Everyone knows that country music ruled the White House during our previous administration. W. was the governor of Texas, for pete's sake, and famously had Strait and stuff like that on his iPod. But now we've got a new blue-state President in charge. What's the outlook for the future of country music in the Oval Office now?
The answer is: Looking suprisingly good. In a special musical event last week hosted by President and Mrs. Obama (the second in a series launched by the First Lady as a way to encourage arts and arts education), a stellar country lineup including Charley Pride, Brad Paisley, and Alison Krauss & Union Station rocked the East Room and got the White House staff moving.
What impresses us most, however, is not that the Obamas are culturally cognizant of one of music's most powerful genres. What we think is pretty dang cool is that President Obama quoted a country star--and we're not talking Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Elvis, or any of that "I don't know much about country music but I can rattle off a few of the usual iconic suspects" jazz.
Naw, Mr. Obama proved yet again that he's one of our most cutting-edge leaders in history. Despite his initial disclaimer that he's a "city boy," he still quoted one of country's younger, hipper, crossover stars:
"Dierks Bentley called (country) 'the best shrink that 15 bucks can buy.'"
Now, not only is that a cool quote--but keep in mind, Dierks wasn't even performing that evening! And, apparently, the President even managed to pronounce "Dierks" correctly. Now that's a feat of, er, nuclear proportions!
So--regardless of what one's political colors may be--in this case, if the President says, "How am I doin', America?" We'll give that a "real fine," Mr. President!
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