I have always enjoyed listening to many different types/genres of music from bluegrass to rock and roll to country pop/alternative to rap/hip hop to alternative rock to 2000s country to today’s hits. I believe that I base what music I listen to at a certain time on what type of mood I am in at that time. Some of my all time favorite artists are Shania Twain, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, Sugar Ray, Smash Mouth, Good Charlotte, Dave Matthews Band, Dixie Chicks, Faith Hill, Joni Mitchell, Michelle Lewis, Harry Nilsson, Alan Silvestri, SHeDAISY, T-Pain, Ludacris, Outkast, Lil Kim, Missy Elliott, Akon, LL Cool J, Nelly, Ice Cube, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, The Notorious B.I.G, Usher, Meghan Trainor, and Maroon 5, just to name a few.
Sometimes I like to listen to songs I grew up listening to as a kid because they bring back memories. Whether those songs be my classic 90s music or my parents 70s and 80s music that they would listened to when I rode in the car with them, I enjoy all of it because of the memories attached to those songs.
I think if I had to choose my favorite artist it would be Shania Twain because I grew up listening to her so much and now as I’ve gotten older, I only appreciate her music more. I think she is a very strong woman who truly wants her music to empower women. Twain had a very rough childhood. Her family was very poor, sometimes they didn’t have any food to eat, and she would sing in bars until late at night when she was about 8 years old to earn money for her family. She worked for her father in his reforestation business which is very hard labor work, and would clean her singing coaches house in exchange for singing lessons. I have always admired how hard she worked to get to where she is today and that she never thought a job seemed too beneath her because she knew it was what she had to do survive and to get closer to where she wanted to be in life.
If I could meet Shania Twain, I would make the focus of her bio sketch about the struggles she endured in life that encouraged her to pursue her career in country pop music and how those struggles made her the person/woman she is today. I would ask her how she felt about singing in bars at such a young age, what emotions she had as a child when her family didn’t have any food to eat, how did she survive, what was it like living in a homeless shelter, how did you help your mother raise your siblings, what jobs did you have while you were pursuing your career in country music, how difficult was it to make connections with people who could help your career, and would she have ever imagined she would be where she is today.
natalie hodges 