Country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

has a long history in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The genre evolved out of the diverse musical practices of the

Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

n region of the United States.

Appalachian folk music Appalachian music is the music of the region of Appalachia in the Eastern United States. Traditional Appalachian music is derived from various influences, including the ballads, hymns and fiddle music of the British Isles (particularly Scotland), ...

was largely Scottish and Irish, with an important influence also being the African American

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

. Parts of Ontario, British Columbia and the Maritime provinces shared a tradition with the Appalachian region, and country music became popular quite quickly in these places.

Fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

rs like

George Wade Field Marshal George Wade (1673 – 14 March 1748) was a British Army officer and politician who served in the Nine Years' War, War of the Spanish Succession, Jacobite rising of 1715 and War of the Quadruple Alliance. He went on to be a milit ...

and Don Messer helped to popularize the style, beginning in the late 1920s. Wade was not signed until the 1930s, when

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...

, inspired by the success of Wilf Carter the year before, signed him,

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian country music guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' country charts betw ...

and Hank LaRivière. Canadian country as developed by Otto Wilke, Carter, Snow, Earl Heywood, and Stu Davis used a less nasal and more distinctly pronounced vocal style than American music, and stuck with more traditional ballads and narratives while US country began to use more songs about bars, family relationships, and quarrels between lovers. This style of country music became very popular in Canada over the next couple of decades. Later popular Canadian country stars range from

Stompin' Tom Connors Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, Order of Canada, OC (February 9, 1936 – March 6, 2013) was a Canadian country music, country and folk music, folk singer-songwriter. Focusing his career exclusively on his native Canada, he is credited wi ...

and Tom Jackson to

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( ; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time and the best-sel ...

and Rick Tippe to

Dean Brody Dean Brody (born August 12, 1975) is a Canadian country music artist from British Columbia. He has won 16 CCMA Awards and 2 JUNO Awards. Originally signed to Broken Bow Records in 2008, Brody made his debut later that year with the single "Br ...

Brett Kissel Brett Kissel (born May 27, 1990) is a Canadian country music, country singer. He has achieved four number-one hits on the Canadian country chart with "Airwaves (Brett Kissel song), Airwaves", "Drink About Me", "A Few Good Stories", and "Make a L ...

Paul Brandt Paul Rennée Belobersycky (born July 21, 1972), known professionally as Paul Brandt, is a Canadian country music artist. Growing up in Calgary, he was a pediatric nurse at the time of his big break. In 1996, he made his mark on the country music ...

and Jess Moskaluke. Stompin tom connors in 2002

Canadian-American rock artists

the Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...

and

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

were influential in the early fusion of country and rock. A hybrid

alternative country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in contemporary folk music, folk, blues, and country music. First emerging in the late 1960s, it is seen as a response to the perceived excesses of the then dominant psychedel ...

scene based on

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original eas ...

in the 1980s and 90s, pioneered by musician and community radio host

Handsome Ned Handsome Ned was the stage name of Robin David Masyk (June 4, 1957 – January 10, 1987), a Canadian country singer and songwriter."Singer dies of heroin overdose". ''Toronto Star'', January 12, 1987. Although he only released a small number of si ...

, launched artists including

Blue Rodeo Blue Rodeo is a Canadian rock band formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have released 16 full-length studio albums, four live recordings, one greatest hits album, and two video/DVDs, along with multiple solo albums, side projects, and colla ...

Prairie Oyster Prairie Oyster was a Canadian country music group from Toronto, Ontario. They were named Country Group or Duo of the year six times by both the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) and the Juno Awards. The band also won the Bud Country Fan ...

Skydiggers Skydiggers is a Canadian roots rock band from Toronto formed by Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson. Since 1990, they have released 19 albums/EPs and have had a number of singles that have appeared on the Canadian charts. Their most successful album i ...

, and

Cowboy Junkies Cowboy Junkies are an alternative country and folk rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1985 by Alan Anton (bassist), Michael Timmins (songwriter, guitarist), Peter Timmins (drummer) and Margo Timmins (vocalist). The three Timminses ...

Country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...

group Blue Rodeo became among the best-selling Canadian musicians in Canada.

