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The culture of the south
The culture of the south
Southern american culture essay
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After over three decades of broadcasting from the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville, the Grand Ole Opry, a live country radio program, moved about nine miles out of the city to Opryland U.S.A. A few months following the move, hostess Carolyn Holloran said “Country music is wherever the soul of a Country music fan is!”1 This quote was spoken in reference to the relocation of the Grand Ole Opry. Nevertheless, it can transcend this context to further describe the genre of Country music. From its roots in the Appalachians, to its commercialization and crossovers, Country music has come to represent the culture of the Southern United States. Through this music people have formed a collective identity which respects the past and hails the future. It is a genre that has grown and changed with its people. In the 1940’s, top songs included Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!” by Tex Williams, and Hank Williams’ “Lovesick Blues.”2 These songs share similarities with today’s hot country songs, such as Luke Bryan’s “Drink a Beer,” “Carolina” by Parmalee, and Cassadee Pope’s “Wasting All These Tears.”3 We find we can draw common themes over the seven decades of music, such as leisure activities, southern states, and heartbreak. Further research conducted by Kakde, Ghanekar, and Sindhu of Kavi Associates to test their text reader program was performed using Billboard’s top 20 Country songs from the years 1985 to 2010. Their findings confirmed the themes of heartbreak and country life as well as identifying others such as family, religion, and memories. In an analysis of the frequency of these themes, country life was sung about most often, followed by heartbreak and family. The states most often sung about include Texas, Alabama and Tennessee; with many other southern states maintaining multiple lyrical mentions of their own.4 This data confirms
Times have changed, and along with the times so has country music. American country music lovers have went from Loretta Lynn and Waylon Jennings, just two of the many classic oldies, to Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan, two very appealing country music artists. However, it is not only the tune of the music that has changed, it is the image, the appeal, and overall the type of icons the media is portraying these modern music stars as. Icons such as Lynn and Jennings had identifiable features within their music as well as their appearance that spoke sweet southern belle and rugged twang. Whereas Underwood’s and Bryan’s appeal now is much more sexualized than it was during the oldies. These changes affect the way modern day singers are marketed compared to former country music stars, instead of focusing on talent it is now looks.
For almost 90 years, The Grand Ole Opry has withstood the test of time to become one of the tried and true traditions in country music. From the show's humble beginnings as an obscure radio program, to it's renowned place today as one of the premiere stages for music, The Grand Ole Opry has had an extremely colorful and interesting existence. Over the 88 years that have passed since the show's inception, The Grand Ole Opry has featured many talented performers. Those performers, along with social changes and economics, have all contributed to the growth and success of The Grand Ole Opry.
At the end of the day, racism and prejudice will always exist in some form for whatever reason is most convenient. Additionally, it’s not as if fans of country music are all raging bigots who dream of segregation and a return to slavery-driven southern values. After all, there are plenty of ‘southern pride’ songs that don’t feature race, nativism, and are beloved by most without an ulterior message that is appreciated by Stormfront. After all, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama features anti-segregation lyrics. Charlie Daniels Band wrote and performed The Devil Went Down to Georgia, lyrically referencing the south as far as Georgia by name alone. Yet both of these are hailed as quintessentially southern pride songs, meaning that southern pride isn’t the same as white pride. The reason the comparison matters, then, is because there is a significant overlap between the two. It is certainly possible to enjoy country music without wishing for a return to Aryan values, and the majority of country music doesn’t advocate it. But enough popular songs feature nativism as a theme to the point that it shouldn’t be ignored. There is a tangible connection between Southern Pride and nativism through music, and a definite connection between nativism and the White Pride movement. Music connects people and spreads ideas; culturally relevant music tends to stay around for a lifetime. Music has power, and the power of hate music is not one that should be
Werner, Craig Hansen. 2006. A change is gonna come: music, race & the soul of America. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Country music is one of the most popular genres of music throughout America. There are many influential figures that have changed the way country music sounds, and how people interpret it. Two important people who have made a huge impact on country music overtime are Johnny Cash and Luke Bryan. From their early life, their career, and how society views them, they have opened the minds of people and country musicians all over the country. Johnny Cash’s songs help people to experience his life growing up through the Great Depression and how people lived back then. Through Luke Bryan’s songs people could understand what life was like for Luke growing up in Georgia and all the hardships he faced. Johnny Cash and Luke Bryan are two of the many country singers that have influenced country fans to be more optimistic and hopeful.
