2.1 The Origin and Development of American Country Music
Among the flower beds of American folk music, American Country Music is always a bunch of most beautiful flowers. Its full-bodied local flavor, simple melodies, popular lyrics and singers’ fruity voice capture the hearts of hundreds of thousands of audiences. In the 21st century with materialistic age, disco music industry in this fashionable country has been overshadowed; however, American Country Music begin to be popular in the world with its fresh style.

2.1.1 Folk Music Origins
James Fennimore Cooper, an early American writer, once said, “The Americans are ignorant of the art of music” (1838:102-119). If that IS once true, you will never know it today. As far as we know, most Americans—even those without a musical bone in their bodies—also have a favorite style of music. The country and western music is close to the heart of many Americans. This style originated among country folks in the southern and western United States. Country music tells down-to-earth stories about love and life’s hardships. Guitars, banjos and violins—also known as fiddle—give country music its characteristic sound.

We can probably draw a conclusion that one of the most popular forms in the United States is country music, which originated from the southern USA in the 1920s when folk song took its step further. Country music was widely embraced in the 1970s. It is a blend of traditional and popular musical form. The term country music gained popularity in the 1940s when the earlier term hillbilly music came to be seen as denigrating (Net 2). Actually, it is of great indispensability to look back upon the early history of country music. Immigrants to the Maritimes Provinces and Southern Appalachian Mountains of North America brought the original form of country music and instruments of the Old World along with them for nearly 300 years. 美国价值观在美国乡村音乐中的体现(3):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_29929.html