Kate,
Forgive me for my lateness in replying: I'm way behind in catching up!
I teach middle school (jr. high school) in a fairly rural area of Indiana
and allow my students to bring their music in one day a week. The only
condition I put on their choices regards language and violent content. I
see that most of them listen to what ever is played on MTV. A few are
involved in band or orchestra and will sometimes bring in classical.
Even though I know some of them listen to country, few will bring it in,
fearing ridicule from the more aggressive hiphop, rap, or alternative
crowd.
The flip side of this is that I play a diverse range of music for them on
other days of the week. Their responses are always interesting. When I
play Joni I hear from quite a few that their moms listen to "that CD."
(A reluctant acceptance?) The music they tend to respond best to are
Lorena McKennett, Beatles, world music compilations, and Japanese Kodo
drummers. They can never decide if they actually like Sonny Landreth and
Keb Mo or if this music is too old-fashioned or country for them! I
guess I agree with you, in a sense. I think they have varied tastes,
given the exposure.
Just my take,
Diane
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