What is Country Music?
Whenever people talk about country music, the question arises about how to define it? There are more different views than there are songs. Here are some answers!
A) Years ago John Minson and Max Ellis were on a promotional trip for the Tamworth Festival and in the course of talking to a number of journalists whose total knowledge of country music was two words… Slim Dusty… they kept getting asked just what was meant by the term Country Music.
Of course the answer is that Country Music means different things to different people. Ask 20 people and you’ll get 20 answers. Most of them are unequivocally positive that their definition is the only authorised version. Sounds religious? That’s because for many it is a matter of faith, with different denominations conducting a war of words over which version is the true gospel.
So John and Max, as practical types, attempted a general specification summarising some of the specific characteristics which set country aside from other types of music.
1 A simple Chord progression. Generally country depends on a limited number of chords. It is not musically complicated and this certainly contributes to its popularity and playability.
2 Country music should have a strong story line. “The Band Played Waltzing Matilda” or “Pub With No Beer”, illustrate the point.
3 The song should have a simple and memorable chorus, which supports the storyline and is one reason so many people find it easy to recall and sing a good country song.
4 Identifiable instrumentation. Organs, orchestras, strings, wind instruments are NOT country. Guitars, banjos, fiddles, pedal steel guitars, harmonicas definitely are. There are exceptions of course but instruments must be played in a country manner.
Some say that geographic locations are a factor, insisting that a non urban setting is an essential ingredient. But there are plenty of examples of successful country songs that don’t have country locations.
Summarising
Simple chords, Strong storyline, Memorable chorus, country Instruments.
Max Ellis
Adapted from a story in Capital News September 1981
Here are some more definitions
A) Must sound like Tex, Buddy or Slim in the 40s and 50s and be about some aspect of rural life.
B) If it sounds like country it is.
C) If the cheque comes from Nashville, it's country!
D) Finally a definition from a multinational advertising agency discussing “country” from a life style and marketing point of view. Not specifically about music but country music is identified as a influential element in this general “country”.
"Country" exists as a cluster of attitudes, beliefs, symbols and signs in the minds of consumers, giving us clear messages about their aspirations. It represents simplicity, purity and authenticity, a quality of life made up of relationships and roost; it conveys warmth and friendliness. These are all qualities that consumers in the pressured and uncertain '90s value and that are all the more powerful because they represent our yearnings, not the reality of our lives."
Country music is a popular
American musical style that began in the
Southern United States in the 1920s.
[1]
The term country music gained popularity in the 1940s in preference to the earlier term
hillbilly music. The term country music is used today to describe many
styles and subgenres.
Harlan Howard stated "Country music is three chords and the truth."
Take your pick!!!
Early history
Immigrants to the
Maritime Provinces and Southern
Appalachian Mountains of North America brought the music and instruments of the Old World along with them for nearly 300 years. They brought some of their most important valuables with them, and to most of them this was an instrument: “Early Scottish settlers enjoyed the fiddle because it could be played to sound sad and mournful or bright and bouncy”
[3] The Irish
fiddle, the German derived
dulcimer, the Italian
mandolin, the Spanish
guitar, and the West African
banjo[4] were the most common musical instruments. The interactions among musicians from different ethnic groups produced music unique to this region of
North America.
Appalachian string bands of the early 20th century primarily consisted of the fiddle, guitar, and banjo.
[5] This early country music along with early recorded country music is often referred to as
old-time music.
According to
Bill Malone in Country Music U.S.A, country music was “introduced to the world as a southern phenomenon."
[6] In the South, folk music was a combination of cultural strains, combining musical traditions of a variety of ethnic groups in the region. For example, some instrumental pieces from Anglo-British and Irish immigrants were the basis of folk songs and ballads that form what is now known as
old time music, from which country music descended. It is commonly thought that British and Irish folk music influenced the development of old time music. British and Irish arrivals to the Southern U.S. included immigrants from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and England.
Often, when many people think or hear country music, they think of it as a creation of European-Americans. However, a great deal of style—and of course, the banjo, a major instrument in most early American folk songs—came from African Americans. One of the reasons country music was created by African-Americans, as well as European-Americans, is because blacks and whites in rural communities in the south often worked and played together, just as recollected by
DeFord Bailey[7] in the PBS documentary, DeFord Bailey: A Legend Lost.
[8]
Throughout the 19th century, several
immigrant groups from
Europe, most notably from
Ireland,
Germany,
Spain, and
Italy moved to
Texas. These groups interacted with
Mexican and
Native American, and U.S. communities that were already established in Texas. As a result of this cohabitation and extended contact, Texas has developed unique cultural traits that are rooted in the culture of all of its founding communities.
1920s
Local performers from Atlanta and Fort Worth were being played on radio stations in 1922. Along with local performers, barn-dance programs became popular among radio stations as well. Some record companies in Georgia turned away early artists such as Fiddlin' John Carson; while others realized that his music would fit perfectly with the lifestyle of the country's agricultural employees.
