Country Instrumental Neotraditional Country Rap Nu-Grass Country Blues Cowboy/Western Old-time Music Country Rock/Southern Rock Techno Country Western Swing Outlaw Country Pop Country Traditional Country Music Red Dirt Rockabilly Cowpunk Americana Country Soul Honky Tonk Texas Country Bluegrass

Instrumental Instrumental Country is exactly what it says it is -- any form of country, from traditional honky tonk to country-rock, played strictly instrumentally and without any vocals.

Country Rap Country rap is a subgenre of popular music blending country music with hip hop music-style rapping, also known as hick-hop. The genre has been identified as a genre for about twenty years.

Country Blues a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz

Old-Time Music a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also encompasses ballads and other types of folk songs. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments (most often the guitar and banjo).

Techno Country A mix of country and techno OR-country songs that are remixed for dance clubs Genre is mostly a novelty and is not very popular

Outlaw Country a subgenre of country music, most popular during the late 1960s and the 1970s (and even into the 1980s in some cases) sometimes referred to as the outlaw movement or simply outlaw music The focus of the movement has been on "outlaws", such as Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings (for reference, Waylon Jennings despised the term "Outlaw"), Merle Haggard, David Allan Coe and his Eli Radish Band, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Leon Russell, Hank Williams Jr., and Billy Joe Shaver. The reason for the movement has been attributed to a reaction to the Nashville sound, developed by record producers like Chet Atkins who softened the raw honky tonk sound

Traditional Country Traditional Country is a nebulous term -- it can refer to anything from Roy Acuff's simple songs to the electrified honky tonk of Johnny Paycheck -- but the name does evoke a specific sound, namely the long-standing tradition of simple country songs delivered with simple instrumentation and a distinct twang. The era of traditional country didn't begin until the late '20s, when Jimmie Rodgers became the first national country music star. (Allmusic.com)

Rockabilly This sub-genre can fit with Rock as well It is a mix of rock and “hillbilly” music (the name for country music in the ‘40s and ‘50s) Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie woogie, and rhythm and blues. While there are notable exceptions, its origins lie primarily in the Southern United States.

Americana is the result of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles such as bluegrass. Americana is popularly referred to, especially in print, as alternative country or alt-country.

Honky Tonk The first music genre to be commonly known as honky tonk music was a style of piano playing related to ragtime, but emphasizing rhythm more than melody or harmony the style evolved in response to an environment where the pianos were often poorly cared for, tending to be out of tune and having some nonfunctioning keys.

Texas Country Texas country is known for fusing traditionalist root sounds (similar to neotraditional country) with the outspoken, care-free views of outlaw country. Texas country blends these sub-genres by featuring straightforward, truthful lyrics, a "take it or leave it" approach, a "common working man" theme, comical, witty undertones, intense live performances, and loyal fan-bases. These often combine with stripped down music, increasing the intimate connection between a singer and audience. The acoustic guitar is essential in Texas country music. While the acoustic guitar is the most often used, electric guitars are not uncommon, and the use of steel guitars or Pedal steel guitars is also prevalent. Bass and percussion usually round out the essentials for a bar-touring band, but a piano, baritone guitar, banjo, fiddle or harmonica on studio recordings (or in larger shows) are the norm for the genre.

Bluegrass is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music It has mixed roots in Scottish, Irish and English traditional music. Bluegrass was inspired by the music of Appalachia, and was influenced by the music of African-Americans through incorporation of jazz elements. one or more instruments each takes its turn playing the melody and improvising around it, while the others perform accompaniment; Breakdowns are often characterized by rapid tempos and unusual instrumental dexterity and sometimes by complex chord changes. Unlike mainstream country music, bluegrass is traditionally played on acoustic stringed instruments. The fiddle, five-string banjo, guitar, mandolin, and upright bass (string bass) are often joined by the resonator guitar (also referred to as a Dobro) and (occasionally) harmonica.

Neotraditional also known as "new traditional" country, is a country music style that emphasizes the instrumental background and a 'traditional' country vocal style. Neotraditional country artists often dress in the fashions of the country music scene of the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. Some neotraditional artists are sometimes associated with the alternative country movement.

Nu-grass Recent developments in the Punk scene have lead some musicians to incorporate the traditional sounds of folk and bluegrass with punk rock attitudes and messages

Country/Western 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.

Country Rock/Southern Rock This style is actually a subgenre or ROCK Fuses rock and country

Western Swing It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which attracted huge crowds to dance halls and clubs in Texas, Oklahoma and California during the 1930s and 40s until a federal war-time nightclub tax in 1944 led to its decline. The movement was an outgrowth of jazz, and similarities with Gypsy jazz are often seen. The music is a result of rural, cowboy, polka, folk, Dixieland jazz and blues blended with swing played by a hot string band often augmented with drums, saxophones, pianos and, notably, the steel guitar. The electrically amplified stringed instruments, especially the steel guitar, give the music a distinctive sound.

Country Pop Country pop, with roots in both the countrypolitan sound and in soft rock, is a subgenre of country music that first emerged in the 1970s (soft rock mixed with country sounds) Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to Top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to adult contemporary. flirtation with the mainstream marked the beginnings of country-pop, which grew out of the realization that country-influenced music (as opposed to straight-ahead honky tonk) could be hybridized and smoothed out for mass consumption

Red Dirt Critics say that Red Dirt can best be likened to the indie genre of rock 'n' roll as there is no definitive sound that can be attributed to all the bands in the movement. Most Red Dirt artists would be classified by the music industry as Americana, folk, or alt-country, though the range of sounds in the Red Dirt spectrum goes beyond these genres. It has been described as a mix of folk, rock, country, bluegrass, blues, Western swing, and honky tonk, with even a few Mexican influences. Some define Red Dirt music as "country music with an attitude". Others say it's a state of mind as much as it is a sound - a sound that successfully closes the gap between rock and country.

Cowpunk subgenre of punk rock and New Wave that began in the UK and California in the late 1970s and early 1980s (if you have this it goes in ROCK) It combines punk rock or New Wave with country music, folk music, and blues in sound, subject matter, attitude, and style. Many of the musicians in this scene have now become associated with alternative country or roots rock

Country Soul Country-Soul is a canny fusion of country and soul. Often, it results in the soulful, gospel-inflected interpretations of country songs. Ray Charles was the pioneer of this fusion, and ever since his groundbreaking recordings, the lines between country and soul were forever blurred.