Drawing on Appalachian 'Hillbilly Music', Country Swing, Honky Tonk and Rockabilly to create the Nashville Sound, mainstream Country and Western has been an integral part of the American musical landscape for more than half a century, its major stars selling records in the kinds of numbers more usually associated with the biggest of pop stars. The cowboy hat and steel guitar are as much a fixture at stadium gigs as dry ice and expensive beer, yet Country & Western remains true to its oldest tradition that of the simple, often self-deprecating song relating a personal story.
