Music / Styles A–Z / American roots · 04 of 35
Country
Country grew from the folk music settlers carried into the southern Appalachians, mixed with blues, old-time music and Southern gospel. Listen for ballads and dance tunes on fiddle, banjo and guitar.
- Where and when
- United States, recorded from 1922
- Tempo
- Not fixed
- Played on
- Fiddle, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, acoustic, electric and steel guitar
- Lesson
- American roots →
What it is
Country grew from the folk music settlers carried into the southern Appalachians, mixed with blues, old-time music and Southern gospel. It is known for ballads and dance tunes on banjo, mandolin, fiddle, harmonica and many kinds of guitar: acoustic, electric, steel and resonator.
For the producer. The steel guitar has been in country since 1922, learned from Hawaiian players, and Bob Wills was among the first to add an electric guitar to his band, in 1938. A country mix is built around the vocal and the story; the instruments answer the singer between lines.
The records that made it
From the lesson American roots, where the sources are listed · links open a search
- 1922Arkansas TravelerHenry Gilliland and Eck Robertson · Among the first commercial recordings of country instrumentals.
- 1922Turkey in the StrawHenry Gilliland and Eck Robertson · Recorded for Victor on 30 June 1922.
- 1923Little Log Cabin in the LaneFiddlin' John Carson · Widely taken as the first country song with vocals.
- 1990No DepressionUncle Tupelo · Credited as the first alt-country album.
Country in this month’s records
New releases the press we read wrote about, tagged country on MusicBrainz · updated with every build