Editing Jimmie Rodgers (section)

==Style and image==
Rodgers recalled his earliest memories of playing the guitar upon returning from picking cotton during his childhood.{{sfn|Porterfield, Nolan|2007|pp=21–22}} Although he performed with the instrument for many years, he only knew a few chords, which he complemented with a [[flatpicking]] technique.{{sfn|Brookes, Tim|2007|p=124}}{{sfn|Mazor, Barry|2009|p=29}} As he worked on the railroads through the late 1910s and the 1920s, he developed his style of music and singing.{{sfn|Kingsbury, Paul|McCall, Michael|Rumble, John|Gill, Vince|2012|p=454}} His material was based on classic [[English folk music|Anglo]]-[[Celtic music|Celtic]] storytelling and ballad singing and black blues heavily influenced him.{{sfn|Scoggins, Michael|2013|p=90}} [[Ethnomusicology|Ethnomusicologist]] Norm Cohen defined five categories for the 112 recordings that make up Rodgers' catalog: "19th century sentimental ballads", vaudevillian [[novelty song]]s, blues songs, traditional folk songs and "contemporary hillbilly songs".{{sfn|Browne, Ray|Browne, Pat|2001|p=696}} Rodgers' releases included collaborations with artists ranging from jazz performers to Hawaiian musicians.{{sfn|Stimeling, Travis|2015|p=31}}

{{Listen |filename=Blue Yodel No. 1 (yodel).ogg|title=Jimmie Rodgers' yodel |description=Rodgers yodeling on "Blue Yodel No. 1"}}
Instead of the [[Time signature#Characteristics|3/4 time]] present in traditional [[alpine folk music]], Rodgers' yodel featured a 4/4 time.{{sfn|Malone, Bill|1975|p=123}} Rodgers developed his yodel through his early music career; he was likely influenced by several vaudevillian performers or by the recordings and live performances of [[Emmett Miller]].{{sfn|Mazor, Barry|2009|pp=66-69}}{{sfn|Davis, Mary|Zanes, Warren|2009|p=42}}{{sfn|Porterfield, Nolan|2004|p=137}} From the gandy dancers, Rodgers learned to elongate or shorten words to fit the metric of a song. He also carried a banjo or a guitar with him as he worked on the railroads.{{sfn|Malone, Bill|1975|p=124}} His live performances and recordings included the use of spoken remarks between verses to encourage his musicians, or exclamations when he played alone.{{sfn|Malone, Bill|1975|p=129}} Additionally, Rodgers developed a train whistle noise, which he made with the back of his throat through a mixture of a yodel and a whistle.{{sfn|Malone, Bill|1975|p=130}}

During his early appearances, Rodgers donned a [[bowler hat]] with a suit and a tie in the style of vaudevillian performers. When he was later billed as "The Singing Brakeman", Rodgers added railroad worker attire to his stage wardrobe.{{sfn|Peterson, Richard|2013|pp=52-54}} After he moved to Texas, he started to wear cowboy hats and western clothes, similar to the [[singing cowboy]]s which were becoming popular in [[Western film]]s.{{sfn|Haigh, Chris|2009|pp=227-228}}{{sfn|The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum|2012|p=125}} Rodgers would ultimately decide which clothes he would wear for a performance according to the audience he was expecting.{{sfn|Peterson, Richard|2013|p=53}}{{sfn|Barnett, Kyle|2021|p=136}}