Honky Tonk

Honky Tonk is an upbeat style of Country often dealing with working-class life, with some popular themes including drinking and cheating. The initial honky tonk country was formed around WWII and had it's golden ages during the early to mid-1950s. It gets it's name from honky tonks, a type of bar common in the southern United States, where people can gather and dance to live country music. The sound is often seen as an upbeat version of Traditional Country, with strong backbeats, strumming guitars, fiddle, string bass and the addition of the then popular Hawaiian steel guitar. The vocals usually feature an expressive, rough and nasally tone, nicknamed the "high lonesome sound." This original honky tonk sound then went on to lose popularity in the late-1950s to the likes of the Nashville Sound and Rockabilly, and the Bakersfield Sound would continue and evolve the honky tonk sound throughout the 1960s and 1970s.