[10] The first commercial recordings of what was considered country music were "Arkansas Traveler" and "Turkey in the Straw" by fiddlers Henry Gilliland &
A.C. (Eck) Robertson on June 30, 1922 for Victor Records.
[11] Columbia Records began issuing records with "hillbilly" music (series 15000D "Old Familiar Tunes") as early as 1924.
A year earlier on June 14, 1923,
Fiddlin' John Carson recorded "
Little Log Cabin in the Lane" for
Okeh Records.
[13] Vernon Dalhart was the first country singer to have a nationwide hit in May 1924 with "
Wreck of the Old '97".
[14][15] The flip side of the record was "Lonesome Road Blues," which also became very popular.
[16] In April 1924, "Aunt"
Samantha Bumgarner and Eva Davis became the first female musicians to record and release country songs.
[17]
Many "hillbilly" musicians, such as
Cliff Carlisle, recorded blues songs throughout the decade
[18] and into the 30s. Other important early recording artists were
Riley Puckett,
Don Richardson,
Fiddlin' John Carson,
Uncle Dave Macon,
Al Hopkins,
Ernest V. Stoneman,
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers and The Skillet Lickers.
[19] The
steel guitar entered country music as early as 1922, when Jimmie Tarlton met famed Hawaiian guitarist
Frank Ferera on the West Coast.
[20]
Jimmie Rodgers and the
Carter Family are widely considered to be important early country musicians. Their songs were first captured at a
historic recording session in
Bristol on August 1, 1927, where
Ralph Peer was the talent scout and sound recordist.
[21][22] A scene in the movie
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (film) depicts a similar occurrence in the same timeframe.
Rodgers fused hillbilly country, gospel, jazz, blues, pop, cowboy, and folk; and many of his best songs were his compositions, including “Blue Yodel”,
[23] which sold over a million records and established Rodgers as the premier singer of early country music.
[24][25]
Beginning in 1927, and for the next 17 years the Carters recorded some 300 old-time ballads, traditional tunes, country songs and Gospel hymns, all representative of America's southeastern folklore and heritage.
1930s–1940s
One effect of the
Great Depression was to reduce the number of records that could be sold. Radio, and broadcasting, became a popular source of entertainment, and "barn dance" shows featuring country music were started all over the South, as far north as Chicago, and as far west as California.
The most important was the
Grand Ole Opry, aired starting in 1925 by
WSM-AM in Nashville to the present day. Some of the early stars on the Opry were
Uncle Dave Macon,
Roy Acuff and African American harmonica player DeFord Bailey. WSM's 50,000 watt signal (1934) could often be heard across the country,
[27]
Many musicians performed and recorded songs in any number of styles.
Moon Mullican, for example, played Western swing, but also recorded songs that can be called rockabilly.
Bill Haley sang cowboy songs, and was at one time a cowboy yodeler. Haley became most famous as an early player of rock n roll, adding
Jimmie Rodgers-stylings to his environment, thus creating a sound that was very much his own. Between 1947 and 1949, country crooner
Eddy Arnold placed eight songs in the top 10.
Singing cowboys and Western swing
Main article:
Western music (North America)
During the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or Western music, which had been recorded since the 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood. Some of the popular
singing cowboys from the era were
Gene Autry, the
Sons of the Pioneers and
Roy Rogers.
[29]
And it wasn't only cowboys; cowgirls contributed to the sound in various family groups.
Patsy Montana opened the door for female artists with her history making song "I Want To Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart". This would begin a movement toward opportunities for women to have successful solo careers.
Bob Wills was another country musician from the Lower Great Plains who had become very popular as the leader of a “hot string band,” and who also appeared in
Hollywood Westerns. His mix of country and
jazz, which started out as dance hall music, would become known as
Western swing.
Spade Cooley and
Tex Williams also had very popular bands and appeared in films. At its height, Western swing rivaled the popularity of other
big band jazz.
[
edit] Changing instrumentation
Drums were scorned by early country musicians as being "too loud" and "not pure," but by 1935 Western swing
big band leader Bob Wills had added drums to the Texas Playboys. In the mid 1940s, the Grand Ole Opry did not want the Playboys’ drummer to appear on stage. Although drums were commonly used by rockabilly groups by 1955, the less-conservative-than-the-Grand Ole Opry
Louisiana Hayride kept its infrequently used drummer back stage as late as 1956. By the early 1960s, however, it was rare that a country band didn't have a drummer.
[30]
Bob Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band, in 1938.
[31] A decade later (1948)
Arthur Smith achieved top 10 US country chart success with his MGM Records recording of "
Guitar Boogie", which crossed over to the US pop chart, introducing many people to the potential of the electric guitar. For several decades Nashville session players preferred the warm tones of the Gibson and Gretsch archtop electrics, but a “hot” Fender style, utilizing guitars which became available beginning in the early 1950s, eventually prevailed as the signature guitar sound of country.
