Page 21 - The Magazine of AAA Ohio Auto Club – November 2020

“Country music is about two four-letter words: love and loss,” explained legendary documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, who released his latest video project, “Country Music”, in 2019.
Harlan Howard, a Country Music Hall of Fame Inductee, defined country music as “three chords and the truth.”
Dictionary.com defines country music as a style and genre of largely string-accompanied American popular music having roots in the folk music of the Southeast and cowboy music of the West, usually vocalized, generally simple in form and harmony, and typified
by romantic or melancholy ballads accompanied by acoustic or electric guitar, banjo, violin and harmonica. “Country Music” is one more example of the brilliant
works of art and storytelling to come out of the Burns documentary factory. The series is filled with revelations, such as country music’s close ties to jazz and the profound influence that Black artists had on this
genre. Burns reminds viewers that the banjo has African roots.
The series also deftly traces the evolution of country music, from the
first national country music hit, “Wreck of the Old ‘97” recorded in 1924
by Vernon Dalhart, to the era of
Garth Brooks.
It is believed by many historians that the true moment country music was born was when Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family signed with Victor Records in 1927. What followed were decades of evolution and revolution.
Western swing came out of Texas, while bluegrass featured the hillbilly music tied to Great Britain and West Africa. Hollywood cowboy movies brought us the sounds from the likes of Gene Autry and Roy Rodgers. Artists like Ernest Tubbs and Hank Williams brought us honky-tonk, while the Nashville Sound introduced more complex instrumentation and polished lyrics. Merle Haggard played a major role in the development of California’s Bakersfield Sound, while the Outlaw Movement featured the music of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Dolly Parton helped bring the Urban Cowboy Movement along, an offshoot that mixed country and pop. And then came what is referred to
as The Class of ’89, which ushered in the megastars such as Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill and Travis Tritt.
When it comes to country music, Columbus-based singer/songwriter Eric Gnezda has a lot to say about the subject. When not working on his own music, Gnezda plays as host of “Songs at the Center,” a nationally syndicated television show that features the stories behind the music of some of America’s most gifted music artists, most of whom happen to be country music stars.
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Photo: iStock/ Timothy Morton
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