So You Want to Sing Country: A Guide for Performers
ONLINE RESOURCES
Chapter 1 Resources | Chapter 2 Resources
Chapter 3, 5 & 9 Resources | Appendix 3 Resources
Chapter 1 – The Evolution of Country Music
- The Hillbillies: “Cluck Old Hen”
- Roy Rogers & Dale Evans: “Happy Trails”
- The Carter Family: “Wildwood Flower”
- Eck Robertson: “Turkey in the Straw”
- Uncle Dave Macon: “Take Me Back to That Old Carolina Home”
- Deford Bailey: “Fox Chase”
- Deford Bailey: “Pan-American Blues”
- Ralph Stanley: “Constant Sorrow”
- Alabama Sacred Harp Singers: “Rocky Road”
- Mamie Smith: “Crazy Blues”
- Louis Armstrong: “When the Saints Go Marching In”
- Glenn Vernon and Edward Ryan: Minstrel Show Blackface Performance
- Race Records (documentary clip)
- Fiddlin’ John Carson: “The Grave of Little Mary Phagan”
Second Generation (1930s–1940s):
- Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys: “San Antonio Rose”
- Johnny Barfield: “Boogie Woogie”
- Sons of the Pioneers: “Tumbling Tumble Weeds”
- Patsy Montana: “I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart”
- Arthur Smith & His Cracker-Jacks: “Guitar Boogie”
- Bill Monroe: “Blue Grass Breakdown”
- Stanley Brothers: “Worried Man Blues”
- Tennessee Ernie Ford: “Sixteen Tons”
- Red Foley: “Peace in the Valley”
- Eddy Arnold: “Anytime”
- Hank Williams: “Cold Cold Heart”
- Kitty Wells: “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”
Third Generation (1950s–1960s):
- Elvis Presley: “That’s Alright (Mama)”
- Johnny Cash: “I Walk the Line”
- Patsy Cline: “Sweet Dreams”
- Jim Reeves: “Four Walls”
- Tammy Wynette: “Apartment No. 9”
- Loretta Lynn: “Coal Miners Daughter”
- Ray Charles: “I Can’t Stop Loving You”
- Buck Owens & Don Rich: “Tiger by the Tail”
Fourth Generation (1970s–1980s):
- Willie Nelson: “Me and Paul”
- Willie Nelson: “Crazy”
- John Denver & Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: “Thank God I’m a Country Boy”
- George Jones: “White Lightning”
- Dolly Parton: “I Will Always Love You”
- Ronnie Milsap: “I Wouldn’t Have Missed It for the World”
- Barbara Mandrell: “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool”
- The Statler Brothers: “I’ll Go to My Grave Loving You”
- The Oak Ridge Boys: “Elvira”
- Alabama: “Tennessee River”
- Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: “Fishin’ in the Dark”
- Charlie Daniels Band: “Devil Went Down to Georgia”
- Dave Dudley: “Six Days on the Road”
- Randy Travis: “Diggin’ Up Bones”
- George Strait: “I Cross My Heart”
- Ricky Skaggs: “Uncle Pen”
Fifth Generation (1990s):
- Clint Black: “Killin’ Time”
- Garth Brooks: “Friends in Low Places”
- Trisha Yearwood: “How Do I Live without You”
- Alan Jackson: “Where Were You”
- Keith Urban: “Somebody Like You”
- Brooks & Dunn: “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”
- Reba McEntire: “Whoever’s in New England”
- Faith Hill: “It Matters to Me”
- Tim McGraw: “Indian Outlaw”
- Martina McBride: “The Time Has Come”
- LeAnn Rimes: “Blue”
- Shania Twain: “Any Man of Mine”
- Dixie Chicks: “Wide Open Spaces”
Sixth Generation (2000s):
- Alison Krauss & Union Station: “Let Me Touch You for a While”
- Carrie Underwood: “Before He Cheats”
- Brad Paisley: “She’s Everything”
