Western Swing · GenresWhat is western swing?
Western swing is a style of popular music that began in the 1920s in the American Southwest among the region's popular Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat.
About western swing
The music is an amalgamation of rural, cowboy, polka, and folk, New Orleans jazz or Dixieland, and blues blended with a jazzy "swing". and played by a hot string band often augmented with drums, saxophones, pianos and, notably, the steel guitar. Later incarnations have also included overtones of bebop.
From Last.fm, where 698 listeners have tagged music as western swing.
Artists to start with
Albums to hear first
Ride With Bob
Viper of Melody
Continental Stomp
Dev'lish Mary
Greatest Hits
Pokey LaFarge
Timeless
Strait Out of the BoxWestern Swing songs
- Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) by Tex Williams
- The Letter That Johnny Walker Read by Asleep at the Wheel
- Take Me Back to Tulsa by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
- Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy by Red Foley
- Steel Guitar Rag by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
- Faded Love by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
- New San Antonio Rose by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
- San Antonio Rose by Bob Wills
- Right or Wrong by George Strait
- I Wonder If I Care as Much by The Everly Brothers
Neighbouring genres
In the jazz & blues family. All genres
bluescool jazzbossa novaacid jazzblues rockbebopavant-garde jazzdelta blueschicago bluesdark jazzcountry bluesdesert bluesQuestions
- What is western swing?
- Western swing is a style of popular music that began in the 1920s in the American Southwest among the region's popular Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat. The music is an amalgamation of rural, cowboy, polka, and folk, New Orleans jazz or Dixieland, and blues blended with a jazzy "swing".
- Who are the best-known western swing artists?
- By Last.fm listening: Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, Tex Williams, Asleep at the Wheel, Bob Wills, Hank Thompson and Hank Penny.
- What genres are similar to western swing?
- On Risocast it sits with blues, cool jazz, bossa nova, acid jazz, blues rock and bebop.
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Updated 6 October 2026
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