[FruitLoop]

For some reason the only genre of music that truly repels me is country. With the obvious exception of Johnny Cash. But I mean the current country music scene....

So does anybody here actully like the stuff, or have any suggestions?

[finding nobody]

comtemporary country sucks. it's repetative, and it's not even country. it's pop with steel guitars and fake southern accents.

i also don't dig much country outside of mr. cash. but i do love lorretta lynn's "van lear rose" album. and hank williams (not hank williams jr.) is great.

[Incesticide]

I adore Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and Neil Young.

[PunkerViolence]

Neil young rocks...early stuff especially. I always get this vision of sitting on a rock by a lake, with hugge evergreen trees and snowy mountains in the mid 70s an chilling 2 neil young - priceless vision.

[xpresswaytoyrskull]

Neko Case!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sonikold]

cash
hank sr.
the carter family
loretta lynn
stoney edwards

i hate slick ass pop country more than any other slick ass pop music.

[dietzer123]

hank willims III is pretty enjoyable

[sleep33]

hank williams is great, cash is so overrated...

[DemonBox]

i've always liked Neil Young. And by recent c&w music I really like The International Tussler Society. It's Motorpsycho's side project. And Frank Black's new album, Honeycomb, is a fucking awsome country-soul album.

[krastian]

I love old country.....not as much as bluegrass though.

[segerandpriest]

um, townes van zant
guy clark
jay farrar
gram parsons
gillian welch
waylon jennings
willie
jerry jeff

these are important people, methinks. 1970s country records, in particular, make me feel a lot better.

[atari 2600]

gram parsons

nice mention, segerandpriest
& jay farrar over jeff tweedy any day (aha tweedy got snubbed by segerandpriest)

lucinda williams & alison krauss are 2 that have been around a while but they are relatively "new"alt country.artists...also
steve earle, del mccroury band, whiskeytown, son volt, old 97s, & drive-by truckers are okay

hank williams, sr. is indeed good stuff.
flatt & scruggs, ralph stanley, patsy cline, willie nelson, john prine, emmylou harris, bob dylan, johnny cash, merle haggard...

[FruitLoop]

Hah, you folks are right. I like Neko Case (from some Mint records sampler i got years back, with songs from Meow), early Neil Young, and got into Townes Van Sant through the Big Lebowski soundtrack.

Yeah the reason I asked was because most of the country ppl get is like Dixie Chicks, Shania Twain, Toby Keith and all the shit on CMT - which, stangely, can be enjoyable while being very high or on the way back from raves.

[noumenal]

Dixie Chicks win big at Grammys.

[Tokolosh]

Love Hank Williams.

[sonicl]

I'm guessing that Glice will post here sooner or later. Whatever he says, I agree with him. He knows the good country from the saccharine.

[Onani Nic]

i'd also recommend townes van zant but other than that I don't know shit

[LNC]

calexico and handsome family are great. and uncle tupelo also

[LittlePuppetBoy]

Meat Puppets and Silver Jews (or would sj count as folk?)

[Glice]

There's lots of things been said already, much of it correct. I have a personal distaste for crock, and I've never got the appeal of Neil Young... a lot of that stuff just sounds like white boys trying to sound like rednecks (not that I'd know, being British)

Hank Williams is, to my mind, the utter perfection of short, simple songwriting. I've got the complete Hank Williams boxset, and there is literally two songs on there that aren't brilliant. The Hank Williams as Luke the Drifter stuff is among the most perfectly moribund music committed to wax.

I'm a bit biased on this, I don't have much interest in 'alt country', to my mind country doesn't need an alternative. I'd thoroughly recommend Laura Cantrell and, as previously mentioned, Neko Case. Not alt, just good.

The thing with a lot of it is, for my money, that if you're not into it, you're not going to get a lot out of the Kenny Rogers/ George Jones side of things, but it's really your loss.

For my money a lot of this new country comes from the evil that is Garth Brooks. Fucking insipid, lifeless bollocks. I quite like a few Dixie Chicks tunes, but they can go from fun and good to horrific bollocks.

Charlie Pride comes highly recommended, although avoid his 'there's a little bit of Hank in me', it's rank. Can't go wrong with Dolly, Patsy and Loretta as previously mentioned. I'm not near my record vaults, but I'll post back here with a few lesser-known names in a few days, if I remember.