To celebrate Country Music Month, we’ve asked a panel of experts, what is country music? WQYK’s Cledus T. Judd has been called the “Weird Al” Yankovic of country music. He’s released 9 studio albums and 2 EPs and hit #48 on the Billboard charts with his hit “I Love NASCAR.”

Country music is an understatement. It is much more than music. It is a lifestyle. It’s an emotion, a reflection of what life represents. Country music can take you on many journeys. It can take you back in time and bring back memories that had long been forgotten in one verse and then completely take you down a different path in the next one. It can bring you to your knees with a sweet chorus, have you laughing by the bridge, and then have you calling momma to tell her you love her by the end of the song.

That’s what country music is… a lifestyle. From suits and ties to bib overalls, from mansions in big cities to the small farm houses in the country, from a big compartment store to the feed and seed. Whether you’re in the front seat of a Mercedes Benz or riding shotgun in an old pick up truck, country music doesn’t know the difference. It appreciates you listening and will return the favor someday. That’s what country music does. That’s what country music is.

My good friend Brad Paisley summed it up as good as anyone when he said, “Turn it on, turn it up, and sign along. This is real. This is your life in a song, just like the road that takes you home. Yeah this is right where you belong. This is country music and don’t y’all forget it!”

That’s what country music is to me.