Places for music, dancing, drinking, and, sometimes, rowdy behavior which originated in white dance halls of the southwest. They offered a place for hard-working people to unwind at the end of a long, hard day on the job. The music that developed in these dance halls served as country music's backbone for more than half a century. And the honky tonk dance halls spawned an incredible group of singers, among them Floyd Tillman, Ernest Tubb, Al Dexter, Hank Thompson, Hank Williams, Ray Price, Kitty Wells, Webb Pierce, and Carl Smith. The honky tonk sound was even infused with bluegrass through the work of Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys.

Hank Williams' country hit "Honky Tonkin" could have been their theme song. But, in 1952 country singer Kitty Wells looked like somebody's aunt when she debuted, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels". Wearing a lady-like gingham dress, but daring to sing about adultery and divorce from a woman's point of view, she captured the nation's attention and started a revolution in country music.

Women were remarkably important in the evolution of honky tonk music. Patsy Montana, Rose Maddox, and Texas Ruby, among others, helped establish both the honky tonk sound and a new country music sound in which women took the lead and sang laments. The honky tonk sound and esthetic created by women live on today in the music of Lucinda Williams, Tanya Tucker, The Dixie Chicks, and many others.