How Rock Music Rolled Through the United States
The Story of Rock Music in America Told Through Maps
Figure 1. The “Alternative Love Blueprint” charts the history of counterculture rock music (James Quail)
The progression of rock music through time is one that is nothing short of dense and extensive. What began simply as "rock and roll" in the 1940's has now transformed into an umbrella term that houses hundreds of niche subgenres. Rock music is something that the masses know good and well, but how does it at all relate to the field of cartography? Well, rock music, and music in general, carry with it an inherent geography as certain sounds, instruments and song structures travel across space as their spheres of influence expand. So, I will look deeper into how rock music came to America and how it expanded within the nation through maps.
Figure 2.
It is important to first establish the beginning with which music existed within in America. The first musicians in this country, are of course the first people here. Many variations of folk are believed to originate within these communities, though many of the musical traditions from this point have been lost in time and are extinct.
Figure 3. American regions in which different European nations colonized
As European colonization of the Americas took form, new kinds of folk music were introduced. This process also involved the importation of slaves, who brought with them extensive musical diversity. After many years, music had then broken out into many genres, including Appalachian folk, roots, bluegrass, and early jazz.
The birth of rock and roll
We've now set the stage for the early onset of popular music and rock and roll in America, but how exactly did these factors combine to form rock? The simplest breakdown is that African-American musical genres of the south, such as gospel and blues, combined with country influence and were able to be identified among young people across the country. Multiracial audiences grew increasingly common from this as teenagers everywhere bonded over these new sounds. The stage was set for rock as we know it to take off, but there was one group in particular that greatly shaped this idea, and they were not even American...
Figure 4.
A shift across the pond
Figure 4.
In the early 1960's The Beatles first drew from soul music and blues in their music, and ultimately reinterpreted these sounds. They quickly broke through in America, and their first American tour is considered a crowning moment in the history of American pop culture. As well, their performance on the Ed Sullivan show was the most viewed television program at the time. The Beatles sent America into a frenzy, and thus, the idea of rock as we know it, with an emphasis on guitars, drums, and singer-songwriting, was officially set in motion to expand within the United States.
Figure 5. Map of The Beatles 1965 Tour
A much too quick fast-forward into now
Since the initial impact of the Beatles in the states over 60 years ago, there have been countless genres and musical movements based on geographies across the country. There are far too many to cover in one meager story, but maps are useful in depicting and summarizing these geographical sounds. Notable ones include psychedelic rock in California, punk and garage rock around New York, and the grunge movement in Seattle.
Figure 6. Grunge movement (left) and New York punk movement (right).
Figure 7. Psychedelic rock in San Francisco
Today, music is as accessible and diverse as it has ever been in America. Rock music's story cannot be told without understanding how it has progressed through various locations, as this general movement of sound is what is most responsible for the widespread impact of the genre.
Figure 8. Choropleth map showing most popular artist by state, and what genre they belong to, determined by total unique listeners on Last.fm.
Figure 9. Distinctive genre by country and bands per capita
Figure 10. Distinctive genres for figure 9
It is safe to say that the expansion of music is not just confined to America, it has occurred on a global scale. It would be noticeably more ambitious to summarize the geographical movement of music of the whole world, but this map provides a current outlook on the variety of genres and density of bands. It is difficult to make out a relationship between location and band density, what factors may influence this? If there is one thing we've learned, it is that the story of music can be recounted, but its future cannot be predicted and its movement is not linear. What does the future of music look like to you?
