I grew up in Houston.  While H-town has a lot to offer when it comes to culture and arts, the teen scene was not that exciting during the early 90s. My friends and I ended up at the C&W clubs because we could dance.  The fact that the older men asked us was a huge compliment - and one of the reasons we went back. (Any young girl reading this, please do not go to clubs and dance with older men.) 

Since I left the city in 1995, I've had a rather sheepish relationship with the music.  This past year, I was with a friend from high school and we had the country station blaring.  I heard Brad Paisley's "Welcome to the Future" and I began to hope the genre was really making cultural progress.  The next song dashed this glimmer.  Carrie Underwood's rich voice belted out a song about vandalism and cheating.  I couldn't help but laugh when I heard the lyric, "white trash Shania karaoke."   It's not as though the following line was about Carrie busting out both headlights with a Louisville slugger.  Ah, country music, I have missed you.