1. Austin Tinkham
Dienna/Berman
Research paper
How Has Country Music Changed Overtime?
Country music changed and adapted as culture and people’s interests changed, yet
country music is still based off of ballads, patriotism and storytelling. Country music has
drastically changed since its birth in the 1920s but the roots of modern country music remains the
same. Country music emerged on radio and records in the 1920s. Country songs were rooted off
of ballads brought to the United States from the British Isles. Country music is constantly
changing and adapting as culture changes.
When country music emerged in the 1920s it was known as the southern sound and
referred to as “Old Familiar Music” and “Hillbilly Music”. Country music artists were primarily
from the southern United States, mainly ranging from Virginia to Texas. Some even said the
“South was perceived as the land of music” (Kingsbury 17). Because it originates from the south,
southern music was believed to be black music. “The men and women who made the first
recordings came from an ethnically and racially diverse culture” (Kingsbury 17). Black fiddlers
were actually in the news media more than white musicians were at the time.
Black fiddlers have been playing this style of music for decades and white musicians
noted that. The white musicians learned how to play this style of music from the black
musicians. White musicians learned how to play various different instruments including the
fiddle and banjo. The banjo was believed to be a poor man’s instrument at the time. World War

2. One was a cause for the making of some southern songs during this time period. Country music
was also influenced by religion specifically by Christianity. Country artists sang songs about god
and faith and World War One and how the war had affected their lives and post war lives.
The “gospel sound” was when religious country music was becoming increasingly
popular. Religion had a huge impact on hillbilly music. Country music was making a rise and
record companies were beginning to recognize the potential that it had. “By 1927 all major
record companies agreed there was a healthy market for country music…” (Kingsbury 52). As it
turns out recording country music, was becoming a huge success. Barn dances emerged as a
result, and the audience and popularity of country music increased. The most famous of these
barn dances being the Grand Ole Opry, which emerged in 1927.
Soon after this huge rise in country music, record sales plummeted as the economy
collapsed around the United States due to the stock market crash. The Great Depression did,
however, have a huge impact on country music. Country songs began telling stories about the
depression and what life was like during this economic downfall. During the Great Depression,
the popularity of country music increased exponentially. “During America’s Great Depression,
farms gave out and unemployment was rampant. The record business suffered huge drop-offs in
sales. Yet in the midst of all this, the demand for hillbilly music grew, and branched out into a
dazzling variety of new sounds” (Kingsbury 71).
The Great Depression drastically changed country music as there was a huge increase in
new songs. In fact in the midst of this huge economic downfall, people were selling everything in
their homes except for their radios. Blues country emerged during the Great Depression. “Indeed
the influence of black blues and jazz became more pronounced during the depression”

3. (Kingsbury 85). Country music adapted to the Great Depression and changed to overcome the
challenge.
The song “In the fall of ‘29” tells a story about how a guy and his family lost everything
during the Great Depression. Eventually the depression got so bad and so many families were
bankrupt, the men started leaving their homes to find jobs which eventually led to the emergence
of cowboy songs. Cowboy songs were songs that “cowboys” brought with them when they left
their homes. “Many traditional cowboy songs were reworking’s of folk and popular songs from
the British Isles” (Kingsbury 100). With the help of various technologies including the radio,
phonograph, and motion picture really helped to transform cowboy songs into a popular form of
music during the Great Depression.
World War Two finally brought the Great Depression to an end and yet again another
increase in country music’s popularity. “World War II caused immense hardship at home and
abroad yet the war had a surprising effect on country music” (Kingsbury 127). Country music
was drastically changed; what country music artists sang about changed because of the effects of
World War Two. “…country music’s transformation from embarrassing poor relation to
American success story” (Kingsbury 130). Country radio’s popularity increased once again, for
the radio industry grew exponentially, launching new radio shows and further expanding already
existing ones. “Nearly 600 country programs could be heard…” (Kingsbury 131). There were a
lot of instantaneous hits following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. As the Armed Forces were sent
out to respond to this act of war and terrorism, the troops brought their country music with them,
spreading the music into countries overseas.

