- About.com: Country Music – Includes album/concert reviews, contests and a comprehensive directory.
- Australian Country On-line – News and information about country music in Australia, including news, charts, awards, new releases, events, and links.
- British Country Music – News and information about UK bands, artists and events. Includes a noticeboard, e-pals section, canned radio and song clips.
- Country Music File – Album list, charts, birthdays, almanac, UK radio and television show schedule, UK tour and event dates, trivia, awards, interviews, and categorized links.
- Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum – Collection of historical costumes, memorabilia, instruments, photographs, manuscripts and other objects tell the story of country music. Includes hours, admission rates, directions and contact details. Located in Nashville, Tennessee.
- Country Music Message Board – Open forum on country music offers answers to fan questions and discussions.
- Country Music News – Dedicated to offering stories and features not offered in other trade papers and publications. Includes headlines and editorials.
- Country Music Travel – Travel agency for country music fans, offering themed vacations. Includes available packages and contact information.
- Country Update – Weekly traditional country music news page with trivia, interviews, opinions, articles, links, and Internet radio show.
- CountryNow.com – Delivers daily country music news, plus artist interviews, fan site reviews, CD previews, and concert dates.
- Countrypolitan.com – News and information regarding yesterday and today’s Countrypolitan music and singers.
- CountryStarsOnline.com – Offers an online events calendar, CD release dates and links.
- CowboyUp – Cowboy and cowgirl of the month, MP3s, message board, and chat.
- COWPIE Bunkhouse – Find country music lyrics and chords.
- Great American Country (GAC) – Network airing country music videos. Includes a playlist, news and artist biographies.
- Keepin’ It Country – Links to artists, dancing and e-zines.
- MusicAustin: Country Austin – Features country bands and artists from the Austin, Texas area. Music clips, news, and profiles.
- My Kind Of Country – Yesterday’s legends to the newest up and coming country singers and songwriters. Reviews, profiles, audio samples, videos, commentaries and news.
- Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry – (official site) Schedules, charts, performers.
- New Country – Offers audio files and related resources.
- Roughstock’s History of Country Music – Concise illustrated articles trace the style from the beginnings in Tennessee in the 1920s to the post-1990 new traditionalists.
- Takin’ the Country Back – Traditional and classic country news, CD and concert reviews, discographies, artist biographies, country music history, charts, voting, message board, radio station, and links.
- Thanks for the Music – Country music news for the country music enthusiast. Artist profiles, concert and event photos and reviews, charity and benefit event coverage, new artist and new album news.
- Women Of Country – Guide to female country music including news, reviews and related links.
- Nashville Music Directory – The NMSD is a 138 page information source book for musicians, songwriters and singers.
- Nashville Music News – For all fans of country music. Extra pages for UK. Safe for children
- The Nashville Newsletter – Cruisin music row with Jeannie J.
- New York City Country Music Scene – Showcases local tri-state talent, events, and artists including a directory and event schedule.
- Opry North – Information and CD offers for fans. Support and resources for the artists.
- PureSpunk.com – E-zine run by singer/songwriter Radney Foster and other musicians, reporting on Americana, roots, and Texas music.
- Rockzillaworld – Texas and Americana music features, reviews, and concert schedules.
- Rootsrock.com – A gathering place for insurgent alternative country rebels
- Southern Country – British magazine for country music in the UK
- Take Country Back – Traditional country music magazine
- That’s Country – Country music information
Country music, also called country and western music or country-western, is an amalgam of popular musical forms developed in the Southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, Celtic Music, Blues, Gospel music, and Old-time music.
However, country music is actually a catch-all category that embraces several different genres of music: Nashville sound (the pop-like music very popular in the 1960s); bluegrass, a fast mandolin, banjo and fiddle-based music popularized by Bill Monroe and by the Foggy Mountain Boys; Western which encompasses traditional Western ballads and Hollywood Cowboy Music, Western swing, a sophisticated dance music popularized by Bob Wills; Bakersfield sound (popularized by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard); Outlaw country; Cajun; Zydeco; gospel; oldtime (generally pre-1930 folk music); honky tonk; Appalachian; rockabilly; neotraditional country and jug band.
Each style is unique in its execution, its use of rhythms, and its chord structures, though many songs have been adapted to the different country styles. One example is the tune Milk Cow Blues, an early blues tune by Kokomo Arnold that has been performed in a wide variety of country styles by everyone from Aerosmith to Bob Wills to Willie Nelson, George Strait to Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley.
Vernon Dalhart was the first country singer to have a nationwide hit (May 1924, with «The Wreck of Old ’97») (see External Links below). Other important early recording artists were Riley Puckett, Don Richardson, Fiddling John Carson, Ernest Stoneman, Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, and The Skillet Lickers.
Some trace the origins of modern country music to two seminal influences and a remarkable coincidence. Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family are widely considered to be the founders of country music, and their songs were first captured at an historic recording session in Bristol, Tennessee on August 1, 1927, where Ralph Peer was the talent scout and sound recordist.
It is possible to categorize many country singers as being either from the Jimmie Rodgers strand or the Carter Family strand of country music.
So, how do you play this music on guitar? Check out https://beginnerguitarhq.com/country-music-guitar
