Poster from the Western Music Association.

Western Music, directly related to the old English, Scottish, and Irish folk ballads, was originally composed by and about the people settling and working in the American West and western Canada. Mexican music, especially in the American Southwest, also somewhat influenced its development. Country music had similar origins but developed in the Appalachians to suit the people of that region. Image File history File links Western_Music_Association_poster. ... Image File history File links Western_Music_Association_poster. ... A ballad is a story, usually a narrative or poem, in a song. ... The Western United States, also referred to as the American West or simply The West, traditionally refers to the region constituting the westernmost states of the United States (see geographical terminology section for further discussion of these terms). ... The Canadian prairies is a vast area of flat sedimentary land that stretches from Ontario and the Canadian Shield to the Canadian Rockies covering much of the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta - the Prairie Provinces. ... Mariachi music is the most well-known regional music of Mexico. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... The Appalachian Mountains are a system of North American mountains running from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada to Alabama in the United States, although the northernmost mainland portion ends at the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec. ...

Western Music can also be characterized as music from 1960's movies called Spaghetti Westerns such as those with Clint Eastwood. The characteristic of this music is Native American whistles accompanied by clashes and bangs of percussion instruments during intense moments of the movie. Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around the world. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Clinton Eastwood, Jr. ... A whistle is a one-note woodwind instrument which produces sound from a stream of forced air. ... Percussion instruments are played by being struck, shaken, rubbed or scraped. ...

An account of Western Music

Western music was first brought to national attention by John Lomax in his 1910 publication, Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads. With the advent of radio and recording devices the music found an audience previously ignored by music schools and Tin Pan Alley. Many Westerners preferred familiar music about themselves and their environments. John Avery Lomax (September 23, 1867 - January 26, 1948) was a pioneering musicologist and folklorist. ... A music school or conservatoire (British English) — also known as a conservatory (American English) or a conservatorium (Australian English) — is an institution dedicated to teaching the art of music, including the playing of musical instruments, musical composition, musicianship, music history, and music theory. ... Tin Pan Alley was the name given to the collection of New York City-centered music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. ...

With the romanticization of the cowboy in the following decades, the music attracted a much greater audience. Hollywood and New York City began composing fully orchestrated four-part harmonies for their motion pictures and recordings, something far from its folk roots but still Western. In its heyday, the 1930s and 1940s, the most popular recordings and musical radio shows such as the National Barn Dance of the era were of Western music. Western swing also developed during this era. ... Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1613 Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City 1,214. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as... The National Barn Dance was a former country music radio program broadcast in the early period of radio over the facilities of WLS in Chicago, Illinois. ... Western swing, also known as Country Swing, is dance music with an up-tempo beat and a decidedly Southwestern US regional flavor. ...

By the 1960s, Western music was in decline. Relegated to the Country and Western genre by the marketing agencies, popular Western recording stars released albums to only moderate success. Rock and Roll dominated music sales and the Hollywood recording studios dropped most of their Western artists. Caught unawares by the boom in Country and Western sales from Nashville that followed, Hollywood rushed to cash in. In the process, Country and Western music lost its regionalism and most of its style. Except for the label, much of the music was indistinguishable from Rock and Roll or Popular. Some Western music traditionalists resent the blurring of "Western" in a Country and Western category that no longer represents them, but the name is too well ingrained to be changed. Country music, once known as Country and Western music, is a popular musical form developed in the southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, spirituals, and the blues. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... For other cities named Nashville, see Nashville (disambiguation). ...

Still, many Westerners prefer music about themselves, their culture, and the land around them. Older music is still available at retail stores in major population centers, through mail-order, or by the internet. New Western music is constantly written and recorded, and performed all across the American West and western Canada.

Traditional Western Music used the voice, and the guitar, with other instruments as to the musician's taste, with one major exception: Percussion and percussive sounds were missing from most if not all performances. This article links to a very traditional version of Home on the Range that is done in traditional Western music style. Modern Western Music pays more heed to time signatures, emphasis and beat. Much western music with a percussive flavor is Western Swing, and not traditional Western. Many traditional performers tried to create the image of a working cowboy, and therefore avoided instruments that could not be carried on a horse. Today this has been diluted significantly, and even Riders in the Sky have a bunkhouse bass which carries some of the rhythm on their Western Swing numbers. Western swing, also known as Country Swing, is dance music with an up-tempo beat and a decidedly Southwestern US regional flavor. ... Riders in the Sky is a Western music and comedy group which began performing 1977. ... Side and front views of a modern double bass with a French bow. ... Western swing, also known as Country Swing, is dance music with an up-tempo beat and a decidedly Southwestern US regional flavor. ...

