Rember when they said Country and Western music? Is Western music dead?

Cafe Society
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Yup. Country & Western have similar roots–music from the British Isles preserved in the hills & lowlands of the South, mixed with African-American traditions. Riders In the Sky come to mind when I think of “Western” music–carrying on from the Sons of the Pioneers, etc. Yes, there’s a cinematic theme. Western Swing overlaps–Bob Wills & his guys made a few films.

The Western Music Association includes “Cowboy Poets” along with musical talent. They aren’t “Nashville” but have their own scene going. Their most recent awards include a couple for yodeling! Which came into country music with Jimmie Rodgers–born in the Deep South, he often favored Western attire and hadWestern tunes in his wide repertoire. (Many non-“Western” performers adopted the look rather than dress like Hillbillies.)

Yodeling brings us to Patsy Montana, one of the many Southerners who went Out West–to LA. Like Sceets McDonald–where the music verges on Honky Tonk/Bakersfield–or heads on to Rockabilly…

The versatile Johnny Cash recorded Ballads of the True West.

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A good example of contemporary Western music is the Sons of the San Joaquin.

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While perusing the website for a local barbecue joint, I checked out their entertainment calendar.

The Buckaroo Band plays there at least once a month. (And they’ll be playing my nearest hardware store this Saturday for the benefits of shoppers.) Other bands on the schedule are mostly Bluegress. There are niche markets for both genres, even though they don’t get played on Commercial Country Radio…

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To me, “Western” music survived and even thrived long after Bob Wills and Western Swing had disappeared.

Think of Johnny Cash’s 'Don’t Take Your Guns to Town," which topped the country charts in 1959.

As recently as the early Sixties, Marty Robbins hit #1 on the Billboard pop charts with “El Paso,” a perfect Western song.