I noticed that the ACM Awards are coming up soon. I have little knowledge about country music so when my childhood friend, Kim, bought tickets to “The Brothers of the Sun Tour” in Tampa last year, I laughed at the invitation.  Since I don’t listen to country music, I couldn’t name one song by either Kenny Chesney or Tim McGraw. BUT– since it was Kim’s birthday, and I was going to be in Florida anyhow, and she twisted my arm and pleaded, I agreed to go.

Tampa is hot as hell in June. We went to the beach in the morning, to a tail-gate party in the afternoon, and then stood for 6 more hours in the outdoor stadium.  It felt like, “The Sisters of the Sweltering Sun Tour”.  Despite that I was completely melted, and that I didn’t know any of the songs, I enjoyed myself. There is such great energy at a live concert. There is really cold beer too.  I soon forgot how hot I was, and how dumb I felt in the cowboy hat that Kim made me wear. By the end of the night, I had to say I was impressed. I didn’t realize that these cowboys could get 40,000 screaming fans standing up on their seats singing to lyrics like: “She-thinks-my-tractor-is-sexy”.  I totally underestimated them.

Like Airstreams, country music is something I hadn’t paid any attention to before, so I couldn’t say that I wouldn’t like it if I didn’t just dive in and give it a try. So when I was in Nashville in November during the CMA awards (not ACM awards- How many country music awards are there?), I debated scalping tickets and getting a closer look.

While contemplating the scalping opportunities, sitting at The Palm restaurant across the street from the arena, I saw Miranda Lambert performing on the TV. I remember reading somewhere that she sings a song about Airstreams, so I felt an instant kinship. Then I realized while perched on my barstool, that other than a desire to live in an Airstream, Miranda Lambert and I have nothing at all in common. I am far from blonde, I’m far from 29, and I’m so far off key when I sing- people move on. The last time I was on stage at a karaoke bar, my “friends” took my microphone away and made me be the back-up dancer. It was ugly- I can’t dance either.

The next day, after not attending the CMA’s, but having a spectacularly fun night out at Tootsies, I did some more research to see what other connections me and my Airstream might have with country music. When I Google, “Country Music and Airstreams”, I find that country star, Lee Ann Womack, owns a 1973 Land Yacht that was recently featured in People Country. I also read that Dierks Bentley just had his Airstream trailer renovated by the Junk Gypsies. Dierks (with an “s”) is another country music artist I know nothing about. I don’t know what a Junk Gypsy is either, so I continue to read on.

Apparently, Junk Gypsies are two cute country girls who remodel spaces with “junk” on HGTV, and they’ve just turned Dierks’ old Airstream into “A Trailer with Country Vibe”. They replaced the “plastic and cheap paneling kind of stuff” with vintage furniture pieces and accessories like an old motorcycle gas tank for a light fixture. A church pew sawed in half became the dinette with a table decoupaged with old concert posters. An old buffet table became the kitchen work station with Dierks (with an “s”) song lyrics painted on it.  It’s not the kind of “vibe” I’m looking for with my Airstream (Elvis is a little more rock and roll), but it’s interesting to check out. http://www.hgtv.com/video/trailer-with-a-country-vibe-video/index.html

So maybe I’ll never be country, but Airstreams certainly can be. In fact they seem to have an infinite ability to transform into whatever their owners can imagine them to be. As Brian works to put Elvis back together, I’m excited to work on a design that reflects our own personal vibe. I’m not quite sure what that looks like yet, but I don’t think I will be consulting the Junk Gypsies.