1.
Durham, North Carolina
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Durham is a city in the U. S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County, though portions also extend into Wake County in the east, the U. S. Census Bureau estimated the citys population to be 251,893 as of July 1,2014. Durham is the core of the four-county Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Area and it is the home of Duke University and North Carolina Central University, and is also one of the vertices of the Research Triangle area. The Eno and the Occoneechi, related to the Sioux and the Shakori and they may have established a village named Adshusheer on the site. The Great Indian Trading Path has been traced through Durham, and Native Americans helped to mold the area by establishing settlements, in 1701, Durhams beauty was chronicled by the English explorer John Lawson, who called the area the flower of the Carolinas. During the mid-1700s, Scots, Irish, and English colonists settled on land granted to George Carteret by King Charles I, early settlers built gristmills, such as West Point, and worked the land. Prior to the American Revolution, frontiersmen in what is now Durham were involved in the Regulator movement, according to legend, Loyalist militia cut Cornwallis Road through this area in 1771 to quell the rebellion. Later, William Johnston, a shopkeeper and farmer, made Revolutionaries munitions, served in the Provincial Capital Congress in 1775. Large plantations, Hardscrabble, Cameron, and Leigh among them, were established in the antebellum period, by 1860, Stagville Plantation lay at the center of one of the largest plantation holdings in the South. There were free African-Americans in the area as well, including several who fought in the Revolutionary War and this road, eventually followed by US Route 70, was the major east-west route in North Carolina from colonial times until the construction of interstate highways. Steady population growth and an intersection with the road connecting Roxboro and Fayetteville made the area near this site suitable for a US Post Office, Durhams location is a result of the needs of the 19th century railroad industry. The wood-burning steam locomotives of the time had to frequently for wood and water. Eventually a railway depot was established on land donated by Bartlett S. Durham in 1849, sherman occupied the nearby state capital of Raleigh during the American Civil War. The last formidable Confederate Army in the South, commanded by General Joseph E. Johnston, was headquartered in Greensboro 50 miles to the west. After the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia by Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9,1865, fortunately for Durham, its future had nothing to do with 19th-century politics. As both armies passed through Durham, Hillsborough, and surrounding Piedmont communities, they confiscated the areas Brightleaf Tobacco, the community of Durham Station grew slowly before the Civil War, but expanded rapidly following the war. Much of this attributed to the establishment of a thriving tobacco industry. Veterans returned home after the war, with an interest in acquiring more of the tobacco they had sampled in North Carolina
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
Country music
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Country music is a genre of United States popular music that originated in the southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from the genre of United States, such as folk music. Blues modes have been used throughout its recorded history. The term country music is used today to many styles and subgenres. In 2009 country music was the most listened to rush hour radio genre during the evening commute, immigrants to the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North America brought the music and instruments of Europe and Africa along with them for nearly 300 years. Country music was introduced to the world as a Southern phenomenon, Bristol, Tennessee, has been formally recognized by the U. S. Congress as the Birthplace of Country Music, based on the historic Bristol recording sessions of 1927. Since 2014, the city has been home to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, historians have also noted the influence of the less-known Johnson City sessions of 1928 and 1929, and the Knoxville sessions of 1929 and 1930. Prior to these, pioneer settlers, in the Great Smoky Mountains region, had developed a musical heritage. The first generation emerged in the early 1920s, with Atlantas music scene playing a role in launching countrys earliest recording artists. Okeh Records began issuing hillbilly music records by Fiddlin John Carson as early as 1923, followed by Columbia Records in 1924, many hillbilly musicians, such as Cliff Carlisle, recorded blues songs throughout the 1920s. The most important was the Grand Ole Opry, aired starting in 1925 by WSM in Nashville, during the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or Western music, which had been recorded since the 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood. Bob Wills was another musician from the Lower Great Plains who had become very popular as the leader of a hot string band. His mix of country and jazz, which started out as dance hall music, Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band, in 1938. Country musicians began recording boogie in 1939, shortly after it had played at Carnegie Hall. Gospel music remained a component of country music. It became known as honky tonk, and had its roots in Western swing and the music of Mexico. By the early 1950s a blend of Western swing, country boogie, rockabilly was most popular with country fans in the 1950s, and 1956 could be called the year of rockabilly in country music. Beginning in the mid-1950s, and reaching its peak during the early 1960s, the late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as a result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres
4.
