 Country
Music
The term Country Music began to be used in the 1940s when
the earlier term of hillbilly music was deemed to be degrading.
Elvis Presley was known as "The Hillbilly Cat" and was a
regular on the radio program Louisiana Hayride, but is better
known as a defining figure in the then emerging music style of
rock 'n roll. The term Country Music was more widely embraced
in the 1970s.
The roots of Country Music are defined by its locations and
then by its artists but the heart of Country Music is it's
themes. Rejecting or never knowing the "cultured" music of the
upper classes, Country Music belongs to the farmers and the
people in the wide landscaped country areas, not to city
folk.
These people who worked the land and led hard lives at the
mercy of weather and outlaws, governments and lawyers wrote
songs about love, their animals, their children, about simple
pleasures and devastating losses, about wind and sun and places
with few people.
Country people wrote songs to dance to and songs to
sing sadly and quietly in the evenings. They wrote about
what it's like to be poor, to gamble, to work for next to
nothing and to be picked on. And one consistent theme in
country music is that of proud and stubborn independence.
"Country Boy Can Survive" and "Copperhead Road" are two of the
more serious songs along those lines; while "Some Girls Do" and
"Redneck Woman" are more light-hearted variations on the
theme.
In recent years, several rock and pop stars have recorded
non typical country music. In 2000, Richard Marx made a brief
cross-over with his Days In Avalon album, which features five
country songs and several singers and musicians.
Alison Krauss sang background vocals to Marx's single
Straight From My Heart. Also, Bon Jovi had a hit single, Who
Says You Can't Go Home, with Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland.
Other rock stars who featured a county song on their albums
were Don Henley and Poison.
Outside of the US, Canada has the largest country music fan
and artist base. Some notable Canadian country artists
include: Shania Twain, Adam Gregory, Blue Rodeo, Hank Snow,
Paul Brandt, Lisa Brokop, Wilf Carter, Michelle Wright, The
Wilkinsons, Emerson Drive, Stompin' Tom Connors, The Road
Hammers, Corb Lund, Charlie Major, Doc Walker, George Canyon,
Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Brad Johner, Jessie Farrell, Jason
Blaine, Crystal Shawanda, Johnny Reid, Aaron Pritchett, Tara
Oram and Anne Murray.
Country Music in Australia
Focusing its feel on lyrics, Country music in Australia has
always been popular, and they have developed their own unique
style of it. Prime examples of Country Music artists in
Australia are Lee Kernaghan, Slim Dusty, Keith Urban and Adam
Brand.
Given the rural nature of the country with its wide open
spaces in the outback, Australians adopted and adapted
the Country Music genre more than most other
countries. Starting in the 1800s with many a bush
balladeer writing songs with their tales of the bush, as
well as songs of protest against the tyranny of the
government.
In the 1940s the legendary Slim Dusty embarked on a country
music career that spanned over fifty years and he released over
100 albums. Smoky Dawson was also a country music pioneer in
Australia, modelling himself very much in the traditional
cowboy style, even starring in his own comic books and radio
serials.
In more recent years, names like Keith Urban, Sherrie
Austin, Lee Kernaghan, Adam Harvey, Brendon Walmsley, Tania
Kernaghan, Beccy Cole, Adam Brand, The Fictitious Smurf, Gina
Jeffreys, Dan Brodie & the Broken Arrows, James Blundell,
Graeme Conners, Troy Cassar Daley, Captain Flange and Kasey
Chambers have been keeping the tradition of country music
alive.
New names in the industry, include Catherine Britt, The
McClymonts, Jonah's Road, Jenny Queen, Morgan Evans, Aleyce
Simmonds, Jedd Hughes, Amber Lawrence, Luke O'Shea &
Medicine Wheel, Sinead Burgess, Matt Scullion, Shea Fisher, The
Flood, Kristy Cox, Travis Collins, Carter & Carter, Talia
Whitman and "Captain Goodtimes" Steve Forde.
Country HQ showcases new talent on the rise in the country
music scene downunder. Grabine State Park in New South Wales
promotes Australian country music through the Grabine Music
Muster Festival. Australia has one leading 24 hour music
channel dedicated to Non-Stop country music in Australia. CMC
(the Country Music Channel) can be viewed on Foxtel and Austar
and features once a year the Golden Guitar Awards, CMAs and
CCMAs.
The Future
While CD sales of many musical styles have declined, country
music continues to thrive. Country music experienced one of its
best years in 2006, when, during the first six months of the
year, U.S. sales of country albums increased by 17.7 percent to
36 million. Moreover, country music listening nationwide has
remained steady for almost a decade, reaching 77.3 million
adults every week according to the radio-ratings agency
Arbitron Inc.
History of Country Music
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