Bakersfield Sound

Description

The Bakersfield Sound is characterized by a raw, twangy sound with a strong backbeat, electric guitars, and a honky-tonk influence, often featuring steel guitars and fiddles. It is a reaction against the polished production of the Nashville Sound.

History

Emerging in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Bakersfield Sound developed in Bakersfield, California, as a response to the slick, orchestrated Nashville Sound. It was pioneered by artists like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, who sought to bring a more authentic, working-class feel to country music. The genre drew heavily from rock and roll and honky-tonk, and it played a significant role in shaping the future of country music.