Country is a music genre originating in the Southern and Southwestern United States. First produced in the 1920s, country music primarily focuses on working class Americans and blue-collar American life.
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm and blues, boogie-woogie, gospel, jump blues, as well as country music. While rock and roll's formative elements can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until 1954.
Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band formed in 1947 and continuing until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group recorded nine Top 20 singles, one of which was number one and three that were Top Ten. The single "Rock Around the Clock" was the best-selling rock single in the history of the genre and maintained that position for several years.
William Smith Monroe was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the "Father of Bluegrass".
Carl Lee Perkins was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, beginning in 1954. Among his best-known songs are "Blue Suede Shoes", "Honey Don't", "Matchbox" and "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby".
Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United States in the first half of the 20th century, it became extremely popular in United Kingdom in the 1950s, where it was played by such artists as Lonnie Donegan, The Vipers Skiffle Group, Ken Colyer, and Chas McDevitt. Skiffle was a major part of the early careers of some musicians who later became prominent jazz, pop, blues, folk, and rock performers, The Quarrymen and Rory Gallagher among them. It has been seen as a critical stepping stone to the second British folk revival, the British blues boom, and the British Invasion of American popular music.
Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia, Canada, and the U.S. including "Stray Cat Strut", "(She's) Sexy + 17", "Look at That Cadillac", "I Won't Stand in Your Way", "Bring It Back Again", and "Rock This Town", which the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has listed as one of the songs that shaped rock and roll.
Rockabilly is an early style of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blues, leading to what is considered "classic" rock and roll. Some have also described it as a blend of bluegrass with rock and roll. The term "rockabilly" itself is a portmanteau of "rock" and "hillbilly"; the latter is a reference to country music that contributed strongly to the style. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie-woogie, jump blues, and electric blues.
The Stanley Brothers were an American bluegrass duo of singer-songwriters and musicians, made up of brothers Carter Stanley and Ralph Stanley. Ralph and Carter performed as The Stanley Brothers with their band, The Clinch Mountain Boys, from 1946 to 1966. Ralph kept the band name when he continued as a solo artist after Carter's death, from 1967 until his own death in 2016.
William Patton Black Jr. was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He played in Elvis Presley's early trio, The Blue Moon Boys. Black later formed Bill Black's Combo.
John Marty Stuart is an American country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before beginning work as a solo artist in the early 1980s. His greatest commercial success came in the first half of the 1990s on MCA Records Nashville. Stuart has recorded over 20 studio albums, and has charted over 30 times on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His highest chart entry is "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'", a duet with Travis Tritt. Stuart has also won five Grammy Awards out of 16 nominations. He is known for his combination of rockabilly, country rock, and bluegrass music influences, his frequent collaborations and cover songs, and his distinctive stage dress. Stuart is also a member of the Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame.
"Blue Moon of Kentucky" is a waltz written in 1945 by bluegrass musician Bill Monroe and recorded by his band, the Blue Grass Boys. The song has since been recorded by many artists, including Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney. The song is the official bluegrass song of Kentucky.
Peter Hamilton Rowan is an American bluegrass musician and composer. He plays guitar and mandolin, yodels and sings.
Flatpicking is the technique of striking the strings of a guitar with a pick held between the thumb and one or two fingers. It can be contrasted to fingerstyle guitar, which is playing with individual fingers, with or without wearing fingerpicks. While the use of a plectrum is common in many musical traditions, the exact term "flatpicking" is most commonly associated with Appalachian music of the American southeastern highlands, especially bluegrass music, where string bands often feature musicians playing a variety of styles, both fingerpicking and flatpicking. Musicians who use a flat pick in other genres such as rock and jazz are not commonly described as flatpickers or even plectrum guitarists. As the use of a pick in those traditions is commonplace, generally only guitarists who play without a pick are noted by the term "fingerpicking" or "fingerstyle".
Thomas Grady Martin was an American session guitarist in country music and rockabilly.
Brad Davis GTR is an American country/bluegrass/rock guitar virtuoso and singer-songwriter. Guitar World Magazine named Brad as one of the greatest Texas guitarist of all time in 2022. Initially, a member of country singer Marty Stuart's road band, Davis has also performed with David Lee Roth, Bela Fleck, Roger Miller, David Lee Roth, Earl Scruggs, Sam Bush, Billy Bob Thornton, ZZ TOP and many others, in addition to writing songs for artists like Tim McGraw, Jo-El Sonnier, Tony Trischka, Tommy Shaw, and Thornton.
Rickie Lee Skaggs, known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, mandocaster, and banjo.
Matt Lucas is an American rock and roll, soul, and blues singer, drummer and songwriter. He is best known for his "rocked-up" version of the Hank Snow country classic "I'm Movin' On". He was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 1999, the International Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Southern Legends Entertainment & Performing Arts Hall of Fame in 2005.
Howard Erwin Stange was an American musician, singer and pianist who played Rockabilly and Country music, possessing a distinctive vocal and playing style. Howie was a musical virtuoso who had the ability to pick up any instrument and play with a high degree of technical proficiency, despite the fact that he never learned how to read music. Howie was born of four sisters and two brothers who include: Gertrude 'Kiki' Stange, Doris Stange, Frank Anthony Stange, Raymond Christopher Stange, Esther Madelyn Stange and Kathleen Leona Stange. Among the six siblings, only his youngest sister, Kathleen, lives to date, age 85. Howie achieved both national and international fame recognition, for his hit 45 record, "Real Gone Daddy/This Old Bomb of Mine", released in 1957. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential Rockabilly musicians of his era, Howie's music currently resides on over 100 record compilations of the best rockabilly music ever produced. Howie's song "Real Gone Daddy" has achieved "Maybelline" status among fans. Additionally, in 1958 he went on to record "Are You Lonesome To-Night?" which was subsequently picked up by Elvis Presley Are You Lonesome Tonight? (song) who later went on to chart this song at number 1 on the Billboard Charts in 1960. Howie Stange did not achieve significant fame or fortune during his lifetime: however, his music left a lasting impression on a generation of young listeners who were first being introduced to rock and roll music in the 1950s.
David Hawley, better known as Dave Hawley, was a prominent guitarist who was part of the late 1950s and 1960s Sheffield rock music scene. On his death, he was described as being "a leading light" and "an outstanding guitarist"; the Sheffield Star called him a "Sheffield music legend". Thom Jurek described him as "a lifelong Teddy Boy from the first generation of the Edwardian youth subculture in the '50, was a gone rockabilly cat who worshipped Gene Vincent and played music his entire life."
