Editing Country music (section)

====Singing cowboys and western swing====
[[File:Roy Rogers and Gail Davis 1948.jpg|thumb|upright|Publicity photo of [[Roy Rogers]] and [[Gail Davis]], 1948]]

In the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or western music, which had been recorded since the 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood. Some of the popular [[singing cowboy]]s from the era were [[Gene Autry]], the [[Sons of the Pioneers]], and [[Roy Rogers]].<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040216083920/http://www.roughstock.com/history/cowboy.html |archive-date=February 16, 2004 |url=http://www.roughstock.com/history/cowboy.html |title=Roughstock's History of Country Music – Cowboy Music |publisher=Roughstock.com |access-date=February 1, 2011}}</ref> Country music and western music were frequently played together on the same radio stations, hence the term ''country and western'' music, despite country and western being two distinct genres.

Cowgirls contributed to the sound in various family groups. [[Patsy Montana]] opened the door for female artists with her history-making song "I Want To Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart". This would begin a movement toward opportunities for women to have successful solo careers. [[Bob Wills]] was another country musician from the Lower [[Great Plains]] who had become very popular as the leader of a "[[Dixieland|hot]] [[string band]]," and who also appeared in [[Western (genre)|Hollywood westerns]]. His mix of country and [[jazz]], which started out as dance hall music, would become known as [[western swing]]. [[Cliff Bruner]], [[Moon Mullican]], [[Milton Brown]] and [[Adolph Hofner]] were other early western swing pioneers. [[Spade Cooley]] and [[Tex Williams]] also had very popular bands and appeared in films. At its height, western swing rivaled the popularity of [[big band]] swing music.