Country music is genre of American popular music that originated in the agrarian regions of the Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and southeastern American folk music. Stylistically and artistically, contemporary country music continues to evoke debates concerning its identity and authenticity. The resentment held by most traditionalists about the changes that have taken place in country music in recent years was graphically described in a song that was selected in 2000 as the International Bluegrass Music Association's (IBMA) Song of the Year and as the Country Music Association's Record Event of the Year
After the country music had become popular, many kinds of country music genres appeared in different regions. For example, cowboy music, western swing music, bluegrass music and honky-tonk music developed regionally. Cowboy music represented the life of the Wild West, so "hilly-billies: were transformed into dashing young cowboys and cowgirls, and they sang songs about their lives and romances through the country music lyrics. In this genre, the most famous singers are Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and The Son of the Pioneers. They usually expressed an image of free-spirited cowboy singing around the campfire after their hard work.
After the country music had become popular, many kinds of country music genres appeared in different regions. For example, cowboy music, western swing music, bluegrass music and honky-tonk music developed regionally. Cowboy music represented the life of the Wild West, so "hilly-billies: were transformed into dashing young cowboys and cowgirls, and they sang songs about their lives and romances through the country music lyrics. In this genre, the most famous singers are Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and The Son of the Pioneers. They usually expressed an image of free-spirited cowboy singing around the campfire after their hard work.
The one consistent factor in the music's production is its core audience among the southern white working class and its representation of their values. Among those values, real and idealized, are hard work, Protestant Christianity, rural romanticism, good times, and the constant struggle for love. Often these values seem in direct conflict with each other, as country musicians are likely to extol the pleasures of the honky-tonk while preaching the need for religious redemption. In the late 1950s country music's popularity decreased, and some producers like Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley tried to remake country music's sound into something closer to mainstream pop. As a result, country music started to change from late 1950s and by the early 1960s, it had change was completely. The Nashville Sound was born, and it was called The Nashville Sound because it started in Nashville, Tennessee. By the 1920s, southern folk music remained unknown for the outside world; it had developed intensively, but the American music was urban-orientated. Therefore, the rural performers were discriminated because they sounded strange and primitive. However, the invention of the radio allowed country music not only to break its rural isolation but also to spread all over the country. In fact, the radio was so important that country music started to grow really fast.