Music is a large part of our daily lives. You hear it in the car, at a restaurant, in the mall and on television. Fortunately, it is truly inescapable. Music is art that is meant to tell stories, trigger emotions and describe experiences. It is commonly scaled by rhythm, timbre, pitch, harmony and tempo. What makes music so special is that there are so many types and styles. Genres can range from classical to pop to country. Country music is one of the biggest and most broad genres of music. Since its origin in the 1920’s, it has been influenced by the specific genres of folk, bluegrass and even rock music.
To begin, country music as a whole has been brought up by some legendary musicians that I can’t all list. However, Hank Williams is one of the earliest country stars and then closely followed by Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash. These three could be considered the “roots” of country music. Williams was in the first group of country singers to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. Artists like Dolly Parton, Shania Twain and even the “King of Country Music” George Strait all look up to the two who established country music in
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Towards the early rise of country music, it could be successfully produced nearly anywhere in the South. However, “by the beginning of 1955 Nashville was a town with strong national connections for country music” and every aspiring musician headed to Tennesseee (Cusic, 41). Nashville is home to two of the biggest country music buildings The Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry are the most famous places for a country musician. The Opry is consistantly featuring well-known singers and songwriters and even rising music stars. In downtown Nashville, countless recording studios can be found that house the voices of country music. Because of this, this special city is known as the Country Capital of the
Country-western, in return, evolved from a fusion of British Isles folk music and African-American folk music. The musical aspects that country or rockabilly transferred to rock include a 16-bar phrase, tight harmonies, and new instrumentation. The 16-bar phrase allowed room for more lyrics, and the tight harmonies encouraged the creation of family bands such as The Carter Family. For example, The Carter Family even covered an African American spiritual piece, "Can the Circle be Unbroken," showing the connection between rock and roll and country goes even farther back than the connections between R&B and rockabilly.
With her sophisticated style and soulful voice, Carla Thomas was able to make a name for Stax Records of Memphis and aid in the development of an entirely new genre of music. With the help of her father, she began performing at a young age. By the time she was 18, she had become the first woman to chart a top ten hit on the Hot 100 with a song she wrote herself. In the following years, Carla Thomas became known as the Queen of Memphis Soul, the counterpart to the “King,” Otis Redding. Her music greatly influenced the Memphis sound and transformed Southern Soul music forever.
Rhythms of Country Fancast Is there anyone on the Earth who hates music? Obviously no! Music is the best time pass and hobby for everyone. It contributes best relief from stress, by giving loads of merriment. Style and perception of music varies from place to place.
“You know, traditional country music is something that’s going to be around forever.” George Strait (Jackson, “Country Music Quotes”). While Hunter Hayes’ style isn’t exactly traditional country, he has similar qualities to Roy Acuff- the most popular hillbilly singer of the swing era (Starr & Waterman, American Popular Music pg. 140). Hunter Hayes song “Wanted” is similar to the country music in the Swing Era in chapter six of American Popular Music. Hayes and Acuff are alike by how they both were crossover artists, neither were afraid to try something new with their music, and they both could play a wide variety of instruments.
Lives of everyone are different. The way the rest of their life is going to go due to their career in music. Also they way their appearance is, defines them as a country singer. Because of these characteristics, the music industry is fortunate to have them as
Broadcasting at 50,000 watts, listeners would tune in every Saturday night to listen to Horace Logan’s live program of “hillbilly music.” Known as the “Cradle of the Stars,” the Hayride gave rise to many rising country music stars. Hank Williams was exposed to real fame for the first time by means of the Hayride, which brought it to greater renowned fame. Elvis Presley brought an abundance of new listeners to the Hayride, but in turn, drove away many and took away even more. These two artists had parts in bringing the Louisiana Hayride to not only the peak of its fame, but also to its demise.
This style contrasted with the smoother “Nashville sound” in country music. (Langer, A). Jennings performed a lot with many other groups. Jennings played in front of many rock crowds, performing with the Grateful Dead and Commander Cody among other (Waylon Jennings, 1983). Jennings style was similar to the type of music he played.
The themes in country music have stayed the same throughout the past century. If you listen to artists like Tim McGraw, Thomas Rhett, Luke Bryan, Zac Brown Band, and Blake Shelton, the messages they give are very similar to the ones in the ‘30s. However, the sound of country music has changed vastly. Also, technology has gotten better allowing for better transmission of the music.
He was definitely considered country, but more contemporary country. Some of his music even crossed over to the pop charts and did remarkably well there as well as on the country charts. This is why Garth Brooks has become as successful as he has. He appeals to not only country music fans, but to also popular music fans as well. For one of his albums, he did release a rock-alternative album under the name of his alter ego Chris Gaines.
In 1945, Nashville, Tennessee became the center for country music. Country music was mixed with many genres such as blues and rock. In the 1950s, Rockabilly (The style that mixed rock and roll with "hillbilly" music) artists such as Johnny Cash and Conway Twitty began to record hit after hit. Many artists continued to make music and began to get inducted into the country music hall of fame. The Bakersfield Sound (1960’s) was a time where many felt country was too
Country music is a genre that was inspired by folk style church music from the British Isles, and it came to the United States in the 1700’s. It grew in the Appalachian Mountain region where it was finally established in Bristol, Tennessee, which is now considered to be the birthplace of country music (Birthplace of Country Music). In the 1900’s, country music started to become more popular with the rise of the recording industry, however as this time, artists had to travel to New York to record their music. Tradition country music utilizes acoustic guitars, mandolin, autoharp, fiddle, as well as the banjo to achieve its distinctive sound. What people considered to be hillbilly music also encompasses these instruments which lead to this genre
First, country rock is mainly made up of rockabilly guitar fills and country-influenced lyrics. As for the instruments themselves in country rock, most musicians use electric guitars, and amplifiers to create a loud and rock-influenced sound. For country music, the song lyrics tell stories, and musicians play exactly to the beat, and most musicians play bass and steel guitar. An example of country rock music is called “Ramblin’ Man” by The Allman Brothers Band has the basic beat of country music, but uses guitar, bass, and drums at a fast rate rather than a slow beat. Another example is a song called “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd starts with an electric guitar, drums, and guitar from a slow beat to a high fast beat.
The country music of our society today does not follow the ideology that country music can only be made by white Americans. Country music artists of multiple ethnicities can be found in our society today. Darius Rucker is an African American country artist who is quite popular on the billboard charts today. This is in deep contrast to the hillbilly music decade when no African-Americans were making hillbilly records.
(Braziller and Kleinfeld). Exactly what country music is today can be hard to define as the genre changes with each new artist that comes into it, but a look at the career of George Strait shows why, depsite all the changes in what represnts country mucic, he is known as the king of country music and is the ultimate example of what comes to mind when one speaks of the genre as
Folk-country music and pop music are two distinct genres with unique styles, sounds, and origins. To begin with, folk-country music is characterized by its traditional roots while pop music is more contemporary in nature. The themes of the songs, lyrics, and instrumentation differ between these two genres. One of the key differences between folk country and pop music is their lyrical content.