This mix technique has always been the lazy one. You put tape into the player during what promises to be an exceptional run of music, often a countdown, and hit record. When found, these tapes often include advertisements, DJ chatter, and any number of odd interruptions or song cut offs.

The blank cassette I put into the tape deck this morning was just that, a lazy recording of the New Year countdown of 104.1 FM KXDD – Yakima’s 104 most requested songs of 1993. And it is a country list.

It begins with Alan Jackson covering “Mercury Blues”, a song that suddenly makes me realize more than seven months into the project and the only country music I have encountered is Dolly Parton. And while never a Dolly-phile (is there such a thing?) I always have and always will love that special something that makes Dolly… well Dolly.

Country has never captivated me. If there was one genre that was generally considered not “not cool” when I was growing up it was country. While occasionally boy bands got a pass, country music never did not during the years directly following the tragic end of Nirvana and the upswing of band’s like No Doubt and Green Day.

Still in shadow of “Nevermind” I had a good friend who openly stayed true to her love of country. And amid those adolescent years, taking a stand for something as counter mainstream, as country was in the 90s, is rough. But now, listening to these popular country songs I can see why they would appeal to a teenager; sometimes funny, even ridiculous, slammed right up against songs that are severely honest and grippingly sad. Country music seems to be riddled with the same odd juxtaposition of hormone swings, as a developing teen, not to mention the choruses are catchy, so so catchy.

Take my new favorite amusement songs, “Mama Knows the Highway”. Within the words is a captivating tale of Americana. With lyrics like “she can gage a café just by looking at the sign”, ring true of the wisdom of mothers always possess. Moreover, the line acknowledges the travel expertise that comes with the profession.
Occasionally off putting, this tape contains a look at popular country music with a comprehensive range. Some songs are simple. Others are silly. Then out of nowhere a track will be followed by a slow and truly emotion piece, like Wynonna Judd’s “Is it Over Yet”.

Stepping out of the music you know is just like traveling to a place where you don’t speak the language. It involves walking right past your comfort zone and trying out something new. And while I didn’t grow up with country music, nor do I naturally gravitate towards it, on occasion it is nice to push play on a tape that gives me a new perspective and a second change at the what I missed back in 1993.

Side A
Alan Jackson – “Mercury Blues”
Travis Tritt – “T-R-O-U-B-L-E”
Hal Ketchum – “Mama Knows the Highway”
Restless Heart – “We Got the Love”
Sawyer Brown – “Trouble on the Line”
McBride and the Ride – “Going Out of My Mind”
Larry Stewart – “Alright Already”
Garth Brooks – “Learning to Live Again”
Wynonna Judd “Tell Me Why”
Alan Jackson – “Tonight I Climbed the Wall”
George Strait – “The Heartland“
Wynonna Judd – “It is Over Yet”
Confederate Railroad -“The Queen of Memphis”
Lee Roy Parnell – “Tender Moment”

Side B
Steve Warner – “If I Didn’t Love You”
McBride and the Ride – “Love on the Loose”
Billy Ray Cyrus – “Somebody New”
Billy Ray Cyrus – “In the Heart of a Women”
Sammy Kershaw – Queen of My Double Wide Trailer”
Aaron Tippin – “My Blue Angel”
Mary Chapin Carpenter – “The Hard Way”
Tanya Tucker – “Soon”
Little Texas – “God Bless Texas”
Billy Ray Cyrus – “She’s Not Crying Anymore”
Sammy Kershaw – “Haunted House”
Diamond Rio – “Oh Me, Oh My, Sweet Baby”