Recommend your favorite country artist/band!

[More Than A Feeling]

Gospel, bluegrass, and folk also welcome. I need recommendations, people!

[autorank]

1. How about "the man in black," Johnny Cash

[aquaman]

6. Johnny Cash was a brilliant artist.........

no comparison............to any "country" band.

[autorank]

14. Amen, the one and only...who else would do Folsom Prison live...

I mean that place scared even people from San Quenton back then. The guy was the real deal.

[aquaman]

16. No shit.......

People know me and always are facinated that I am a huge Johnny Cash fan, I say to them, "where the fuck have you been?"

[autorank]

22. Perfect comeback!

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

[jdj]

2. I really like Rhonda Vincent and the Rage.

she's what I wish Allison Krauss was, and she had this amazing song called "If you don't love your neighbor then you don't love God" that I can't listen to without crying because it reminds me of the current political climate. I'm off to find the lyrics.

[Jade Fox]

3. The Dixie Chicks!

Okay, they do have those good politics.

But they also have Natalie Maine, who posesses a true country voice
and is a wonderful singer. They write their own songs and play their
own instruments.

[Left Is Write]

4. The Derailers and The Mavericks.

http://derailers.com/

I've never seen them with this particular lineup, but Reverb Deluxe (with their previous lineup) is a great album.


I helped break The Mavericks in Central Wisconsin radio about eleven years ago. They never did get as much radio attention as I thought they deserved.

http://www.mavericksmusic.com/index2.html

[GOPisEvil]

37. You have EXCELLENT taste!

I've been a fan of The Derailers since they were selling homemade cassettes and playing for tips. Nicer fellows you will not find. I've probably seen them play live at least 10 times.

I've seen The Mavericks twice. They are a good show.

[Left Is Write]

38. Thanks! I've had the good fortune to see the Derailers

three times - twice at the MN State Fair and once at First Avenue in Minneapolis. They put on such a fun show.

My sister and her husband were going to grad school in Austin when the Derailers were up-and-comers, and that's how I learned of them.

The Mavericks do a fun show too, very spirited.

[RagingInMiami]

5. Wait, I didn't think we were allowed to listen to country on DU

Isn't that a no-no?

Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Hank Williams Jr. and Willie Nelson

[Kali]

15. HANK III !!!!

and he's even better playing the hard core stuff!!!1

[RetroLounge]

25. Yes, Hank III, and Dwight Yokum too

RL

[elshiva]

7. The Carter Family and Gram Parsons.

Gospel: Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers!

[progmom]

10. You have seriously wonderful taste in music

I'll add the Staple Singers too.

[elshiva]

23. Thank You! The Staple Singers are great too!

"I'll Take You There" is great. :hug:

[aquaman]

8. The Del McCoury Band

good bluegrass.

[progmom]

9. Tex Williams, Spade Cooley, Bob Wills

and BR 549

[DIKB]

11. Kumbia Kings

Latin group, they have a CD/DVD Collection out you can probly find easily enough, titled La Historia.

Aside from remixing 2 songs on the CD (they really shouldn't have) but both are on the DVD in all the original glory, it's amazing. My roommate, doesn't understand spanish, likes it and I see him singing along.

I've found it at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000DD76L/qid=1112421798/sr=8-2/ref=pd_csp_2/103-2974244-7269448?v=glance&s=music&n=507846

[vajraroshana]

12. Okay you gotta have George Jones

He's a classic. If you're gonna get into country music you, at least once, have to get drunk and cry while listening to "He Stopped Loving Her Today".

Patsy Cline is a great classic too. Oooh! I have a short story to tell. I've been watching repeats of Third Watch on A&E. I've never watch it in first-runs. But recently (for me), they had one of the characters leave the show in a dramatic way. The character, Alex, was at a car crash scene and was sitting on top of a car when it blew up. She was on the ground and then her legs fell down next to her a few seconds later. Here's the Patsy Cline part. At the beginning of the show one of the characters was in a bar and the jukebox was playing Patsy's classic "I fall to Pieces". Lordy, I love the dark humor of whomever put that in!!!

More recommends: Alison Kraus and Union Station, and Nickel Creek for bluegrass. Both are great, but Alison Kraus is the absolutely awesome incarnation of that "high lonesome" sound. And Union Station is incredible.

These are some popular artists. You can get into incredible musicians that are country that aren't so well known and some that are.

Okay, another just came to mind: Emmylou Harris is fantastic. And her politics rock!

Happy exploring. Theirs a tremendous amount of this music that is appealing, once you brush aside the likes of Toby Keith...oooh I said TK, now I think I'm gonna be sick.

[doc03]

13. Allison Krause and Union Station

[leftofthedial]

17. Walt Wilkins

Steve Earle

Alison Kraus

Buddy Miller (and Julie Miller)

Emmylou Harris

Keiran Kane

Kevin Welch (see the sig)

Ray Wiley Hubbard

I'm sleepy and took painkillers and can't think

[Red State Rebel]

18. We were raised on Country

I don't listen to it now, but boy do I remember!

Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
My mom's favorite was Hello Darlin' by Conway

George Jones and Tammy Wynette

Patsy Cline

Jim Ed Brown

Marty Robbins

and of course ELVIS!!!

[More Than A Feeling]

19. Elvis is country??????

I did not know that, but then, there is very little I do know about the King.

[jpgray]

20. Pretty boring, but Woody Guthrie, Flatt and Scruggs

Lester Flatt's singing is just so damn smooth--unbelievable.

[hfojvt]

21. Collin Raye, Confederate Railroad, Travis Tritt

and if you can find it, the one album by Gibson Miller

[Radical Activist]

24. Steve Earle

He's the best and very liberal. His last two albums did more styles than just country though.

I love Willie Nelson too, and he's just as liberal as Earle. I like Lucinda Williams a lot too.

[wideopen]

28. I love Steve!

I'm seeing him this next weekend in Louisville or Nashville, and Lucinda definitely rocks too!!

[Radical Activist]

29. Have you seen him perform before?

He's GREAT in concert. I've seen him live three times and I'm never disappointed.

[wideopen]

32. Several times

He stops in Lou. or Cinci. whenever he's close- I catch him almost every time.

[Liberal_Andy]

26. Lucinda Williams

30 years ago, The Hot Mud Family

[last_texas_dem]

27. Here's a few I like

A lot have already been said, but anyway...

You can't miss with Johnny Cash; he recorded dozens of albums and though I haven't heard anywhere near even half of them, the bulk of what I've heard is good. Often dark stuff with folk influence; he's a great storyteller, and some with progressive messages.

Roger Miller did some very cool country tracks; some of it novelty, some quite serious.

Willie Nelson is one of my very favorite artists of all time. I recommend his sixties work; a lot of it is very stark and simple, but quite moving. A lot of sad songs; many that became hits for other artists.

Patsy Cline did a lot of good old school country stuff, too. She had a great voice. As does Emmylou Harris who recorded later but her sound was sort of a throwback to older country sounds. I'm mainly just familiar with her seventies work, though.

Bobbie Gentry is another of my favorites; her sound had country, folk, r & b and all kinds of stuff mixed into it, but she had a good style and a great voice.

Though they're pretty much pop-country, I like early Alabama quite a bit, too. Just good music.

On the country-rock side, I'd recommend Poco and early Eagles.

Gram Parsons did some really good stuff, too, and has quite a cult following. He recorded with the Byrds for one of the first country-rock albums ever, Sweetheart of the Rodeo which is a great album. The Byrds albums that came later are less straight country, but still have a lot of good stuff and a lot of country influence.

One of my favorite rock groups Soul Asylum has tracks scattered throughout their albums that have been called "alt-country."

The Dixie Chicks are, of course, awesome. They seem to have gotten more of a traditional sound the longer they've been around, and like someone said above, Natalie M. has a great voice!

And though he's got plenty of detractors, Garth Brooks has done a lot of stuff worth checking out.

Well, that's just a few country artists I like from off the top of my head. I'm sure I missed a couple dozen or so! I know it's mostly pretty mainstream stuff, so I'm sorry if you were looking for anything obscure. If you try all those out though they should keep you busy for a while at least! :-)

[solinvictus]

30. Johnny Cash and Hank Williams (Sr., not his asshole son)

Johnny and Hank wrote and sang about the human condition in all it's turmoil. I'm listening to Hank right now and his honky tonk sorrows address all humanity.

[ralps]

31. I heard about this band from a 60 minutes show, "Bering Strait"

They are a Bluegrass band from Russia. If you get a chance check them out. Their website is http://www.beringstraitonline.com/

:hi: :hug: :pals:

[libodem]

33. i will always love Flying Burrito Brothers the best

[clyrc]

34. I like the Dixie Chicks

It's really funny, because I live in the Middle East, and I've introduced some friends here to the Dixie Chicks. A few nights ago I had a Pakistani and a Jordanian in my car singing along to the Dixie Chicks.

When I was growing up, my parents listened to rock and pop, which I love, but summers spent with my grandparents got me familiar with country. I like a lot of it, and the stuff from the late seventies and early eighties always reminds me of being on vacation. I'm especially fond of Willie Nelson. I like Bluegrass, too, but I don't know who to recommend.

[Penndems]

35. Dwight Yoakam fan here!

His "Guitars and Cadillacs" and "This Time" albums made me fans. Didn't know he was such a good actor, either, until I saw "Sling Blade".

Bluegrass? Well, let's see here . . .

The Carter Family. Doc Watson. Flatt and Scruggs. Bill Monroe. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Bluegrass album. Ricky Scaggs. Allison Krauss and Union Station.

Oh, yeah - Dolly Parton's bluegrass album. And Loretta Lynn's "Van Lear Rose" album.

Does anybody know what happened to Garth Brooks? He hasn't released an album in ages. Did he hang up his guitar and ten-gallon hat? :)

[MO_Dem]

36. Kris Kristofferson!

Emmy Lou Harris, Ricky Van Shelton