When people ask, "How did you get into country music?" I tell them my version of the truth. "I grew up in eastern Long Island (NY)." Now, for the uninitiated, that used to be farm country. So, of course, it'd be natural for a farm kind of boy to love country, right? Isn't it obvious?
Yeah, right.
I think of my love of country music as an interest that got out of control. It started for me in the late 1980's with folks like Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakam, Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith and mushroomed from there to learning about artists from the past to the up-and-coming. Eventually, that led to learning about bluegrass and later Americana/rootsy music.
With "free time" on my hand as a reporter at the Salem, Massschusetts Evening News, in 1993, I started Country Standard Time magazine, which was distributed in record stores and live music clubs throughout the U.S. We're now only on the web covering everything from major label to true independent artists. My posts will cover the facets of what countrystandardtime.com is about, which means all kinds of country, bluegrass and roots/Americana music.
Feel free to email me directly with your thoughts at
countryst@aol.com. Thanks a lot for reading.
