Nashville and The Rise of Country Music

The advent of the radio helped connect areas of the country that had never interacted before. Now national audiences could experience the same cultural phenomena through radio.

The areas surrounding Nashville already had an abundance of musicians who played folk music. Banjo, harmonica, and fiddle players were assembled and broadcasted over airwaves. These first bands broadcast were not even paid, but they helped increase the popularity of the growing genre [1].

Here is a song featuring banjo that could have been broadcasted in the early days of radio:         [2].

Radio stations saw that this new "country" music was growing in popularity, espeically in rural areas, and they eagerly gave listeners what they desired [3].

Nashville became a destination city in the 1920's. Musicians came to Nashville in hopes of being put on the radio, and being exposed to a national audience. As radio gained popularity, musicians even began to be paid to go on air [4].