Earlier this evening, the site was redesigned to make it a bit more user-friendly and clear up the clutter on the top of the page. Hopefully, this will make it easier to find the features that you like and discover some that you might not even know about!
Another change was the addition of Writer Biographies, which give a brief background on all five writers for Country Universe. We take great pride in our work here, but all of us write for the site in our spare time. We have lives outside of the site that take up most of our waking hours!
Since we’re sharing details about our professional and educational history, it seems like a great time for our readers to do the same. We’d like to hear a little bit about you and how you came to be a reader of our site. Hopefully, we’ll all get to know each other a little better. Feel free to share whatever you like!
I graduated from the University of Washington in 2003 and while in school and afterward was working towards where I am now, in Nashville working on nothing but being the lead writer and Editor of Roughstock.com. In between University and starting with Roughstock in May of 2008, I wrote for epinions.com, countrymusic.about.com (as a staff writer) and started The Lost Highway blog in May of 2007. Also, the whole time I wrote TLH blog, I was in Korea teaching 5-12 year old kids English. Before that I spent a year in Beijing teaching business English to college students. Ahh, good times.
I’m a college dropout because a college degree was, and is, still only needed in IT if you’re one of those weird programmer things. I’m living in my fourth new area of the world, the third in the US. Each area completely different culturally, ethnically and economically than the last. My current home is Georgia.
I’ve participated in many forums over the years.. from football (not the American kind), gaming, music and more. I’ve written guest articles for an equally vast array of websites. Needless to say, I am into far too many things.
I got into Country between my Freshman and Sophomore years of high school while working at the pool. Mid-nineties female country got me hooked. I still remained heavy into the early/mid 90’s grunge/alternative music, and true to form to this day still listen to the widest variety of music of anyone I know. The only things I’m really not into are classical and Jazz. Jazz especially. ooof.
I also disagree that Leeann has a life outside of here as she’s always monitoring threads for comments. :)
I’m a senior in high school, planning on going to BYU in Utah (most likely a full ride scholarship) and pursuing becoming a dentist or orthodontist with a biology degree.
I play tennis, for fun, as well as it being my current job. I’m a coach for little kids at my club, basically helping to run the clinics 2 days a week.
I found this site through the 9513 which I found I think through a review on wikipedia.
I love country music, obviously, my favorite artists being Sugarland, Lee Ann Womack, SHeDAISY, and Nickel Creek. I also like pop and R&B music as well. I’ve been told that I have mature music tastes (by posters at the 9513 forums) because I enjoy Kathy Mattea, namely Coal. xD
I’m Jake, a sophomore in a Minnesota high school. You could say I live in a small town that keeps growing.
Activities I do, well there’s not much, ride four wheeler, help my neighbor with farm chores at time, and reading up on music and buying albums.
I love country music from the 90’s, thus drew me to this site. I won’t lie when I say that country-pop and country-rock are my favorite genres of country(but only when their at their best.) I also like pop, rock, and various other music, but overall country music is the one I always come back to :D
I’ve delved into past music more recently since my Dad passed away 3 and half years ago. As I still go through the healing process I find music to be a great way to heal, it doesn’t completely make the pain go away, but it had helped me these past couple of years.
For Country music my favorite artists are: Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Trisha Yearwood, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn, and Martina McBride(these artists are the ones I grew up listening to.) For more contempary artists it’d probably have to be Little Big Town, Carrie Underwood, and a couple others.
Other music would be: Fleetwood Mac, 3 Doors Down, Matchbox Twenty, Kelly Clarkson, Sarah McLaughlin. I was too young to get into grunge so mostly anything post-grunge or pop up until about 2004. To me there’s only a few good pop artists out there now and they don’t consist of Miley Cyrus or the Jonas Brothers :P
So There’s my long ramble, not nearly as good as anyone elses, but hopefully it gives you some insight on me. ;)
I never liked writing about myself, but here goes …
I graduated high school in 2002 in West Portsmouth, OH. I started college at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth that fall and only stayed 1 quarter. Then in 2004, I went to Wright State in Dayton where I earned a bachelor’s in Communications (worthless degree really, I know …). In 2004, I interned at radio station WTCR (CMA small-market station of the year twice) – I was only there 3 months as they didn’t hire me on after my internship. Since then I have worked as a radio DJ at various stations (Top 40, Classical Classic Rock, and country as soon as I found an opening at a country station). I currently am the evening weekdays and weekend morning guy on WPAY back in my hometown of Portsmouth, OH.
I too, discovered this site via the9513. But I can’t remember how I found the9513 … I got into country music via a Reba video on CMT. It wasn’t until my senior year in HS that I really became captivated with country music as a genre – Trisha Yearwood’s version of ‘Seven Year Ache’ just hooked me and I went on a mission seeking out more songs like it.
