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  1. #1
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    School me on GOOD country music

    So over the past few years I been gradually listening to more and more country and country-ish (no easy task, considering I live in Boston) and alt country music, and I really dig it. I was hoping some folks who've been listening longer than I can might be able to recommend some good, classic albums I should check out and/or really good albums by new artists. I have pretty varied taste in music overall, so I'll listen to anything. Here, grouped in no particular order or way, are some artists who fall on the country spectrum to whom I've enjoyed listening:

    Johnny Cash
    Son Volt
    Neko Case (love it)
    Wilco
    Alan Jackson (some stuff a little too cheesy for me, but some stuff I really like)
    George Jones

    ...and country music stations (but a lot of the new stuff on the radio is waay too "pop" for me). Feel free to make fun of me and say "that's not country you poser jong."

    In any case I still don't know the scene that well. Can anyone make some good recommendations? I'd like to get a bunch more classic albums and get to know the greats.

    EDIT: Forgot to add one of my all-time favorite bands, Little Feat. Not country but definitely their own style of southern rock.
    Last edited by dark_star; 06-21-2013 at 05:34 AM.

  2. #2
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    https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...d.php?t=235674

    Go to pandora and start a station called:

    Hello Walls by Faron Young

    Don't do the Willie version lest you end up mired in pop country and the Willie bad years.

  3. #3
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    While I can't stand much Nashville country music, I love Texas Country. It's a bit more rock, a bit more swing (great for dancing!), and is way less depressing. Check out:

    The Randy Rogers Band
    Ray Wylie Hubbard
    Kevin Fowler
    Mickey and the Motorcars
    Pat Green
    Reckless Kelly
    Stoney Larue
    Two Tons of Steel
    Larry Joe Taylor

    and many, many more. You missed it by a couple of months, but you really need to make this one of your life goals to make it to the Texas Music Festival to really get indoctrinated into some great music. http://www.larryjoetaylor.com/texas_...sic_lineup.htm
    It is one of the best parties you could ever dream of going to.

  4. #4
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    Eleven hundred springs
    John Prine
    Townes Van Zandt
    Steve Earle
    But Ellen kicks ass - if she had a beard it would be much more haggard. -Jer

  5. #5
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    Lots of good ones so far, +1 for Steve Earle & Townes van Zandt.
    Some others;
    Todd Snider, cuts through conventional country like a machete.
    Uncle Tupelo, if you like Wilco (and by that I assume you mean the really old Wilco) Uncle Tupelo was the precursor to Wilco and Son Volt. It's old but still relevant.
    Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, he's formerly of the Drive by Truckers. More country, less rock.
    I can't stand contemporary country, but all of this stuff I like. And if you have XM/Siruis, check Outlaw Country, ch. 60.

  6. #6
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    Hank III, his daddy and grandaddy too.
    Billy Joe Shaver
    Waylon Jennings (Billy Joe wrote a lot of his songs)

    Most anything with the "outlaw country" label.
    ...Some will fall in love with life and drink it from a fountain that is pouring like an avalanche coming down the mountain...

    "I enjoy skinny skiing, bullfights on acid..." - Lacy Underalls

    The problems we face will not be solved by the minds that created them.

  7. #7
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    If you like complicated time signatures (kinds like prog-country) there is no finer technique wise than Danny Gatton.

    Try a pandora station with
    Danny Gatton
    Duane Eddy
    Chet Atkins
    Marty Stuart
    Brad Paisley (yes, he is a MONSTER player)
    Speedy West
    Les paul

    And see what comes out.

    Oh, and watch some of these:

    https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ght=Telecaster

  8. #8
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    Turnpike Troubadours
    Corb Lund
    The Highwaymen - classic

  9. #9
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    HANK III
    /thread...


  10. #10
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    Scott H Biram!!!

  11. #11
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    Robert Earl keen is a favorite of mine.
    Lyle Lovett is another.

    Buddy Miller is good.
    Kelly Willis

    You won't really find them on mainstream country radio. One mainstream artist I really like is Dwight Yoakam.
    "fuck off you asshat gaper shit for brains fucktard wanker." - Jesus Christ
    "She was tossing her bean salad with the vigor of a Drunken Pop princess so I walked out of the corner and said.... "need a hand?"" - Odin
    "everybody's got their hooks into you, fuck em....forge on motherfuckers, drag all those bitches across the goal line with you." - (not so) ill-advised strategy

  12. #12
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    James McMurtry


  13. #13
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    McMurtry is great, but he isn't country...

  14. #14
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    "Americana" I suppose is more accurate...

    Sounds pretty country to me, but I'm just a city boy so what do I know..

  15. #15
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    Thanks guys, this is great. Super psyched about having some new tunes to listen to, now I gotta go out and find me some albums! Thanks again. TGR rules.

  16. #16
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    David Allen Coe ladies and gentlemen...


  17. #17
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    Jamey Johnson is as good as it gets for newer country music. He's not some record label pansy singing recycled rock music that happens to have a banjo. He's a guy from the Deep South, served in the Marines and can write some damn good songs that is maintains that authentic sound:

    Playing the Part, cool music video



    One of his first songs



    And some old George Jones covers

  18. #18
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    Features the lead guitar play of the metal band Lamb of God


  19. #19
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    centric to one individual:
    these albums are classics:
    Sweetheart of the Rodeo
    The Gilded Palace of Sin
    Burrito Deluxe
    GP
    Grievous Angel

  20. #20
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    Awesome, just bought The Guitar Song by Jamey Johnson, all great recommendations but gotta start somewhere. Also Les Paul, Brad Paisley?

  21. #21
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    I'll echo a few and add a few. You can't go wrong with Texas outlaw country. David Allen Coe, Haggard, Willie. John Prine is one of the finest songwriters ever. Jerry Jeff Walker, Robert Earle keen, Guy Clark, Charlie Daniels, Steve Earl, and the beat goes on...

    Sent from my DROID BIONIC using TGR Forums

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by bodywhomper View Post
    centric to one individual:
    these albums are classics:
    Sweetheart of the Rodeo
    The Gilded Palace of Sin
    Burrito Deluxe
    GP
    Grievous Angel
    This. Gram Parsons was the man. Amazing amount of songs for someone who died at 27.

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by dark_star View Post
    Awesome, just bought The Guitar Song by Jamey Johnson, all great recommendations but gotta start somewhere. Also Les Paul, Brad Paisley?
    Yes.
    Put them on your pandora.
    (Paisley is 70% real country, and 30% schlock...ignore the schlock. He is currently one of the best country guitar players alive)

  24. #24
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    Lots of great artists mentioned thus far. Agree with most of them. Here's a few more off the top of my head that are mostly alt country and not mentioned yet.

    Old 97's
    BR-549
    Southern Culture on the Skids
    Shooter Jennings (Merle's kid)
    Jay hawks
    Golden smog
    Silos

  25. #25
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    Is this thread about alt country, or country?
    Because Ice has a good alt country thread already.

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