Canadian country music

Country music has a long history in Canada. The genre evolved out of the diverse musical practices of the Appalachian region of the United States. Appalachian folk music was largely Scottish and Irish, with an important influence also being the African American country blues. Parts of Ontario, British Columbia and the Maritime provinces shared a tradition with the Appalachian region, and country music became popular quite quickly in these places. Fiddlers like George Wade and Don Messer helped to popularize the style, beginning in the late 1920s. Wade was not signed until the 1930s, when Victor Records, inspired by the success of Wilf Carter the year before, signed him, Hank Snow and Hank LaRivière.

Music of Canada
Genres
Blues classical country grime hip hop jazz punk rock Latin subgenres
Specific forms
Ethnic music	Overview Aboriginal Blackfeet Dene Innu Inuit Iroquois Kwakwaka'wakw Métis Celtic French
Instrumental repertoires	Canadian fiddle
Media and performance
Music awards	Junos Polaris Félixes Hall of Fame ECMAs Atlantis WCMAs CASBYs CRMAs CCMAs MMVAs CUMAs CFMAs
Music charts	Canadian Hot 100 Singles Chart (Jam!) Chart Attack Exclaim! CBC Music Top 20
Music festivals	Many notables Canadian Music Week Quebec City Summer Festival Montreal International Jazz Festival Les FrancoFolies de Montréal Ottawa Bluesfest Big Valley Jamboree Celtic Colours Havelock Country Jamboree
Music media	Print media La Scena Musicale CM ChartAttack Exclaim! The Record RPM The Coast Music television ATN B4U Music aux.tv bpm:tv CMT MuchLoud MuchMore MuchMoreRetro MuchMusic MuchVibe MusiMax MusiquePlus PunchMuch
Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem	"O Canada"
Other	Anthems and nationalistic
Regional music
Ontario Quebec British Columbia Prairie Provinces AB SK MB Newfoundland and Labrador Maritime Provinces NB PEI NS Yukon Northwest Territories Nunavut

Canadian country as developed by Otto Wilke, Carter, Snow and Earl Heywood, used a less nasal and more distinctly pronounced vocal style than American music, and stuck with more traditional ballads and narratives while American country began to use more songs about bars, family relationships, and quarrels between lovers. This style of country music became very popular in Canada over the next couple of decades. Later popular Canadian country stars range from Stompin' Tom Connors and Tom Jackson to Shania Twain and Rick Tippe to Dean Brody, Brett Kissel, Paul Brandt and Jess Moskaluke.

Stompin' Tom Connors, 2005

Radio and television stations in Canada which play country music, however, are sometimes more flexible in how they define the genre than their counterparts in the United States. Canadian country stations have commonly played artists more commonly associated with folk music, such as Bruce Cockburn, Leahy, Spirit of the West and The Rankin Family.

There is also a small francophone scene in the genre, typically sung in the joual accent. Francophone artists include Renée Martel, Gildor Roy, Patrick Norman, Willie Lamothe, Steph Carse and Georges Hamel.

See also

• The Flemings of Torbay

References