|
|
|
|
|
Country music (Country Mashups),(or country and Western) is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. It has roots in traditional folk music, Celtic music, gospel music, and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s.(Country Mashups)
The term country music (Country Mashups) began to be used in the 1940s when the earlier term hillbilly music was deemed to be degrading, and the term was widely embraced in the 1970s, while country (Country Mashups) and Western has declined in use since that time, except in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where it is still commonly used.
In the Southwestern United States a different mix of ethnic groups created the music that became the Western music of the term country (Country Mashups)and Western. The term "country music"(Country Mashups) is used today to describe many styles and subgenres.
Country music (Country Mashups)has produced two of the top selling solo artists of all time. Elvis Presley, who was known early on as the Hillbilly Cat and was a regular on the radio program Louisiana Hayride, went on to become a defining figure in the emergence of rock and roll. Contemporary musician Garth Brooks, with 128 million albums sold, is the top-selling solo artist in U.S. history.
While album sales of most musical genres have declined, country music (Country Mashups) experienced one of its best years in 2006, when, during the first six months, U.S. sales of country (Country Mashups) albums increased by 17.7 percent to 36 million. Moreover, country music (Country Mashups) listening nationwide has remained steady for almost a decade, reaching 77.3 million adults every week, according to the radio-ratings agency Arbitron, Inc.
Immigrants to the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North America brought the music and instruments of the Old World along with them for nearly 300 years. The Irish fiddle, the German derived dulcimer, the Italian mandolin, the Spanish guitar, and the African banjo[6] were the most common musical instruments. The interactions among musicians from different ethnic groups produced music unique to this region of North America. Appalachian string bands of the early twentieth century primarliy consisted of the fiddle, guitar, and banjo. This early country music (Country Mashups) along with early recorded country music (Country Mashups) is often referred to as old-time music.
|
|
|
(0)