Hillbilly boogie
Country musicians began recording
boogie in 1939, shortly after it had been played at Carnegie Hall, when
Johnny Barfield recorded "Boogie Woogie." The trickle of what was initially called hillbilly boogie, or okie boogie (later to be renamed country boogie), became a flood beginning in late 1945. One notable release from this period was the
Delmore Brothers' "Freight Train Boogie," considered to be part of the combined evolution of country music and blues towards
rockabilly. In 1948,
Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith achieved top ten US country chart success with his MGM Records recordings of "
Guitar Boogie" and "Banjo Boogie," with the former crossing over to the US pop charts.
[33] Other country boogie artists included
Merrill Moore and
Tennessee Ernie Ford. The hillbilly boogie period lasted into the 1950s and remains one of many subgenres of country into the 21st century.
Bluegrass, folk and gospel
Red Foley
By the end of
World War II, "mountaineer" string band music known as
bluegrass had emerged when
Bill Monroe joined with
Lester Flatt and
Earl Scruggs, introduced by Roy Acuff at the Grand Ole Opry. Gospel music, too, remained a popular component of country music.
Red Foley, the biggest country star following World War II, had one of the first million-selling gospel hits ("
Peace In The Valley") and also sang boogie, blues and rockabilly.
In the post-war period, country music was called "folk" in the trades, and "hillbilly" within the industry.
[34] In 1944,
The Billboard replaced the term "hillbilly" with "folk songs and blues," and switched to "country" or "country and Western" in 1949.
Honky tonk
Another type of stripped down and raw music with a variety of moods and a basic ensemble of guitar, bass, dobro or steel guitar (and later) drums became popular, especially among poor white southerners. It became known as
honky tonk and had its roots in Texas.
Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys personified this music which has been described as "a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, a little bit of black and a little bit of white...just loud enough to keep you from thinking too much and to go right on ordering the whiskey."
[37] East Texan
Al Dexter had a hit with "Honky Tonk Blues," and seven years later "
Pistol Packin' Mama".
[38] These "honky tonk" songs associated barrooms, were performed by the likes of
Ernest Tubb,
Ted Daffan,
Floyd Tillman, and the
Maddox Brothers and Rose,
Lefty Frizzell and
Hank Williams, would later be called "traditional" country. Williams' influence in particular would prove to be enormous, inspiring many of the pioneers of rock and roll, such as Elvis Presley and
Jerry Lee Lewis, as well as
Chuck Berry and
Ike Turner, while providing a framework for emerging honky tonk talents like
George Jones.
Webb Pierce was the top-charting country artist of the 1950s, with 13 of his singles spending 113 weeks at number one. He charted 48 singles during the decade; 31 reached the top ten and 26 reached the top four.
[
edit] 1950s–1960s
See also:
1950s in music and
1960s in music
By the early 1950s a blend of Western swing, country boogie, and honky tonk was played by most country bands, but a new style was about to become popular.
[39]
[
edit] Rockabilly
Main article:
Rockabilly
Rockabilly was most popular with country fans in the 1950s, and 1956 could be called the year of
rockabilly in country music. Rockabilly was a mixture of rock-and-roll and hillbilly music. During this period Elvis Presley converted over to country music. He played a huge role in the music industry during this time. The number two, three and four songs on
Billboard's charts for that year were
Elvis Presley, "
Heartbreak Hotel";
Johnny Cash, "
I Walk the Line"; and
Carl Perkins, "
Blue Suede Shoes".
[40]
Johnny Cash
Cash and Presley placed songs in the top 5 in 1958 with No. 3 "Guess Things Happen That Way/Come In, Stranger" by Cash, and No. 5 by Presley "Don't/I Beg Of You."
[41] Presley acknowledged the influence of rhythm and blues artists and his style, saying "The colored folk been singin' and playin' it just the way I'm doin' it now, man for more years than I know." But he also said, "My stuff is just hopped-up country."
[37] Within a few years, many rockabilly musicians returned to a more mainstream style or had defined their own unique style.
Country music gained national television exposure through
Ozark Jubilee on ABC-TV and radio from 1955–1960 from
Springfield, Missouri. The program showcased top stars including several rockabilly artists, some from the
Ozarks. As Webb Pierce put it in 1956, "Once upon a time, it was almost impossible to sell country music in a place like New York City. Nowadays, television takes us everywhere, and country music records and sheet music sell as well in large cities as anywhere else."
[42]
The late 1950s saw the emergence of the
Lubbock sound, but by the end of the decade, backlash as well as traditional artists such as
Ray Price,
Marty Robbins, and
Johnny Horton began to shift the industry away from the rock n' roll influences of the mid-50s.
[
edit] The Nashville and countrypolitan sounds
Main article:
Nashville sound
Beginning in the mid 1950s, and reaching its peak during the early 1960s, the Nashville sound turned country music into a multimillion-dollar industry centered in
Nashville, Tennessee. Under the direction of producers such as
Chet Atkins,
Owen Bradley, and later
Billy Sherrill, the sound brought country music to a diverse audience and helped revive country as it emerged from a commercially fallow period.
