Western Swing

Western swing is the dance music that big string bands developed in Texas and Oklahoma in the 1930s, fusing country instrumentation with the rhythms, repertoire and improvisation of big-band jazz. Fiddle and steel guitar take the lead solos, supported by piano, drums, upright bass, standard guitar and sometimes horns, in line-ups far larger than the hillbilly bands they grew from. *Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies* founded the style and *Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys* made it a mass phenomenon through radio, records and ballroom tours; its upbeat, virtuosic dancefloor music is a direct ancestor of rockabilly and modern country.