Singer-songwriter
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Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose, and perform their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. The genre began with the folk-acoustic tradition, singer-songwriters often provide the sole accompaniment to an entire composition or song, typically using a guitar or piano. Singer-songwriter is used to define popular music artists who write and perform their own material, such an artist performs the roles of composer, lyricist, vocalist, instrumentalist, and often self-manager. Most records by artists have a similarly straightforward and spare sound that placed emphasis on the song itself. The term has also used to describe songwriters in the rock, folk, and pop music genres including Henry Russell, Aristide Bruant, Hank Williams. Song topics include political protest, as in the case of the Almanac Singers, Pete Seeger, the concept of a singer-songwriter can be traced to ancient bardic oral tradition, which has existed in various forms throughout the world. Poems would be performed as chant or song, sometimes accompanied by a harp or other similar instrument, after the invention of printing, songs would be written and performed by ballad sellers. Usually these would be versions of existing tunes and lyrics, which were constantly evolving and this developed into the singer-songwriting traditions of folk culture. The term singer-songwriter in North America can be traced back to singers who developed works in the blues and folk music style. Early to mid-20th century American singer-songwriters include Lead Belly, Jimmie Rodgers, Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker, Blind Willie McTell, Lightnin Hopkins, Son House, the tradition of writing topical songs was established by this group of musicians. This focus on social issues has greatly influenced the singer-songwriter genre, artists who had been primarily songwriters, notably Carole King, Townes Van Zandt, and Neil Diamond, also began releasing work as performers. In contrast to the approach of most prior country and folk music. The adjectives confessional and sensitive were often used singer-songwriter style, in the rock band era, members were not technically singer-songwriters as solo acts. However, many were singer-songwriters who created songs with band members. Many others like Eric Clapton found success as singer-songwriters in their later careers, there were hints of cross-pollination, but rock and folk music had remained largely separate genres, often with different audiences. An early attempt at fusing elements of folk and rock was highlighted in the Animals House of the Rising Sun, dylan plugged an entire generation into the milieu of the singer-songwriter. In the mid- to late 1960s, bands and singer-songwriters began to proliferate the underground New York art/music scene. Lotti Golden, in her Atlantic debut album Motor-Cycle, chronicled her life in NYCs East Village in the late 60s counterculture, visiting subjects such as gender identity, kate Bush remained distinctive throughout with her idiosyncratic style
5.
Kenny Rogers
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Kenneth Ray Kenny Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, actor, record producer, and entrepreneur. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, on September 25,2015, Rogers announced on NBCs Today Show that he was retiring from show business after a final tour to spend more time with his wife and twin boys. Two of his albums, The Gambler and Kenny, are featured in the About. com poll of The 200 Most Influential Country Albums Ever and he was voted the Favorite Singer of All-Time in a 1986 joint poll by readers of both USA Today and People. He has received such awards as the AMAs, Grammys, ACMs and CMAs. The first single from the album, I Cant Unlove You, was also a chart hit. Remaining a popular entertainer around the world, the year he completed a tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland. He has also acted in a variety of movies and television shows, most notably the roles in Kenny Rogers as The Gambler. He is also a co-founder of the restaurant chain Kenny Rogers Roasters, kenneth Ray Rogers was born in Houston, Texas, on August 21,1938, the fourth of eight children, born to Lucille Lois, a nurses assistant, and Edward Floyd Rogers, a carpenter. Rogers is of Irish and Native American ancestry and he has five children from four of his five marriages. At his estate in Colbert, Georgia, Rogers keeps a pet goat named Smitty, according to Rogers, the goat has been center, providing a calming influence after long and stressful touring schedules. He had a solo hit in 1958 called That Crazy Feeling. After sales slowed down, Rogers joined a group called The Bobby Doyle Three. The group recorded for Columbia Records and they disbanded in 1965, and a 1966 jazzy rock single Rogers recorded for Mercury Records, called Heres That Rainy Day, failed. Rogers also worked as a producer, writer and session musician for other performers, including country artists Mickey Gilley, in 1966 he joined The New Christy Minstrels as a singer and double bass player. Feeling that the Minstrels were not offering the success they wanted, Rogers and fellow members Mike Settle, Terry Williams and they formed The First Edition in 1967. They were later joined by Kin Vassy, when the First Edition disbanded in 1976, Rogers launched his solo career. He soon developed a more middle-of-the-road sound that sold to both pop and country audiences and he has charted more than 60 top 40 hit singles. Fifty of his albums have charted and his music has also been featured in top selling movie soundtracks, such as Convoy, Urban Cowboy, and The Big Lebowski
6.
Randy Travis
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Randy Bruce Traywick, better known by his stage name, Randy Travis, is an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 50 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and 16 of these were number-one hits. Considered a pivotal figure in the history of music, Travis broke through in the mid-1980s with the release of his album Storms of Life. The album established him as a force in the Neotraditional country movement. Travis followed up his debut with a string of platinum and multi-platinum albums. He is known for his baritone vocals, delivered in a traditional style that has made him a country music star since the 1980s. By the mid-1990s, Travis saw a decline in his chart success, in 1997, he left Warner Bros. Records for DreamWorks Records and changed his musical focus to gospel music. Although the career shift produced only one more number-one country hit Three Wooden Crosses, Travis went on to earn several Dove Awards, in 2016, Travis was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Randy and his brother Ricky were encouraged to pursue their talents by their father, who was a fan of Hank Williams, George Jones. In 1967, at the age of eight, Randy began playing guitar, two years later, he and his brother began performing at local clubs and talent contests, calling themselves the Traywick Brothers. Randy often fought with his father and soon dropped out of high school and he became a juvenile delinquent and was arrested for various offenses, including auto theft and burglary. Travis has since voiced regret for his past misdeeds, in 1975, while his brother was serving time in jail for a high-speed car chase, Randy won a talent contest at a nightclub, Country City USA, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The clubs owner, Elizabeth Lib Hatcher, took an interest in the singer, hired him as a cook. During the late 1970s, Randy worked and sang at Country City USA, still in his late teens, Travis had one more encounter with the law. At his hearing, the judge told Travis that if he saw the singer back in his court. Travis was released into the guardianship of Hatcher, who became his manager. The two began to focus on his career full-time, in 1978, he recorded a self-titled album, Randy Traywick, for Paula Records. The following year, he released two singles, Shes My Woman and Dreamin
7.
