yeehaw big country blog :)

 Country Music originated in the early twentieth century around the working class men who lived in the south, especially in the Appalachian mountains. To create this music, the musicians blended English ballads with Irish fiddle song to create what we now know as Country music. Country, also known as country western, takes its roots from different genres such as the blues and old time music, and various types of American folk music. Again, it originated in the southern United States. Some people who don't get enough credit are the African Americans who helped create country music. The "greats" as we call them, like Hank Williams actually learned from black teachers. The banjo actually came to the United States through West Africa, the slaves passed down their skills thought teaching their children how to pick and play the banjo. 

Though the origins of country music can be traced back to include many different genres of music, scholars trace the true origins of it back to eastern Tennessee *insert Morgan Wallen singing about that boy from East Tennessee*.  In the 1920's Knoxville produced the first album that included different sounds from Mountaineer musicians that were living in the great smokey mountains. At this time in Atlanta, there were people from the Appalachians recording and producing songs that "reminded them of home". This type of music is what was referred to as "hillbilly music". But when people heard "hillbilly music" it usually didn't come with good ratings, so finally after years of this type of music being drug through the dirt, it was finally labeled as "country music". By 1930, Country Music was all over the radios, on television (through barn dancing segments), and in 1925, The Grand Ole Opry was opened up in Tennessee. Even today, aspiring country artist usually move to Nashville to hopefully begin living their dreams. So many famous country artist such as Lady Antebellum, Sam Hunt, Carly Pierce, and my all time favorite, Thomas Rhett, got their country music starts in Nashville. Many of them played in local bars and just hoped the right person would be there to sign them on as a client. 

As any other genre of music does, country music started including tons of other genres of music in it. Some of these includes jazz, gospel, rock, swing, honkey tonk, country boogie, this list goes on and on. Country music is still to this day defined loosely. When I say this I mean there is no way to for certain say "this song right here is truly country music". Artist cross boundaries and release new music daily, country music is always changing, but in my opinion that's what people love so much about it. It's constantly changing, and keeping up with changing times, but it still gives you that "at home in a small town" feeling. In 2009, country music was the most listen to genre of music played on the afternoon radio, and the second most listened to on the morning a.m radio. 

Did you know that instruments was what really defined country music? Stringed instruments such as the banjos, electric guitars, dobros, fiddles, and harmonicas was the true country music instruments. At first country artist rejected drums, they claimed that they were too loud and distracting. But by the mid 1930's Western swing music band leader, Bob Wills, added drums and by the 1950's most country bands included a drummer. I can think of no better song than "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" to show the importance of string instruments in country music! Listen to how amazing these artist are!

In the 1950, the king himself Kenny Rogers, who sadly died this past year, started his country career up! Like many others he included Western swing, country boogie, and honky tonk. There was just something different about that man, everyone who is a country music fan knows his name, and he'll forever be remembered as the king of country. 

One of the next things I'd like to discuss is our country music generations. Throughout generations of people came new generations of country music, and every decade a new style of it would come out. There was classic country, outlaw country, and. even something called rockabilly country! But, in the mid 1980's early 1990's, something extraordinary happened! The Neotraditionalist Country Movement happened. Some artist just got sort of fed up with all the directions country music was being taken, so they decided to kick it old school and go back to the basic's. Because these artist decided to do this, we now know them as "the greats" and this country music era is now known to be the greatest country music of all time. It's what our generation would call "classic country". Some of the artist born in this time were Alan Jackson, George Straight, Reba McEntire, Randy Travis, Keith Whitley, Garth Brooks, and also Brooks & Dunn. These obviously aren't all of the artist from this time, but I know you'll recognize some of those names. Some of the songs that came out of this country music generation are "Neon Moon", "Boot Scoot and Boogie", "It's Five O'clock Somewhere", "Fancy", "I told you so", and literally so many more. In my opinion, this country music generation, and these artist will all stand the test of time. These songs will always be played, and their names will always be remembered. 

So where is country music today? Today country music, like always, takes many different ships, forms and styles. Of course we have artist like Jason Aldean, and Carrie Underwood who keeps their country music classic. But we also have artist like Sam Hunt and Florida Georgia Line who mix their music up by putting pop music, and doing many duets with pop artist in their albums. Most country music songs are about falling in love, being heart broken, living in a small town, and drinking beer, but hey, who doesn't love all those things! In my own opinion country music is the best type of music there is, it is so pleasing to listen to, there's a song for every situation, and as I've mentioned throughout this whole blog, it can be so diverse. Country music has no boundaries and most likely anything will be accepted. Take "Old Town Road" for example! It's basically rap, but it's played on country stations every single day! 

As always, thanks for reading my blog y'all! 

your fav country girl, 

Gracie C:) 

Citations, cause we don't plagiarize around here!!!

“Country Music.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Oct. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_music. 

Dooley, Sean. “Tracing Country Music History from Jimmie Rodgers to Garth Brooks.” LiveAbout, www.liveabout.com/the-history-of-country-music-934030. 

“Neo-Traditionalism.” Country Music Project, sites.dwrl.utexas.edu/countrymusic/the-history/new-traditionalism/.