Country music facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Country music
Willie Nelson
Stylistic origins	Blues American folk music (Appalachian & Western) old-time music Celtic music
Cultural origins	1920s, Southern U.S.
Typical instruments	Guitar bass drums fiddle mandolin banjo piano steel guitar
Derivative forms	Western (Red Dirt, New Mexico, Texas country, Tejano)
Subgenres
Subgenres Bakersfield sound bluegrass bro-country close harmony heartland rock jug band progressive country Nashville sound neotraditional country Western swing
Fusion genres
Fusion genres Alternative country dansband country rock cowpunk country rap country pop gothabilly honky-tonk outlaw country regional Mexican sertanejo Southern soul
Other topics
Country musicians List of years in country music
2024 in country music

Country music (sometimes called Country & Western) is a form of music that has been enjoyed by people all over the United States for decades. Famous singers from this genre include Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, the Judds, Dolly Parton, Glen Campbell, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, Kenny Rogers, Loretta Lynn, Randy Travis, Tanya Tucker, Willie Nelson, Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Joe Diffie and Toby Keith.

Country music's strongest appeal is with American rural and small-town populations, but many American cities have a large audience. The music also has listeners in Canada, in England, and worldwide. The popularity of Country comes and goes with each decade. Sometimes a new movie (like Midnight Cowboy or Urban Cowboy), hit record (like "She Believes In Me" by Kenny Rogers), or new performer (like Randy Travis in the 1980s) raises new interest.

History

Country music has its roots and beginnings in folk music. The old cowboy and pioneer songs of the American frontier were popular in the early twentieth century, and so were arrangements of pop music songs by rural (or rural-sounding) performers. Country musicians also adapted new musical instruments, like the Hawaiian steel guitar.

Modern-day Country music started in the years after World War II. The Sons of the Pioneers and The Carter Family performed old and new songs, in a way that reminded people of singalongs and jamborees of the past. Hank Williams is often called the first songwriter of country music. His songs were easy to learn and remember, and their lyrics said things felt by many people. His music is still performed today. Some of the early rock and roll musicians, like Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley, began as country performers.

Nashville, Tennessee became the center of Country music, much like New Orleans became the center of Jazz. The Grand Ole Opry broadcast performances by The Carter Family and others, and became an important breaking ground in Country music. A television series, Hee-Haw, was a long-running showcase for Country performers, and was hosted by musicians Buck Owens and Roy Clark. When cable television became popular in the United States, The Nashville Network (TNN) and Country Music Television (CMT) brought Country music videos and related programming to nationwide audiences. (In later years, as interests changed, TNN changed its programming. It also changed names, first to "The National Network", then to Spike TV, which is its name today.) Country music began in the Southern United States at 1920. And Bob Wills had developed the Western Swing.

Country comedy

Country-styled comedy is also popular, with writers and performers like Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy, and others. Many comedians have appeared with Country acts, including Andy Griffith, Ray Stevens, and George Lindsey. Lindsey, Lulu Roman and Junior Samples were cast members of Hee-Haw, and so were Grandpa Jones and Minnie Pearl. Homer and Jethro and Pinkard & Bowden were duos of musicians who made parodies of Country and pop songs.

The Beverly Hillbillies, a CBS television series, included music by Flatt and Scruggs. Members of the cast appeared in character at Country concerts, and on other television shows, to entertain audiences.

Images for kids

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  Vernon Dalhart was the first country star to have a major hit record

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  The Carter Family, are a dynasty of country music and began with (left to right) A.P. Carter, wife Sara Carter and Maybelle Carter

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  Roy Acuff

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  Publicity photo of Roy Rogers and Gail Davis, 1948

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  Bill and Charlie Monroe (1936). Bill Monroe (1911–1996) and the Blue Grass Boys created the bluegrass by the end of World War II.

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  Hank Williams

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  Johnny Cash

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  Willie Nelson (2009)

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  John Denver (1975)

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  Dolly Parton

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  A reunited Eagles in 2008

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  George Strait, a pioneer of the neotraditionalist movement and dubbed the "King of Country," Strait is one of the best selling musicians of all-time.

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  Garth Brooks

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  Shania Twain performing during her Up! Tour in 2004

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  Steve Earle performing in Ireland in 2007

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  Carrie Underwood at the 2019 American Music Awards

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  Miranda Lambert in 2019

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  Taylor Swift at the 2019 American Music Awards

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  Florida Georgia Line whose hit song "Cruise" drew attention to the bro-country genre

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  Emmylou Harris in 2008

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  Kacey Musgraves became one of the most controversial figures in contemporary country music.

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  Olivia Newton-John singing in Sydney in 2008

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  Shania Twain in 2011

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  Lorenzo Antonio

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  Engelbert Humperdinck had hits with country songs

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  Vanha Isäntä, a Finnish country rock band, performing at the Helsinki Festival's open-air concert in Kaivopuisto in 1974. Seppo Sillanpää (violin) on the left and Olli Haavisto (guitar) on the right.

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  Example of cowboy hat and cowboy boots, two prominent components of country music fashion

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  Painting of a cowboy singing by Thomas Eakins (1890)

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  Freddy Fender performing Tejano music after The Johnny Cash Show in Nashville, Tennessee (1977)

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  Bob Childers performing Red dirt in Okemah, Oklahoma (2001)

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  Al Hurricane and Al Hurricane Jr. performing New Mexico music at a fiesta in Old Town Albuquerque (2014)

See also

In Spanish: Country para niños