Western Music

Bailee Barrilleaux

Western Music

USH (F)

I Pledge



A map depicting the exploration of the Western Frontier.

               The Age of Expansion and its products are one of the few things that fully represent the American spirit . As curiosity swept the nation, many Americans began romanticizing the mysterious and unknown land area known as the American West. “The Last Frontier”, as it was often called, was a representation of
 freedom with its open ranges and great magnitude. The West was also a symbol of hope to each citizen and a symbol of hope for America as it grows and expands, not only as a land mass, but as a nation. One of the many products of this era that encompasses these uniquely American ideals was Western Music. This genre boomed with the period of expansion and, in the music world, the time of Western style music is referred to as the “romance era”. The bands and musicians of Western Music used the style to create innovative pieces about the West that the people of America could relate to and adore. The music created something that was completely unique and entirely American. That is why Western Music is such an essential product from the Age of Expansion.

              


The sheet music of a classic Western
song, The Pot Wrastler, by Curley Fletcher.

Western Music’s first storm of popularity was around 1820-1900. It was composed by and about people who moved West during expansion. Songs often told stories of cowboys living in the West and the freedom that surrounded their everyday lives. The music celebrated life on an open range as cowboys lived their dream. A few songs that directly relate to cowboys include, “The Cowboy’s Life” and “I Want To Be A Cowboy’s Sweetheart”. Western Music influenced people as they searched for hope, while artists of the time were influenced by other sources. Many Western musicians were inspired by multiple Europeans styles, including old English, Scottish, and Irish folk. These

Pictured above is a mandolin and a banjo, both of which
are common instruments that were used in Western Music.

mixed with the closer to home influence of Mexican and Native American folk allowed artists to produce a genre that was distinctively their own, and distinctively American. Common instruments used in this genre are the guitar, fiddle, mandolin, bass, steel guitar, banjo, harmonica, and piano.Western Music began to fade out at the beginning of the 20th century when the mystery of the West was less intriguing. As it should have, the style made a comeback in the 1930s and 1940s. Ideas from the Age of Expansion began to appear for another round. The surge of cowboys appearing on TV shows and in films helped revive the lost sound. Unfortunately Western Music died out again in the 1960s when Rock and Roll swept the nation, but it was not exactly a downgrade. Although Western music never fully made a lasting comeback, it was the ancestor to the now prominent and extensive genre of Country that keeps the ideals of American freedom alive today.



Otto Gray and the Oklahoma Cowboys perform on one of many radio shows.

Otto Gray; the front man for the ground-breaking Western Group.

           There were many significant musicians apart of the Western Music movement, but the most well-known and accomplished of them all was Otto Gray. He grew up with his family on a ranch in Oklahoma. Otto was a part time solo musician, part time band organizer, and part time cowboy up until he found a group of men that were as interested in music as he was and they formed the famed group; Otto Gray and the Oklahoma Band. Although they were overlooked by many Western Music scholars, Otto Gray and his musical friends changed the way that America looked at Western Music. They were the first nationally famous “Cowboy Band” in all of America. The group wrote new and interesting songs that caused people to fantasize about life in the West.  They were the first Western band to successfully tour East America. The group toured with the Vaudeville Circuit from 1924-1936, which was a style of entertainment where many separate and
unrelated acts travel together across the nation. Otto and his crew, like many Western bands, did not record many tracks in the studio, but found themselves to be more successful travelling the country and reaching their fans directly. Along with touring, Otto Gray and the Oklahoma Boys were one of the first Western artists to appear on radio and was the first Western band to appear on the cover of Billboard in June 1931.
 Otto Gray was not only a pivotal person in the growing genre of Western Music, but he also was a very talented musician, who used created things that people had never heard. He said that there were only three
rhythms of Western Music; cowpony-walk, trot, and lope. These three outlines were transformed into an endless span of unique pieces. Otto, like all Western artists used music theory to shape their sound. One of the definitions of Western music is that the melody is formed and supported by all other elements of the music. That means that song writers used harmony, dynamics, timbre and meter to transform the melodies of songs into things that have never been created before. Not only does this process make Western Music unique in itself, but it also shows the innovative thinking of American musicians and their country. Otto Gray was a great musician and role model for others who followed him as he crafted a genre that still represents America to this day.

Works Cited

Born, Georgina, and David Hesmondhalgh. "On Difference, Representation, and Appropriation in Music." Introduction. Western Music and Its Others Difference, Representation, and Appropriation in Music. Berkeley: U of California, 2000. N. pag. Google Books. Google. Web. 28 Oct. 2014. <http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=r_Kd6Dtm3egC&oi=fnd&pg=PP9&dq=western+music&ots=jqa5l8sLKU&sig=uiLc_jJJZqC6E_NxySWs2cIPF_w#v=onepage&q&f=false>.

Mitchell, Danlee. "Elements of Music - Part One." Elements of Music - Part One. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2014. <http://trumpet.sdsu.edu/M345/Elements_of_Music1.html>.

Otto Gray and His Oklahoma Cowboys. Perf. Otto Gray, Owen Gray, Chief Sanders, Lee Allen, and Wade Allen. Youtube. Youtube, 20 June 2010. Web. 4 Nov. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWE7naetW_w>.

"Vaudeville." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/vaudeville/about-vaudeville/721/>.

"Western Expansion." American Folk Songs (Westward Expansion) –. Ballad of America, n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2014. <http://www.balladofamerica.com/music/indexes/tags/westwardexpansion.htm>.

Barrett, J.P., composer. "I Will Go West!" Sheet Music. Boston: J.A Butler, 1875. From Library of Congress: Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music. <http://www.loc.gov/item/sm1875.10352>