Everything But Country: A Brief History of Country Music and Why People Think It Sucks

It’s a harmless question for breaking the ice, asked often enough that it seems almost as rhetorical as a “What’s up?” or “How’s it going?”: “What kind of music do you like?” Everyone has different tastes; there are a wide array of genres to choose from and a million different ways to answer this question. However, one answer is common enough that eventually, it started to bother me. Across the board, one answer has become a default of sorts, and that answer is “Everything, except for country.” 

To better understand why so many people give the same answer, I asked some of my friends about their thoughts on country music. Some of the responses I got were that “It’s just drunk people singing about getting drunk, love or driving,” or “Some [songs] are cringe,” and “They’re all about the same thing.” Most of them had an indifferent opinion of country; some songs are good, but some are pretty bad and the genre as a whole wasn’t something they would want to listen to. That wasn’t a satisfactory enough answer for me. The idea that some songs suck and some songs sound great can be applied to any genre, so why does country get such a bad rap? 

One of my friends made a point that stood out to me: to her, country music has become synonymous with white conservatism. It makes sense that younger, left-leaning listeners would express disinterest in a music genre that is largely associated with conservative political ideologies. This realization led me to another question: where did country music even come from, and how did it evolve into what it is today? 

The origins of country music can be traced back to the Appalachians in the 18th century. The Appalachians were a difficult area to settle due to a number of reasons: it was hard to traverse the terrain, much of the soil was agriculturally useless, Native Americans were justifiably hostile towards settlers, and before the unification of the U.S., land rights were complicated and uncertain. For those reasons, most settlers in the Appalachian Mountains were poorer settlers looking for cheap, undesirable land. Traditional Appalachian music was a melting pot of styles, songs and instruments brought to America by European immigrants and enslaved Africans. Anglo-Celtic folk ballads were influenced by African rhythms and group singing traditions. For many, musical traditions were a way to remember their home cultures and to create new communities. 

By the Civil War, musical traditions began to change more rapidly. The banjo had been introduced by enslaved African-Americans in the 1850s, and by the 1900s, it had been adopted by white folk musicians as well. Fancy European music like Brahms or Tchaikovsky was only really played in big seaport cities. The music of the country was the folk music of the Appalachians: fiddle dance music, religious gospel songs, and ballads, all transmitted aurally by traveling amateur musicians or enslaved peoples transported to the South. 

At the turn of the century, Southern folk music was still far from mainstream. Music was transmitted aurally, so there were many variations between songs from region to region, and there were few attempts to transcribe or notate music or lyrics. Rural folk music was not a single, unanimous genre; it existed in hundreds of different ways in hundreds of different communities. This type of music characterized by ballads, fiddles, banjos, and dances became associated with the hillbilly-- a term used as early as 1900 to describe rural residents of the remote southern Appalachians.

 As the 20th century progressed, technology advanced. Radio and recording technologies developed and created a new way for music to spread. Music became more commercialized than it had been in the previous centuries. The thing that led to hillbilly music breaking into the mainstream music market was actually race records-- phonograph records of blues, jazz, and gospel music, marketed to African-Americas. In search of more material for race records, Okeh Records, a company from New York, made a recording expedition to Alabama. They recorded Fiddlin’ John Carson, an old-time fiddler, and singer, on what is considered to be the first country music record. Most hillbilly and folk musicians at the time were not full-time musicians. They were miners, farmers, cowboys, and common laborers. Hillbilly music was the music of the working class, made for and by regular working people of the 20s and 30s. Many working-class people couldn’t afford new records, so the radio allowed for a more accessible means to participate in musical trends. In the 30s and 40s, film also contributed to the mainstream acceptance of country music. Cowboy film stars like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers were successful actors and musicians. Country music continued to develop and refine itself as America continued to change and evolve. 

