American Folk Music

AKA: American Roots MusicUnited States FolkUSA Folk Music Regional folk music of the United States traces back through the history of European and West African settlement and migration to North America, including parts of northern Mexico and Canada in addition to the United States. The music is thus heavily influenced by European Folk Music, especially the styles brought across the Atlantic Ocean by Scottish, Irish, English, German, Polish, and French migrants. This music is often called American Roots Music, due to the fact that these regional styles would eventually develop into and strongly shape genres such as Blues, Rock, Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, and modern Country. Rather than remaining a mere copy of imported musical traditions, new forms of regional music evolved that blended European and West African styles and instrumentation, especially in the United States' southern region. While the recording industry and performing groups were largely segregated as these styles were popularized (often between black "race records" and white 'hillbilly records"), there was still a great deal of cross-fertilization between the music made by African and European-Americans. In the Appalachian and southern regions, Traditional Country grew out of the mixing of Anglo-Celtic ballads with influences from African-American minstrel shows, especially musical syncopation and instruments like the banjo. In the deep south, African-Americans crafted indigenous styles of music often using European instrumentation, such as Spiritual, Ragtime, Dixieland, and Country Blues styles. In Louisiana, Creole populations created Cajun Music genres such as Zydeco that mixed diverse French and African-American influences.