George Strait: A Genre Analysis

What is the message that an artist is trying to send when they write or sing a country song? Though some country songs seem to be filled with lyrics about girls, alcohol, and trucks, many deliver words that suggest a more free and truthful way of life. Although songs of all genres can be pointless and dumb, many artists portray their transcendentalist thoughts through their music. Ideas such as self-reliance, importance of nature, and nonconformity have unceasingly continued to appear in the lyrics of many Country songs and can be identified in hits including “Wide Open Spaces” by Dixie Chicks, “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack, and “Real Live Woman” by Trisha Yearwood.

During the time period of the 1920’s, Hillbilly music was only produced and sang by white Americans. The country music of our society today does not follow the ideology that country music can only be made by white Americans. Country music artists of multiple ethnicities can be found in our society today. Darius Rucker is an African American country artist who is quite popular on the billboard charts today. This is in deep contrast to the hillbilly music decade when no African-Americans were making hillbilly records.

Alphonse de Lamartine, French writer and politician, once said, “Music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends” (“Quotes About Power Of Music”). What is one of your favorite songs? Does this song have any special meaning for you? Music can be motivational, relaxing, exciting, or even frightening. Sometimes choosing a specific song as your favorite can be challenging, but there is usually one that you really like because the lyrics are relatable to you, maybe it describes your mood, or it may just be really catchy. Music also evolves and changes as time elapses; consequently, different generations identify with songs from various genres that are prominent during their lifetime.

Born May 18, 1952 in a small Texas town called Poteet, George Strait began his life as a small town boy and worked up to be a Country Music Legend. Raised by a single father in the small Texas town, George was taught to ride horses and how to rope, like many country folk do, but late in life learned to play, write, and sing music. (Carlin)

In today`s culture, there are stereotypes in every setting, especially music. Stereotypes are ideas or images of something of what it is supposed to be depending the current culture. Music is everywhere and some people believe that the music we listen to, define who we are. This could be true but it is also unfair to assume we know somebody based on the music they are associated with. You can stereotype music based on a song or a whole genre. Stereotypes in every context are bad, but in music you can generalize listeners based on the type of music they listen to which is unfair to the artist and the audience.

"I’ve always been a writer. My songs are the door to every dream I’ve ever had and every success I’ve ever achieved,” says Dolly Parton. Over the years, Dolly Parton has created an amazing image of being a renowned superstar. She has contributed to countless milestones in entertainment world of country music. Spanning from her classical songs such a “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” and her mega-hit “I Will Always Love You” (Dolly). Parton seamlessly defined country music with pop music, while maintaining her image as a country star. Parton exclaimed, “I’m not leaving country,” she said at the time, “I’m just taking it with me”

In this paper I will be discussing “American Idiot” by Green Day as a protest song. A protest song, “is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs or songs connected to current events” (Google, 2015). People who feel strongly towards a certain political view within society create protest songs, and this is the only way they know how to express their opinions. Protest songs can come in many different musical genres such as folk and rock music. I decided to write my paper on American Idiot because I was able to live through it and fully get a grasp on what was happening within society to make people feel the way they did during this time. The song American Idiot is in the

Alabama had lots of interesting player through the years.Owens very popular with the audience as he charms them and also tells them jokes. The Audience still loves him the same as 30 years ago when Alabama started. Randy Owen is the main voice of Alabama. (Freeland, 2004) When he goes on stage he dazzles lots of fans and they cheer this country guy. Randy Owen also does solo performances. Randy Scott as a drummer that used to play in clubs (Pareles,Romanowski,1983). Randy Owen is also the main voice of Alabama. (Gormly,2009) Alabama has a history in the country music industry.

Although he had experience standing on stage and performing in front of crowds of maybe fifty people in college, Brooks had no idea what would come when he dropped his first single, “Much Too Young (to Feel this Damn Old),” in 1989. By 1990, Garth was bigger than imagination! His single, “The Dance,” received best song and best video from ACM and CMA, and his very first award in 1990 was the President Horizon Award from CMA. The biggest accomplishment was winning not only one but two Entertainer of the Year for the CMA and ACM Awards. This has never been done in the history of country music until now. In September of 1991, he released his third album, Ropin’ the Wind. This album made history for Brooks because it was the first country album to debut at number one on the Billboard all-genre Top 200 chart. Not only did he make history with his third album, but he also won his first Grammy and repeated as Entertainer of the Year at both ACM and CMA Awards. All together, his first three albums contributed to selling 30 million copies (“Garth Brooks”). The biggest accomplishment that Garth Brooks’s has ever received was on October 6, 1990, when he was inducted into the family of the Grand Ole Opry. Brooks was the 65th member of the Opry (“25 Little-Known Tidbits”). In 2012, Garth was brought to tears as he joined the Country Music Hall of Fame with his hero, George Strait, who had welcomed him to the family

Number Ten: Buck Owens. With a catalogue including 21 number one hits to his credit, Buck Owens is an icon. He helped defined the Bakersfield sound as a legitimate style in country music and influenced countless artists to follow in his footsteps. Originally a fiddle player, Owens' would travel as a truck driver and sit in on recording sessions at Capital Records with the likes of Gene Vincent, Wanda Jackson and Del Reeves. His early recording was a rockabilly Hot Dog which he used the pseudo name Corky Jones to not interfere with his country career. 1958 would prove to be a pivotal year for Owens as

Deford Bailey was a musical genius who became prominent in the blues and country music in the early 1900s, overcoming racial discrimination. He became a rock star at playing several instruments including Harp and harmonica. He was one of the originators of Grand Ole Opry musical concert in Nashville where he became the most important member of the concert. He had unique music talents allowing him to participate any genre of music and play any instruments that he would touch. Wolfe stressed in his book, Black Start in Early Country Music, that “They also knew that he was the most influential harmonica player in blues and country music, that he was the most popular figures in the first fifteen years of America’s longest running show, Grand Ole Opry”( Wolfe 2). As you can imagine, Bailey devoted his

Neither fan base accepted the change, and the project even hurt him in his country music discourse. Jensen writes that “To "go pop" is to abandon and betray country music” and “to "crossover" into pop music was to perform, record, and promote country music in a way that would appeal to a larger audience and, thereby, increase radio air play and record sales.” However, great success generally leads fans to believe that an artist has “abandoned” country music (Jensen). Therefore, Garth Brooks was described as “crassly commercial” (MacLachlan). And unfortunately for Garth, rock fans also valued authenticity in their artists, meaning that they did not accept Chris Gaines either because they saw him as Garth Brooks attempting to go outside his

1. The type of genre this is is a ballad because it narrates the story in a poem.

True bluegrass music cannot be truly described without including the Appalachian influence on the genre. The Appalachian Mountains, the oldest mountain chain in North America, is rich with customs that have been passed down from generation to generation. Their music is just one of these traditions that reaches back across the generations. This music was generally about everyday life in on the farm or in the mountains in the new land sang by the immigrants for these reasons Bluegrass was often referred to as “country music” or “mountain

In a recent article by CNN, pop artist Bruno Mars was found accused of “cultural appropriation,” by critics of his new album, “24k Magic.” The Cambridge Dictionary defines “cultural appropriation” as “the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture." Writer and activist, Seren Sensei posits that Mars’ “takes pre-existing work and he just completely, word-for-word recreates it, extrapolates it," she added. "He does not create it, he does not improve upon it, he does not make it better.” The singer is known for combining different genres such as hip-hop, soul, R&B, and others rooted in traditionally African-American culture. While some saw his new album