Country Music Listeners

American Culture

Cecilia Tichi

Interviews

Brooke Tynon

Why Do Country Music Listeners Love Country Music?

Storytelling

Hayley Miller

Music Personality

Rob Tanner

Music Preferences

Kendra Cherry

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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.

Overview

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

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.

Role In Conversation

• 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.

• 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.

Key Ideas

Kendra Cherry (2022)

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

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 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.

Role in Conversation

Key Ideas

Overview

(Rob Tanner 2020)

New Study Says Most Country Music Fans Have This Personality Trait

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.

Role In Conversation

• 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.

• 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.

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

Key Ideas

Overview

(Hayley Miller 2018)

What Can Country Music Teach Us About Storytelling

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.

• 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.

Dylan Bailey

• 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.

Brianna Alexander

• 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.

Reese Lennebacker

Ryan Shehadi

• 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.

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.

Overview

(Brooke Tynon 2024)

Personal Interviews

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

• 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."

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.

Role In Conversation

Key Ideas

Overview

(Tichi 1994)

High Lonesome: The American Culture of Country Music