For some strange reason, I correlate country and the 70s as a single entity. Disco, punk, and AOR are surely a better reference for everyone, but in my case, I can’t see that decade as anything other than country.

John Denver, Kenny Rogers, DollyParton, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Waylon Jennings, Conway Twitty. Just a few of the names I associate with both 70s and living in Tula, Hidalgo.

If conditions were right, you could pick American AM stations late at night, so with a small battery radio under the sheets, I would hear music from the heartland.

Juice Newton is mostly known in Mexico due to queen of hearts and angel of the morning. Both great hits but if you ask me, her best song is country comfort.

It’s odd that I think of her of a 70s artist, when Juice was released in 1981. Same with George Strait. Perhaps linking a genre to a decade was an error from my part.

Easy going, lyrically honest and with Newton’s vocals swaying you under the dim shine of fairy lights.

I’d like to think I’ll do one more road trip in my life and I’d love to see Kentucky. Juice Newton would be the on the playlist for this potential trip, with Country comfort, of course.

-Sam J Valdés López