The characteristic twang you hear in country music comes from the mixture of Celtic, traditional folk and gospel influences. Since the 1920s, fans of country music (originally known as “hillbilly music” fans) have been enjoying the unique sound of the southern United States.
Country music as it stands today is the mixture of two old-time styles: Southwestern (country western) and Southeastern (old-country music). Country western relied heavily on steel guitars and big bands, which closely related to swing. Old-country music featured the guitar, fiddle, banjo and harmonica, maintaining a simple feel and rhythm. During World War II, these two styles somehow merged, likely due to servicemen mixing and mingling their musical stylings. This union progressed to form a number of subcategories within country music.
The 1930s through the 1940s brought with them several unique country music sub-genres. Bluegrass, pioneered by Bill Monroe and others like Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, and Roy Acuff, all of whom performed at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, was focused on string instruments. Members of bluegrass bands took turns playing solos to an underlying melody and added improvisation, while others played the accompaniment. Another country spawn of the time is honky tonk. Characterized by the piano and related to ragtime music, this subgenre focuses on rhythm and lends melody and harmony to improvisation.
The 1950s through the 1960s brought about some other developments in classic country stylings. Rockabilly is one such subgenre. The breed gets its name from an early mixture of rock ’n’ roll and hillbilly music. Performers such as Elvis Presley and his “Heart Break Hotel” song plus Johnny Cash’s “I Walk The Line” are the predominate names associated with this style: A rhythmic mix of blues, swing and boogie influences.
Another important development of this time period is country soul. Ray Charles, who became the pioneer player, did so with a mixture of southern soul, jazz, gospel and country music. It is likely the style formed as a result of the rockabilly category moving closer to its rock parent. Where rockabilly was mostly country artists playing with a rock influence, country rock was where many rock musicians began playing with a country air. Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead and Gram Parsons are great testaments to the style.
Contemporary fame came about in the 1970s and 1980s. Outlaw country got its sound from traditional honky tonk and the feelings of a jaded nation during the era. Shortly thereafter, bands like the Cherokee Cowboys with Willie Nelson started a revolution in country music. Country pop then evolved as another important subgenre, where influences came from soft rock as well as countrypolitan sounds. Artists in this category, like John Denver, Kenny Rogers, and The Eagles, did well as mainstream music did on the radio top 40. Currently, this style is more aptly referred to as adult contemporary. Actions from performers in these genres especially have paved the way for modernizing country music.
The 1990s continued to invigorate the diversity of country music. Alternative country splits from mainstream music and country pop with its roots in so many different foundations. Undertones of rockabilly, rock, punk rock, acoustic music, honky tonk, and bluegrass commonly make up the backbone of music in this genre, carried by big names like Carrie Underwood.
With all the diversity, though, the goal of country music has always rang true: to tell stories. Johnny Cash, for instance, used his liquid ice voice to tell a story in a linear fashion. Songs like “Folsom Prison Blues” by Cash and “Live Like You Were Dying” by Tim McGraw emphasize the genre’s storytelling power as they develop a clear-cut narrative with all the proper instrumental trimmings.
Country fans across the board seem to have gotten into the music for one of two reasons. The first set will say their parents listened to it, so they did too and it just stuck. RIT is no exception. “My parents listened to it when I was growing up, so I didn’t really have a choice,” remarked Matt Turner, third year Mechanical Engineering major.
The others have different stories of how they heard their first country song, but they’ll usually all agree they listened to that twentieth song because the subject matter rings true to their life. “I grew up with country music. I believe Trace Adkins said it best, ‘...country songs are about me and who I am,’” commented Jeffrey Hendel, a second year Marketing major. He went on to say, “People give country a lot less credit than is due. It is a situational style of music much like rap and R&B. Country and rap are pretty similar in that the artists speak of situations that they know and have been through, just expressed in different ways.”
“This seems to be true, as there seems to be a stigma associated with country music. People tend to think of its fans as inbred hicks... Probably why we are the minority in most schools,” stated Turner. “It is just difficult to find others that like it [country music] with very few venues that are geared toward country fans,” suggested Hendel.
Looking back through time, there is something amazing about the way each sub-genre draws from several stylings to form a whole new sound. It is almost comical that styles as different as rap and country are two different expressions of the same thing. It is then no surprise that Nelly and Tim McGraw combined the two styles in the song “Over and Over.” Collaborations like this and mainstreaming is granting country music access to many previously separate markets.
RIT is certainly going country for their concert on March 21, 2009. Perhaps the Billy Currington performance is the start of venues coming to the Rochester area that are geared towards country fans. (For more information on Billy Currington, see “Introducing Billy Currington”.) “Got my tickets the week they came out... They still say Chuck Wicks is the special guest,” exclaimed Hendel. Currently, there are over 80 RIT students confirmed to be attending the concert, all of whom are brave enough to declare themselves fans of this ever-changing, stereotyped genre.