4. There was a period during World War Two in which many if not all country artists
stopped recording, yet the genre still continued to thrive because of the jukebox and shellac
record substitutes. Country music went from being called “Folk” to “Hillbilly” and then back to
“Folk” during World War Two. “After World War II, country music grew into a big business…”
(Kingsbury 153). Country music was becoming known as “Country and Western” and was
becoming more and more centered in Nashville, Tennessee.
From the late 1940s to the early 1950s, country music went through another change. The
style of country music that went by the name of “Honky-Tonk” was a huge hit by the 1950s. A
new technology called recording tape was introduced in which was a major change in how
people listened to country music in the postwar era. What was known as “Bluegrass” had broken
loose in the 1940s. Bluegrass revolutionized country music by creating a new country sound.
“Soon bluegrass festivals were being presented at music parks and in pastures from Georgia to
Indiana and beyond” (Kingsbury 202).
Elvis Presley emerged as a star in 1956. “Elvis changed everything in 1956. At first it
seemed as though Rock & Roll would be the death of country music, but as it turned out it paved
the way for country music to grow and develop” (Kingsbury 215). Elvis revolutionized country
music. “He sounded like nothing the Nashville pickers had ever heard” (Kingsbury 220). Elvis
started out as a country singer who was believed to be the one to boost the sale of country
records again. Elvis’s song “Heartbreak Hotel” changed country and pop music in such a way
that neither of the two would ever be the same again. The style of music that Elvis played was
nicknamed “Rockabilly,” a mix of country and rock and roll. Rock country quickly became a
huge success.

5. Chet Adkins was another person that changed the sound of country music. He went from
the steel guitar and fiddle, to the electric guitar, piano, vocal chorus, strings, and the vibraphone.
Chet Adkins revolutionized country music’s sound by placing a microphone on his bands drum
kit. By mid to late 1950s, country artists began singing about young love rather than tear and
beers. “America experienced enormous changes in the 1960s, and country music reflected the
times” (Kingsbury 244).
Country music brought all kinds of different people together with a common interest. The
outlaw movement that ended in 1978 was when country artists began to be increasingly creative
with their songwriting to compete with the record sales of other artists. “One result of the outlaw
breakthrough for mainstream country was the lines between country and rock became
increasingly harder to define” (Kingsbury 289). The freedoms that an artist had on their own
music increased greatly due to the outlaw movement.
The Nashville Sound now consisted of bluegrass, country rock, pop country and
traditional country. “As the 1970s began to wind down, a curious phenomenon spread”
(Kingsbury 294). People began dressing up as urban cowboys and record sales increased sharply.
“By 1986, country was America’s best-selling music” (Kingsbury 295). Country music had a
huge popularity boom in the 1990s. “By 1995, nearly 20 million people were listening to country
songs on the radio” (Kingsbury 329). In 2001 shortly after the attack on the World Trade Center,
several patriotic and sad storytelling songs were released. Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You
When the Word Stopped Turning” was released in October of 2001. Not long after in 2002, Toby
Keith released the song “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” a patriotic song on how America
would retaliate.

6. Country music has under drastic changes since its birth in the 1920s. The availability of
technology has contributed greatly to these changes yet country music’s roots remain the same.
Country music is based off of ballads, patriotism, and storytelling. All in all the sound of country
music has changed but lyrically it is still the same.

7. Works Cited
B. McCloud and others, Definitive Country: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Country Music and
its Performers(New York, 1995)
D. Pecknold: The Selling Sound: The Rise of the Country Music Industry (Durham, 2007), 168–
99
Jackson, Alan. where were you when the world stopped turning. youtube. N.p., 28 may 2011.
Web. 19 Mar. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPHnadJ-0hE>.
Kingsbury, Paul, and Alanna Nash. Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music in America.
London: DK, 2006. Print.
Montgomery, John Michael. Letters From Home. youtube.com. N.p., 25 June 2011. Web. 19
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Neal, Jocelyn R. "Country Music." oxford m. oxford university press, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/A2224075?q=countr
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Oermann, Robert K. A Century of Country: An Illustrated History of Country Music. New York:
TV, 1999. Print.
Richards, Tad. "Country Music." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Ed. Sara
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History in Context. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.