When my dad first arrived in America, I think he was a bit obsessed with all things generically American. For one, he had this weird obsession with McDonald's and eating the "all-American" Big Mac which he has managed to maintain to this day. I can't pinpoint exactly when he started listening to American country, but I do remember at a young age that whenever I was in the car, he would have a country radio station playing (that or really old Chinese music).
From the ages of like 3 to my early teens, this was the only music I actively listened to daily. There was this specific radio station called 97.3 the Eagle that was part of my routine; when I'd get home from school, go to bed, or or be in my room on the weekends I'd always tune in. I still have distant memories of listening to the morning and evening radio broadcasts, though I've completely forgotten the names of the radio hosts. Back then, digital formats (and computers) weren't widely used and other forms of media (CDs and cassettes) weren't really appealing to me. The radio was the way to go and I would say country music was (and still is) popular in the part of Virginia where I'm from.
It was really only when I got mp3 players and eventually my iPod touch that I started exploring other genres of music. Nowadays I don't listen to modern day country music at all; surprisingly, when I try to listen to the new stuff it kind of makes me cringe like crazy. I don't know if it's that new country music is getting worse or if it's a different style then back then, but I'm only able to stomach country music that I listened to back when I was a kid (1990s to early 2000s). It wasn't until recently when I was really paying attention to the lyrics that I realized some of the songs are hilariously redneck. Maybe as a grown ass man if I'd listen to these songs I would definitely not have liked them.
Funny enough, the place I discover past songs that I've forgotten about is Texas Roadhouse. I'd be eating a nice medium-rare 32 oz steak and suddenly they start playing a song in the background that just instantly fills me with sentiment to which I pull out my phone and Shazam that shit so fast and add it to my Spotify playlist. Embedded below is the playlist with all the country songs of my childhood. I like to occasionally listen to the playlist if I ever feel homesick or I ever want to get a hit of nostalgic happiness.