to my ears, 98% of what's marketed as country, including most of the mainstream cowboy hat stuff, ranges from inconsequential to really terrible (although in fairness, you could say the same thing about rock). the 2% of country that's good, however, is very good--soulful, poignant, emotionally direct. i most of muzikat's picks; i'd also throw in roseanne cash, hank williams, foster and lloyd, townes van zandt, old 97s, gillian welch and the jayhawks (genre lines get kinda blurry)
