I don't like much country... I like old country..especially western swing.. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mkjG9-03lhw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> and I like 70's & 80's outlaw country... <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cRNMkrDfJMY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> saw Willie just a few weeks ago at Billy Bobs..it was great to see him in a smaller venue.
Hayes Carll is very good (and a childhood friend of mine). He wrote many of the songs in Country Strong. I don't care for the mainstream country. I like Texas Rock like Carll, Robert Earl Keen, Jack Ingram (another Woodlands boy), Junior Brown, Eli Young, The Gourds, Steve Earl, etc.
this. that blake shelton song aint country - its a pop ballad w/ a country accent - remove the pedal steel and it could just as easily be a celine dion tune. here is a real county ballad by a real country man. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/z7MtuH74YhM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I hate anything associated with Nashville. But I love Bakersfield. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YvMwWrW-U9A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
These are the right answers. I'm not a big Merle fan, but I listen to a lot of the Texas Playboys, Hank, Willie, Waylon, Jerry Jeff, Johnny Cash, and a few others. I'm not sure if you would classify him as straight up country, but Joe Ely is and always has been awesome. That band he had in the early 1980's was phenomenal. Joe, Jesse "Guitar" Taylor, Lloyd Maines, Ponty Bone... man, I was lucky to see them 4-5 times during that period. Still the best live band I've ever seen. The last one (Fingernails) let's everyone jam a bit. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uRes2CjH40w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/M30z7xsiGHc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gTpHctk1rMs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> (I also like me some Little Feat, which similarly defies easy categorization.)
Country music is just like rock music in that there are all different type of genres. Like others, I prefer the old-school variety and not the stuff you hear on the radio today. I really like Dwight Yoakam. Love his swing-rockabilly style. Fast As You is one of my all-time favorite country guitar riffs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2qo1x9rcCc Video is a cheese-fest, but the song rocks (embedding disabled) All that being said, I had no idea Brad Paisley was that good a guitar player. You always see country singers just holding a guitar and playing generic chords, but man....that guy can really play!
Carrie Underwood is one of the best vocalists of this generation. Keith Urban is more for the ladies, but the man knows his way around a guitar.
For all the Bob Wills and Texas Playboys fans, check out Big Sandy and His Fly-rite Boys if you get a chance. They've been around since the 90's, and while I think they may have lost a tiny bit, they still are a ton of fun, and make great music.
My brother loves Hayes Carll, and got me into him. He's pretty good. I like The Eli Young Band, Corey Smith, Jack Ingram is okay. I like Zac Brown Band, too. Those guys are great. I love their covers. Killing in the Name of!
Only if it's Taylor Swift, she's the only true country musician left. She stands next to legends like Cash and Ely.
You can't go wrong with some david allen coe......... Johhny cash george strait pat green brad paisley are a few that my friends like that really aren't into country Also blake sheltons girl miranda lambert is HOT and has some talent too
I have to agree with other posters - I like REAL country music, not the manufactured pop star country that's being spewed out from Nashville these days. Put it this way - when you have an entire team devoted to managing your image in the media, you're not 'country' - you're pop. Old Western swing is incredible (Bob Wills, Hank Penny, crazy-ass Spade Cooley who murdered his wife), and the Outlaw country from the 70s (most of it inspired by Townes Van Zandt) still seems a bit gutsy and out-there. Guys from the 50s and 60s with a bit of a dark side (Porter Wagoner) or straight-up honky tonk styles (Lefty Frizzell, Webb Pierce and newer guys like Dwight Yoakam) are a great listen whether you're drinking whiskey and beer or just sitting around. Some of the great country singers were women (Kitty Wells, Patsy Cline of course). And, of course, the Bakersfield guys like Merle Haggard and Buck Owens are always a good listen. I find the recent pop stuff embarrassing, and I feel embarrassed for anyone who listens to it. The older and traditional stuff is genuine American music with a real history in this country. Real country could only ever happen in America. But the pop garbage now - it's the same sort of stuff that's manufactured by the old men in Sweden who wrote all of Britney Spears' hits and who currently cultivate such timeless entities as Justin Bieber. If you have any respect for yourself or, at least, for your ears - ditch the new trash, and go back in time. Pick up a Porter Wagoner album, crank up some Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, or grab a handle of cheap whiskey and listen to some Patsy Cline. If you really don't get the distinction, listen to Spade Cooley's spooky and unsettling song 'Tell Me Why' and then listen to Taylor Swift's whoa-is-me-teenage-girl pop song 'Tell Me Why.' That's really the true distinction between real country and the garbage they sell to suckers now.
Rimrocker and FB praised Joe Ely, praise well deserved. I've seen him many times, and as rimrocker pointed out, he's has had some incredible bands. My taste leans towards Ely and the Flatliners, with Jimmie and Butch, Joe Ely from the '80's (see below), the Cosmic Cowboy era, and Bob Wills. Just not a fan of the standard country music genre, although there are some great songs here and there. Some Joe Ely at Gruene Hall, with David Grissom and Bobby Keys in the mid-'80's. Gruene Hall is just down the road from Austin and a great place to listen to live music and DANCE! <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1Miszhec_tk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
A random fact: A country group actually influenced the Beatles. Anyway for new country: i'll throw out a few songs that I think epitomize what REAL country music is about: This song was before Brad made the leap to witty, left-of-center songs like Ticks, Celebrity, Online, Water, et al. Brad IS country through and through. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/h_eyvTPgnM4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Here is the best example from the great Sara Evans: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/06o-EYH9svs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Jamey Johnson excellent example: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FXKBUK94cC0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Martina Mcbride. She is not as new as the other artists, but she is still one of the best country voices out there. Here is one of the greats: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dgjTO5eAbZY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Kathy Mattea. Another on the edge of the "new" label. She was more of a mid-to-late 90s artist. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6ElCpHuiWkA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Travis Tritt. This artist is not new, but the song is: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/d4tSE2w53ts" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Josh Turner here's another great new song: long black train. He's kinda of the new Randy Travis: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PyRZTAmcW7c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> There are a lot more example out there. But these are the best example of what I consider REAL COUNTRY MUSIC!
These have been stuck in my head as of late.... Cold Weather- Zac Brown Band. Crazy Girl- Eli Young Band You and Tequila- Kenny Chesney
