Brad Paisley and Country Music Essay

Country music originated in the 1920s in Tennessee. The genre was influenced by folk music from the Appalachian Mountains and revolved around themes of love, faith,

Southern music known today as country music became popular in the 1920’s. This was music that was based on folk music of cowboys in the southeast (Collins English Dictionary, 2003). In most of the early music the artist played stringed instruments like fiddles, guitars, banjos and some were even playing harmonicas. When this type of music started some people called it

always been what we recognize it as today. Country music began in the 1920’s in a town in Tennessee called Bristol and was recognized for its hillbilly and folk format. Country music artists like Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis are each responsible for creating this music format that was written mostly about everyday life. Today country music is recognized as a more modern contemporary version of music. Today’s country artists have started to change their sound in order to appeal to the mainstream audience in order to make more money. Miranda Lambert said “there’s been a shift: country music is popular now. Every other genre wants to come over to our land.”

“When first entering in America, British folk music was distinguished by three-chord tunes, sparse instrumentation (with some fiddlers), mostly male performers, improvisation, the singers’ sporadic shouts (Scottish “yips”), Christian themes served up in hundreds of hymns, and a secular collection of songs that told stories, generally about love and lost love, using metaphor and symbol to tell those stories” (Allen 101). By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, British music changed and became Americanized. Vocal harmonizing slowly evolved, and fiddlers were accompanied by those who played banjo, an African American opening. “Tambourines and “bones” (tapping out rhythms using pork rib bones) were a minstrel show contribution” (Allen 102). When African Americans were forced into slavery and brought to North America in the 1600s, they brought their own musical traditions and sounds. Slaves who were on the Mississippi River Valley delta soil developed what will later be introduced as blues music. On the plantations, slaves greatly changed British American hymn singing. They took non-religious British American songs and turned it into their own forms of music that followed their culture and taste of music. Blues emerged in the early twentieth century at the same time country music became settled from its folk roots. Blues music talked about the indifferences African American slaves were going through at that time. “The blues voiced human

Pulling a horse trailer, not too many people can do that in New York. Country people have an advantage which is not backing down from anything, and this is what the old country music use to be about. Lane Frost inspired most country musicians in the 90’s. That’s why there used to be so many songs written about bull riding and rodeos. The old stuff use to talk about hard working people, and just real up beat towards work, and nowadays nobody wants to even hear the word work. That’s why all the country music today is about drinking and partying. The newer artist are just trying to draw people into living the way they live. They drink on stage and go to bars in the town after a show. Most people don’t believe that’s what country music is

For generations, singers and songwriters of country music have been working to evoke emotions in listeners by performing and writing songs that the listeners will be able to relate to. Country music traditionally reveals stories of life, love, death, and values, all of which can be seen in the works of great singers and songwriters like George Strait, Alabama, Brooks & Dunn, and Alan Jackson. One artist in particular, Garth Brooks, forever left his stamp on country music and on the hearts of his millions of listeners with his hit songs, “The Beaches of Cheyenne”, “Callin’ Baton Rouge”, and “The River”. “The Beaches of Cheyenne” has a storyline containing themes of life, death, love, and regret. The themes of this song branch out much

First, the lyrical content of country music is very distinct. Typically within a country song, the focus of the music is on storytelling. According to the website History of Country Music, this is one of the primary characteristics of country music. Particularly, it is stated “country music should have a strong storyline” (History of Country Music). There are several notable examples of this sort of musical storytelling; one of which is “Cocaine Blues” by Johnny Cash. He recounts the saga of a man on the run from the police for the murder of his wife, who finally gets caught and must accept his punishment in a court of law. The mentioned composition is slightly atypical of country songs in general

For my second question I asked how was country music invented. Well researching my questions I found that country music was not created in Nashville. It was created in Bristol,Tennessee. I also found out that

Country music as a whole has developed from hillbilly boogie, to honky tonk, to what we commonly hear on the radio today as Nashville sound, or country pop. The honky tonk

Traditionally, Country music has usually been associated as a white mans genre of music. Looking back over the history of this type of music one can attest to the fact that only a few artists fall outside this stereotype. For instance, you have musicians such as DeFord Bailey and Darius Rucker who have contributed so much to the genre through their works. However, as great as they are, there is one artist who has truly paved the way for African Americans in Country music and that is none other than Charlie Pride.

“Hillbilly music,” “the high, lonesome sound,” and “old-time string band music,” have all been used to describe bluegrass, though none of these terms is quite

Country music is one of the most popular genres of music throughout America. There are many influential figures that have changed the way country music sounds, and how people interpret it. Two important people who have made a huge impact on country music overtime are Johnny Cash and Luke Bryan. From their early life, their career, and how society views them, they have opened the minds of people and country musicians all over the country. Johnny Cash’s songs help people to experience his life growing up through the Great Depression and how people lived back then. Through Luke Bryan’s songs people could understand what life was like for Luke growing up in Georgia and all the hardships he faced. Johnny Cash and Luke Bryan are two of the many

It exemplifies the south by portraying an easy-going, enjoyable feeling as one listens to the music. The genre has gone from sounding like folk and bluegrass to sounding more like pop songs. The genre of country music is mainly listened to by Caucasian Americans. Jeffrey Manuel explains that “the classification of the southern plain folk was essential to the history of country music, for it identified a distinct white social group with a set of ideals and customs that correlated with those voiced through country music” (Manuel 421). There are not many African Americans that sing or enjoy country music.

The origins of country music were the folk music of mostly white, working-class Americans. According to Sean Dooley who contributed to “The History of Country Music”, they blended popular songs, Irish and Celtic fiddle tunes, traditional ballads, cowboy songs, and various musical traditions from European immigrant communities. In the 1930s, radio and recordings had begun to popularize the new style, renamed as “country and western”. It included country, gospel, bluegrass, cowboy musicals, brother and sister duets, and western swing (Dooley). The flip side of country music was jazz.

The slaves themselves would sing their music, brought over from Africa. Later in the years, this would be the main base of the folk music genre. However, it was not just African music. Pilgrims from around the world have brought their mother countries’ music with them to America. Even the Natives’ music heavily influenced folk music.