Genres
zEarly Country
Early commercial country music was a direct descendant of the ballad and folk tradition brought to the American South by immigrants from the British Isles in the 18th and 19th centuries. When not carrying on the oral tradition of storytelling through song, old-time country music featured instrumentals with the fiddle usually taking the melodic role of the voice. Fiddlin' John Carson combined the two traditions by singing and playing simultaneously on a 1923 two-song "78," considered to be the first country music hit record.
The most important group of this era was undoubtedly The Carter Family - their importance to the growth of country music cannot be overstated. The ultimate preservationists of the Southern folk tradition, the Carters are considered "The First Family of Country Music." Their song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" is one of the great standards of country music, as is "Wildwood Flower," which first introduced Maybelle Carter's influential guitar style. The Stoneman Family of Galax, Virginia were also forerunners in mountain music.
Jimmie Rodgers, "The Father of Country Music" (a.k.a. "The Singing Brakeman/America's Blue Yodeler"), brought country music to a new level of acceptance and was one of the most influential singers in the annals of popular music. His unique vocal delivery and down-home lyrics catapulted him to national prominence and brought a new-found legitimacy to country music. An absolute original, his singing and writing style sounds as timely today as it did during his short recording career (1927-1933).
Cowboy
Cowboy music capitalized on America's fascination with the Wild West, exploiting it both on record and in Hollywood films. The hillbillies were now transformed into dashing young cowboys and cowgirls singing songs of romance and the range.
Portraying an essentially romantic vision of the lonesome prairie, the movies routinely featured a free-spirited cowboy singing around the campfire after a hard day's work of "shoot-'em-ups" and chasing down runaway coaches. This "cleaning up" of the country image as exemplified by Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and The Sons of the Pioneers helped to increase country's popularity.
Western Swing
A Depression-era music born in the dusty dance halls of Texas and Oklahoma, western swing married the sensibility of country to the sophisticated rhythms of jazz. Using something closer to a Big Band lineup (often including horns) than a traditional country configuration, Bob Wills soon became the undisputed king of the genre.
With his band The Texas Playboys, Wills was a true innovator who took great pride in honing his band's improvisational skills. His ability to get the best out of his players on any given night had a profound effect on the direction of country music. Other western swing bands include one of the founders of the genre, Milton Brown (and his Musical Brownies) and
Spade Cooley. Today, bands like Asleep at the Wheel carry on this musical
tradition.
Bluegrass
An intricate, purely acoustic music which is easily identified by its two and three-part vocal harmonies, energetic drive and unbridled emotion. This "high, lonesome" sound grew out of the string-band movement of the late 1920s and takes its name from its creator, Bill Monroe, who dubbed his band the Blue Grass Boys.
Former Blue Grass Boys Flatt & Scruggs' theme songs for Bonnie & Clyde and The Beverly Hillbillies introduced bluegrass to a whole new audience in the 60s. Today, bluegrass remains highly influential, as evidenced by artists like Alison Krauss.
Honky-Tonk
A free-wheeling, often boisterous style of music spawned in the Southern bars (a.k.a. "honky-tonks") of post-WWII. By the late 1940s, the venue for country music had shifted from social gatherings to watering holes where performers no longer had to worry about keeping up appearances or espousing "family values" in their songs. As a result, lyrics soon began to reflect the hard, cold facts of modern blue-collar life.
Hank Williams and his songs of cheatin' women and ramblin' men turned honky-tonk into the prevailing voice of country in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He lived it like he sang it, however, and his excessive lifestyle would eventually lead to his untimely death at 29.
Rockabilly
In the Memphis of 1953, race lines were sharply divided - most blacks listened to rhythm and blues (a.k.a. "race music") while country was the music favored by most white people. Looking for a way to sell R&B to a white audience, producer Sam Phillips lamented that his Sun Records would make a fortune if only he could find a white boy who could sing "colored." Enter Elvis Aron Presley.
By putting a backbeat under Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and combining it with Elvis Presley's breakthrough vocal style, producer Sam Phillips created the hybrid that would come to be known as rockabilly. Though its popularity barely made it through the 1950s, artists as diverse
as Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins all began their recording
careers in the genre.
The Nashville Sound
What came to be known as The Nashville Sound refers to a musical arranging style which favored the piano, strings and background vocals over the more traditional fiddle and banjo. The late 1950s saw country music's popularity on the wane and producers like Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley made a conscious attempt to broaden its appeal by attempting to remake country's sound into something closer to mainstream pop.
By the early 1960s, the transformation was complete with everyone from Patsy Cline to The Browns (along with the help of a group of crack Nashville studio musicians) taking heavily produced songs to the top of
both the country and pop charts.
