Honky-tonk
Country from the bars (honky-tonks), big in the 1940sā50s: fiddle, steel guitar, songs of heartbreak and drinking.
Key artists: Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzell
Country Roots
š¤ For the pardner in the back row: you know your Hank. This is just the family tree.
Think country all sounds the same? No way, partner! From barroom ballads to dance-hall swing and banjo-driven bluegrass, here are six classic styles.
Western swing
Born in 1930s Texas and Oklahoma: country mixed with jazz and swing, made for dancing.
Key artists: Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, Milton Brown
Bluegrass
Acoustic banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar and upright bass. Named after Bill Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys.
Key artists: Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs
Bakersfield sound
Raw, electric-guitar-driven country from Bakersfield, California, in the 1950sā60s, often seen as a reaction to the polished Nashville sound.
Key artists: Buck Owens, Merle Haggard
Outlaw country
A 1970s movement of artists who made records their own way, outside the Nashville system.
Key artists: Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings
Modern country
Country from the 1990s on, blending in pop and rock and topping charts.
Key artists: Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood
Want original country songs? Fire up the Tanuki Thunder jukebox below!