The Living Culture Of Country Music

Heart-Cutting Lyrics, Ladies & Long Days On The Road: It's Country Music!

If there is one genre of music that has seen the highest-grossing in sales and the most sold-out concerts/ tours this past decade, it is country music. And one man who knows country music unlike anyone else is Michael Monroe Goodman, a country singer who literally started singing/playing the genre since he was a child backstage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN, home to country music.

FHM spoke exclusively with the country star who has sold out shows all over the world about his upbringing, favorite guitars, role models, advice and why country singers get all the ladies!

What about country music just attracts you to the genre most?

Why do you feel more people are tuning into it these days? Well, it feels like my upbringing. My grandpa played Gene Autry tunes for me as a kid and my dad played banjo in a bluegrass band. I grew up backstage at the Grand Ole Opry with family friend Bill Monroe and that’s where I get my middle name. Just the sound of country music feels like my childhood. You one day realize that all the things that made you growing up are things that define you.

I love the history of the music. It’s very American, and it’s woven into the culture of it. It tells stories that can be so complex and yet so emotionally simple that anyone can connect with it. I think that’s always been its appeal. The lyrics tell stories we all have been through or can identify with. In cycles, I think each generation discovers country music cause they need something that can articulate their journey in the struggle we call life. Country music does that.

Who were some of your music role models and influences you grew up listening to and why?