The term "hillbilly" is believed to have been printed for the first time in The New York Journal in 1900. The writer described a person who enjoyed folk songs and fiddle tunes as the following: "A Hill-Billie is a free and untrammeled white citizen of Alabama, who lives in the hills, has no means to speak of, dresses as he can, talks as he pleases, drinks whiskey when he gets it, and fires off his revolver as the fancy takes him" (Oermann 11).

Country music has been around for many centuries; however, the above description was when the music was actually given its original moniker: hillbilly music. The genre first made it onto a record on June 30, 1922 (Wolff 1). On that day, Victor Talking Machine Company became the first record company to record "country" music made by fiddler Eck Robertson. At that time, Robertson recorded "Sallie Gooden." However, by that time, artists such as Vernon Dalhart, Fiddlin' John Carson, and Riley Puckett had already begun making music. While Robertson recorded mainly rural folk music, Dalhart attempted to take country music uptown with such hits as the first million seller in country music, "The Prisoner's Song."

Despite these early recordings, many credit country's beginnings to Ralph Peer. Peer had recorded Fiddlin' John Carson's "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" in June of 1923. Carson's was a fiddling contest champion whose OKeh recordings was perhaps the first made by a country artist for a country audience (Wolff 2). But it was in 1927 that he recorded "Father of Country Music" Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family in Bristol, Tennessee. For this event, Bristol continues to be known as the birthplace of country music.

Country music during the 1920's consisted mainly of string instruments, usually with the focus on fiddling. The music also often included banjo, mandolin, and occasionally acoustic guitar. Many artists' voices were imperfect, and recording technology was such that flat voices could not be "perfected"; consequently, the focus was often on the music, not the lyrics or voices.

The Depression that occurred after the stock market crash of 1929 affected the recording business a great deal; although record sales decreased significantly, the major artists of the period were able to survive, and some, like Jimmie Rodgers, continued to sell numerous records. As a result of the drop of record sales, people turned on their radios to listen to free music. As FDR's New Deal succeeded, the recording industry began to prosper. Decca was launched in 1934 amid better record sales, cutting record sales by 50% (Wolff 7). The country music industry again flourished.