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That girl that sings "redneck woman" is from Illinois, I cant remember her name though. And while 99% of country songs are about the south (gee, whattaya expect), there are a few songs that mention northern areas.
Gretchen Wilson.
Shania Twain is from CANADA!
What I as a Texan and lifetime fan of country music find strange is that when I hear one of my fave's is going on tour I'll pull up their site to check dates for Dallas. More times than not the entire tours will be focused on the states in the Northeast and California.
I was listening to "Small town Southern Man" today and thought hey, what about all the "Small town Northern Men"? LOL Then there's the song that names off all of the southern states... Carolina, and in Georgia, smell that sweet Magnolia... carry on carry on.... I forget how it goes. But I can't think of a song about the northern states or even the plane states or the midwest.
I think it's weird that 95% of the country music is about the south. Why is that? Isn't anybody gonna sing about Iowa someday?
This is how I learned it; I'm not guaranteeing 100% accuracy, this is generalized and from memory:
Start with European religious music. Scots-Irish, with their Celtic melodies and gospel tunes, decided to settle in a place that reminded them of their homes in the highlands: the Appalachian Mountains. Spanish and French influence wasn't too far away in Florida and the Carolinas, and eventually the Guitar, the banjo, and the upright bass became simple, popular instruments in the Appalachian mountains (bagpipes were hard to come by), and created a legacy of very melodious gospel-based bluegrass music. This is also where the lyrical themes of modern country music were formed. The things that the Foggy Mountain Boys, or Bill Monroe would sing about are very similar to the sort of rural themes you hear in country music today.
At the same time, you must follow the Africans, who generally speaking, never migrated into the mountains. They were confined to the flatlands. Being born in tribal Africa, their music had outstanding rhythms, but did not have the complex melodies of European hymns.
White europeans, feeling the "white man's burden," felt compelled to spread Christianity to the african slaves, along with its rich tradition of religious hymns. This is where we get black gospel music, with its distinctly african "call and response". White folks had religous music, but it wasn't the same as "black Gospel" that you can still hear on the radio today (at least around here)
Eventually, this gospel music mixed with the hillbilly bluegrass music. The marraige of black gospel and hillbilly bluegrass became American Blues music, which was started by poor black sharecroppers in the 1920's-30's in the mississippi delta. Blues music used African call and response, Hillbilly bluegrass instruments, Scottish and English melodies, African rhythm, and the woeful lyrics of the destitute black southern community. At the time, it upset many people that they'd "pervert" the religous melodies with the lyrical themes of blues, which were very secular, and often "sinful". (On an unrelated note, white southerners "turned their backs" on blues music, up until young British lads picked it up - "Hey, what's this?" - formed the Beatles and the Stones, and sold it back to America)
From blues music, we derive many forms of music; but your question was, "Why is country music southern?"
Well, blues music eventually infiltrated traditional bluegrass music, and this marriage became what we now call "country music." All of this happened over 500 years, between the Mississippi Delta and the mountains of Virginia, NC, and Tennessee. So despite all the terrible things went down during this time period, none of this musical cross-pollination would've occured without it. So, to answer your question in one statement: Country music themes are about the south, because country music is the descendant of bluegrass music and blues music, which are southern in origin, and would not have existed without the cohabitation of Africans and Europeans - which didn't happen in Iowa.
Last edited by anonymous; 02-21-2008 at 10:41 AM..
I have heard plenty of country songs mentioning states like Colorado and Wyoming, I'm assuming it's mostly because of ranches and the general cowboy way of life.
Here's an article about the Scots-Irish. It is a little bit "rah-rah" about it; probably embellished a bit; but you can clearly see that the values identified as "Scots-Irish" are the same sort of values you hear in country music.
Just how far South, though? I think that it is prominent around Kentucky, the Virginias and Tennessee. The further south you go it just becomes hillbilly music (which is where country music stemmed from anyways).
Although country music has a stereotype of singing about losing your girl or getting to drunk, must country music is about America and God and such, things that Southerners hold in high regards.
But, country music is prevalent in basically ANY rural setting. Drive through rural Minnesota and every other billboard you see is advertising a country radio station. Country music is big in Rural Iowa, Idaho, practically all of California that is outside of a major city. Wyoming, Montana, Texas, Oklahoma, Nevada, Illinois, Maine, Wisconsin, Kansas, Indiana---just to name a few. It seems that country music is more popular in the North and West then it is in the South.
Just how far South, though? I think that it is prominent around Kentucky, the Virginias and Tennessee. The further south you go it just becomes hillbilly music (which is where country music stemmed from anyways).
"Hillbilly music" (Bluegrass) is across the southern Appalachians, which cover West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, all the way down to Alabama.
Last edited by anonymous; 02-21-2008 at 12:40 PM..
I was listening to "Small town Southern Man" today and thought hey, what about all the "Small town Northern Men"? LOL Then there's the song that names off all of the southern states... Carolina, and in Georgia, smell that sweet Magnolia... carry on carry on.... I forget how it goes. But I can't think of a song about the northern states or even the plane states or the midwest.
I think it's weird that 95% of the country music is about the south. Why is that? Isn't anybody gonna sing about Iowa someday?
There are actually quite a few. A lot of country songs are about small towns in general.
- Jo Dee Messina is from Boston and has a song called "Heads Carolina, Tails CALIFORNIA....she mentions Boston and Des Moines....so there's Iowa
- Rascal Flatts' "Mayberry" can be a southern or a midwestern town and those folks are from Ohio. Most small-town songs can be from anywhere, even Kellie Pickler's "small town girl" which happens to be in North Carolina
- Alan Jackson's "Gone Country (the same guy who sang Small Town Southern Man), mentioned a "simple girl" from Long Island...this is weird though...Long Island is as snotty and arrogant as you can get
- "November" by Emerson Drive (a Canadian band) - actually set on the college scene in Boston and metnions Beacon Hill
- Sara Evans - "Missing Missouri", self-explanatory
- Martina McBride - "Love Land" - mentions driving from "Vegas to Oklahoma". Her song "Beautiful Again" mentions Arizona.
- Jo Dee Messina's "Stand Beside Me" mentions Boulder, Colorado
- Gretchen Wilson sings a lot about her hometown of Pocahontas, Illinois
- Carrie Underwood's "Jesus Take the Wheel" is about going to Cincinnati
- "American Friday Night" can be about anywhere in the country
- SHeDAISY says their songs appeal to "Middle America"
- I like to think that "Highway 4" in "Bye bye" by Jo Dee Messina is Maryland Route 4 through southern Maryland
Brad Paisley is from Wheeling area in WV. That's pretty far north for a country singer, it's almost on the same latitude as Pittsburgh, PA.
There's also Taylor Swift from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia), Chuck Wicks from Delaware, and Jo dee Messina from Massachusetts. Oh yeah and Teri Clark, Shania Twain, adn Emerson Drive from the land of the Maple Leaf.
Country music is the most popular genre of music in the United States and I see it as the music of the real America. I think part of the appeal of country music is the coldness and emptiness of life in the urban areas and how peopel long for better places and times.
Danielle Peck, who had the hit "Finding a good man" is from Ohio. Kid Rock, who is somewhat country, is from Michigan, so is Josh Gracin. Alison Krauss is from Illinois. Dierks Bentley is from Arizona, and he has a song about a girl going to Hollywood. The song "Lucky man" by Montgomery Gentry talks about the Cincinnatti bengals.
Last edited by Canes2006Champs; 02-21-2008 at 03:29 PM..
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