While the history of folk music can be traced back almost 1,000 years, the emergence of the genre as a modern type of popular music did not happen until the end of the 19^th century. This is because, before the era of recording, music sung by groups of people at work or at home would be classed as folk, although other genres would emerge from various cultures, such as how jazz did from slaves in the southern United States.

Founding Fathers of Folk

A chance meeting on Boxing Day 1899 by Cecil Sharp and the Headington Quarry Morris Men, who were trying to make some extra money over the festive period by playing concertina and dancing together, represents the birth of modern folk music.

Throughout the early part of the 20^th century, folk music would remain under the radar, although acts such as Jimmie Rodgers and the Carters and The Lomaxes would be popular at this time, they were classed more as traditional country artists, despite their sound being very close to what we would call folk today.

Folk Revival

Folk would remain a peripheral genre in the music industry until after World War 2, when a folk revival in the United States and the United Kingdom saw it become hugely popular. The categorisation of some of the biggest artists of the mid to late 20^th century certainly helped this to happen, with Bob Dylan and Donovan being widely credited as contemporary folk artists, due to their ability to blend traditional folk music with popular trends of the time including rock and roll and jazz.

The Identity of Folk Music

Around the world, folk music has its own identity in different countries. Although most in the western world would associate with commercial folk music, in places like Eastern Europe, South America, and across some Asian countries traditional folk is still hugely popular. Former Soviet states, including Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, are famous for their folk musicians that can be found playing on the street, while family members playing their own instruments are more likely to be seen at gatherings than a copy of the latest Rihanna CD.

Much like when Sharp first discovered what he termed to be traditional folk music, today it is often combined with dancing, either synchronized or freestyle, also in a way associated with the culture it comes from.

The best way to define folk music today is as music that comes from one place. From the concertina and accordion in Europe to pan pipes in South America, everywhere has their own brand of folk music that can be traced back hundreds of years, with contemporary and commercial folk carving out its own unique genre.

Image Author: Heinrich Klaffs

Country music is one of the most popular and instantly recognisable genres in the world.

Early country music originated from the southern United States in the 1920s, when ‘hillbilly’ music would become popular across the southern states, with the main centre for country being in Atlanta, Georgia. This decade saw many country recordings, which would continue into the 1930s, with artists such as The Carter Family – who were also important figures in the gospel music scene – leading the way.

These years were known as the first generation of country music.

1930s and 1940s: The Second Generation

As The Great Depression meant that few people could afford to buy records, followed by the outbreak of the Second World War at the end of the decade, the second generation of country was widely characterized by the music scores of popular films and stage shows of the time.

However, from 1945 onwards, the likes of Hank Williams would pioneer honky tonk music, which would become globally recognised and accepted as traditional country.

1950s and 1960s

These years saw country music running alongside rock and roll, with rockabilly in particular blurring lines between the two genres. Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash are the two most famous exponents of rockabilly during this time, and while they enjoyed huge crossover commercial success, their roots were firmly entrenched in country.

By the late 1960s, the emergence of rock music was also heavily influenced by country, with groups such as The Byrds, The Eagles, and even some Rolling Stones’ tracks falling into the country genre more than any other.

Country Pop: 1970s and 1980s

While the 1970s and the 1980s elsewhere were all about the emergence of different genres including various sub-genres of rock and dance music, country music moved towards a pop sound following the death of rock and roll.

The emergence of country pop was somewhat odd. In most cases, it was not a case of country stars becoming crossover successes, but of pop singers, Olivia Newton-John, Marie Osmond, and John Denver (generally regarded as a country legend today), recording country tracks and entering this genre specific chart.

However, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers were able to crossover from country to mainstream, and remain hugely successful around the world today.

1990s Country to Today

The 1990s is the decade when country burst onto the global music scene, becoming popular everywhere and not just in America. Billy Ray Cyrus and Garth Brooks are generally credited as the artists responsible for this, while Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, and Shania Twain were all country artists who enjoyed considerable commercial success in the decade. Twain’s album Come on Over was one of the most successful records of the decade, and established her as a global phenomenon.

In recent times, country has once again taken on a pop influenced type of sound, although the country roots in the music of artists like Taylor Swift are obvious for all to see. In the last decade, rock bands like Bon Jovi and Kid Rock have also released popular country singles and albums, while many bands, including Little Big Town and the Eli Young Band, have remained true to the traditions of country music and enjoyed great success in the United States.

Image Author: Brett Jordan

Jazz is one of the most popular genres of music across the world. Although jazz doesn’t enjoy a great deal of mainstream success today, it has done in the past. That said, jazz samples are still widely used in pop, dance, and rock music, in particular, and the influence of the genre can clearly be heard elsewhere, too.

Origins of Jazz

Jazz emerged from New Orleans in the early 20^th century, bursting out in the early 1910’s before the First World War. The origins of jazz have actually been traced back 100 years earlier, when the Atlantic slave trade brought thousands of West Africans to the Southern United States. However, it was not until 1910 that there was an established community in New Orleans that would get together to play jazz music.

The Growth of Jazz

Jazz music quickly became popular across the south of the United States before starting to spread north in the 1920’s. Later in the decade and in the 1930’s, a different type of jazz would emerge from Kansas City, meaning New Orleans jazz and Kansas City jazz would often be competing with one another for airtime on jazz radio stations across America.

This time also represented the most popular period for jazz, however, which meant there was great demand for both styles of jazz, as well as for swing music and later, in the 1940’s, for bebop.

Cosmopolitan Jazz

Jazz is arguably the most cosmopolitan music genre there is, and one only has to look at the range of influences that hit it from the 1940’s onwards to see why. Jazz was already reliant on Spanish and African influences, but from this time we would see Latin jazz, Cuban jazz, Afro-Brazilian jazz, with new trends being born across Central and South America.

There was also the emergence of sub-genres of jazz and fusion genres, with those from the Far East proving to be particularly popular.

The Dying of the Light

Jazz continued to grow through the 1940’s and maintained its popularity even through the golden rock and roll era of the 1960’s and 1970’s. However, with global attitudes and musical tastes changing at the end of the 1970’s, jazz found itself on the outside of the mainstream looking in.

Although jazz moved towards being a niche musical taste, R&B artists and rappers would regularly feature jazz inspired sounds in their music, and into the 1990’s and 2000’s it would become a feature of pop and dance music, while still performing strongly with jazz aficionados.

Image Author: exquisitur