Country music is a genre of American popular music that originated in rural areas of the South and West in the early 20th century.
The term “country and western music” was adopted by the recording industry in 1949 to replace the derogatory label “hillbilly music”.
More important than recordings for the growth of country music was broadcast radio. Small radio stations appeared in larger Southern and Midwestern cities in the 1920s, and many devoted part of their airtime to live or recorded music suited to white rural audiences. Two regular programs of great influence were the “National Barn Dance” from Chicago, begun in 1924, and the “Grand Ole Opry” from Nashville, begun in 1925. The immediate popularity of such programs encouraged more recordings and the appearance of talented musicians from the hills at radio and record studios.