Keith Whitley
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Jackie Keith Whitley, known professionally as Keith Whitley, was an American country music singer. During his career, Whitley charted 19 singles on the Billboard country charts, born in Ashland, Kentucky, Whitley grew up in nearby Sandy Hook, Kentucky. Whitley began his career there in 1970, performing in Ralph Stanleys band, establishing himself as a lead singer in bluegrass music, Whitley moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1983 and began his recording career there. His first Top 20 Country Hit single, Miami, My Amy, was released in 1986, while touring for his album L. A. to Miami, he married country singer Lorrie Morgan. In 1988, his first three singles from his studio album Dont Close Your Eyes, the song, When You Say Nothing at All. He died in 1989 at the age of 34 and his later two singles, I Wonder Do You Think of Me and It Aint Nothin, were released after his death. Whitley continues to influence a generation of singers and songwriters. Whitley was born to Faye and Elmer Whitley in Ashland, Kentucky, but was raised 46 miles away in Sandy Hook and he had two brothers, Randy and Dwight, and a sister, Mary. The Whitley family has lived in the Elliot County area since the 1840s, as a teenager in Sandy Hook, Whitley and his friends would pass the time drinking bootleg bourbon and racing their cars down mountain roads at dangerous speeds. Whitley was once in a car whose driver attempted to round a curve at 120 mph, the car wrecked, killing his friend and almost breaking Whitleys neck. In another incident, he drove his car off a 120-feet cliff into a frozen river, in 1969 he performed in a musical contest in Ezel, Kentucky, with brother Dwight on five-string banjo. Ricky Skaggs was also in the contest, Skaggs and Whitley hit it off right away and quickly befriended each other. Fifteen-year-old Whitley and 16-year-old Skaggs were discovered in Ft. Gay, Stanley opened the door of the club and heard what he thought were the Stanley Brothers playing on a jukebox. However it was Whitley and Skaggs, who sounded just like me, the two soon joined Ralphs band. Whitley became lead singer for Stanley in 1974, Whitley also played with J. D. Crowe & the New South in the mid-1970s. During this period, he established himself as one of the most versatile and his singing was heavily influenced by Carter Stanley and Lefty Frizzell. He moved to Nashville in 1983 to pursue a music career. Whitleys first solo album, A Hard Act to Follow, was released in 1984, while Whitley was working hard to achieve his own style, the songs he produced were inconsistent
8.
Grammy Award
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A Grammy Award, or Grammy, is an honor awarded by The Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the mainly English-language music industry. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of awards that have a more popular interest. It shares recognition of the industry as that of the other performance awards such as the Emmy Awards, the Tony Awards. The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4,1959, to honor, following the 2011 ceremony, The Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. The 59th Grammy Awards, honoring the best achievements from October 2015 to September 2016, was held on February 12,2017, the Grammys had their origin in the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the 1950s. The music executives decided to rectify this by creating a given by their industry similar to the Oscars. This was the beginning of the National Academy of Recording Arts, after it was decided to create such an award, there was still a question of what to call it, one working title was the Eddie, to honor the inventor of the phonograph, Thomas Edison. They finally settled on using the name of the invention of Emile Berliner, the gramophone, for the awards, the number of awards given grew and fluctuated over the years with categories added and removed, at one time reaching over 100. The second Grammy Awards, also held in 1959, was the first ceremony to be televised, the gold-plated trophies, each depicting a gilded gramophone, are made and assembled by hand by Billings Artworks in Ridgway, Colorado. In 1990 the original Grammy design was revamped, changing the traditional soft lead for a stronger alloy less prone to damage, Billings developed a zinc alloy named grammium, which is trademarked. The trophies with the name engraved on them are not available until after the award announcements. By February 2009,7,578 Grammy trophies had been awarded, the General Field are four awards which are not restricted by genre. Album of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a full album if other than the performer. Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a single song if other than the performer. Song of the Year is awarded to the writer/composer of a single song, Best New Artist is awarded to a promising breakthrough performer who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording that establishes the public identity of that artist. The only two artists to win all four of these awards are Christopher Cross, who won all four in 1980, and Adele, who won the Best New Artist award in 2009 and the other three in 2012 and 2017. Other awards are given for performance and production in specific genres, as well as for other such as artwork. Special awards are given for longer-lasting contributions to the music industry, the many other Grammy trophies are presented in a pre-telecast Premiere Ceremony earlier in the afternoon before the Grammy Awards telecast
