple of examples, every song has a story, country or not. The story is what makes music so enjoyable to listen to. A lot of people's favorite songs are their favorite because they can relate it back to their life. I think this is something that most country music listeners love about country music.

Personal Interviews

(Brooke Tynon 2024)

Overview

I asked some of my closet friends who are country music listeners what they're favorite country song is and why and why they listen to country music. I linked the lyric videos to each song.

• Highway 20 Ride by Zac Brown Band
• Ryan likes this song because his family life relates to the lyrics and it means a lot to his family.
• He says country music reminds him of his childhood and he can never get sick of hearing a country song.

Ryan Shehadi

Reese Lennebacker

• Here For A Good Time by George Straight
• Reese likes how this song is about how we aren't around for a long time but we're around for a good time and that's how she likes to look at life.
• She likes country music because she loves the American roots and the good vibes.

Brianna Alexander

• Friends In Low Places by Garth Brooks
• Brianna likes this specific song because it's the only country song she remembers from her childhood.
• She likes country music for the meaningful lyrics and it boosts her mood.

Dylan Bailey

• Don't Think Jesus by Morgan Wallen
• Dylan likes how this song makes him think about his religious beliefs and life.
• He likes country music because he loves the simplicity of country music.

I noticed a pattern with country music listeners loving the lyrics and the story the song tells. Three out of four of these listeners grew up listening to country music while Brianna started listening later in life because she grew to love it.

High Lonesome: The American Culture of Country Music

(Tichi 1994)

Overview

Key Ideas

Role In Conversation

Cecilia Tichi begins the book with a personal story about how she discovered country music on roadtrips like most do. Tichi talks a lot about universal experiences she thinks most country listeners have experienced such as a couple examples of songs, specific driving destinations and overall how it boosts moods.

• TIchi describes a lot about how country music and driving on the roads go together, "contributing extensively to the meanings we attach to the road."
• She talked to artist, Steve Earle, and he told her that lyrics are "always the most important thing in country music."

One way storytelling was incorporated in Cecilia TIchi's book was how she related music to road trips or just being in the car. She also related storytelling to the lyrics and backed it up with a real songwriter's point of view. She goes over how music and writing are different in aspects of language and form. The main takeaway here is that we, humans, subconciously create a pesonal attachment to country music because of the message