Ireland loves ... country music?

Surprising, isn't it? I certainly didn't see it coming. I think I've heard more American country music since arriving in Northern Ireland than I hear in months at home. You see, I've never been a big fan of that particular musical genre. But they absolutely eat that stuff up here!

Whenever we were in the bus on Sunday, the driver had a station on that was playing country music all day long. And I'm not talking about that pop-esque, trying to be mainstream stuff you hear in the States. This was hardcore country, as in, "I'm going to saddle up my horse and lasso a cow." And somehow they managed to fit a Buddy Holly song into the mix, which baffled the early rock and roll fan in me.

I'm told that what we now know as country music in the U.S. is rooted in traditional Irish music, and if you listen carefully you can hear that. But I never would have expected that development to travel back across the Atlantic. Funny how that happens.