So, after some minor discussion in the LC thread, a small contingent of posters are in favour of this thread. Although country music has a large fanbase, it's not the most widely discussed among people.

Myself, I prefer it over any other type of music. I considered it my "go to" when I need to just throw something on while I'm at work, or getting ready for hockey/baseball, or anything really.

In this thread, we can discuss all generations of this music, as well as all forms. We'll talk about our favourite artists, our favourite songs, albums, the best live performers, and anything else under the sun.

Just to start, I've really been listening to a lot of Paul Brandt, Marty Robbins, Longshot, and Randy Travis again. I think there are many Canadian artists who are very underappreciated worldwide, as I'm sure there are many regional American artists who are the same way.

Every year there are two large country music festivals I attend. Dauphin Countryfest in Dauphin, Manitoba is one of them. My favourite, which unfortunately I won't be attending this year, is the Craven Country Jamboree. I don't much care for the headliners (Rascal Flatts) this year, but all the minor acts are usually pretty decent.

I'll shut up for now, but I do have many, many stories to relate, as a few of my good friends' have relatives in the industry, including one in a decent sized band in Western Canada. I look forward to some solid discussion.

imo

One of my favorite Hag songs

not really a big CM fan but i do like Willie Nelson

always on my mind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7f18...=TL1aoqucVhqfY

There's a big thread in the Lounge. It's filled with some good stuff, minimal top-40 pop-country discussion.

That requires going into the Lounge though

Paul Brandt is excellent, IMO.

I'm also a big fan of country music, mostly the old stuff and a select few "90s country," which is probably pretty darn country compared to the pop country that's on country stations today. I'm not really a fan of the vast majority of modern pop country, but there are a select few songs that I find entertaining.

A few years back I was really into "Texas" country. A couple of tracks:

Pat Green- Carry On

Not to sound too much like a country music hipster (which probably doesn't exist), but Pat Green's stuff was excellent until he sold out. He remade the above song after this one became a hit, and made it worse. Replaced the fiddle intro with a generic guitar lick, replaced "bull****" with "BS", and "come down to Texas" with "come down to my place." I guess Texas is a little too out there.

Cross Canadian Ragweed- Boys from Oklahoma
The Texas country folks don't mind the marijuana, as this song shows.

Roger Creager- The Everclear Song

Hayes Carll- She Left Me for Jesus

Charlie Robison- My Hometown

I'd link these too if I had more time, but the older Texas country/folk guys are on the top of my list of all-time greats, including Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt, Robert Earl Keen, Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, and John Prine.

I remember when Wave on Wave first came out. It was an instant favourite to me. Something about that chorus. . .

I much prefer a lot fo the 90's country, or really early 2000's stuff as compared to today's music. Having said that, there is some real solid music right now, too.

Taylor Swift has been one of my favourites since she first hit the scene, and Lady Antebellum is pretty great, too. Guys like Donny Parenteau who are from close to my hometown and are starting to pick up a fanbase are great. (I'd link some videos, but I'm at work right now.)

Duane Steele has always been one of my favourites, but unfortunately he never got big enough to keep his CD's in print. He has some available on his website, and you can listen to samples, but I can't find any copies of his original band "Rock 'N' Horse" anywhere.

"And I sing for the ones whether far or near
We gotta live so we can give it all the world
may hear hear music in their ears."

George Strait, Merle, Alabama, Waylon and Willie are all you need to know when it comes to Country Music.

I stopped listen to Country Music when Country Pop took over. There are a few good groups/artists out now but 99% of it isn't country.

Hank Williams III is the best.

Townes dudes, Townes.

Just a quick plug for Keith Whitley who was gone too ****ing soon. Huge alcohol problem but an incredible voice. Didn't write his own stuff but did produce and cut three of the last definitive country music tracks in the late 80s by someone not named Strait or Travis. I think he could have been Randy Travis level if he had kept on it. 3 straight number 1s on the same album and then face down dead with a .477BAC at age 34 .

Don't Close Your Eyes

I'm No Stranger to the Rain

When You Say Nothing at All

A lot of "traditional" artists haven't walked the line well with the pop resurgence of country music in the last decade seeing as they learned in honky tonks and their style doesn't translate well to modern commercial music. One of these guys that I love that is still putting out good **** is Mark Chesnutt. He was pretty popular in the 90s but has fallen off which is a shame because some of this stuff is good:

Come On In (The Whiskey's Fine)

Apparently "I'm a Saint" is too obscure even to have a youtube video anywhere, but I loved that tune as well.

