Garth Brooks

My 14 year old self just died a little. Let me explain.

My parents had always been top 40 kind of people so it was strange in the mid-90’s when they started listening to country music. Was it because country started getting more mainstream at that time? Or maybe because our cable carrier picked up the first country channel, TNN. Either way, our family totally embraced it. And it wasn't just us. Almost all of my friends were into it too. We would  each buy one cd and record them to cassette tape for each other. Every morning, we watched “The Katie and Al Video Morning Show” while getting ready for school. Our favorites were The Judds, Reba McIntyre, Trisha Yearwood, John Michael Montgomery, Patty Loveless, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Ricky Van Shelton, Sawyer Brown, Tracy Byrd and of course Garth Brooks.

But for some reason, we moved on. Our phase only lasted about three years. My parents and siblings might have still listened to it a little longer, but I stopped completely. It probably had something to do with the end of the grunge era, and I could finally stand listening to alternative music. Plus I was a sophomore in high school and oh so sophisticated. But the one country artist I continued to love was good ol’ Garth. I bought every cd and “The Hits” played on repeat in my room. My boyfriend (who was obsessed with The Beatles and Red Hot Chili Peppers, strange combo, I know) even started to sing along.

Then the disaster known as Chris Gaines came along, followed by Garth’s retirement. I still have Mr. Brooks on my iPod and still love to watch old live performances online. (He put on quite a show, didn’t he?)

In 2009, Garth announced that he’d be performing a few weekends out of the year at The Wynn in Las Vegas. I thought it was cool, but didn’t think anything else of it, assuming the cost would be outrageous and the tickets very hard to get. A few months ago I signed up for email alerts, just for the heck of it. Last week, I got a notice that said tickets were going on sale for another few months of shows. I recruited my two best friends (the only people I know who listen to country) and my sister (who has fond memories of country music in our childhood) and we are heading to Vegas in November. So excited!!!