I developed an appreciation for Alan Jackson because 1) my husband loves his music, and 2) he's a GA homeboy, and so is Jason Aldean, whose music I also enjoy. I'm totally with ya about rock n roll; I'll never stop loving it, it's still my first choice most all the time. But, for a while it was really hard to find any up-to-date music that wasn't rap or hiphop, which I just loathe, so I started giving country music a fresh listen, and a lot of the up-to-date country music really is very similar to the "southern rock" of the 70s. Some of the older country, i still can't abide at all, but some of the up-to-date stuff, even if it's really traditional like Alan Jackson, I learned to appreciate as a vernacular American musical form -- it's just another branch off the same tree that spawned jazz, blues, and rock n roll, and don't forget bluegrass and rockabilly!
But I will listen to Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, and Yes (ELO, ELP, Kansas, and any other progressive-rock band you can think of!), any damn day, anytime, anyplace, for any reason, or no reason, because they're just fucking great! Likewise AC/DC -- best heavy metal, EVAH. Black Sabbath is also excellent, and I came late to their appreciation -- no way in HELL would my mama have allowed anything with a name like that in her house.
Andria