Country Music Comes to Australia: An American Art Form and Its Evolution in the Land Down Under (Charles K. Wolfe Music Series)

In Country Music Comes to Australia, Andrew K. Smith charts the development of Australian country music from its genesis in the mid-1800s through the early 1950s.Documenting the origins and development of the genre and its various influences, including Australian indigenous music traditions, European immigration to Australia, and the Big Bang of American country music, Smith's study spans a long and complex history of Australian country music once thought to be only a small piece of the nation's larger music history.Smith's account also examines country music's impact on Australian culture and its stars' transcendence to international stages. Smith highlights the significant impact that American country music had on the genre, discussing the influence of North American icons like Vernon Dalhart, Jimmie Rodgers, and Gene Autry on emerging Australasian artists like Tex Morton, Buddy Williams, Slim Dusty, and others.With many Australian country artists largely unknown outside of the islan