This work traces the development of country music and its institutionalization from Fiddlin' John Carson's pioneering recordings in Atlanta in 1923 to the posthumous success of Hank Williams. Richard Peterson seeks to capture the free-wheeling entrepreneurial spirit of the era and details the activities of the key promoters who sculpted the emerging country music scene. More than just a history of the music and its performers, this book explores what it means to be authentic within popular culture.