[43]
Jim Reeves
This subgenre was notable for borrowing from 1950s pop stylings: a prominent and "smooth" vocal, backed by a string section and vocal chorus. Instrumental soloing was de-emphasized in favor of trademark "licks". Leading artists in this genre included
Patsy Cline,
Jim Reeves and
Eddy Arnold. The "slip note" piano style of session musician
Floyd Cramer was an important component of this style.
Nashville's pop song structure became more pronounced and it morphed into what was called
countrypolitan. Countrypolitan was aimed straight at mainstream markets and it sold well throughout the later 1960s into the early 1970s. Top artists included
Tammy Wynette and
Charlie Rich.
[
edit] Country soul - crossover
Main article:
Country soul
In 1962,
Ray Charles surprised the pop world by turning his attention to country and western music, topping the charts and rating number three for the year on Billboard's pop chart
[44] with the "
I Can't Stop Loving You" single, and recording the landmark album
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.
[
edit] The Bakersfield sound
Main article:
Bakersfield sound
Another genre of country music grew out of hardcore honky tonk with elements of
Western swing and originated 112 miles (180 km) north-northwest of
Los Angeles in
Bakersfield, California. Influenced by one-time West Coast residents
Bob Wills and
Lefty Frizzell, by 1966 it was known as the
Bakersfield sound. It relied on electric instruments and amplification, in particular the
Telecaster electric guitar, more than other subgenres of country of the era, and can be described as having a sharp, hard, driving, no-frills, edgy flavor. Leading practitioners of this style were
Buck Owens,
Merle Haggard,
Tommy Collins,
Dwight Yoakam,
Gary Allan, and
Wynn Stewart, each of whom had his own style.
[45][46]
[
edit] Country rock
Main article:
Country rock
The late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as a result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres. In the aftermath of the
British Invasion, many desired a return to the "old values" of rock n' roll. At the same time there was a lack of enthusiasm in the country sector for Nashville-produced music. What resulted was a crossbred genre known as
country rock.
Early innovators in this new style of music in the 60s and 70s included
Bob Dylan who was the first to revert to country music with his 1967 album
John Wesley Harding followed by rock n' roll icon band
The Byrds (
Gram Parsons on "Sweethearts of the Rodeo") and its spin-off
The Flying Burrito Brothers (also featuring
Gram Parsons), guitarist
Clarence White,
Michael Nesmith (
Monkees and
First National Band),
the Grateful Dead,
Neil Young,
Commander Cody,
The Allman Brothers,
The Marshall Tucker Band,
Poco,
Buffalo Springfield, and
The Eagles among many.
The Rolling Stones also got into the act with songs like "
Honky Tonk Women" and "
Dead Flowers".
Described by
Allmusic as the "father of country-rock",
[47] Gram Parsons' work in the early '70s was acclaimed for its purity and for his appreciation for aspects of traditional country music.
[48] Though his career was cut tragically short by his 1973 death, his legacy was carried on by his mentee and duet partner
Emmylou Harris; Harris would release her debut solo in 1975, an amalgamation of country, rock and roll, folk, blues and pop.
Subsequent to the initial blending of the two polar opposite genres, other offspring soon resulted, including
Southern rock,
heartland rock and in more recent years,
alternative country.
In the decades that followed, artists such as
Juice Newton;
Alabama;
Hank Williams, Jr.;
Gary Allan;
Shania Twain;
Brooks & Dunn;
Faith Hill;
Garth Brooks;
Dwight Yoakam;
Steve Earle;
Dolly Parton;
Rosanne Cash and
Linda Ronstadt moved country further towards rock influence.
[
edit] 1970s–1980s
[
edit] Outlaw country
Main article:
Outlaw country
Derived from the traditional and honky tonk sounds of the late 1950s and 1960s, including
Ray Price (whose band, the "Cherokee Cowboys", included
Willie Nelson and
Roger Miller) and mixed with the anger of an alienated subculture of the nation during the period, outlaw country revolutionized the genre of country music.
Willie Nelson
"After I left Nashville (the early 70s), I wanted to relax and play the music that I wanted to play, and just stay around Texas, maybe Oklahoma. Waylon and I had that outlaw image going, and when it caught on at colleges and we started selling records, we were O.K. The whole outlaw thing, it had nothing to do with the music, it was something that got written in an article, and the young people said, 'Well, that's pretty cool.' And started listening." (Willie Nelson)
[49]
The term outlaw country is traditionally associated with
Hank Williams, Jr,
Willie Nelson,
Waylon Jennings,
David Allan Coe,
Whitey Morgan & The 78's,
John Prine,
Billy Joe Shaver,
Gary Stewart,
Townes Van Zandt and with a few female vocalists such as
Jessi Colter and
Sammi Smith. It was encapsulated in the 1976 album
Wanted! The Outlaws. A related subgenre is
Red Dirt.
[
edit] Country pop
Main article:
Country pop
Country pop or soft pop, with roots in both the
countrypolitan sound and in
soft rock, is a subgenre that first emerged in the 1970s. Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to
adult contemporary music. It started with pop music singers like
Michael Nesmith,
The Bellamy Brothers,
Glen Campbell,
John Denver,
Olivia Newton-John,
Marie Osmond,
B. J. Thomas and
Anne Murray having hits on the country charts. Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy" was one of the biggest crossover hits in country music history.
