Country » Traditional Country » Old-Timey

Old-Timey (or old-time) refers to the oldest form of country music ever recorded. Country music was first recorded in the early '20s, and its style and sound had remained consistent since the 1800s. Though it encompassed a number of different influences, the music's roots lay in British folk songs, which were played on stringed instruments, such as the fiddle. By the late 1800s, rural Americans had begun playing the folk songs on Spanish guitars and African banjos as well, adding other instruments -- dobro, bass, washboards -- to the mix. During the early 1900s, this country folk music added some contemporary influences, particularly the blues and vaudeville comedy. This rurally eclectic amalgamation was the sound of country music during the '20s, and it would forever be identified as "old-time" country, because it was the music that evoked country's roots. Though the music began to evolve in the '30s, as Jimmie Rodgers brought country into the industrial age, there were groups that performed old-time into the end of the century, frequently without changing the conventions of the genre at all. One major style within old-time was bluegrass, which developed in the late '40s as a reaction to the increasing modernization of country music.