and the Arts, 2002). 301). "Country music" only became a general description of country music in the 1950s, when the scope and nature of the genre was recognizable, the most popular physical appearance of the performers was understood, and the characteristics of the audience were understood (Peeter - poeg, 1997, p. suggests that it is seen as country music "defined in opposition to metropolitan norms" (Smith, 199
, p. Such estimates of music venues reflect, to some extent, the accumulation of production infrastructures, the raw number of active musicians, and the continuous recording of a relatively dense cast; in other cases, such associations are created as part of media campaigns and local marketing strategies, "invented traditions" (Hobsbawm, 1983) that have become central to the tourism industry and the music economy (Atkinson, 1997; Cohen, 1997; Gibson and Connell 200
) . Notions of a natural or "natural" connection to the non-urban landscape became normalized in country music as it moved from unrecorded folk music to mass production by entertainment companies - as if the style of music was "country" because it originated from. However, music festivals have become by far the most common, from the annual East CoastBlues and Sweden Festival of Byron Bay to the Elvis Revival Festival in Parkes, NSW; From the Port Fairy Folk Festival (Victoria) to many country music festivals in Gympie (Queensland), Mildura (New South Wales), Port Pirie (South Australia) and Tamworth (see Aldskogius, 1993; Derrett et al. Country music came to Australia mainly through radio broadcasts, music distribution. , 1998; Gibson, 2002); Gibson and Connell, 200
). .