Lynn Anderson in concert
In 1974, Newton-John, an Australian pop singer, won the "Best Female Country Vocal Performance" as well as the Country Music Association's most coveted award for females, "Female Vocalist of the Year". In the same year, a group of artists, troubled by this trend, formed the short-lived
Association of Country Entertainers. The debate raged into 1975, and reached its apex at that year's Country Music Association Awards when reigning Entertainer of the Year
Charlie Rich (who himself had a series of crossover hits) presented the award to his successor, John Denver. As he read Denver's name, Rich set fire to the envelope with a cigarette lighter. The action was taken as a protest against the increasing pop style in country music.
During the mid-1970s,
Dolly Parton, a highly successful mainstream country artist since the late '60s, mounted a high profile campaign to crossover to pop music, culminating in her 1977 hit "Here You Come Again", which topped the U.S. country singles chart, and also reached No. 3 on the pop singles charts. Parton's male counterpart,
Kenny Rogers came from the opposite direction, aiming his music at the country charts, after a successful career in pop, rock and folk music, achieving success the same year with "Lucille", which topped the country charts and reached No. 5 on the U.S. pop singles charts. Parton and Rogers would both continue to have success on both country and pop charts simultaneously, well into the 1980s. Artists like
Crystal Gayle,
Ronnie Milsap and
Barbara Mandrell would also find success on the pop charts with their records as well.
Dolly Parton
In 1975, author Paul Hemphill stated in the Saturday Evening Post, “Country music isn’t really country anymore; it is a hybrid of nearly every form of popular music in America.”
[50]
During the early 1980s, country artists continued to see their records perform well on the pop charts.
Willie Nelson and
Juice Newton each had two songs in the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100 in the early eighties: Nelson charted "Always On My Mind" (No. 5, 1982) and "To All The Girls I've Loved Before" (No. 5, 1984), and Newton achieved success with "Queen of Hearts" (No. 2, 1981) and "Angel of the Morning" (No. 4, 1981). Four country songs topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1980s: "Lady" by
Kenny Rogers, from the late fall of 1980; "9 to 5" by
Dolly Parton, "I Love a Rainy Night" by
Eddie Rabbitt (these two back-to-back at the top in early 1981); and "Islands in the Stream", a duet by
Dolly Parton and
Kenny Rogers in 1983, a pop-country crossover hit written by Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb of the
Bee Gees. Newton's "Queen of Hearts" almost reached No. 1, but was kept out of the spot by the pop ballad juggernaut "Endless Love" by
Diana Ross and
Lionel Richie.
[51] Although there were few crossover hits in the latter half of the 1980s, one song —
Roy Orbison's "
You Got It", from 1989 — made the top 10 of both the Billboard
Hot Country Singles" and Hot 100 charts.
[52][53]
The record-setting, multi-platinum group, Alabama, was named Artist of the Decade for the 1980s by the Academy of Country Music.
Neocountry
In 1980, a style of "neocountry disco music" was popularized by the film
Urban Cowboy,
[54] which also included more traditional songs such as "
The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the
Charlie Daniels Band.
[55] A related subgenre is
Texas country music.
Sales in record stores rocketed to $250 million in 1981; by 1984, 900 radio stations began programming country or neocountry pop full time. As with most sudden trends, however, by 1984 sales had dropped below 1979 figures.
[54]
Truck driving country
Truck driving country music is a genre of country music
[56] and is a fusion of
honky tonk,
country-rock and
Bakersfield Sound.
[57] It has the
tempo of country-rock and the emotion of honky-tonk,
[57] and its lyrics focus on a truck driver's lifestyle.
[58] Truck driving country
songs often deal with
trucks and
love.
[57] Well-known artists who sing truck driving country include
Dave Dudley,
Red Sovine,
Dick Curless,
Red Simpson,
Colonel Robert Morris, and
Waylon Speed.
[57] Dudley is known as the father of truck driving country.
[58][59]
Neotraditionalist movement
Main article:
Neotraditionalist country
During the mid-1980s, a group of new artists began to emerge who rejected the more polished country-pop sound that had been prominent on radio and the charts, in favor of more, traditional, "back-to-basics" production. Led by
Randy Travis, whose 1986 debut album
Storms of Life, sold four million copies and was Billboard's year-end top country album of 1987, many of the artists during the latter half of the '80s drew on traditional honky tonk, bluegrass, folk and western swing. Artists who typified this sound included
Travis Tritt,
Ricky Skaggs,
Kathy Mattea,
George Strait and
The Judds.
1990s
Garth Brooks
Country music was aided by the FCC's Docket 80-90, which led to a significant expansion of
FM radio in the 1980s by adding numerous higher-fidelity FM signals to rural and suburban areas. At this point, country music was mainly heard on rural
AM radio stations; the expansion of FM was particularly helpful to country music, which migrated to FM from the AM band as AM became overcome by
talk radio. This wider availability of country music led to producers seeking to polish their product for a wider audience.
