Memory lane up in the headlights, it's got me reminiscing on them good times.

So I'm not really that into country music..

Strike that. I've never been a fan of country music. I don't have a single country song in my iTunes. Or at least not yet.

I grew up on rock, alternative, and classical. I can listen to pretty much every type of music imaginable, but country (and heavy death metal too) have always been towards the bottom of the list. Three of my friends, Shannon, Jeff, and Geo, are what you would call die-hard country music fans, and they've been trying to convert me since we first met. Any time we did homework in the study lounge, that would be the first thing they would turn on, and they would always just look at me and smile. It's not that I don't like the music, it's just that I don't get into it as much as I do with pop, jazz, rock, scores, and everything else. 

So the Downtown Hoedown was in Detroit this past weekend, right? Well, these three had been planning on going since they first heard Jason Aldean, a HUGE country star, was going to be there on Sunday night. I wasn't all hyped up about it as them; I just wanted to go because it was going to be one of the last times I got to see Jeff and Shannon before they study abroad for almost two months this summer.

Dressed in their boots, plaid, and cowboy hats with me in a denim jacket (for that's the closest to country apparel I owned), we trekked down to Detroit in the cold, windy rain to the Hoedown. Just like at any other music festival, there were booths selling shirts, food, and beer and TONS of people despite the sour weather conditions. We ate dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe (it was delicious!) and then headed over to the stage. The rain still hadn't let up, but it wasn't stopping a single person from enjoying the live music. We listened to the John Deer Girls and Steel Magnolia before the main performance of the night, Jason Aldean. For not being a country fan previously, his show was pretty good. I found that I do like a few of his tunes, especially the song "Don't You Wanna Stay" featuring Kelly Clarkson.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for live music, and I had a blast being there with people who truly enjoyed it. Looks like we'll be heading down to Detroit again for the Downtown Hoedown 2012. :p