The country music genre has experienced a significant transformation in the past few decades. As a more music-infused society in the past years, country music was still one of the most popular music, especially being associated with traditional folklore. However, as society moves through contemporary times, there are contentious attitudes between the fans of modern and traditional country music. However, the traditional fans have always embraced country music for its low levels of electric guitar sounds and pop elements that are more common with the modern generation. As the history of country music unravels, it has impacted society in a wide variety of ways. The musicians and their messages have changed from one generation to the other while impacting the society in different ways through the incorporation of connection to societal core values. The evolution of the country music genre is associated with major changes in society in such aspects as race and racism, gender, culture, and society.
Race and Racism
Еhe country is a style that freely related to a demographic that was white, male, rural, and Southern, especially in the 1940s. In short, the demographic is most readily associated with the history of the less smooth race relations across America. However, while some of the country songs were clearly racist, it is important to explore the contribution of the genre to the society and the formation of racial attitudes. In the 1940s, American popular culture was heavily impacted by racism (Otfinoski, 2014). Country music, which was a popular genre at this time, was relatively a part of this culture. The highly politicized 1960s were also faced with the racism impacts of country music. For instance, the Red Rebels was on the extreme reactionary side of the political side of country music, with John Rebel being one of the most famous artists at the time. John Rebel’s “Looking for a Handout” and “Move them Niggers North” were some of the most popular country music songs that had a racist tune. On the contrary, it is in the same period that African-American artists such as Charley Pride composed country music, including “The Snakes Crawl at Night,” to attempt to achieve a more lenient reflection of the colored race (Otfinoski, 2014).
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Over time, country music transformed to a level in the 1970s when traditionalists and conservatives realized the impact of the new generation of artists who were encouraging more interaction between Black and White fans leading to a reduction of the cultural prejudices that used to exist. Consequently, country music artists copied the banjo from African compositions, and the history of some of America’s best legendary performers, including Hank Williams, Bill Monroe, and Maybelle Carter is based on some of the young white musicians being trained and mentored by the older Black artists (Wright, 2013). Ultimately, without the cultural mingling of Blacks and Whites in the South, the development of country music witnessed today would not be there and that it would not have been as varied and rich as it is in modern-day society.
Gender
Over the history of country music, gender has always been a factor that has influenced the direction of the development. However, there has always been a difference, especially in the number of artists participating. For instance, prior to the rise of the Dixie Chicks as country music superstars, the Carter Family’s Maybelle and Sarah Carter were popular as the first ladies in the country music genre (Russell, 2010). In the 1940s, the gap between men and women, as represented in the country music genre, was wide and clear. While men were good-hearted but had high chances of falling into the temptation of drinking, getting violent, and engaging in other complicated behaviors, women would be good-hearted, or they could get cruel. The element of gender in the country music composed in the post-war period is mainly a depiction of the way women represented themselves openly, especially on stage and in song and dance. The Carter Family usually composed traditional and spiritual music such as “Will the Circle be Unbroken” (Otfinoski, 2014). On the other hand, when the country music mentioned women, they were defined with such names as wives, lovers, or widows. As such, some traditional ideas of family and gender were still central to the music. In 1935, Patsy Montana’s song, “I Want to be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart,” it is a clear indication that the country music of this time perceived that the definition of a woman was by her relationship to a man (Tribe, 2006, p. 68).
In the 1960s and 1970s, more women made it to the country music scene, with most of them attempting to change the narrative that a woman was some form of an object to a man. The revolution was retaliatory to the perception that men in the industry had about women and referred to them as “my woman, sweetheart, angel, or girl,” which indicates that they were some form of possession. Loretta Lynn reflected the self-assuredness indicated by Patsy Cline with their country music advocating a more independent woman. Lynn’s songs, including “Don’t Come a Drinkin’ (with Lovin’ on Your Mind), gave an indication that country women should join the then sexual revolution that was being fought for in other corners within the American culture (Russell, 2010). In other quarters of the country, women were working hard to attain their independence and attain equal rights as compared to their male counterparts in society. Besides, Dolly Parton had an equal measure of determination and remained dedicated to a career where she advocated for a woman in full control of her life (Kallen, 2012). Country music genre’s pursuit for gender equality had a climax in the 1970s when the time’s queen of country music, Tammy Wynette divorced his husband and moved on to remarry another few times to indicate the independence of the woman. In modern society, however, country music female singers are far apart from the positions of prime counterparts such as the Carter Family or Tammy Wynette (Russell, 2010). They are more flawed, intelligent, openly sexual, and complex to such a level as that of their male counterparts in this industry.
Culture
Country music has played a key role in shaping the culture of American society. Its evolution has enabled it to grow into an art that is part of the American culture and has a close history with regard to becoming an idea of mainstream American society. At its beginning, commercial country music was considered nationally appreciated due to its regional target. Some of the early country music was successful and embraced across the nation because of its distinctive form (Wright, 2013). The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, for example, were unique in that the context that formed their music’s background was based on a specific identity that was perceived to be an opposition to a given culture. The country genre was a way of differentiating music from urban culture (Otfinoski, 2014). From this point of view, the label was a stylistic way of indicating a cultural and geographic difference between the rural South and the East and West urbanized cultures.
With time, popular radio shows, including Grand Ole Opry brought country music and its artists to the strategic position of the mainstream popular culture. Consequently, country music started penetrating urban metropolises such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. Such was a milestone, especially given that these cities were the main ground for the publishing of urban music since the early 19 th century (Tribe, 2006). Regardless of these challenges, country music artists made attempts to close the gap between pop and country with the hope of appealing to both audiences and become acceptable nationwide. Some of the popular artists who pursued the country style of pop were Olivia Newton-John and Kenny Rogers. Their music acted as a bridge that helped in closing the gap between the urban and country cultures that people got carried on for a long time. Furthermore, Hank Williams targeted the working-class audience in Texas with the honky-tonk style of country music. He had composed 66 songs, 37 of which made it to the top hits among the middle-class urbanized audience (Kallen, 2012). Consequently, Elvis Presley defined the rock style that revolutionized country music in 1950s. He was also able to integrate country and rock and roll. Jerry Lee Lewis sang the “Great Balls of Fire” leading to country music, making another milestone in gaining more audience across the cultures (Otfinoski, 2014). From this point of view, country music led to the integration of cultures; thus, helping to bridge the gap that used to exist between different cultures.
Across the 1990s and into modern times, popular country music has dominated most audiences across America, which has led to the development of a culture that embraces the music regardless of the territories. For instance, the 21st-century bluegrass soundtrack used in the films Raising Sand and O Brother, Where Art Thou? is an indication of this success (Kallen, 2012). Many of the country music compositions have also been capable of serving the role of assimilating new cultures into the traditional culture that highly upheld the music. Country music is today developing alongside the advancing media technologies across the nation and the globe. It has also enhanced the proliferation of more cultures to embrace the music, although it has its regional roots. Accordingly, the country music that dominates today’s society is an integrated genre that entails many cultures, with this achievement being tied to the evolving history of this music genre.
References
Kallen, S. (2012). The History of Country Music. Texas: Greenhaven Publishing LLC.
Otfinoski, S. (2014). African Americans in the Performing Arts. Hoboken: Infobase Publishing.
Russell, T. (2010). Country Music Originals: The Legends and the Lost. Cambridge: Oxford University Press.
Tribe, I. (2006). Country: A Regional Exploration. Greenwood Publishing Group.
Wright, C. (2013). Listening to Music. New York: Cengage Learning.
