From the Shadows to the Spotlight: From the Shadows to the Spotlight: Honoring Black Trailblazers in Country Music History

DeFord Bailey with a harmonica, c. 1980. Courtesy of David C. Morton via the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

by Joe Z. Johnson, PhD candidate, Indiana University, Bloomington

Although country music is often marketed as the cultural property of white America, its roots are deeply African American. From early Black musicians like DeFord Bailey to genre-bending artists such as Ray Charles and Linda Martell, Black musicians have been essential architects of the sound, spirit and evolution of country music.

In the early 20th century, as record companies like RCA Victor ventured into the rural South, they encountered diverse musical traditions that confounded their racial expectations. The string band music of Appalachia, with the banjo at its center, was deeply intertwined with African American musical aesthetics. It is undeniable that the banjo is a Black instrument that was first constructed in the Caribbean by enslaved people. Its rhythmic drive and melodic fluidity permeated the American South and Appalachia, developing into… Read More on Fanfare Magazine.