[2] The harmonica, invented in the early 19th century in central Europe, arrived in North America shortly before the American Civil War; its small size and portability made it a favorite among the American public and the flood of pioneers heading westward,[3] while squeezeboxes (such as the concertina and accordion) also enjoyed popularity in the Old West, moreso than guitars according to folk singer Peter Bellamy.
[4] Otto Gray, an early cowboy band leader, stated authentic western music had only three rhythms, all coming from the gaits of the cow pony: walk, trot, and lope.
[6][7] In 1910, John Lomax, in his book Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads,[8] first gained national attention for western music.
White, Jules Verne Allen, Harry McClintock, Tex Owens, and Wilf Carter alias Montana Slim.
Film producers began incorporating fully orchestrated four-part harmonies and sophisticated musical arrangements into their motion pictures.
Rock and roll dominated music sales and Hollywood recording studios dropped most of their western artists (a few artists did successfully cross between the two, most prominently Johnny Cash, whose breakthrough hit "Folsom Prison Blues" (1955, live in 1968) combined a western theme with a rock-and-roll arrangement).
Furthermore, the Red Dead series of games heavily features western music, since it takes place in an Old West setting.
Bill Elm and Woody Jackson's modern spin on an Old West game would not be complete without their carefully assembled score; what they call their best project to date[23] Independent video games SteamWorld and Gunman Clive also make use of western music, as do other larger productions such as Dillon's Rolling Western.
The contributions of Chris LeDoux were also key in the expanded growth of Western music because of his work in the cowboy song genre in the 1990s and early 2000s.
LeDoux was a PRCA World Champion in bareback riding who composed songs about personal experiences in the rodeo and ranch cowboy lifestyles[24].
LeDoux exploded in popularity in 1992 when he dueted with country artist Garth Brooks in their Grammy nominated hit, “Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy”[25].
His newfound popularity allowed LeDoux to introduce millions of newcomers to the Western genre, a style of music that had previously existed for many years before him.