Allison Lockhart 4/25/13 AMST301 Blog Post #1 Cowboy Music Recently, I decided to look up the origins of Western music

and seeing if there was any influence from native american cultures or Mexican cultures. The culture I found that had the most influence on Western music or frontier music were scottish and english cultures. However, I started to find music articles based on the american cowboy. Since the cowboy is a very iconic symbol of the American west I thought examining their tunes would be a good place to find the source of Western music. Immediately, I found that cowboy music not only holds the beginnings of country music, but the basic form of blues music. These folk songs played usually on guitar, harmonica, or just voice chants, usually had three main lines and then a repeating statement, much like a verse and chorus structure. Another thing to study would be the themes and topics addressed in the songs. To add the cultural aspect to the topic of cowboy music, it is important to remember that not all cowboys were white males. There were plenty of african-american cowboys and mexican cowboys that had there own musical background, instruments, and topics to transform into song (Cannon). Cowboy music also transcended state lines and I would also want to find how cowboy songs differed from state to state or how they traveled across the plains. The historical context of my research project would be in the 1880s to the early 1900s were ranches were formed and cowboys were riding across the frontier. I don't know if the origin of western music related to the american cowboy song connects to the contemporary but it shows how music has evolved over the years. Research could show that the cowboy blues ballad is still present in modern music and fits the structure of many country and pop songs of today. I think the beginning of the research could beginning with vaqueros and the mexican influence of music and how the white settlers arriving in Texas to start cattle ranchers changed the music or just started another genre completely. Or the other addition could be that the white settlers learned from the mexican and black cowboys (Cannon). Also with the rebellion and wars involved in Southern Texas, I wonder if any of the songs were influenced by those events. This topic is significant because the cowboy is an American icon and what most people think of when they address the "west" or frontier. It is important to find the true culture of the cowboy using emotional expression in song, and this is significant to me since I have a music minor. The major issues or debate over my topic is the question of who is the cowboy. This has to deal with race and how the racial structure existed then and how it is reevaluated in the

present. Most use the white heroic John Wayne cowboy figure, but there is also slave african american cow drivers that also have the title of cowboy. This research topic would also question the image of the cowboy and the stereotypes that surround it. Songs of the cowboy illustrate the roles and issues on their mind, so a look at lyrics might also give insight to the actual life of a cowboy and not the hollywood western role they are portrayed as (Cowboy songs). I think it would be interesting to see how these races influenced the music as well. African american cowboys maybe have been singing about different topics then white cowboys would be singing (Cannon). Perhaps, the different races of cowboys were singing about each other with their own racism and views. Somebody interested in this topic would be interested in music, culture, and the western development and migration of the West. Their interests would be on how music develops and affects the people of the land, especially since music has such a hold on music emotionally and culturally. Another place somebody interested in this topic should look is John A. Lomaxs Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads, written a hundred years ago by a man searching for cowboy songs (Cannon).

References/Sources:

"Cowboy Songs." Lone Hand Western: Reliving History. Lone Hand Western, n.d. Web. 25 Apr 2013. <http://www.lonehand.com/cowboysongs/cowboy_songs.htm>. Hal, Cannon. "Who Were The Cowboys Behind 'Cowboy Songs'?." NPR Music. NPR, 04 Dec 2010. Web. 25 Apr 2013. <http://www.npr.org/2010/12/05/131761541/we-ve-all-heardcowboy-songs-but-who-were-the-cowboys>.
Reference only: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_music_(North_America)