Old Country Influences Today

The first country songs share a common theme of telling a story. With roots following those of folk and blues, many of the first country songs and singers were found in Appalachia and the deep south. If you follow the evolution of this genre, you might catch that artists no longer sing about their financial troubles and hard labor, but now it has shifted toward modern story telling and reminiscing.

Before getting in to the lyrical influences of country music, I would like to touch on the musical commonalities through the decades. In Jimmie Rodgers' early songs, you can hear the guitar and the characteristic repetitive strumming and picking pattern. In much country music today, the guitar and even the banjo are still the main instruments used and they stay within a small range of notes, just as early country did. There is less yodeling nowadays, but it has been replaced by holding out high notes to emphasize the climax of the song and is less repeated.

On to the subject matter of country music through time. An example that stands out to me is following the evolution of presentation through Loretta Lynn's "Coal Miner's Daughter" to Dolly Parton's "Coat of Many Colors" and finally through to Miranda Lambert's "House That Built Me" and Dierks Bentley's "I Hold On". In Loretta Lynn's "Coal Miner's Daughter", she tells the basic story of her childhood, growing up poor, having love but not a lot else, and being happy in that. She doesn't include a lot of feelings or opinions, just a general feeling of reminiscing and happiness. On to Dolly Parton's "Coat of Many Colors", Dolly tells of the meaning of making do with what you have and how she was poor, but felt rich because of the love her mother showed her. This song includes more emotion and personal elements. In Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley's songs, they both talk almost exclusively about how the items and places from their past make them feel, which is a modern version of what Parton and Lynn did with their songs. They all have the same idea of talking about the past and where you came from, but are all t different stages of evolution as far as emotional input.

Song List:

Jimmie Rodgers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbzc77Tz6PA

Loretta Lynn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9eHp7JJgq8

Dolly Parton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1zJzr-kWsI

Miranda Lambert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQYNM6SjD_o

Dierks Bentley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV40NzkqJrw