Country-rock
A musical cross-pollination emanating from California which brought hippie, "back-to-nature" sensibilities to a country-influenced sound. While their drugs and long hair were anathema to traditional country values (e.g., Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee"), country-rockers ultimately helped to expand the audience for more traditional country artists.
Pioneered by Gram Parsons in the late 1960s, (with The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers and later Emmylou Harris), country-rock grafted traditional country themes like nostalgia and heartbreak onto a rock beat. Later, bands like the Eagles would ride this hybrid to the top of the pop charts. Today, bands like The Desert Rose Band, led by Byrds co-founder Chris Hillman, carry on the country-rock tradition.
Outlaw
Emphasizing originality, so-called "Outlaw" was a continuation of the kind of country music that had been drowned out by the Nashville Sound. It wasn't a new genre so much as a return to mainline country and a rebellion against a production system.
At the center of this gathering storm was Willie Nelson, who by 1968 had become frustrated with Nashville's resistance to his new, more personal musical approach. Nelson left Music City USA for Austin, Texas, where he started his annual picnic/music fest which attracted other, similarly disaffected singer/songwriters like Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson.
Their no-frills, "roots" approach was in keeping with the rugged individualism which had been a hallmark of country before it started pandering to more popular tastes. Not only did the Outlaw sound appeal to the dyed-in-the-wool country fan, but it also resonated with FM radio programmers and on college campuses. As a result, Waylon & Willie's 1976 Wanted: The Outlaws became the first country LP in history to reach the one-million unit mark, opening the doors once again for original, idiosyncratic voices in country music.
New Traditionalism
A stylistic throwback to a time when virtuosity and musical integrity were more important than image, New (or "Neo") Traditionalism looked to the elders of country music for inspiration and was a precursor to the more general categorization known as New Country.
Ricky Skaggs, a picking prodigy who took his inspiration from Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley (Skaggs was a Clinch Mountain Boy as a teen), went against the tenor of the time and helped bring country back home to its roots.
The old was not only new again, it was a welcome relief. Skaggs was not alone, however. Artists like Randy Travis used a strong sense of melody and a carefully crafted vocal delivery to help bring New Traditionalism to the vanguard of country music.
New Country
A broad musical category originally intended to describe country's return to its roots in the mid-1980s. With an added emphasis on electric guitars and drums, the sound can be closer to rock/pop than pure country. Garth Brooks, Brooks & Dunn, Shania Twain and LeAnn Rimes are examples of artists lumped into this catch-all category. The marked absence of fiddles, steel guitars and other acoustic instruments also separate it from more traditional country genres.
Alternative Country
The contemporary outgrowth of country-rock, its emphasis on loud, electric guitars gives it a harder, edgier sound closer to rock than country. Taking its name from a Carter Family song, this fledgling movement prides itself on a do-it-yourself ethos, with most bands releasing records on small, independent labels. Once spearheaded by Uncle Tupelo (now defunct) and The Jayhawks, current sensations Son Volt, Wilco and Golden Smog are leading the movement into major label legitimacy.
Retro
With its "twangin'" guitars and idiosyncratic lyrics, retro harks back to the pre-Nashville Sound, "mainline" country days and is led by people like Junior Brown, BR5-49, Big Sandy and His Fly Rite Boys and Wayne Hancock.
Singer/Songwriters
This ever-expanding group uses a mostly acoustic backdrop to offer up their own take on traditional country themes. Venues like Nashville's Bluebird Cafe feature weekly "songwriter's nights" and have done much to shed light on the craft that goes into writing a song. Leading figures include Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle, and the Dead Reckoning crew (Kieran Kane, Kevin Welch and Mike Henderson).
Cajun
The high-spirited, syncopated music of French-speaking Acadian people from the bayou region of southwest Louisiana. Centered around the fiddle and accordion, Cajun bands usually include a drummer, although it is still considered primarily an acoustic-based music. Jimmy C. Newman, Doug Kershaw and Eddy Raven are three of the leading Cajun acts currently on the scene.
Conjunto
Originating in the Rio Grande Valley during the late 1800s, conjunto blends polka and waltz rhythms with Mexican folk music. Flaco Jimenez, both as a solo act and with the Texas Tornadoes, is the genre's most notable performer.
Tejano
Based on traditional Mexican music, Tejano (Spanish for "Texas") is distinguished by its upbeat lyrics and easy-to-dance-to rhythms. Emilio and Shelly Larees are two noteworthy artists in the world of tejano.
Zydeco
A hard driving, electric music which emerged from the intersection of the Cajun and Creole cultures of Louisiana's bayou country. Sung in French, zydeco is steeped in blues and African influences and usually features a washboard. C.J. Chenier and Buckwheat Zydeco lead two of the hottest zydeco bands.