- Miranda Lambert: “Automatic”
- Zac Brown Band: “Colder Weather”
- Uncle Tupelo: “No Depression”
Chapter 2 – Singing and Voice Science (Scott McCoy)
- Your Voice: An Inside View
- National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS)
- National Center for Voice and Speech (NCVS)
- The Voice Foundation (TVF)
Chapter 3 – Vocal Health and the Country Music Artist (Wendy LeBorgne)
Chapter 5 – The Country Song
- Faith Hill: “If I’m Not in Love”
- Alan Jackson: “Where Were You”
- Shania Twain: “That Don’t Impress Me Much”
- Carrie Underwood: “Before He Cheats”
- Mary Chapin Carpenter: Down at the Twist and Shout”
- Jeffrey Broussard and the Creole Cowboys: “Zydeco a Pas Sale”
- Shania Twain: “Man, I Feel Like a Woman”
Chapter 9 – Using Audio Enhancement Technology (Matthew Edwards)
Equipment Manufacturers:
Recommended Equipment:
- SM58 Microphone (with on/off switch)
- Behringer Eurolive B212XL
- TC-Helicon Voice Live Play Vocal Effects Processor
- 10-Foot XLR Cable
Comparisons of Singers (on and off mic):
Tutorials:
Trade Publications:
Appendix C – Biographies
- Alabama: “Feels So Right”
- Lynn Anderson: “I Beg Your Pardon, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden”
- Eddy Arnold: “Anytime”
- Gene Autry: “Back in the Saddle Again”
- Deford Bailey: “Fox Chase”
- Deford Bailer: “Pan-American Blues”
- Clint Black: “Killin’ Time”
- Garth Brooks: “If Tomorrow Never Comes”
- Brooks & Dunn: “Brand New Man”
- Luke Bryan: “Drink a Beer”
- The Carter Family: “Wildwood Flower”
- Patsy Cline: “Sweet Dreams”
- John Denver: “Rocky Mountain High”
- Dixie Chicks: “Goodbye Earl”
- Vince Gill: “Go Rest on That High Mountain”
- Alan Jackson: “Where Were You”
- Waylon Jennings: Dukes of Hazard Theme Song
- George Jones: “He Stopped Loving Her Today”
- The Judds: “Mama, He’s Crazy”
- Alison Krauss and Union Station: “Paper Airplane”
- Lady Antebellum: “Need You Now”
- Miranda Lambert: “Automatic”
- Loretta Lynn: “Coal Miner’s Daughter”
- Barbara Mandrell: “Sleeping Single in a Double Bed”
- Martina McBride: “Concrete Angel”
- Reba McEntire: “Whoever’s in New England”
- Tim McGraw: “Live Like You Were Dying”
- Willie Nelson: “On the Road Again”
- Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: “Mr. Bojangles”
- The Oak Ridge Boys: “Elvira”
- Buck Owens: “Tiger by the Tail”
- Brad Paisley: “Me Neither”
- Dolly Parton: “Jolene”
- Elvis Presley: “Heartbreak Hotel”
- Jim Reeves: “Four Walls (Good Quality)”
- Charlie Rich: “Behind Closed Doors”
- Tex Ritter: “Git Along Little Doggies”
- Jimmie Rodgers: “Blue Yodel No. 1 (T for Texas)”
- Blake Shelton: “Hillbilly Bone”
- Ricky Skaggs: “Uncle Pen”
- Leonard Slye (Roy Rogers): “Happy Trails”
- The Statler Brothers: “Whatever”
- George Strait: “Pure Country”
- Sugarland: “Stay”
- Randy Travis: “Three Wooden Crosses”
- Shania Twain: “Still the One”
- Carrie Underwood: “Inside Your Heaven”
- Porter Wagoner: “Green Green Grass of Home”
- Kitty Wells: “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”
- Hank Williams: “Cold Cold Heart”
- Hank Williams, Jr.: “All My Rowdy Friends”
- Hank Williams, Jr.: “I Really Like Girls”
- Trisha Yearwood: “She’s in Love with the Boy”
