Western Music (North America)

Western Music (North America)

Western music originated as a form of American folk music. It was originally composed by and about the people who settled and worked throughout the Western United States and Western Canada. Directly related musically to old English, Scottish, and Irish folk ballads, Western music celebrates the life of the cowboy on the open ranges and prairies of Western North America. The Mexican music of the American Southwest also influenced the development of this genre. Western music shared similar roots with Appalachian folk music ("hillbilly music"), which developed in Appalachia separately from, but parallel to, the Western music genre. The music industry of the mid-20th century lumped the two together under the banner of "country and western music," later amalgamating into modern country music.