Early country - Cowboy - Western swing - Bluegrass - Honky tonk - Rockabilly

Early Country: Early commercial country music was a direct descendant of the ballad and folk tradition brought to the American South by immigrants from the British Isles in the 18th and 19th centuries. When not carrying on the oral tradition of storytelling through song, old-time country music featured instrumentals with the fiddle usually taking the melodic role of the voice. Fiddlin' John Carson combined the two traditions by singing and playing simultaneously on a 1923 two-song "78," considered to be the first country music hit record.
The most important group of this era was undoubtedly The Carter Family -- their importance to the growth of country music cannot be overstated. The ultimate preservationists of the Southern folk tradition, the Carters are considered "The First Family of Country Music"; their song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" is one of the great standards of country music as is "Wildwood Flower," which first introduced Maybelle Carter's influential guitar style. The ...