Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, released in 2024, had fans across the globe grooving to country music with standout tracks like “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” and “BLACKBIIRD” But the album didn’t just captivate listeners, it sparked a wave of curiosity about country music’s deeper roots. Winning both Best Country Album and Album of the Year at the Grammys in February, Cowboy Carter introduced a fresh wave of talented artists reshaping the genre and prompted music lovers to look back into history to discover the Black pioneers who helped shape the country sound.
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Country music, a genre born in the rural South and West of the U.S. in the early 20th century, is recognized for its simple harmonies, narrative lyrics, and the use of stringed instruments such as guitars, fiddles, banjos, and pedal steel, Merriam-Webster notes. According to the Jacksonville Music Experience, melodies of early Southern country music were heavily influenced by hymns from Black churches, while the playing styles were shaped by Black musicians. Over time, the genre absorbed elements of blues and jazz, and new instruments like the guitar and fiddle were incorporated, laying the foundation for what we now recognize as country music.
DeFord Bailey
One of the genre’s earliest trailblazers was DeFord Bailey, born in 1889 in Smith County, Tennessee. Raised in a farming family, Bailey became known for his iconic harmonica playing and is widely regarded as the first Black country artist. Per the Country Music Hall of Fame, his musical roots ran deep. He was the grandson of a fiddler and grew up in a household that embraced “Black hillbilly music,” a genre that fused elements of both Black and white rural traditions. Bailey’s musical education began in church, where he learned hymns, and from there, he honed his skills by mimicking the sounds of nature: the rhythm of passing trains, the…
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