I’m not much of a country music fan, but I have to say Martina McBride did a wonderful job at her July 4 concert on Fort Stewart.

Most often artists sound much worse in concert than they do on recordings, but Martina was the exception to the rule. Even if the genre isn’t my personal favorite, I have nothing but respect for a beautiful voice and a great show.

I wonder if she would consider giving Mario voice lessons. Yes, I just went there. I was looking forward to seeing Mario in concert and was disappointed at the performance. Basically, he seemed to be a glorified disc jockey, bent on plaguing every song with out-of-tune karaoke. Maybe I’m being a little hard on him, but he repeatedly shouted out to “Saint Stewart” and even talked about our “deporting” soldiers. It’s Fort Stewart and deploying, man.

Of course, I appreciate that artists of that caliber will perform a concert at all on Fort Stewart, and I appreciate even more that it’s free. Altogether, it was a fun night of music on a big blanket with friends and family.

Did I mention the fireworks were much improved? My husband and I watched the fireworks on post last year and were left a little disappointed. This year, the show was brilliant once it got going. Sure, maybe the loud booms that probably brought out a little post-traumatic stress disorder in more than a handful of soldiers seems counterintuitive, but the fireworks show was well done, really awesome to watch. There was much oohing and awing from our blanket in the grass.

Unfortunately, a sleepy 8-month-old Anastasia slept through the whole fireworks show. She would have loved it.

This was our first Fourth of July out of the military here, and thought it was different, I must say it was still a blast.