OT: Country music, etc.

I like the old country, I’ve sung most of category 1. up there karaoke. Fun stuff.

But really, as in any music genre, “good” is in the ear of the beholder. I think there are good and bad songs in every one of this three general categories up there, and some really bad songs are among my favorites in many genres of music, not just country. Taste in music is just as subjective as taste in women and food.

…that I think I’m one of the few people who is a huge fan of both Prince and Don Williams.

I want to say O’ Brother is awesome and people are haters. The traditional music, the story telling, and how can you go wrong with John Goodman, John Turturro, and Clooney? Greatness, and I don’t care what anyone says.

About point 3: I’ve got a good bit of both Gram Parsons and Wilco. Not a huge fan of the latter, frankly. But, what they’re doing is good stuff and valuable in that it kind of lets hipster kids listen to country music and still call it cool.

 But, in my opinion this music doesn’t have (and you hit the nail on the head, Ag) the heart and soul of the old timers. Or even the newer timers like Dwight.

but I also have been a fan of Adam Carroll who is much more in the John Prine territory.

As for Steve Earle never really could get into him, but I went to OzzFest several years ago and he came on as a surprise guest between Soundgarden and Metallica and it was crazy to see the amount of water bottles and everything that was thrown at him. So I have always respected him for at least that.

might blush if you called him “newer”….

I don’t think people know how influential his songs have been.

Big names like Willie and Merle have covered his songs. Steve Earle has talked at length how he marveled at and emulate Townes is many ways. According to Wikipedia (and I didn’t know this) he repeatedly declined invitations to go write with Bob Dylan. I was not surprised when I heard “If I Needed You” on the Crazy Horse soundtrack. Songwriters who matter really pay attention to Townes’ music.

…I brought up Old 97’s first full length record called “Wreck Your Life”. It’s twangy as hell, raucous, and full of emotion. The lead guitar playing alternates between a bit sloppy and incredibly precise. The rhythm section is tight. It’s recorded very raw…mostly live in a studio with maybe a little overdubbing here and there.

For a different style of newer country music, check out Son Volt’s first record, “Trace”. It’s polished but not overproduced by any stretch of the imagination. If you don’t know, Wilco and Son Volt are the product of the split of Uncle Tupelo, which is also worth checking out. Anyway, “Trace” has some rock songs on it. Son Volt can rock very, very hard and then dial it down to a beautiful county song seamlessly. One of the best live bands I’ve ever seen…much better than Wilco (who is really good, too). I’ve seen them three times at Trees, once at the Gypsy Tea Room, once at Sons of Herman, and once at Stubb’s. Amazing live show.

If you haven’t had the chance to hear Wade Bowen, I think he’s really good.

Gettin’ By (Jerry Jeff Walker)
Desperados Waiting For The Train (Guy Clark)
Sangria Wine (Jerry Jeff Walker)
Little Bird (Jerry Jeff Walker)
Get It Out (Jerry Jeff Walker)
Up Against The Wall Red Neck Mother (Ray Wylie Hubbard)
Backsliders Wine (Michael Murphy)
The Wheel (Jerry Jeff Walker)
London Homesick Blues (Gary P. Nunn)

the lead is the guy who played Smokey in Big Lebowski. His name is Jimmy Dale Gilmore… Not my favorite band, but a fun fact. DC-9 at Night is a really good song.

Favorite country crooner George

but i’ll say this…

dwight yoakam and randy travis are good. some dixie chicks is good. lyle lovet and k.d. lang too.

go see crazy heart. was really good.

http://www.myspace.com/thedocmarshalls

That’s a guy I grew up with, and I used to play guitar with them.

You might remember him from such hits as:

- “Where Do You Want It?”;
- “The Night I Shot Billy Coker in the Face”; and
- “Any Damn Fool Knows a Knife Ain’t a Stir Stick!”

My list would include most singers on today’s country radio, but these guys specifically at some point in my life:

Brooks and Dunn – I have never had any use for them other than Neon Moon.
Vince Gill – hated him as a kid, but he has grown on me due to his love for the music.
Kenny Rogers – had some hits (The Gambler and Coward of the County), but never liked any of his other stuff.

for a good Marty Robbins ballad. Grandfather turned me on to him as a kid and it stuck. I guess Continental Suit is probably my favorite.

George Strait is not mentioned in this thread. To me, he is the best, closely followed by Alan Jackson. Those two define country music to me.

Some modern country voices that I like: Jason Aldean, Pat Green, and my favorite youngster is performing at Billy Bob’s tonight, a guy by the name of Easton Corbin.

Even though I go to A&M and live right across from NorthGate, I’m not a big fan of Texas Country. But I do like Josh Abbott Band’s new song “She’s Like Texas”. And I do like Pat Green.

I love country music and dallas-centric rap music.

Back home, When I “Snake” thats what they call me back home is "Snake’

I just barfed thinking of how cheeeezzy Grath was. So arrogant but for some reason he is fun to sing along with when ur uber trashed and hanging out with guys you wnet to high school with.

But when you sober up you feel nasty like you fucked a fat girl. you wonder why Garth and why do still talk with people i went to school with1

Mary Cutrufello. I’ll not even try to describe her history, just how I came to be a fan. If anyone has ever heard her on guitar they’ll know what I’m talking about because it’s not easily forgotten.