Before the 1960s, many white Southerners were Democrats. Federal government and public assistance were ideas that the Southern working-class supported. With the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, many Southerners turned to conservatism in response. Lots of white Southerners had supported FDR and his ideals, and the regions where country music originated from had not been solidly conservative. However, as they moved towards the right, the music moved with them. Southern politicians frequently used country music at their rallies, as a way to gather people and entertain them. The first presidential candidate to use country music as a part of their campaign was George Wallace, a staunch segregationist and Democratic governor of Alabama. He ran for president four times, both as a Democrat and as an Independent. Each time, he used country music as a way to attract white Southerners to his campaign. The fourth time he ran, he lost to Richard Nixon. Nixon knew he needed to get the white Southern vote away from Wallace in order to be reelected, so he also started reaching out to the white Southern population with country music. 

In 1969, Merle Haggard released “Okie from Muskeegee”, a country song about a character Haggard had created as a parody. This character was against hippies, counterculture, and anti-war attitudes. However, “Okie from Muskeegee” was taken on as a sort of anthem by many country fans who earnestly shared the fictional Okie’s beliefs. As a result, Merle Haggard later released “The Fightin’ Side of Me”, a song which very directly opposed those who were against the Vietnam War. “Okie from Muskeegee” is included on an album titled “Thank You, Mr. President”, which was a compilation of songs curated by the Country Music Association for Richard Nixon in 1972. Not all of the songs in this album are explicitly political; many of them are centered around work and family, ideas that had been a common theme in country, hillbilly, and traditional Appalachian music. 

The 70s solidified country music’s reputation as a staple in white American conservatism. Nixon declared October 1970 to be country music month and many viewed country music as a way to express conservative views that were not previously represented in popular culture. Nixon also used country music as a way to convey to the public that the Republican party supported the poorer, working-class white Southerners who made up America’s heartland, while the Democratic party did not. 

The next big event that really cemented country music as white conservative music in people’s minds was 9/11. In the wake of tragedy, many Americans were looking for a way to mourn, rebuild and express feelings of patriotism in retaliation to the terrorist attacks. Music has always been a vehicle of unity; it is a way for people to create a sense of community and express shared beliefs. After 9/11, country music became a genre associated with patriotism and conservatism when many country anthems began to openly support the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White, And Blue (The Angry American)” praised America’s idealized freedom and expressed a desire to retaliate in violent anger to those who attacked the beloved. Aaron Tippin’s “Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Fly” is an ode to America’s liberties and an expression of pride in being a citizen of the U.S. 

Although the majority of country music post-9/11 was strongly political and staunchly conservative, there were also artists who disagreed with the prevalent country music views. The Chicks, formerly known as the Dixie Chicks, were opposed to the U.S. government involvement in Iraq. In 2003, at a concert in London, Natalie Maines stated, “We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.” The backlash from American fans was extreme. Radio stations boycotted the group; some country fans still boycott the group now. Country music listeners made it clear that they would not allow for criticism of the president or dissenting opinions. This censorship of challenging opinions is why so many songs seem like they’re just about drinking, driving, and girls -- innocuous subjects that will not stir up any controversy and appeal to the widest possible audiences. 

As of 2020, most country music has since moved away from the overtly political tones of post-9/11 America or the 1970s South. However, it has not yet escaped its reputation, and many still equate country music with white conservatism. Despite its reputation, country music still breaks into the mainstream music market with hits like Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” and through rising artists like Kacey Musgraves. The themes of country music are more inclusive than many realize, and as the genre continues to move away from strict patriotism and the restrictive nature of marketing to a single political party, it marks yet another shift in its evolution. We owe country music to enslaved African-Americans, poor European immigrants, and working-class people who were using music to remember their origins while simultaneously creating a new American culture and identity. In order for country music to return to being a genre about nostalgia, shared traditions, and the unique experiences of American life, the room must be made for dissenting opinions, diversity, and inclusion. As the political planes of the U.S. continue to shift and evolve, so does country music. I can only hope that the future of country music is full of diverse artists and different opinions. Until then, I’ll be listening to Taylor Swift’s country-pop and Dolly Parton’s iconic “Jolene.”