With his debut on the national country music scene in 1989, singer and songwriter
Clint Black would usher in a new sound that would define much of country music for the 1990s and beyond.[
citation needed]
In the 1990s, country music became a worldwide phenomenon thanks to
Billy Ray Cyrus and
Garth Brooks.
[60][61][62] The latter enjoyed one of the most successful careers in popular music history, breaking records for both sales and concert attendance throughout the decade. The
RIAA has certified his recordings at a combined (128×
platinum), denoting roughly 113 million U.S. shipments.
[63]
Mindy McCready,
Jo Dee Messina,
Shania Twain,
Faith Hill all released
platinum selling albums in the 90s.
The
Dixie Chicks became one of the most popular country bands in the 90s and early 00s. Their 1998 debut album
Wide Open Spaces went on to become certified 12x platinum while their 1999 album
Fly went on to become 10x platinum.
In the early-mid 1990s, country western music was influenced by the popularity of
line dancing. This influence was so great that
Chet Atkins was quoted as saying "The music has gotten pretty bad, I think. It's all that damn line dancing."
[64] By the end of the decade, however, at least one line dance choreographer complained that good country line dance music was no longer being released.
Alternative country
Main article:
Alternative country
In the 1990s, alternative country came to refer to a diverse group of musicians and singers operating outside the traditions and industry of mainstream country music. In general, they eschewed the high production values and pop outlook of the Nashville-dominated industry, to produce music with a
lo-fi sound, frequently infused with a strong
punk and
alternative aesthetic, bending the traditional rules of country music. Lyrics were often bleak, gothic or socially aware. Key alternative country artists include
Lyle Lovett,
Steve Earle,
Uncle Tupelo,
Son Volt,
Lucinda Williams,
[65] Ryan Adams,
Will Oldham,
Drive-By Truckers, and
Old 97's.
2000s
Carrie Underwood
Several rock and pop stars have ventured into country music. In 2000,
Richard Marx made a brief cross-over with his
Days In Avalon album, which features five country songs and several singers and musicians.
Alison Krauss sang background vocals to Marx's single "Straight From My Heart." Also,
Bon Jovi had a hit single, "
Who Says You Can't Go Home", with
Jennifer Nettles of
Sugarland. Singer song writer
Unknown Hinson became famous for his appearance in the Charlotte television show Wild,Wild, South. After which Unknown Hinson started his own band and toured in southern states. Other rock stars who featured a country song on their albums were
Don Henley and
Poison.
One infrequent, but consistent theme in modern country music is that of proud, stubborn
individualism. "Country Boy Can Survive" and "
Copperhead Road"
[66] are two of the more serious songs along those lines; while "Some Girls Do"
[67] and "
Redneck Woman"
[68] are more light-hearted variations on the theme.
Taylor Swift
In 2005, country singer
Carrie Underwood rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of
American Idol and became a multi-platinum selling recording artist and multiple
Grammy Award winner. With her first single, "
Inside Your Heaven", Underwood became the only country artist to have a #1 Hit on
Billboard Hot 100 Songs chart in the 2000-2009 decade. In 2007, Underwood won the
Grammy Award for Best New Artist and became the first country artist in 10 years to win such award and the second of only three to ever win it. Underwood also made history by becoming the seventh woman to win Entertainer Of The Year for the
Academy of Country Music Awards, and the first woman in history to win Entertainer of the Year for the
Academy of Country Music Awards twice, as well as twice consecutively. Underwood's debut album, "
Some Hearts", was not only the fastest-selling debut album by any country artist in history, but was ranked by
Billboard.com as the #1 Country Album of the 2000-2009 decade.
In 2008,
Taylor Swift rose as a major country-pop artist, with her single "
Love Story" becoming the first country song to reach No. 1 one on the Nielsen BDS CHR/Top 40 chart. Another of her singles, "
You Belong with Me", also reached No. 1, making Swift the only country artist to have two No. 1 singles atop the chart. Both "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" became the best-selling country song of all time, with "Love Story" in the first position with a domestic total of 4.4 million digital copies sold, and "You Belong with Me" in the second with 3.4 million sales, respectively. In 2010, Swift's second album "
Fearless" was awarded the
Grammy Award for Album of the Year, becoming the first album in history to win the
American Music Award (AMA),
Academy of Country Music Award (ACM),
Country Music Association Award (CMA), and the
Grammy Award for Album of the Year in the same year.
In the same year,
Hootie & the Blowfish vocalist
Darius Rucker released his second solo album and country music debut,
Learn to Live. The first three singles from that album all debuted at No. 1, making Rucker the first solo artist to debut with three No. 1 hits in over a decade. He is also the first
African American with a No. 1 country hit since
Charley Pride in 1983.
In 2009,
George Strait was named Artist of the Decade by the Academy of Country Music.
