How Queen’s Made Me Tolerant to Country

Illustration by Brigita Brumend

Before attending university, I was your typical “I like all music except for country” person. I managed to stay strong in my position for most of my first year too, but over time, something shifted and the surprisingly strong presence of country in Kingston took hold of me. Eventually, I found myself enjoying a few of the songs that were in my residence floor’s constant rotation. You may think that someone from northwestern Ontario wouldn’t be opposed to a bit of country here and there but that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Growing up my household was very alt-rock centric. I had gone through all the usual pop, emo, rap, alternative, and indie music phases that seem to be customary for our generation. My parents rarely played anything that strayed too far from the rock genre and all my closest friends had music tastes that mirrored mine. So, I ended up having a musical echo chamber around me and I never went outside of what I knew so I didn’t listen to anything I disliked. But when someone mentioned country, my immediate reaction was to fake a gag and say that I hated it. I had commandeered my father’s hatred for country without ever even really listening to it. As country gained more popularity and pop-country joined the radio play singles, my dislike became real. I just couldn’t stand it, and no one was changing my twelve-year-old mind. Over the years nothing ground-breaking occurred to cause me to change my mind so I stuck with what I knew easily. 

Now, imagine my surprise when I learned in my first year that one of the only regular bar theme nights in Kingston is country night. I couldn’t help but be disappointed in the city’s nightlife. Especially when I would get calls from my friend on exchange in England and she’d tell me about the weekly indie rock nights at the club below their residence. The resentment grew and grew because there was a severe lack of music diversity at the local bars aside from getting the chance to catch a band occasionally. But somewhere along the line a switch flipped. I think it must have been connected to one of my favourite memories from being at Queen’s so far. Second semester of first year, I was hanging out with some friends in their dorm. They were doing work at their desks and the only light in the room was coming from the warm lamps scattered throughout. I was lying on one of their beds when large, fluffy snowflakes began to fall outside, and “7 Summers” by Morgan Wallen came on their shuffle. I don’t think I’ve had a more peaceful moment since. While I can’t say I enjoy the rest of Morgan Wallen’s catalogue, nor him as a person, this song brings me back to the bliss of first year when I hear it out and about. These little bits of borderline exposure therapy made me be more open to diving deeper into the genre and finding songs I genuinely enjoy. The vast majority of the tracks I like are from the 70’s but what can you do. My annual “Tumble Tuesday” endeavour always results in me only knowing the old Taylor Swift songs and “Wagon Wheel” but at the very least I can say that I’ve participated.

I know university is all about experiencing new things and growing but I never thought that this change was ever possible. Which may sound like too serious of a statement when it comes to country music but it’s honestly true. All that to say, country is still nowhere near to being one of my top genres, but I don’t find myself cringing when a country song comes on someone else’s shuffle. Which I happen to think is pretty good character development.

Edited by Natalie Stevenson