[Ads-l] Antedating of "Country Music"

[Shapiro, Fred]

Excellent methodology and result.  Thanks !

Fred Shapiro

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2026 5:47 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Country Music"

There were too many matches for "country music" with divergent senses,
so I constrained the search by adding the instruments mentioned in the
germane OED definition: fiddle, banjo, and guitar. Below is a 1926
citation that might be ok.

country music NOUN
[Begin OED excerpt]
2. Popular music of a style originating in folk music of the rural
southern United States and cowboy music of the American West,
typically consisting of ballads and dance tunes accompanied by fiddle,
banjo, guitar, and pedal steel guitar. Cf. country and western n. and
hillbilly n. 2.
[End OED excerpt]

Date: March 24, 1926
Newspaper: The Charlotte News
Newspaper Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Article: Old-Time Music Features Meeting of Monarch Club
Quote Page 21, Column 7
Database: Newspapers.com

https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers.com%2Farticle%2Fthe-charlotte-news-countrymusic%2F189340796%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C24ff8896d101403bcd4908de57acbe72%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C639044596646489079%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=LpdvvjijrVw%2FI5jKcE7sSGo%2BX%2F0fofauNzicUV6oKLY%3D&reserved=0<https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-news-countrymusic/189340796/>

[Begin excerpt]
Echoes of olden days, in the mellow music of the fiddle and strum of
the banjo and guitar, were heard at the weekly meeting of the
Charlotte Monarch Club, held in the Chamber of Commerce Wednesday at 1
P. M.

A string orchestra, playing "country" music, entertained the club
members. This orchestra was composed of Robert Helms, Archie Porter,
Joe and Brown of Antioch, Joe Forbis, of Matthews, and Joe Baker and
James Eaton, of Charlotte.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Mon, Jan 19, 2026 at 11:52 AM Shapiro, Fred
<00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> country music (OED 1942)
>
> 1934 Philadelphia Inquirer Public Ledger 10 June 10/3 (ProQuest)
>
> On Thursday, June 14, 1934, at 1:00 P.M. General Store will present a real country wedding.  It will be an exciting half-hour of real old-fashioned country happenings with good old country music.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
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