2010s
In 2010, the group
Lady Antebellum won five Grammys, including the coveted
Song of the Year and
Record of the Year for "
Need You Now".International
Canada
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cite any
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reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and
removed. (July 2008)
Main articles:
Canadian Country Music Association and
Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame
Outside of the US, Canada has the largest country music fan and artist base. Mainstream country music is culturally ingrained in the
Maritimes and the
prairie provinces: areas with large numbers of rural residents. Canadian country music originated in Atlantic Canada in the form of British and Irish folk music popular amongst Irish and Scottish immigrants to Canada's Maritime Provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island). Like the southern United States and Appalachia, all three regions are of heavy British Isles stock and rural; as such, The development of country music in the Maritimes mirrored the development of country music in the US south and Appalachia.
Don Messer's Jubilee was a Halifax, Nova Scotia based country/folk variety television show that was broadcast nationally from 1957 to 1969. It out drew the Ed Sullivan Show from the United States and became the #1 rated television show in Canada throughout much of the 1960s. Don Messer's Jubilee followed a consistent format throughout its years, beginning with a tune named "Goin' to the Barndance Tonight", followed by fiddle tunes by Messer, songs from some of his "Islanders" including singers Marg Osburne and Charlie Chamberlain, the featured guest performance, and a closing hymn. It ended with "Till We Meet Again".
The guest performance slot gave national exposure to numerous Canadian folk musicians, including Stompin' Tom Connors and Catherine McKinnon. Some Maritime country performers went on to further fame beyond Canada. Hank Snow, Wilf Carter (also known as Montana Slim), and Anne Murray are the three most notable.
The cancellation of the show by the public broadcaster in 1969 caused a nationwide protest, including the raising of questions in the Canadian parliament.
Despite country's roots in the Maritimes, many traditional country artists are present in Eastern and Western Canada. They make common use of fiddle and pedal steel guitar styles. Some notable Canadian country artists include:
Shania Twain,
Blue Rodeo,
Marg Osburne,
Hank Snow,
Johnny Mooring,
Don Messer,
Doc Walker,
Emerson Drive,
Paul Brandt,
The Wilkinsons,
Wilf Carter,
Michelle Wright,
Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans,
Stompin' Tom Connors,
Terri Clark,
Crystal Shawanda,
Shane Yellowbird,
The Road Hammers,
Anne Murray, and
Prairie Oyster and The Higgins.
Australia
Main article:
Australian country music
Olivia Newton-John singing in Sydney in 2008.
Australian country music has a long tradition. Influenced by American country music it has developed a distinct style, shaped by British and Irish folk ballads and Australian
bush balladeers like
Henry Lawson and
Banjo Paterson. Country instruments, including the
guitar,
banjo,
fiddle and
harmonica create the distinctive sound of country music in Australia and accompany songs with strong storyline and memorable chorus.
Folk songs sung in Australia between the 1780s and 1920s based around such themes as the struggle against government
tyranny, or the lives of
bushrangers,
swagmen,
drovers,
stockmen and
shearers continue to influence the genre. This strain of Australian country, with lyrics focusing on Australian subjects, is generally known as "bush music" or "
bush band music".
Waltzing Matilda, often regarded as Australia's unofficial
National anthem, is a quintessential Australian country song, influenced more by British and Irish folk ballads than by American Country and Western music. The lyrics were composed by the poet
Banjo Paterson in 1895. Other popular songs from this tradition include
The Wild Colonial Boy,
Click Go The Shears,
The Queensland Drover and
The Dying Stockman. Later themes which endure to the present include the experiences of war, of droughts and flooding rains, of
Aboriginality and of the railways and trucking routes which link Australia's vast distances.
[70][71]
Pioneers of a more Americanised popular country music in Australia included
Tex Morton (known as The Father of Australian Country Music) in the 1930s and other early stars like
Buddy Williams,
Shirley Thoms and
Smoky Dawson. In 1952, Dawson began a radio show, and went on to national stardom as a singing cowboy of radio, TV and film.
Slim Dusty (1927–2003) was known as the King of Australian Country Music, and helped to popularise the Australian
bush ballad. His successful career spanned almost six decades and his 1957 hit "
Pub With No Beer" was the biggest-selling record by an Australian to that time, and with over seven million record sales in Australia he is the most successful artist in Australian musical history
[72] Dusty recorded and released his one-hundredth album in the year 2000 and was given the honour of singing
Waltzing Matilda in the closing ceremony of the
Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Dusty's wife
Joy McKean penned several of his most popular songs.
Chad Morgan, who began recording in the 1950s has represented a vaudeville style of comic Australian country;
Frank Ifield achieved considerable success in the early 1960s, especially in the UK Singles Charts and
Reg Lindsay was one of the first Australians to perform at
Nashville's
Grand Ole Opry in 1974.
[73] Eric Bogle's 1972 folk lament to the
Gallipoli campaign "
And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" recalled the British and Irish origins of Australian folk-country. Singer-songwriter
Paul Kelly whose music style straddles folk, rock, and country is often described as the poet laureate of Australian music.