In recent years, Riders in the Sky have actively recorded a mix of Western and Western Swing and have won Grammy Awards for their work with Disney on Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc. Riders in the Sky is a Western music and comedy group which began performing 1977. ... Western swing, also known as Country Swing, is dance music with an up-tempo beat and a decidedly Southwestern US regional flavor. ... Grammy Award statuette The Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music... The Walt Disney Company (more commonly known as Disney; NYSE: DIS) is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. ... Toy Story 2 is a CGI animation film and the sequel to Toy Story, and the third Disney/Pixar feature film, which featured the adventures of a group of toys that come to life when humans are not around to see them. ... Monsters, Inc. ...

Western Music

Traditional ballads include; Home on the Range, Sweet Betsy from Pike, Ceilito Lindo, Red River Valley, and Streets of Laredo. Home on the Range is the state song of Kansas. ... Streets of Laredo (Roud 2), also known as the Cowboys Lament, is a famous cowboy ballad in which a dying cowboy dispenses his advice to a living one. ...

Songs during the height of popularity include; Cool Water, Cattle Call, Tumbling Tumbleweeds, Carry Me Back to the Lone Prairie, Happy Trails, and Back in the Saddle Again. Cool Water was a famous song written in 1941 by the equally famous Bob Nolan. ... The song Tumbling Tumbleweeds was composed by Bob Nolan, one of the founding (albeit reluctant) members of the Sons of the Pioneers. ... Happy Trails by Dale Evans Rogers Theme song for 1950s tv show staring Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Rogers. ...

List of singers

Artists include:

• Rex Allen
• Gene Autry
• Rick Devin
• Girls of the Golden West
• Patsy Montana
• Bob Nolan
• Riders in the Sky
• Tex Ritter
• Marty Robbins
• Roy Rogers
• Sons of the Pioneers
• John I. White

Riders in the Sky are actively recording a mix of Western and Western Swing and have won Grammy Awards for their work with Disney on Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc. Rex Allen (December 31, 1920 – December 17, 1999) was an American actor, singer, and songwriter. ... Gene Autry. ... Richard Thomas Devin (known as Rick Devin) (born July 5, 1960) in Braintree, Massachusetts, USA is a successful American guitarist and singer/songwriter who has been performing acoustic based folk/rock and country/western for over 25 years. ... The Girls of the Golden West (Mildred Fern Good & Dorothy Laverne Good) were a female country music girl group that was popular during the Western Era of Country music in the 1930s and 40s. ... Rubye Blevins aka Patsy Montana (30 October 1908–3 May 1996) was an American country music singer-songwriter and the first female country music performer to sell one million records. ... Bob Nolan (April 13, 1908 - June 16, 1980) was a Canadian-born singer, songwriter, and actor. ... Riders in the Sky is a Western music and comedy group which began performing 1977. ... Tex Ritter Tex Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was an American country singer and actor. ... Marty Robbins, (September 26, 1925, Glendale, Arizona - December 8, 1982), was an American Country & Western Hall of Fame musician. ... Dale Evans & Roy Rogers Leonard Franklin Slye (November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), became famous as Roy Rogers, a singer and cowboy actor. ... The Sons of the Pioneers was a cowboy singing group founded in 1933 by Leonard Slye (better known by his later screen name Roy Rogers), with Tim Spencer and Bob Nolan. ... John I. White was a western music singer. ... Riders in the Sky is a Western music and comedy group which began performing 1977. ... Western swing, also known as Country Swing, is dance music with an up-tempo beat and a decidedly Southwestern US regional flavor. ... Grammy Award statuette The Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music... The Walt Disney Company (more commonly known as Disney; NYSE: DIS) is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. ... Toy Story 2 is a CGI animation film and the sequel to Toy Story, and the third Disney/Pixar feature film, which featured the adventures of a group of toys that come to life when humans are not around to see them. ... Monsters, Inc. ...

(these lists need expansion and clarification)

See also

• Country and Western
• Western swing
• Western Music Association

Country music, once known as Country and Western music, is a popular musical form developed in the southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, spirituals, and the blues. ... Western swing, also known as Country Swing, is dance music with an up-tempo beat and a decidedly Southwestern US regional flavor. ... The Western Music Association was incorporated in 1989 to promote western music as well as the history and literature of the American West. ...

Additional reading

• Cannon, Hal. Old Time Cowboy Songs. Gibbs Smith. ISBN 0-87905-308-9
• Green, Douglas B. Singing in the Saddle: The History of the Singing Cowboy. Vanderbilt University Press, August 2002. ISBN 0-8265-1412-X
• O'Neal, Bill; Goodwin, Fred. The Sons of the Pioneers. Eakin Press, 2001. ISBN 1-57168-644-4
• White, John I. Git Along Little Dogies: Songs and Songmakers of the American West. (Music in American Life) series, University of Illinois Press, 1989 reprint. ISBN-10 0252060709

External links

• Recording of cowboy singer and author Jim Bob Tinsley performing "Back in the Saddle Again" in 1984; from the Florida Folklife Collection (made available for public use by the State Archives of Florida)
• The Academy of Western Artists
• The Western Music Association
• a lengthy online bibliography regarding the "singing cowboy" phenomenon