American Music In The 1930's

Improved Essays
With the rise of popular stars such as Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift, many people think that country music is a new genre. The truth is that country has a long standing tradition in American music, going all the way back to the 1930's. The history of this music is important to understand if someone is curious about how it has become such an immensely popular genre today.

When country music first hit the popular music scene in the 1930's, it was in a form known as honky tonk music. The genre was typically identified by the use of steel guitars and drums that were so popular among listeners. Although Ernest Tubb and Hank Williams were the biggest stars of the day, it was Al Dexter who coined the phrase "honky tonk" and used it in one of

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    She is the queen of country music. She draws you attention by her outrageous hair, makeup, and clothes. Well, her name is Dolly Parton. Parton has just a unique personality to her. The way to describe her in a good way is extreme southern bell.…

    • 1673 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Urban Cowboy had included pop-styled country music.…

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1. What is Tin Pan Alley? Where did it originate? Why was it named ‘Tin Pan Alley’? • In the first half of the 20th century, the primary way of selling music was sheet music.…

    • 923 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Who remembers George Jones and Merle Haggard? George and Merle had their own style of music. They sang the traditional kind of music, but you don’t hear it that much these days. Country music today is going towards the pop genre and it’s not like it was in the 1970’s or even 1980’s. There’s one certain guy who has his own twists to music, his own style of the traditional era and has kept it around for as long as most people can remember.…

    • 1170 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Patrick Huber expands this line of historical thought to the other vernacular music introduced in the 1920s in sound recordings, country music, which was then referred to as hillbilly or old…

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For the last five summers, my daughter and I spend a week riding the roller coasters at Dolly Parton’s theme park, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. A large part of the park’s atmosphere is in the recreation of a turn of the century Smoky Mountain town complete with mills, churches, farm houses, blacksmith shops, and general stores. Additionally, Dollywood pipes in music to set the tone and ambience. The song most heard is always Parton’s 1970 recording of Jimmie Rodgers’ “Muleskinner Blues.”…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Before taking this course, I always listened to music that I thought may have been considered country music but never really thought about why each song I’ve chosen to listen too is considered “country”. My all time favorite country music star, is Luke Bryan and his song, “Kick the Dust Up”. It wasn’t until I entered high school, when I began to start listening to country music. Me and my friends would always listen to it as a joke and eventually became something we would listen to while getting ready to go to a country music concert, or getting ready to all sit on the couch and watch the CMA’s. My first country music concert was Luke Bryan, in 2014.…

    • 1479 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The roots of modern country music go back to post World War II America, a time of great shifts and changes in the social life of the country. For many, the casualties of war were followed by the social changes of the new era. The city (and its suburbs) became the core of America, and migration to these cities, easier credit (and the things it purchased), and the baby boom became new realities to which the culture had to adjust. It its essence, country music reflected the new concerns of its audience and the new secular order. Critics admit that it was at this time that country music began to develop, in Nashville, a critical mass artistically.…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Whether it be in the car, at the gym, at a concert, or even in an elevator, music is everywhere. People listen to music to calm down or to get pumped up; some listen to music to either make them happy or sad. Country music is one of the most popular genre of music today. Although there are several reasons to like other genres of country music, such as honky tonk and rockabilly, outlaw country music strikes a much deeper connection with its fan making it so much more popular.…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Music from the Pre-Civil war period (early 1800s) was divided into two main types: white music and black music. White music consisted of mostly classical and minstrel music. Black music was mostly religious music; however, there were also some secular black songs. Classical music was heavily influenced by European Composers, and would often be played for wealthy, white people. Minstrel music was played for common people and included blackface, where white people would pretend to be black people and try to influence people's views on slavery and convince them that it wasn't so bad and that slaves were often content.…

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Avett Brothers

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the 1930s, the earliest form of country music, hillbilly records, sprang from the Appalachian region of the United States. The hillbilly musicians were isolated from the mainstream music that was becoming popular in the United States, so they developed a sound that differed greatly. Themes of their music were inspired by folk, gospel, and family. Banjo, acoustic guitar, and fiddles appeared in many of the hillbilly songs, and the musicians typically were not full time. They would have a job, often on that involved manual labor, which they worked at before being discovered by Okeh Records or another record company that produced hillbilly records during the time…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mamie was a big encourager of what became known as “race records,” and the same label where she recorded her first blues arrangements became one of the first label companies to target the urban African American working-class individuals. Shortly after this happened bigger recording companies such as Columbia and Paramount began to seek out talent in the African American community as well. This was really a big step not only in civil rights, but also paved the way for players such as Troy Andrews to make it big on his own style…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Western Swing

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Western Swing Music From the 1930’s to the 1950’s a new genre had taken the spotlight. Consisting of country, jazz, polka, mariachi, pop, and blues, Western Swing had become very popular in the state of Texas. Known for dance music, Western Swing has continued to play an important role in Texas history. People of all cultures were influenced by this type of western music.…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Country music entertains a different audience. In todays society country music is listened to by people of different lifestyles. Country music is deeply influenced by American culture. The country western style existed before…

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    America In The 1930's Dbq

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Following World War One, the American people were sick and tired of Wilson’s moral crusade on the world and were eager to, “return to normalcy,” so when the twenties began, a new lifestyle did too, built on prohibition, having a good time, debt, and isolationism under President Harding’s administration. By 1929, the fun had come to an end when the ominous cloud of debt finally began to rain on the United States. As the Great Depression settled in with a new somber reality of life after the high Americans just experienced a decade ago, isolationist sentiment only grew stronger. By the late 1930s and very early 40s, the United States had just been lured out of the hole that it stuck its head to get involved with the rest of the world when World…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays