Many rural communities of yesteryear lacked suitable public buildings to use for public gatherings. So, when they wanted to have a hoedown or a hootenanny, where would they go? Find a farmer and ask if they could use their barn!
The barn dance has been around for centuries dating back to Europe. The tradition continued when colonists crossed the Atlantic Ocean and settled here what would become the United States and Canada. As it would be a community gathering traditional songs and dances would be performed like the square dance or another easier dance that everyone in the community could take part in. A band would provide the music so you could even say these were the first concerts performed in the New World.
As music evolved the fiddle became more and more the star of the barn dance. A man named George Hay hosted a radio show in Chicago devoted to barn dance music in 1924 and featured several live fiddlers. When he moved to Nashville, Tennessee a year and a half later he brought his show with him. That show became known as the Grand Ole Opry and is still performing today. The format was popular throughout the country in the 1930s through the 1950s but has for the most part disappeared. Barn dance music though has continued on as part of the genre known today as country music, one of the most popular music formats in the United States. So you could say that country music was born in a barn!
