The Evolution Of Country Music

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Since its inception, country music has proven to be? as a powerful outlet to express the view of the contemporary culture. As a result, the lyrical value of such songs provides listeners an insight to the changing climate of social and political ideologies. During the 60’s defined gender roles dominated social lifestyle and was were? mimicked in music. In recent years, a resurgence of idealistic, stereotypical gender-specific roles have cropped up in country songs, creating a subgenre labelled “bro-country.” Jody Rosen of the New York Times first coined the term “bro-country” in order to describe songs that use lyrical tools idealizing dominant, hegemonic gender roles present in culture. Songs such as Tim McGraw’s “How I’ll Always Be,” Luke Bryan’s “Huntin’, Fishin’, Lovin’, Every Day,” Sam Hunt’s “Make you Miss Me,” and Dierks Bently’s “Different for Girls” use the lyrical discourse, under the lens of “bro-country”, to highlight dominant, male gender-specific roles, while simultaneously reinforcing prominent, often negative, views of women.

Charlie Pride did it in 1971. Darius Rucker did it in 2009. That’s it. Two black men, spanning thirty-eight years, are the only black artists to win a Country Music Association Award. With country music rooted in bluegrass and rhythm and blues, why aren’t there more black country music stars? When considering the roots of country music, and how closely related country is to blues, bluegrass and honky tonk music, an examination of what happened to all the black musicians seems warranted, no? This paper examines the dearth of black artists in country music and the careers of one of the few black artists who has had commercial success in this genre of music.

Country music has changed over the past decades, as all music does, stepping away from the focus on freedom, family, friends, faith, and home, to songs about women, drinking, dirt roads, and big trucks. Many people feel that this has led to the objectification of women, creating an unrealistic expectation for women to live up to. Most artist have followed the lead of this and are writing more and more songs about these issues to stay with the trends, as many people enjoy this twist because it is coming with incorporations of other styles of music. This concept has become know as bro country, music that men can relate to when they are talking to their buddies or bros. In “Girl in a Country Song” the lyrics tell a story of the girls

In "This is How we Roll" Florida Georgia Line transitions from singing their lyrics to a country rap where the beat slows and the lyrics are sped up on a rhyme scheme. Similarly, Future took a step away from an overload of modulated bass to incorporate a piano rift instead. We as listeners use these genres of music to describe the music we like to listen to. However, the spectrum is so broad that it is important to understand what composes a specific genre. There are hundreds of sub-genres included in the overall label of country or hip-hop music, and the list continues to expand as artists proceed to develop new creative ideas that make it to the top of the billboards. Both of these songs are examples of songs that swept the nation with popularity but experimented with new styles the diverged from the norms of the genre. I believe genres will always stay true to their cultural origins; however, I'm excited for the future of music as artists continue to dip into various new

The gender messages in country music are different than rap. The ratio of male to female artists in country music is three to one, with a lot of the female artists being of the second type that Andsager and Roe explained. Therefore more often than not, country music reinforces traditional gender messages. The good news is that gender messages are beginning to change. Women are now playing

In Will Wilkinson's Country Music, Openness to Experience, and the Psychology of Culture War, he argues that country music itself is an ideology. He achieves this by explaining how country music's supporters and listeners are primarily conservative individuals whose happiness comes from the “enchantment of everyday life” lives depend on and is a “bulwark against cultural change’.

The strum of the guitar, the bang of the drums, and the roar of the crowd. That is what country music legend Troyal Garth Brooks, or Garth Brooks, as most call him, has worked toward all his life. Garth has had some disappointments on his road to country music stardom, but he has worked through them and has prevailed. His prowess in country music certainly did not come from luck, but from faith and perseverance.

In today’s day and age when people think of country music they imagine the classics, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, George Strait and many more. When people think of a redneck, they imagine a diehard country boy, who loves his country with a confederate flag in one hand and a beer in the other. But that is our generations take on these two words. The real question here is what did those two words mean to the people who came up with them and defined them. It couldn’t have been easy. It was no surprise that people were still recovering from the Great Depression and the more recent recession. Families were left destitute, men were working factory jobs for less than minimum wage, if that, and people had just about given up hope. In the time of turmoil and pain, these people of the 1970’s found a way to give themselves something to believe in. The songs that the artists wrote, sang and performed gave these individuals something to believe in and something to look forward to. One day they knew they could have that dream. Sure, not all of the country music at the time was upbeat and about the future. It dwelled on the past like the Great Depression and when Americans lost everything, but it made the people of the 1970’s want to work that much harder to make something of themselves. People were determined to take a stand and make a change. The development of “redneck” and “country” culture came from the idea of a better life for the people of America in the 1970’s. This occurred with

Even though Miko didn’t get to do four years at the Musicians Institute, she got quite an education in rock-n roll. One night they would be opening for Nick Lowe at the Hollywood Palladium and then the next for the Ramones. It was this constant back and forth into new musical languages and territories that gave them the opportunity to build a diverse fan base. They shared bills with Social Distortion, Roseanne Cash, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Chris Isaak. The spaces were equally diverse. Spaces were Cathay Du Grand one night and The Palomino the next.

I am going to share with you the story of how Luke Bryan saved country music in his hometown. He could sing so loud he could knock a building over. When he was a baby he would scream so loud he knocked down the walls of his own house! He discovered he could sing at a young age, so he decided that was what he wanted to do for his future. He thought about opera because he could sing so loud, but he went with the path country music instead.

"Country has become a bigger umbrella. It’s good and bad. Country has become too homogenized and too commercial. It has lost what makes it special. It’s great that it’s popular, but then it starts to become watered down. Country music is the song that speaks to the American condition. It’s middle America. Eight out of 10 people. Maybe it’s not the No. 1 choice, but they listen to country. Consistency, as well. In the 1980s, it was all about rock and roll, and it died. Guns N’ Roses is still on top because their throne hasn’t been challenged."

Country Music There was nothing but the darkness of the night. There were no noise to be heard. Suddenly a loud strumming of music came from one direction. Gathering around, people were amazed by what beautiful music they were hearing. This was the start of something new and original; it was called country music.

Many people are very stereotypical towards country music and its fans, mostly because they cannot understand it, or simply because they dislike the music as a whole, and like another style instead. People sometimes call the ones who enjoy country music “hillbillies” or “rednecks”, which is unfortunately very common of people who are unappreciative of this genre. Country music focuses more on the tradition lifestyle accepted by society, but like other music genres, new versions of this music style have grew over time, resulting in less traditional messages, and lifestyle symbolism. Society usually overlooks the historical background that comes along with County music. Country music is usually looked at as boring, because it talks about the little things in life, instead of thing that get most people’s attention now days, like breaking the law or disobeying

The history of American music begins with a fundamental process of exchange through all different social lines, where diverse cultures meet, and mix. Music has and always will be defined as sounds that are arranged in a particular pattern that are played to be meaningful and pleasurable. The chronology of music began in the Medieval period, when chanting was introduced into the Church. Music has then moved its way through many stages: renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic and leading up to 20th century American music. American 20th century music is made up of a diverse number of styles that are reflected by cultural traditions and the era’s of the past. Immigrants from Spain, France, England, Germany and Ireland all contributed and brought their own unique styles to the forefront, hence creating American music. African Americans created influential musical traditions that include rhythm and improvisation that were later combined with European traditions and other indigenous music.