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country music
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Carter Family The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, features a modern curved facade, tall windows, and a tower, with a grassy lawn and benches in front. The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, a large red brick building with arched windows and white trim, known as the former home of the Grand Ole Opry. Minnie Pearl and Hank Snow Country singer Roy Acuff plays with a yo-yo on stage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, while a man in work clothes bends down to watch. The Carter Family performs on stage at the Grand Ole Opry in 1951, with Maybelle Carter on guitar, Helen Carter on accordion, and June Carter Cash and Anita Carter singing at a microphone. Hank Williams performs with the Drifting Cowboys on stage at the Grand Ole Opry in 1951, with a microphone labeled WSM Grand Ole Opry and a backdrop reading Joe's Place. Marty Robbins stands at a microphone playing guitar and singing on stage with band members at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, circa 1950s. Earl Scruggs, left, plays banjo and Lester Flatt, right, plays guitar as they perform with The Foggy Mountain Boys at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee around 1960. Loretta Lynn sings and plays guitar on stage at the Grand Ole Opry, her name visible on the guitar strap, in a black and white photo from the early 1960s.
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Carter Family
Carter Family One of most important pioneering acts of early country music was the Carter Family, featuring (from left) Maybelle Carter, A.P. Carter, and Sara Carter. In the 1940s another generation of country stars emerged from the family: the Carter Sisters, consisting of Maybelle Carter and her three daughters, June Carter, Helen Carter, and Anita Carter.

country music

Also known as: country and western, hillbilly music
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country music, style of American popular music that originated in rural areas of the South and West in the early 20th century. The term country and western music (later shortened to country music) was adopted by the recording industry in 1949 to replace the derogatory label hillbilly music. Ultimately, country musicā€™s roots lie in the ballads, folk songs, and popular songs of the English, Scots, and Irish settlers of the Appalachians and other parts of...

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