Country music, as we know it today, was first called “Hillbilly music”. The name “Country” was not widely used until around the 1950s. The creation of this Hillbilly music, very much like American culture, was influenced from many different cultures and styles of music.
1) I believe that my theoretical curves don’t really match like figure 4 but then again it somewhat does. My immigration curve and extinction curve do hit each other once, but not like in figure 4 where they hit each other twice. Also my extinction curve is going up like in figure 4 and my immigration curve is going down just like in figure 4. So I guess you could say that my curves represent the curves on figure 4.
For many Americans, country isn’t just a type of music. It’s a lifestyle. From sippin’ sweet tea on the porch, drinking beer at a tailgate or driving a pick up down the backroads, country music has made its way into the hearts and minds of many Americans. It is one of the only truly home grown American art forms. Its relatability and wide appeal has made country music one of the most commercially successful and popular genres in the United States. Using the work of scholars Tichi, Pecknold, and Ellison, I will show how country music grew from its rural southern roots into an integral part of American culture.
Tichi, Cecilia. High lonesome: the American culture of country music. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. 1994. Print.
The influences of long ago have come and gone from the radio air waves, but the extreme driving force of the country music industry, WSM Radio and the Grand Ole Opry turned a small town into a big city, nicknamed "Music City". Today, seventy-five plus years later, the Opry still broadcasts to listeners on the same radio station.
Hope you had a great week, I enjoyed reading your post and agree that we as individuals need to have accountably for our own health and well-being, in particular, making healthier choices. Below you will find my response to this week’s post.
Roy, W. (2010). Reds, whites, and blues social movements, folk music, and race in the United States. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
“Cash’s music stood for simple values: dignity, compassion for working people and the conviction that music has the power to make our world a better place.” Though Johnny Cash had his demons throughout his life, he lived with a purpose to uplift the spirits of people who listened to his music. With the help of his raw gospel sound and tenacity, he ultimately became a game changer for the history of country music. Some specific setbacks and experiences of Johnny Cash’s life such as his childhood through his time in the Air Force, his drug addiction, his Christian faith, his spousal relationships, and his outlaw image have influenced the painful and sense of hardship messages that resonate in the songs he performed.
In closing, the undoubtable influence of music, more specifically of Rock ‘n’ Roll on American society is responsible for a number of changes to the status quo. These range from sexual liberation and racial desegregation all culminating with other influences to create an intergenerational identity. Despite the desperate attempts of older generations to smother these influences, these changes ultimately shaped the years that followed, molding the country into what it is today. Along the way these changes as well as individual involvement in them has also eased the lives of many through empowerment and a feeling of community and purpose. Despite a lull and renewal Rock ‘n’ Roll continues to serve as an agent of influence and change in today’s youth culture and continues to burn in the heart of past generations of loyal fans.
Prior to this class I never thought about how the music industry was shaped and transformed through cultural change. The industry in the 1920s had many divisions and popular genres (Fry, 2015). Yet, although it may not have been considered culturally acceptable, children and adults of all genders, ages, ethnicities, and races found a way to listen to all types of music (Roy, 266). Different artists helped influence and pave the way for innovation of new music and to cross-racial lines. The music industry was shaped through racial categories with the recording industry that started the Race label in 1922 that eventually evolved to hillbilly music and now into country and western (Fry, 2015). The first country song was on the Minstrel stage