EPOCH6

I think, for the most part, that as I've grown older I increasingly gravitate toward genres of music that are congruent with my environment, setting, and culture. My leisure time has simply been reallocated to other things, I haven't been dedicating nearly as much time to sitting down and searching out new music as I used to. In my teens it was all about jamming as much into my ears as I possibly could, listening to a dozen albums a day, aimlessly downloading as much from as many genres as I could, and then later filtering out those that were unmemorable. That spirit is still there and I still love digging into albums that are completely alien to me every once in a while, I still love experimental music, but for the last few years my ears have been predominantly occupied by the music I was raised on (classic rock) and the music that feels the most compatible with my environment (blues, roots rock, and country), AKA music that doesn't challenge me existentially while I'm trying to get my **** together.

Country music, especially when played in its natural environment (the middle of nowhere), can be borderline intoxicating. For me that applies to any genre of music, if I play it in its most compatible environment it sinks much deeper into the mind and reveals a lot more of what it's trying to say to you. There are always more reasons than one as to why you are drawn to a particular style of music, but I think that's number 1 for me these days. With much more of a life, system, and routine on the line these days I have less patience for things that threaten me existentially (AKA weird drugs and weird music), I'm much more likely to listen to something that feels good right off the bat, and these days that's music that is simple, stripped down, honest, and down to earth, old country music fits that bill perhaps better than anything else.

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