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When Bill Monroe, widely regarded as the “Father of Bluegrass”, released the Blue Moon of Kentucky (1947) he could not imagine what was coming ahead. Country music, a raw music with a basic ensemble of guitar, bass, drums and trumpets conveyed a message of freedom reflecting the poverty-smacked inhabitants of Southern Unites States.

Simple, yet powerful lyrics like “Blue moon of Kentucky, keep on shining, shine on the one that’s gone and proved untrue; Blue moon of Kentucky, keep on shining, shine on the one that’s gone and left me blue…” reflect the sadness of an abruptly-ended relationship, which is looking for nemesis under the blue moon light

Johnny Cash, a distinctive country music persona, well-known for his deep voice and his dark clothing, otherwise known as The Man In Black, or the boom-chick-a-boom or the freight train, and religiously starting his concerts with the introduction “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.”, released another smash hit of country music, Ring of Fire (1953).

Ring of Fire remained in #1 of the US Charts for seven consecutive weeks. Its straightforward lyrics like “Love is a burning thing and it makes a fiery ring, bound by wild desire I fell into a ring of fire”, anchored by melodic strings and slight trumpets, made Ring of Fire one of the best 30 Country songs ever written. Encompasses the soul of Johnny Cash, talking about love, faith, and the agonies of a love affair, Ring of Fire is a little diamond in the history of country music.

Male dominance in the country music scene was interrupted by a distinctive mountain soprano with colorful dress code and conducive figure.

Dolly Parton, a Tennessee born female country music singer, songwriter, actress and author achieved multiple Grammy-award winning, 25 #1 hit singles in the US country charts and 42 Top Ten country albums in the history of country music. Her big hit Heartbreak Express (1982)describes a woman, who leaves her boyfriend and a strained relationship, departing on the “Heartbreak Express” feeling independent and free to choose her destiny. A completely revolutionary song.

As time went by, the Texas trio Dixie Chicks achieved multiple Grammy-award winning (Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year, Best Country Album and Best Country Performance by a Duo or a Group) being the highest-selling female band in the history of music with a record sales of over 36 million albums.

There’s Your Trouble (1998) was a traditional twang with soft melody, instrumental anchorage, foot-tapping rockabilly and pop harmony reflecting Chick’s instrumental virtuosity. The song had made a great impact as Dixie Chicks, famous for their outspoken political comments, have insulted George Bush for his political acts and the war in Iraq.

With the ever growing popularity of Country Music and their inevitable subgenres spanning out across the globe, the desire to break into the music business as a Country Music singer has become a popular ambition. But breaking into the music business is hard in any genre, so how do you ensure your success?

Talent:
Talent can not be overrated in Country Music, you need to be able to sing, because more often than not the backing track is a single guitar playing simple chords, unlike other genres, where the back track is loud and overpowering instrumentals and the voices are hardly heard at all. In Country Music, your voice will make or break the song, if it is less than perfect, consider another career.

Instrument:
You will need to be able to play an instrument yourself, Country Music fans will expect you to be able to pluck a few chords on some stringed instrument as you sing, so work hard learning to play, it will show the world just how dedicated you are to becoming a true Music Singer.

Name:
If your name isn’t right, people will simply not remember you, you need a catchy name, a name that says “Country Singer “and one people will be able to remember, this might mean changing your name, or singing under a different name – it’s up to you.

Practice:
You can never practice too much, practice, practice and then carry on practicing, because you can never get a song too perfect or too well played, when it comes time to play for your career, you will be grateful of all that practice, and remember record yourself often so you know how you sound.

Be a Song Writer
Give yourself an edge and write your own songs, rather than relying on other people’s songs to make your career, listen to a million Country Music songs is you have to, to get a feel for how to write, study the lyrics and understand that the music has to come from the hear t – especially with Country Music. If you can write, sing and play your own songs, you have a good start.

Take any Gig
Starting out, there is a distinct possibility that you will need to take either very badly paid gigs, or completely free gigs, just to get your name ‘out there’ and put something down on your otherwise blank résumé. You cannot afford to be picky when you start out in any business, but in the music world, it’s all about getting your name recognized. So take every opportunity to sing in pubs, clubs, or even recreation centers, wherever will take you.

Work Hard and Don’t Give Up
Face it, if you want to be a singer, you will be working 7 days a week, most weeks, it is not a glamorous life (at least not at first) and there will be many set backs along the way. There will be times when you think you just won’t make it and feel like giving up, be prepared for rejection and don’t stop promoting yourself, if you want it never give up!
There are no guarantees in the music business, and even when you break into the charts there’s the possibility you are a one hit wonder and nothing more. You have to have thick skin and a strong mind to live with all the rejection and failure, but it can be done.