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Cantwell spends a great deal of the article, “Hillbilly Music” describing the cultural and economic impact of the radio on Monroe’s career and most all early time bluegrass and old-time singers. Monroe was given his first real radio spot at WLS out of Chicago. His band, which at the time included his two brothers, were first given a real spot on the radio to be broadcast in the surrounding areas. The Monroe brothers were able to put their name out and able to get more and more publicity. They began their career by playing local barn dances and square dances within their home town. They made approximately $5 every dance. The radio allowed them to nearly quadruple their earnings. Bill Monroe would take off to go work at the refinery in order to make extra money, but he came to realize the road was the life he wanted.

“..Amplifying the audience’s consciousness of its own identity, or even defining it”

The radio did more than just give singers and songwriters a start, it allowed people to empathize with the music. People were able to see their lives and feelings laid out in the song and through the radio. Many politicians used the radio to tell people about their campaign or to discuss political issues. Musicians were able to use the radio in a different way. They were able to use it to portray their lives and to truly speak the voice of thousands. The cultural aspect of the radio helped to bring about a sense of diversity. People from the North were able to hear what life was like in the South and people in the South were able to see what life was like in the North.

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The songs played by Monroe and others on the radio were songs that empathized the feeling of uneasiness at the time. Monroe, like many others, was having to leave the rural South to move to the industrial North for work. The songs were able to show people that they are not alone. Many were having to leave the life they grew up with and loved behind in order to have the finances needed to provide for themselves and their families. In a sense, the songs were a reprieve for the people that came from rural America and the Appalachian hills. The songs helped them to remember the good times and allowed for them to get lost in the music as they reminisced about the life they had to leave behind. It also made them yearn and made the weekends they had to travel back home much more worth the hardships of leaving home.

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My questions for this article are:

1. What would it be like if the radio was never invented? Would Bill Monroe and many others be as popular as they are today?

2. Did the wars lead to the more impressive social impact of the radio?