[74]
Keith Urban in 2007
By the 1990s, country music had attained cross-over success in the pop charts with artists like
James Blundell and
James Reyne singing "
Way Out West", and country star
Kasey Chambers winning the
ARIA for Best Female Artist in 2003. The cross-over influence of Australian country is also evident in the music of successful contemporary bands
The Waifs and
The John Butler Trio.
Nick Cave has been heavily influenced by the country artist
Johnny Cash. In 2000, Cash, covered Cave's "
The Mercy Seat" on the album American III: Solitary Man, seemingly repaying Cave for the compliment he paid by covering Cash's "The Singer" (originally "The Folk Singer") on his Kicking Against the Pricks album. Subsequently, Cave cut a duet with Cash on a version of
Hank Williams' "
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" for Cash's
American IV: The Man Comes Around album (2002).
Popular contemporary performers of Australian country music include:
John Williamson (who wrote the iconic "
True Blue"),
Lee Kernaghan (whose hits include "
Boys From the Bush" and "
the Outback Club"),
Gina Jeffreys and
Sara Storer. In the USA,
Olivia Newton John,
Sherrié Austin and
Keith Urban have attained great success.
Ruby Hunter and
Archie Roach at the 2009
Tamworth Country Music Festival.
Country music has also been a particularly popular form of musical expression among
Indigenous Australians.
Troy Cassar-Daley is among Australia's successful contemporary indigenous performers Aboriginal artists and
Kev Carmody and
Archie Roach employ a combination of folk-rock and country music to sing about Aboriginal rights issues.
[76]
The
Tamworth Country Music Festival began in 1973 and now attracts up to a 100,000 visitors annually. Held in
Tamworth, New South Wales (Country music capital of Australia), it celebrates the culture and heritage of Australian country music. During the festival the
CMAA holds the
Country Music Awards of Australia ceremony awarding the
Golden Guitar trophies.
Other significant country music festivals include the Whittlesea Country Music Festival (near
Melbourne) and Boyup Brook Country Music Festival (
Western Australia) in February; the Bamera Country Music Festival in June (
South Australia), the National Country Muster held in
Gympie during August,
Mildura Country Music Festival for "independent" performers during October and the
Canberra Country Music Festival held in the national capital during November. Some festivals are quite unique in their location: Grabine State Park in
New South Wales promotes Australian country through the Grabine Music Muster Festival; Marilyns Country Music Festival is a unique event held in South Australia's Smoky Bay in September and is the only music festival in the world using an oyster barge as a stage.
Country HQ showcases new talent on the rise in the country music scene
downunder. CMC (the
Country Music Channel), a 24 hour music channel dedicated to non-stop country music, can be viewed on
pay tv and features once a year the Golden Guitar Awards, CMAs and CCMAs alongside international shows such as The Wilkinsons, The Road Hammers, and Country Music Across America.
Other international country music
Tom Roland, from the
Country Music Association International, explains Country Music’s global popularity: “In this respect, at least, Country Music listeners around the globe have something in common with those in the United States. In Germany, for instance, Rohrbach identifies three general groups that gravitate to the genre: people intrigued with the American cowboy icon, middle-aged fans who seek an alternative to harder rock music and younger listeners drawn to the pop-influenced sound that underscores many current Country hits.”
[77]
One of the first Americans to perform country music abroad was
George Hamilton IV. He was the first country musician to perform in the Soviet Union; he also toured in Australia and the Middle East. He was deemed the "International Ambassador of Country Music" for his contributions to the globalization of country music.
[78] Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Keith Urban, and Dwight Yoakam have also made numerous international tours.
The
Country Music Association undertakes various initiatives to promote country music internationally.
In the United Kingdom, a country-derived genre known as
skiffle peaked in the 1950s thanks to the efforts of
Lonnie Donegan; though the genre as a whole was very short-lived, most of the bands involved with the
British Invasion began their careers as skiffle musicians.
In South America, on the last weekend of September, the yearly "San Pedro Country Music Festival"
[80] takes places in the town of
San Pedro, Argentina. The festival features bands from different places of
Argentina, as well as international artist from
Brazil,
Uruguay,
Chile,
Peru and the
United States.
In
India, the
Anglo-Indian community is well known for enjoying and performing country music. An annual concert festival called "Blazing Guitars"
[81] held in
Chennai brings together Anglo-Indian musicians from all over the country (including some who have emigrated to places like Australia).
In Ireland
TG4 began a quest for Ireland's next country star called
Glór Tíre, translated as Country Voice, it is now in its 6th season and is one of TG4 most watched TV shows. A recent success in the Irish arena has been
Crystal Swing.
In
Sweden,
Rednex rose to stardom combining country music with electro-pop in the 1990s. In 1994, the group had a worldwide hit with their version of the traditional Southern tune "
Cotton-Eyed Joe". Other notable Swedish country acts include
Jill Johnson and
Calaisa.
Rhodesia during the 1970s had an active country and western music scene. Many songs combined country ballads with patriotic or military inspired lyrics. For example,
Clem Tholet's Rhodesians Never Die rose to the top of the Rhodesian pop charts.
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