Date of Award

Spring 8-1-2002

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Donald Jennermann

Second Advisor

Thomas Derrick

Third Advisor

Jennifer Drake

Abstract

Evangelical Protestantism prevailed in the rural Appalachian area at the beginning of the 201 h century and therefore influenced the development of the country music tradition. In this study, the influence of evangelical Protestantism is analyzed in terms of country music's lyrical content, performance settings, vocalization styles, artist's lifestyles and image, career selections and business decisions. The birth of country music and its historical connections to evangelical Protestant culture, including the Bristol Sessions, the spread of the radio, the Grand Ole Opry, gospel recordings, and the tensions and similarities between the church and the honk:y-tonk: are discussed in the first chapter. The second chapter focuses on Lee Smith's country music fiction novel The Devil 's Dream and its illustration of the influence of evangelical Protestantism. The messages revealed in artists' autobiographies and themes in song lyrics are explored in the third chapter as evidence of this influence. Through the exploration of these aspects of country music, country music is shown to be a mirror of rural American protestant culture and a preserver of its values and beliefs.

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