Anyway, I first saw her play at the Cactus on UT’s campus. Jimmie Dale Gilmore had just put out Braver Newer World (if you want to try to get into Jimmie Dale based on earlier posts, I’d suggest this not be the place you start, though it is good in its own way), and he had added this girl as his guitarist. She had already been bouncing around the Texas circuit doing honky-tonk music (and doing it very well, regardless of how you might want to argue her background and authenticity). Anyway, Jimmie let her play a song of her own, and she played an early version of a song called Dreamers Walk Alone, and absolutely stole the show. I don’t know how to describe her except she looked like a 5 foot tall female Jimmy Hendrix with a Merle-yellow telecaster, and the sounds she was making… damn. I’ve been a fan since, though she’s bounced around and had some shitty luck.

The plug is: She’s about to be making the rounds in Texas, including Denton and Princeton in June. I saw her at Dan’s Silverleaf last fall and she’s awesome still. Here’s a youtube clip that’s kind of her current style which is kind of a red dirtish style with a lot of guitar. I know I sound like her manager… I’m not. I just like to mention her whenever the chance arises because she absolutely should be making a living in music. Instead she’s a FedEx driver in Minnesota who tours when she can. Incidentally, she’s a baseball (Minnesota Twins) fan, she’s on twitter and Facebook and very friendly. Get out to see her if you get a chance, you won’t be disappointed.

I’m not sure whether you could really call her country anymore, but she was straight-up honky tonk when I started listening to her, so I still think of her this way.

No C.W. McCall mentions?

needs to be mentioned. For someone new to him, “Return of Wayne Douglas” is a good start, which was actually a posthumous(sp?) release.

Make the World Go Away, and What’s he Doing in My World are classic country essentials, for starters…

’nuff said.

Ray Price is the number-one, all-time, greatest voice in country music history, and a great performer.

Another favorite of mine.

Another fave of my parents whom I’ve adopted.

Johnny Rodriguez gets an old school nod, and Phil Pritchet and Reckless Kelly for newer music. Plenty of my other faves have been mentioned already.

but Hank Jr. actually had some pretty good stuff before he became the Hank that everyone knows today. “Standing in the Shadows” and “Living Proof” simply awesome.

The Band of Heathens? I went to one of their concerts in Houston. They have some good music. One tune called “LA County Blues” is fantastic.

Country?

B/C he cant throw….ouch

I was at Chetham Street Warehouse (where George Strait, Randy Rogers, etc started) just about every night. Kent Finlays Songwriter Circle on Tuesday nights is awesome. Kent will let anyone with a guitar play and sing their songs while he will listen. If he likes you, he will let you play a show on a Monday or Wendesday night. Only thing, there is no talking and no pool playing during the Songwriter Circle. He cares about every single person that has ever stepped foot on that stage. One of my good friends, Ben Danaher, got his start there while we were in school, and he just opened for Josh Abbot at 8.0s last Wendesday. Check him out.

or find him on iTunes.

but the new Band of Horses’s album has some countryish leanings in a sort of Wilco way and is pretty damn

…..some of the older names speak for themselves. I don’t need to tell anyone how great Johnny Cash, Don Williams, George Strait, or Waylon Jennings are.

As for the newer guys, Gary Allan would be my favorite. His new album “Get Off on the Pain” is very very good.

And the greatness of “Crazy Heart” introduced my to Ryan Bingham. Consider me a fan. I have about 15 of his songs on my iTunes and always enjoy when one of them pops up.

hearing Pat Green’s “I like Texas”

but here are some guys i haven’t seen mentioned that i like:

Kyle Bennett
Mickey & the Motor Cars
Josh Grider
Hayes Carll
Casey Donahew
Brandon Rhyder

Dwight Yoakam
Hank Williams
Don Williams
Ray Charles
John Conlee
Jerry Lee Lewis
Gram Parsons/Emmylou Harris
Rolling Stones
Keith Whitley
Rodney Crowell
Willie Nelson
Old 97’s…..

Ryan Bingham
Brandon Rhyder
Chris Knight
Hayes Carll
Randy Rogers
Wade Bowen
Reckless Kelly
Mickey and the Motorcars

There are others, but those are my favorites and probably the ones that transcend a lot of people.

darlin’

isn’t going to be a popular one among a bunch of Texans, but I hate country music. I can listen to any and every type of music, but not country.

I can honestly say I’ve never heard a single country artist or song that I’ve liked.

Country music sucks. There it is. Swing away.

Because my music listening habits are on more of a song-to-song basis than an artist-to-artist basis (I’m sure FuturePants will be along soon to tell me this is not the way you’re supposed to listen to music).

I’ve got a few favorite artists I’ll always stand by – Miranda Lambert, Gary Allan, Dwight Yoakam, Lee Ann Womack – but other than that, I don’t think theres a whole lot of country artists who I can say I really like the majority of their work.

And furthermore, I find myself listening to country a lot less than I used to, because top 40 country has gotten unlistenable thanks to Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, and because I’ve found out I don’t like classic country near as much as I used to (or at least used to think I did).

Now that I re-read it, I’m really sure exactly what the point of saying all this is, really, except that I’m extremely picky and don’t like country near as much as I used to, but… hmn.

Caught Jesse Dayton at love and war. He was really good

Tom T. Hall (the storyteller)
Patsy Cline

Loves me some Don Williams, Randy Travis, 80s George Strait

If you live in the metroplex, they still play classic country on 92.1 FM – KTFW, and 1460 AM – KCLE