Nashville has been home to the Grand Ole Opry since the 1920s, but it didn't become a hillbilly-music Mecca until a couple decades later, when writers, session pickers, and eventually recording studios themselves began gathering. As a sort of uptown antidote to the twangy, rural-based sounds of honky tonk (not to mention the grit and grime of rock 'n' roll), what came to be known as the 'Nashville Sound' was geared more toward increasingly suburbanized adults. The music embodied smooth production work that included creamy vocals, orchestral arrangements, background choruses, and an overall 'cosmopolitan' vibe – hence the nickname 'countrypolitan.' The style was the brainchild of producers Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley and was defined by such monumental artists as Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, and Eddy Arnold. As a side note, the Nashville Sound also refers to the way records were made in Nashville (and largely still are today), with teams of session artists playing on a multitude of recordings and big-league producers calling most of the shots.

Notable Artists: Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Don Gibson