My favorite artists are Reba, Trisha Yearwood, Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Tanya Tucker, Conway Twitty, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Ronnie Milsap, and Patty Loveless.
Well…I’m 19 years old and I live in Mesa, Arizona. I graduated in 2007 and I completed a year at Arizona State University majoring in Accounting. However, after my freshman year, I felt Accounting really wasn’t my thing. So I chose not to go back this year and, instead, I’m taking this semester off and primarily just working.
I plan on attending a local community college here and getting my Associates in Music Business. If all goes well, I’d love to move to Nashville and find a job working at a record company.
For fun, I love to play golf and tennis even though I’m not that great at either of them! I love to hang out with family and friends as much as I possibly can! I also love listening to music!
My favorite genre is, of course, country!! Growing up, I was exposed to the oldies (George Jones, Merle Haggard, Waylon) and the 90’s country which is still my favorite! Now, I’m really diggin’ this ‘new country’ that has caught radio’s attention. My favorite artists include Reba, Martina McBride, George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Sugarland, Lee Ann Womack, the Dixie Chicks, and way too many more to name! I’ve experienced with pop and rock but nothing is better than country!
Yikes. I’m feeling old among all these high school and college students.
I’m 44 and grew up on a small family farm in South Dakota. I heard “Hard Times” (hence the moniker) by Lacy J. Dalton on the truck radio while hauling a load of corn to the elevator as a teenager and have been hooked on the genre ever since.
I now live in a big city and wear suits to work, but I can’t shake the country music.
Marc, I can’t argue with you there.:) Shockingly, I’m sure, I actually have a life outside of Country Universe…with real live friends and everything!
It’s cool to learn a little more about you all.
I am a paralegal with a law firm in Columbus, Ohio, but live in Urbana, Ohio (it amazes me how many Ohio people are on here). And Hard Times, I agree about feeling old, I am 35.
But as was discussed previously, am originally from a small town in central Illinois of 1,200 people. Grew up with both of my parents listening to country, but I did not start listening to country of my own accord until my freshman year of college at Southern Illinois at Carbondale, which means I have been listening for over 15 years.
I found CU through the 9513, which I believe I found because of my love of Ashley Monroe.
I am a long time fan of Tracy Lawrence, Terri Clark, Chely Wright, George Strait, Garth Brooks, and now a fan of Julie Roberts, Ashley Monroe, Ashton Shepard, Jamey Johnson, Heidi Newfield and several others.
I’m 27. Work in the music business in NYC for a major label (though we don’t do country). Roped into the genre by Reba in the early ’90s and though my interest has see-sawed over the years. I find that I keep coming back.
I’m a 36-year-old educated hillbilly from Rose Hill, Va. I currently live in Nashville and work as a music journalist. I’m an Aries, and my favorite dessert is cheesecake.
I grew up in a small town just north of Nashville, moved to Silicon Valley when I was 25, and now happily reside in New York.
I’m a Project Manager by day for a Fortune 500 computer company based in Silicon Valley. I work from home full-time.
In my spare time, I write and produce and try to be as creative as possible. I wrote and produced my first full-length feature film, Manhattanits, and currently looking for distrubtion (manhattanitesthemovie.com).
Patty Loveless is my favorite musical artist (I know, shocker). But I also love Keith Whitley, Loretta, Dolly, Tammy, REO Speedwagon, 80s pop and so much more.
I am 56 years old, the son of a farm boy who spent thirty years in the US Navy. I have always lived in suburbia, mostly up and down the Atlantic coast. I graduated from a Department of Defense High School in London (UK) in 1970, where Bill Clinton, then a visiting lecturer at Oxford, gave the graduation address. (Yes, he was as big a phony then, as now). I graduated from Stetson University in Deland Florida in May 1973 and I have lived in Florida since then
I’ve been listening to Country Music all of my life. My Dad played it and sang it on his guitar. During the 1960s I really got into the music of Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and Charley Pride. During the 1970s I developed a taste for traditional and big band jazz (Ellington, Basie, Goodman, Armstrong, Fitzgerald) but really , I like any music where melody and harmony are the dominant elements and don’t have much use for any musical form where they have been shuffled aside.
I prefer the classic stuff – Webb Pierce, Ernest Tubb,Owens, Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Connie Smith but there is much good music being made today as well. Among the current Nashville crop I especially like Alan Jackson, Tracy Lawrence and Brad Paisley but feel that Texas is presently producing more worthwhile music than Nashville.
I sang with a Country band in London in 1969 & 1970, then didn’t perform at all until 2003. Needless to say, I have yet to perform a song written later than 1975 !