Western Music (North America)
Western music originated as a form of American folk music. It was originally composed by and about the people who settled and worked throughout the Western United States and Western Canada. Directly related musically to old English, Scottish, and Irish folk ballads, Western music celebrates the life of the cowboy on the open ranges and prairies of Western North America. The Mexican music of the American Southwest also influenced the development of this genre. Western music shared similar roots with Appalachian folk music ("hillbilly music"), which developed in Appalachia separately from, but parallel to, the Western music genre. The music industry of the mid-20th century lumped the two together under the banner of "country and western music," later amalgamating into modern country music.
Read more about Western Music (North America): Origins, Mainstream Popularity, Decline in Popularity, Rediscovery, List of Western Songs, List of Western Singers
Famous quotes containing the words western and/or music:
“Practically everyone now bemoans Western man’s sense of alienation, lack of community, and inability to find ways of organizing society for human ends. We have reached the end of the road that is built on the set of traits held out for male identity—advance at any cost, pay any price, drive out all competitors, and kill them if necessary.”
—Jean Baker Miller (20th century)
“The manner in which Americans “consume” music has a lot to do with leaving it on their coffee tables, or using it as wallpaper for their lifestyles, like the score of a movie—it’s consumed that way without any regard for how and why it’s made.”
—Frank Zappa (1940–1994)