roots music

noun

: folk music

The Lomaxes' efforts to popularize representatives from folk culture added an element that became central to the folk music revival of the thirties and to every burst of interest in roots music since then—an impression of authenticity.

—Kathleen Franz and Susan Smulyan, eds., Major Problems in American Popular Culture, 2001

Word History

First Known Use

1969, in the meaning defined above

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