I go to a lot of concerts. In fact, I end up travelling quite a bit to see some shows.

Two years ago I saw Kenny Chesney live at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, and it was most definitely one of the best shows I have ever seen. He was sponsored by Corona, and in keeping with the atmosphere of his music, it was just a big beach party. . . at a football stadium. I had never been wanting a concert not to end in my entire life. Combine that with the fact that Taylor Swift was opening for him, and we drove all night after the concert from Edmonton to Craven (6 and a half hours, approx) to catch the first night. Well, on zero sleep we arrived, and started drinking only to see Taylor Swift headline the first night of Craven. She also puts on a ridiculous show, and I'll hopefully be getting some scalped tickets to her show in August in Edmonton again.

I have so many trip reports I can share about concerts, if people do want to hear them. Some epic, some pretty standard.

"I Just Wanted You To Know" is one of my favourite songs.

I saw Keith Whitley and Lorrie Morgan in concert about 1yr before he died. Shame he had to die so soon. He had an amazing "live" voice. Lorrie was meh.

I'd listen to Big & Rich before I listened to Hank III. If his name was anything else he's never make it in the industry. Can't sing for sht and terrible, boring lyrics.

Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman is pretty special imo. Sounds like nothing else.

Liked Gram Parsons for a while. Am I allowed to call that country? Love what he turned The Byrds into on Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

Listened to nothing but Hank Williams for a few months 2 or 3 years ago. Dunno how believable this is but I was actually in a pretty good place.

Richmond Fontaine are probably one of the most talented of the alt.country stuff that was pretty popular in the mid-noughties. The singer Willy Vlautin writes great novels too.

My dad is more into the straight up country stuff than I am. Normally the stuff I like is country-ish rather than full blown country. Went to see Marty Stuart with him the other month though, and have to say I was pretty blown away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=065eIAZj4z8

I'd call it country, for sure. When I say "I like country," part of that is because of Gram Parsons.

Gram Parson and Emmylou Harris- Return of the Grievous Angel

Gram Parsons- Ooh, Las Vegas

"Oooh, Las Vegas/Ain't no place for a poor boy like me/Every time i hit your crystal city you know you're gonna make a wretch out of me."

Cheesy, but I like this song. Also cheesy, but awesome and an excellent karaoke choice, is You Never Even Call Me By My Name. Rumor is that Steve Goodman co-wrote it with John Prine, but Prine thought it was so corny that he wanted nothing to do with it.

You seriously think that's cheesy? David Allen Coe?

The Ride? Yes. I still love it, but come on, the ghost of Hank Williams?

I was blown away by how awesome Pat Green was in concert. I saw him as the opening act of one of Kenny Chesney's big stadium shows in Seattle (Sara Evans, Sugarland, Brooks and Dunn were also on the ticket), and just figured him to be a ho-hum act even though I did dig that song already too. He was REALLY damn good. There wasn't a "go get a beer" act on the whole lineup. I just ended up having to painfully miss songs when I didn't want to, because it wasn't like I was going to give up having beer at a concert.

If any of you have the chance to visit The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, do so. It's amazing, and almost every big country singer (at least those who write their own material) played it on the way up. Name a big country star and there's a good chance they're an alum of the Bluebird. It's a quiet atmosphere so that you can enjoy the music, and you hear some amazing songs by great songwriters. It's usually a mix of aspiring singer/songwriters and established songwriters from the community who have written top 25 hits for others but aren't a marketable act themselves.

It's truly worth going even if you haven't heard of anyone on the card for the night, which will be the case most of the time. They tend to only charge cover if they've got a name act playing. I was hugely impressed when I paid the $20 cover to watch an in-the-round set that was hosted by Keith Anderson and included Joey and Rory, Jeffrey Steele (who was actually doing his own show the next night for $25 at the same place, but just absent-mindedly said "sure!" when Keith asked him, not realizing he was putting himself there on consecutive nights...I was amazed when I arrived and he hadn't even been advertised), and Rhett Akins. Akins was the only one I hadn't heard of, until they introduced him and mentioned that he was the writer of four hits that were in the top 25 right then (and had written more previous to that). He was great along with all the rest.

So seriously, if you're going to Nashville, check out the Bluebird Cafe. It's less of a spectacle than the Opry, but there's a good chance that you'll get a better pure music experience.