Country Music Rocks Through The Years

Sept. 11, 2012 - PRLog -- Country music is genre of American popular music that originated in the rural regions of the Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from southeastern American folk music, Western cowboy. Blues mode has been used extensively throughout its recorded history. Country music often consists of ballads and dance tunes with generally simple forms and harmonies accompanied by mostly string instruments such as banjoes, electric and acoustic guitars, fiddles, and harmonicas.

The term country music gained popularity in the 1940s in preference to the earlier term hillbilly music; it came to encompass Western music, which evolved parallel to hillbilly music from similar roots, in the mid-20th century. The term country music is used today to describe many styles and subgenres.

The late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as a result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres. In the aftermath of the British Invasion, many desired a return to the "old values" of rock n' roll. At the same time there was a lack of enthusiasm in the country sector for Nashville-produced music. What resulted was a crossbred genre known as country rock.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Country Music went through many variations: Outlaw country, Pop country, Neocountry, Truck driving country, and Neotraditionalist country music.

In the 1990s, country music became a worldwide phenomenon thanks to Billy Ray Cyrus and Garth Brooks. The latter enjoyed one of the most successful careers in popular music history, breaking records for both sales and concert attendance throughout the decade. In the early-mid 1990s, country western music was influenced by the popularity of line dancing.

In the 2000s, several rock and pop stars ventured into country music. In 2005, country singer Carrie Underwood rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol and became a multi-platinum selling recording artist and multiple Grammy Award winner. In 2009 country music was the most listened to rush hour radio genre during the evening commute, and second most popular in the morning commute in the United States.

A large number of duos and vocal groups have begun to emerge on the charts in the 2010s, many of which feature close harmony in the lead vocals.

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