Does anyone like country

I really like a lot of old country (hated it as a kid in KY where everyone listened to it). I'm not a fan of most of the new stuff you hear on the radio today because it just sounds like pop with a country accent.

I like a lot of the older artist listed above, as well as most of the alt-country listings above. A couple of my favorites that are not listed above are David Ball (Thinkin' Problem) and Dwight Yoakum. Thinkin' Problem and most of DY's stuff is recorded very well and sounds great.

For something a bit different, try some Jam-Grass. If you like Greatful Dead or Phish and want to ease into some country, check out Blueground Undergrass. Here's a like to a download site where you can either download lots of their concerts or stream one to try it out. It's fun and it's free! Try it.......
http://www.archive.org/details/bgug2006-12-01.flac16

Enjoy,

TIC

Big fan of alt-country and bluegrass although right now maybe more alt-bluegrass as well. To add to Muzicat and LoomisJohnson's lists, include:
Lyle Lovett
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Tift Merrit
EmmyLou Harris
Patty Loveless (esp Mountain Soul, one of the best "bluegrass/americana" records in many a year)
Guy Clark maybe qualifies.
some Cowboy Junkies covers qualify
If you like country swing, give Asleep @ the Wheel a try.

For an interesting (to me anyways) blend of folk/bluegrass/country type sounds, w some swing in there as well, try
Eddie From Ohio.

Great thread! I mostly listen to "rock" but have been collecting C&W for 40 years. Agree will all that has been said above.

There was a ton of stuff released in the 60's & 70's that is straight out country. You can find a lot of stuff on ebay that is still sealed for reasonable prices (and some not so reasonable). Any Haggard or Owens from the sixties sound real good.

Avoid the "Nashville Sound" and "Countrypolitan" style records from the sixties and seventies unless you like your country with orchestration.

You may want to check out the Gary Stewart records from the 70's- some straight country and some really good rockin country ala Jerry Lee Lewis and others.

There is still some hard core country being made, like honk tonk and what not, but you have to search it out.

Willie's Place on XM still plays a lot of straight country.

For some current Texas style straight country check out "Heart of Texas Records."

http://www.hillbillyhits.com/

You might find something you've never heard and like it!

I used to say with a snobbish attitude, I listen to all kinds of music, except country music. I don't say that anymore. Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, old Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and George Jones are as good as any pop/rock singers. The righful heirs to this tradition are Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams, Shelby Lynn, Wilco, and other artists mentioned above, not the marketing-driven poseurs that pass for country musicians these days. What people call "alt-country" (I hate that term) is closer to real country music IME.

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)

Buffalo Springfield and Poco were my first tastes of country.

Since then I've enjoyed many of the artists mentioned here.

Patsy Cline and Hank Williams both produced an incredible amount of great work in their short careers. She died at 31, he at 30.

It is good to hear other people's views on country music. It seems as if many of you have respect for country music of past decades and generations.

I love Country music, however NOT the pop music they call Country on the mainsteam radio. Americana, Alt Country and Bluegrass are great.

Lucinda Williams
Townes Van Zandt
Gram Parsons
Todd Snider
Billy Joe Shaver
Allison Krauss
Ricky Scaggs
Rodney Crowell
The Flatlanders
Flying Burrito Brothers
Willie and Waylon of course
Steve Earle
Jim Lauderdale

A few that come to mind right of hand.

I like, and listen to a lot of country (as well as bluegrass), old (traditional) and new (pop), but not all. It's probably 10% of my listening though. I listen mostly to Jazz, Rock (though this also includes country rock), and Classical.

For such a long time I listened to the only two musical genres known to mankind, Country AND Western. They are far more separated today. In fact Country has many divisions within itself. Country swing, sW Country, Tex Mex, Rock-a-Billy, Traditional, Pop Country (my absolute least fav genre... as it resembles just plain old bad rock & roll or pop music... Not Country), Cowboy, etc.

Bluegrass used to be THE country sound. It is now it's own quite specific genre/sound, and has remained more unchanged than Country or Western music. IMO.

I believe the thing that keeps Bluegrass music so pure is it’s acoustic signature. IMO there is something to be said for NOT plugging in the instruments every time!

Singers used to be the song writers. New top talent used to be those whose songs were those which told the truth sincerely. A different sound or style that contained the aforementioned aspects were those chosen and promoted by the recording industry. They were the Cash's, H Howards, H Williams, L Frizzells, B Owens, L Lynn’s, D Partons, Carter's Will’s, & Monroes.

Now it's more the next pretty face with some talent, yet no particularly individualistic sound song writting ability, or style.

New & Fresh, account presently for the industries primary contenders and more highly promoted, uh, artists these days than ever before. There's a new one just about each week. I've quit keeping up with them all.

Travis Tritt said it best in one of his songs... "Country ain't country any more" Bluegrass, however, still is as honest as it has ever been.

The new Cash's, Haggard's, & Jones' are the Paisleys', Nichols', Straits', Atkins' & Jackson's. Some of which, like their predecessors emmulate past greats with either their sound or styles... ie., Williams (Strait), Frizzell (Haggard, Nichols), Wills (Asleep At the Wheel) Buck owens (Dwight y), etc.
I’ll continue to tune in and out searching for talent with unique style and sound, and let the latest sensation prove or disprove themselves by their efforts, not their CD sales.

Bluegrass, yes.
Country Swing- one of the best is- Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys for the Last Time.
Gram Parsons is someone to check out. (He let Emmylou join the band).

The country I like is the old stuff, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline and Eddy Arnold

I'm still moved by Patsy Cline's "Crazy' and "I Fall to Pieces," the lady has class like Ella Fitzgerald, regardless if you care for her music or not.

Of the modern folk that do "country" I do love and admire Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris. Some of these folks are so sincere and so talented you have to love them, even if you don't intend to.

Gentelman is a man who knows how to play banjo but doesn't!

I only listen to channel 10 and 14 on XM....country and bluegrass.

From an audio point of view, I think the natural sound of a banjo is one of the most difficult instruments to reproduce faithfully thru a sound system.