Do you know that country music was born in the southern United States? Do you know how country music developed?

Join us in learning more about the history of country music. Follow us and we’ll invite you to take a tour of country music —  see the people, read about the events, and listen to the music.

take a tour of country music: 了解乡村音乐

Summary

Country music (frequently referred to as just country and historically country and western) is a musical genre that originated in the southern United States in the early 1920s. It takes its roots from genres such as folk music (especially Appalachian folk music) and blues.

refer to:提及

take its roots from:根源于

Country music often consists of ballads and dance tunes with generally simple forms, folk lyric and harmonies accompanied by mostly string instruments such as banjos, electric and acoustic guitars, steel guitars (such as pedal steels and dobros), and fiddles as well as harmonicas.Blues modes have been used extensively throughout its recorded history.    

consist of:由什么组成

Be accompanied by:随…而来，伴同；伴随

According to Lindsey Starnes, the term country music gained popularity in the 1940s in preference to the earlier term hillbilly music; it came to encompass Western music, which evolved parallel to hillbilly music from similar roots, in the mid-20th century. In 2009, in the United States country music was the most listened to rush hour radio genre during the evening commute, and second most popular in the morning commute.

Encompass:围绕，包围

First generation 1920s

Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family are widely considered to be important early country musicians. Their songs were first captured at a historic recording session in Bristol, Tennessee, on August 1, 1927, where Ralph Peer was the talent scout and sound recordist. A scene in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? depicts a similar occurrence in the same timeframe. 

Rodgers fused hillbilly country, gospel, jazz, blues, pop, cowboy, and folk, and many of his best songs were his compositions, including "Blue Yodel", which sold over a million records and established Rodgers as the premier singer of early country music. Beginning in 1927, and for the next 17 years, the Carters recorded some 300 old-time ballads, traditional tunes, country songs and gospel hymns, all representative of America's southeastern folklore and heritage. 

Jimmie Rodgers, country singer, yodeler and pioneer, was country's first major star.              

Capture:俘获

A historic recording session:一次重要的录音会议

Scout:搜索，侦察 

Second generation (1930s–1940s)

Record sales declined during the Great Depression, but radio became a popular source of entertainment, and "barn dance" shows featuring country music were started by radio stations all over the South, as far north as Chicago, and as far west as California.

The most important was the Grand Ole Opry, aired starting in 1925 by WSM in Nashville and continuing to the present day. Some of the early stars on the Opry were Uncle Dave Macon, Roy Acuff and African American harmonica player DeFord Bailey. WSM's 50,000-watt signal (in 1934) could often be heard across the country Many musicians performed and recorded songs in any number of styles.

Publicity photo of Roy Rogers and Gail Davis, 1948 

Third generation (1950s–1960s) 

By the early 1950s a blend of Western swing, country boogie, and honky tonk was played by most country bands. Western music, influenced by the cowboy ballads and Tejano music rhythms of the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico, reached its peak in popularity in the late 1950s, most notably with the song "El Paso", first recorded by Marty Robbins in September 1959. The country music scene largely kept the music of the folk revival and folk rock at a distance, despite the similarity in instrumentation and origins. During the mid-1950s a new style of country music became popular, eventually to be referred to as rockabilly.

Fourth generation 1970s-1980s

Coutry pop

Country pop or soft pop, with roots in the countrywoman sound, folk music, and soft rock, is a subgenre that first emerged in the 1970s. Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to adult contemporary music. It started with pop music singers like Glen Campbell, Bobbie Gentry, John Denver, Olivia Newton-John, Anne Murray, B. J. Thomas, The Bellamy Brothers, and Linda Ronstadt having hits on the country charts.

Subgenre：亚种；亚美

John Denver in 1975

Country rock

Country rock is a genre that started in the 1960s but became prominent in the 1970s. The late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as a result of traditionalist backlash(抵制) within separate genres. In the aftermath of the British Invasion, many desired a return to the "old values" of rock n' roll. At the same time there was a lack of enthusiasm in the country sector for Nashville-produced music.  
Genre: 类型，种类
prominent：著名的

A reunited Eagles in 2008

Fifth generation 1990s

Alt country and cowpunk

The musical combination of punk, alternative rock and country was pioneered by the "cowpunk" scene in Southern California during the 1980s, which included bands such as The Long Ryders, Lone Justice and The Beat Farmers, as well as the established punk group X, whose music had begun to include country and rockabilly influences.

In 2010, the group Lady Antebellum won five Grammys, including the coveted Song of the Year and Record of the Year for "Need You Now, a UK number 15 hit on the mainstream singles chart, a rarity for a country song these days ".

Punk:庞克（一种摇滚乐，自70年代末期起流行，是对传统的反叛）

Pioneer:开拓，开发

Hit：风行一时的事物〔如电影、戏剧、歌曲等〕

Singles chart:单曲排行榜

A rarity for:...的瑰宝

Sixth generation (2000s–present)

The sixth generation of the country continued the crossover between country and pop music. Richard Marx crossed 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. Kid Rock's collaboration with Sheryl Crow, "Picture," was a major crossover hit in 2001 and began Kid Rock's transition from hard rock to a country-rock hybrid that would later produce another major crossover hit, 2008's "All Summer Long." 

Carrie Underwood at the 2009 American Music Awards

In 2005, country singer Carrie Underwood rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol and has since become one of the most prominent recording artists of 2006 through 2016, with worldwide sales of more than 65 million records and seven Grammy Awards.

One of the most commercially successful country artists of the late 2000s and early 2010s has been singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Swift first became widely known in 2006 when her debut single, "Tim McGraw," was released when Swift was only 16.

Debut:初次露面，初次表演，首次出场，处女秀

Taylor Swift at the Time 100

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