Dear country music,

Being from the south, it is easy to love you. There is always a right time for you. You provide a song choice for every aspect of life. There is nothing better than hanging out at the lake with all your friends blasting some Kenney Chesney or riding around at night with your windows down listening to Zac Brown Band. Because of this, people think of you as a genre that should only be played in the summer in the south, but I would beg to differ. You are so much more than that to me because I cannot tell you the last day I went a full day without listening to a little of you.

You've got happy songs and sad songs and love songs and heartbreak songs. You can make someone feel any emotion at any time of the day. You've got pop country and old school country and just regular country. I don't know how to explain these as different country genres, but if you listen to country you know what I'm talking about. It is hard for me to find a bad song. I genuinely have to search for one and it could take me all day.

Waking up on Sunday mornings is always the same tradition. Turn you on, make some breakfast, and just listen. Luckily, I'm usually accompanied by like minded people who love it just as much as I do. What's crazy about all of this is that I used to hate you, and I don't know how I ever did. I don't know if I was just trying to hate something that everyone I knew liked to try and be different or if I just genuinely didn't like you, but for that, I am sorry.

Ranging from Hank Williams Sr. to Taylor Swift, every artist you bring out tells a story in their songs. Every story they tell is just about as genuine as it gets. Sitting on the beach you can throw on Knee Deep by Zac Brown Band. Cruising on the lake you can throw on Pontoon or Day Drinking both by Little Big Town. When you're feeling sad you can throw on 21 Summer by Brothers Osborne. If you're feeling happy you can throw on It's a Great Day to Be Alive by Travis Tritt. If you're falling in love you can throw on American Love by Jake Owen. I really mean it when I say that you have a song choice for every situation in someones life and each time I hear a country song it seems to lift my spirits no matter how low or how high I am flying at the time. For all of this, I thank you.

I love you country music,

Lewis