Study Guide For Teachers
The Doo -Wah Riders In
Country Coast to
Coast Presented by:
Young Audiences (866) 500-9265 www.yanj.org
www.yaep.org
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
For twenty years, the Doo-Wah Riders have been riding their own patch of the musical range throughout the west. The Doo-Wahs are an amazing band with a unique, original sound using guitars, fiddles, harmonica, accordion and of course, their voices! They define their sound as "high energy country with a cajun twist". Their tight musicianship and powerful arrangements of classic and original songs have made them favorites everywhere they go!
BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS
Country Music has its origins in the folk music of Great Britain and Ireland. The music changed and grew in America because of the influence of music brought from other parts of Europe, Latin America and Africa.
Country Music moved from the farm to modern America due to radio. Artists became professionals, but the simple harmonies and themes of writing about working people has never changed.
In the 1950’s country Music started to become strongly influenced by cross over artists like Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley.
Today, Country Music is being strongly influenced by pop music.
VOCABULARY WORDS
Cajun music The music of Louisiana. Strongly influenced by the local French descendants. The predominant instruments of Cajun music are the fiddle and the accordion. Country music An American musical style with roots in the South. It is also strongly influenced by Western cowboy music and folk music. Most of the instrumentation country music is in string instruments such as banjos, guitars and violin, and a non-string instrument such as the harmonica.
Percussion wasn’t commonly added to country music until the 1940’s. Rockabilly music – Country music which was strongly influenced by Rock n Roll. Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley were the real pioneers of this movement. Western music – refers to cowboy ballads. Western musicians also added the steel or Hawaiian guitar to the mix of instruments.
Folk —Originally identified by its strong dance beat, instrumental and acoustic music - was community oriented. Blues — simple and repetitive story/song, with roots in early African-American, southern life. Dixieland — New Orleans ragtime music, featuring brass instruments and improvisation. Swing — dance music with large orchestral arrangements, often with a leader and a singer.
Rhythm & Blues (often abbreviated to R & B) — combines the African American blues with the drive of a big band sound.
ARTIST INFORMATION
The Doo-Wah Riders have appeared in concert with: Garth Brooks, George Strait, Alabama, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Brooks and Dunn, Chris LeDoux, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, Alison Krauss, The Judds, Tracy Lawrence, Brad Paisley, Lone Star, Clint Black, Asleep at the
Wheel, Jodee Messina, Randy Travis, The Oak Ridge Boys, Richochet, Travis Tritt, Marty Stuart, Leann Rimes, Mark Wills, John Denver, Ricky Van Shelton, K. D. Lang, Mark Chestnutt, Jo-El Sonnier, The Statler Bros. , Jerry Jeff Walker, and Joan Jett. In addition to being artists in their own right, the Doo-Wah Riders have served as a back-up band for: Collin Raye, Pam Tillis, Glen Campbell, Deanna Carter, Bryan White, George Jones/Chalee Tennison, Billy Ray Cyrus, Neal McCoy, Lee Ann Womack, Martina McBride, Mark Wills, Chad Brock, Clay Walker, Rick Trevino, Moe Bandy, Aaron Tippin, Doug Supernaw, The Kinleys, Shelby Lynn, and country legends Leroy Van Dyke, and Stonewall Jackson. The Doo-Wah Riders recorded with Byron Berline on his Grammy nominated CD, "Fiddle and a Song".
The band appeared in the movie "Basic Instinct", starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone. They were featured doing one of their own songs, "Glowing in the Ashes". They appeared on TNN's
"Prime Time Country" and on the prime time television Dick Clark Production "Will You Marry Me?"
RESOURCES
http://countrymusichalloffame.org/country-music-history/