A mixture of traditional Country Music with Rock n' Roll, combining elements of Bluegrass, Folk, Blues and Pop. Pioneers of the sound including pedal steel guitar and lead guiar line-up included The International Submarine Band, Gram Parsons and The Everly Brothers. These then influenced The Byrds, Dillard and Clark, Poco and The Flying Burrito Brothers.

A more Rock less Country second wave was led by The Eagles, America, Brewer and Shipley, Emmylou began. True country rockers like The Remmingtons, The Desert Rose Band, The Cowboy Junkies, Jason and The Scorchers, Restless Heart and Electric Range show from their apltly selected names where their influences lie. Contemporary country rock-influenced bands include REM, Teenage Fanclub and The Lemonheads.

Well for us geologist type people, or those that have taken a class or two, we know that country rock is more than just country + rock.

So what is it?!

But it is the older rock which has pieces of igneous rock intruded into it. Around the igneous rock the country rock gives the look of being metamorphosed - that is only because it was heated in that area heavily upon the rocks intrusion.

A great example in USA is called Devils Tower in Wyoming.

"A geological term meaning the rock native to an area."


Country rock is a geological term used to refer to whatever rock was in place before the process under discussion started. When you are talking about magma and lava, country rock is any rock that was there before the magma/lava intruded. When talking about metamorphism, country rock is the material being transformed. When talking about alluvium, the country rock is whatever the alluvium was deposited on. When talking about erosion, the country rock is what is being eroded.

Obviously, the country rock was formed from exactly the same processes as any other rock; it was simply formed at a much earlier time. This can result in some interesting turns of phrase, as when xenoliths in current rock formations are described as country rock. It is probably best to think of country rock as being the geological equivalent of foobar.

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