Country pop Country pop (also known as urban cowboy or even urban country) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends g ...

artists with

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Music Albums * ''Cross Over'' (album), a 1987 album by Dan Peek, or the title song * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'', an album by Intrigue * ''Crossover'', an album by ...

successes on pop charts include

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian country, pop and adult contemporary music singer who has sold over 55 million album copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray has won four Grammys including the Grammy ...

Susan Aglukark Susan Aglukark, ( Inuktitut syllabics: ᓲᓴᓐ ᐊᒡᓘᒃᑲᖅ ''suusan agluukkaq''; born 27 January 1967) is a Canadian singer whose blend of Inuit folk music traditions with country and pop songwriting has made her a major recording st ...

, Amanda Stott, and MacKenzie Porter. Country music radio and television stations in Canada have sometimes defined the genre more flexibly than their counterparts in the United States. Artists more commonly associated with

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

contemporary folk Contemporary folk music refers to a wide variety of genres that emerged in the mid-20th century and afterwards which were associated with traditional folk music. Starting in the mid-20th century, a new form of popular folk music evolved from trad ...

music who have achieved country airplay include

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to folk- and jazz-influenced rock to soundscapes accompanying spoken stories. His lyrics reflect interests in spirit ...

Leahy Leahy is a Canadian folk music group. The eight band members, all from the Leahy family of 11 siblings, are from Lakefield, Ontario and have been touring Canada and internationally since the early 1980s, when they were known as The Leahy Family ...

Spirit of the West Spirit of the West were a Canadian folk rock band from North Vancouver, active from 1983 to 2016. They were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which m ...

and

the Rankin Family The Rankin Family (also known as The Rankins) are a Canadian musical family group from Mabou, Nova Scotia. The group has won many Canadian music awards, including 15 East Coast Music Awards, six Juno Awards, four Society of Composers, Authors, an ...

. The latter three also represent crossover from the

Canadian Celtic music Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

scene. There is a small

francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

scene in country music, typically sung in the

joual ''Joual'' () is an accepted name for the linguistic features of Quebec French that are associated with the French-speaking working class in Montreal which has become a symbol of national identity for some. ''Joual'' has historically been stigma ...

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

. Francophone artists include

Renée Martel Renée Martel (26 June 1947 – 18 December 2021) was a French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in ...

Gildor Roy Gildor Roy (born May 11, 1960) is a Canadian actor. Gildor is the brother of Québécois actors Luc Roy, Yvon Roy and Maxim Roy. Biography He is the former owner of a baseball club in the Dominican Republic, where his wife is from. Gildor ...

, Patrick Norman,

Willie Lamothe Willie Lamothe was the stage name of Joachim Guillaume Lamothe (January 27, 1920 – October 19, 1992), a Canadian musician and actor from Quebec.

Steph Carse Stephen Carse (born May 22, 1965), credited as Steph Carse is a Canadian pop singer. Career Originally from Montreal, Quebec,"Steph Carse showcases his songwriting". '' The Gazette'', December 8, 1994. Carse began his career in the 1990s. His fi ...

and Georges Hamel. Indigenous country artists in Canada include

Don Amero Donald Amero (born September 11, 1980) is a Canadians, Canadian country music, country and folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Winnipeg, Manitoba.Billy ThunderKloud & the Chieftones, Edward Gamblin, Tom Jackson,

Charlie Panigoniak Charlie Panigoniak (, 7 March 1946 – 6 March 2019), born in Chesterfield Inlet, Northwest Territories in what is now Nunavut, Canada, was an Inuk singer-songwriter and guitarist whose albums reflect on northern life. He began recording ...

, William Prince, and

Crystal Shawanda Crystal Shawanda (born July 26, 1983) is a Canadian blues and country music artist. CMT documented her rise to fame in the six-part series ''Crystal: Living the Dream'', which was broadcast in February 2008. Signed to RCA Nashville in 2007, she r ...

. The

Calgary Stampede The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, fair, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year a ...

provides a majority of the annual income to some local musicians in Alberta. The Coca-Cola stage provides a mix of Canadian and cross-Alberta performers while the Nashville North tent provides a stage for numerous commercial country acts. The Western Oasis schedules traditional folk and country acts for their Window on the West series, but most Calgary country, folk and roots musicians will be found performing throughout the city during the Stampede, often playing upwards of four gigs per day.

References

Canadian styles of music {{music-genre-stub

See also

References