western music

Western music originated as a form of folk music. 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 AmericaThe Mexican music of the American Southwest also influenced the development of this genre. Western music was associated with country music only because of Billboard chart classification.

For the artists that wrote and performed Western music, this association as a sub-genre of country music is erroneous. Western music was directly influenced by the folk music traditions of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and many cowboy songs, sung around campfire in the nineteenth century, like 'Streets of Laredo', can be traced back to European folk songsReflecting the realities of the range and ranch houses where the music originated, the early cowboy bands were string bands supplemented occasionally with the harmonica. Otto Gary, an early cowboy band leader, stated authentic Western music had only three rhythms, all coming from the gaits of the cowpony—walk, trot, and lopehe music that came from the southeastern parts of the United States .