The father of country music, “The Singing Brakeman”, Jimmie Rodgers. (This is the Jimmie Rodgers of the 20’s and 30’s, not the “Honeycomb” Jimmie Rodgers of the 50’s.)
More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmie_Rodgers_(country_singer)
Oops, here’s the correct link for Jimmie Rodgers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmie_Rodgers_%28country_singer%29