Country music

Country music, also called country and western music or country-western, is an amalgam of popular musical forms developed in the southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, spirituals, and the blues.

Related Topics:
Musical - Southern United States - Folk music - Spiritual - Blues

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However, country music is actually a catch-all category that embraces several different genres of music: Nashville sound (the pop-like music very popular today); bluegrass, a fast mandolin and fiddle-based music popularized by Bill Monroe and by the Foggy Mountain Boys; Western which encompases traditional Western ballads and Hollywood Cowboy Music, Western swing, a sophisticated dance music popularized by Bob Wills; Bakersfield sound (popularized by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard); Cajun; Zydeco; gospel; oldtime (generally pre-1930 folk music); honky tonk; Appalachian; rockabilly; neotraditional country and jug band.

Related Topics:
Nashville sound - Bluegrass - Bill Monroe - Foggy Mountain Boys - Western - Western swing - Bob Wills - Bakersfield sound - Buck Owens - Merle Haggard - Cajun - Zydeco - Gospel - Oldtime - Honky tonk - Appalachian - Rockabilly - Neotraditional country - Jug band

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Each style is unique in its execution, its use of rhythms, and its chord structures, though many songs have been adapted to the different country styles. One example is the tune Milk Cow Blues, an early blues tune by Kokomo Arnold that has been performed in a wide variety of country styles by everyone from Bob Wills to Willie Nelson, George Strait to Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley.

Related Topics:
Kokomo Arnold - Bob Wills - Willie Nelson - George Strait - Ricky Nelson - Elvis Presley

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Vernon Dalhart was the first country singer to have a nationwide hit (May 1924, with "The Wreck of Old '97") (see External Links below). Other important early recording artists were Riley Puckett, Don Richardson, Fiddling John Carson, Ernest Stoneman, Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, and The Skillet Lickers.

Related Topics:
Vernon Dalhart - Riley Puckett - Don Richardson - Fiddling John Carson - Ernest Stoneman - Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers - The Skillet Lickers

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Some trace the origins of modern country music to two seminal influences and a remarkable coincidence. Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family are widely considered to be the founders of country music, and their songs were first captured at an historic recording session in Bristol, Tennessee on August 1, 1927, where Ralph Peer was the talent scout and sound recordist.

Related Topics:
Jimmie Rodgers - Carter Family - Historic recording session - Bristol, Tennessee - August 1 - 1927 - Ralph Peer

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It is possible to categorize many country singers as being either from the Jimmie Rodgers strand or the Carter Family strand of country music.

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