Hi,

I've separated Country Music into tiem spans the first is the early "String Band" and "Cowboy" Years (1922-1932) which spans the time period of the first commercial recordings made in the early 1920's until the early 1930s and encompasses the major politic and economic event of the 1929 Depression.

Early Country ends with the beginning of Western Swing in 1933 but before the honky-tonk style which was firmly entrenched until after the death of "The Hillbilly Shakespeare" Hank Williams in 1953. The late 1940s also saw the birth of hillbilly boogie; which became rockabilly.

A new phase of Country began with the birth of rock n' roll and Elvis (starting in the late 40s but 1954 seems to be the accepted date) in the mid-1950s, which is the end of the radio era.

Richie