Outlaw Subgenre Essay

Taylor Kirkpatrick

Mr. Barbadoro

AP Composition

31 May 2023

Who is Zach Bryan? Country music officially started getting recorded in 1922 by Victor and Okeh recording companies. Since then, there have been many influential moments that have formed country music into what it is today. In 1945, Nashville, Tennessee became the center for country music. Country music was mixed with many genres such as blues and rock. In the 1950s, Rockabilly (The style that mixed rock and roll with "hillbilly" music) artists such as Johnny Cash and Conway Twitty began to record hit after hit. Many artists continued to make music and began to get inducted into the country music hall of fame. The Bakersfield Sound (1960’s) was a time where many felt country was too

In the 1970’s, Willie Nelson created the Outlaw movement and that opened up yet again another division of country music. What made the outlaw subgenre different was the usage of local flavor being combined with rock and roll and their roots. Kris Kristoffrson, Johnny Cash, and Hank Williams Jr., fit into the outlaw category with their music they recorded during this decade. In the 1980s, New country, or “countrypolitan,” was created, mixing western swing and bluegrass together. In 1982, The Bluebird Cafe opened and it became the spot for new talent to be seen and discovered. In 1983, MTV network created CMT (Country Music Television) to air country programming, including news and music videos. Many different genres such as honky tonk, bluegrass, pop, and new country begin to contribute crossover appeal. This allowed artists to move freely between genres. While singers such as Maety Stuart and Patsy Loveless stay close to traditional roots; Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Shania Twain and other artists all moved closer to a pop/rock sound but still keep some traditional country sounds. This all occurred during the 1990s and at this time country singers gained international fame.

From a religious perspective, living like a child means to be free from the pressures of adulthood: children are connected to nature and their surroundings and they focus on the simpler things in life. For Zach, he wants to fill his life with the right things and arrive at his destination with proper awareness: being proud of the way he lived. He ends the song singing about how he wants to “feel it all, joy, pain, and sky…We all burn, burn, burn, and die” these lyrics symbolize how he wants to live his life with all its highs and lows in a harmonious