Originating in Bristol, Tennessee, country music has become a very popular music genre. Country became commercial in the 1920’s and has made its way to being one of the most listened to music genres of today. It was earlier known as ‘old time’ music and was played on instruments such as the acoustic guitar, mandolin, autoharp, fiddle, and banjo. This ‘old time’ music was developed in the southeast and was a mix of folk music from the British Isles, gospel music, and African American blues.

 Alongside the popularity of ‘old time’ music, there was also Western music. This style of music was mostly about lovesick cowboys and gun-fighting outlaws. This music became popular in the 1930’s when singing cowboys began to appear in Hollywood cowboy movies. Replacing the old hillbilly image of ‘old time’ music, Nashville decided to go with the cowboy image for country music. Therefore, they renamed the genre “Country and Western Music” and Nashville became the nation’s country music capital.

  Other country genres include alternative country, bluegrass, contemporary country, country gospel, honky tonk, traditional bluegrass, country rock, and mainstream country. The most popular out of the bunch is mainstream country. This style of music is still country, just with less banjo.

Country music soon enough began to spread over the country. With Bill Monroe introducing bluegrass in the 40’s, others began to follow and up came female personages Dolly Parton and Patsy Cline in the 60’s.  Mainstream country music singers like Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, and Tim McGraw have made themselves very well known in the country music industry. Releasing her debut album Kerosene in 2005, Miranda Lambert definitely made a name for herself in an industry full of men running the scene. She has won 49 awards and been nominated 102 times for several different awards. The Country Music Hall of Fame currently contains 128 member and was originated in 1961. In the beginning of it all, country lyrics were raw and filled with large mix of joyous and heavy pain. Now the lyrics are innocent, inspirational, and authentic. Country music is one of America’s oldest pastimes, and it still lives on.