Country music that doesn't suck.

I found it!

There's a lot of country music that doesn't suck.

Yeah, but you won't hear it on very many commercial radio stations.

Seriously? No Hank, Hank jr., Hank 3, Willie, Waylon and the boys?

Yeah, I don't mind the songs that get raunchy, or dark, or morbid.
Or, are kinda satirically funny about how morbid they are.
Round about the 90's, country started being all syrupy and flag wavy, and Jesus-y, and then by 9/11, it never looked back.

There are a few classic country stations around that play that stuff.

That's pretty much all music these days. I tend to like certain artists from various genres - jazz, rock, funk, country, pop, whatever - versus types of music. In other words an artist is great, and they happen to be rock or country or however you want to categorize them. So Waylon Jennings, Buck Owens, David Ball and Dwight Yoakum are some examples of country music that doesn't suck.

Meet Junior Brown

I've been listening to him for more than 20 years.

You want great country? Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash, and Dolly Parton, if you're into the classic country that told a great story. If you want something more modern-ish but still good, I don't think you can go wrong with Reba McEntire ( ), Clint Black, Alan Jackson's older stuff, Randy Travis' older stuff, and whether you like his style or not, Garth Brooks was just a talented motherfucker.

Also, the best country song you'll ever hear (IMO):

You can have country and sci fi.

Junior Brown, The Derailers, and Dale Watson, among others, make new "classic" country music.

Find an Anericana radio station and you'll hear more.

Best country songs ever? "Thinking Problem" by David Ball and the Traci Byrd cover of "Friend Don't Take Her She's All I Got."

Yes I have a Derailers CD - good stuff!

You forgot about what I like to call Bro Country, which is young dudes singling about their fancy bigass pickup trucks and hot girls in daisy dukes. Florda-Georgia Line is the goddamn worst.

It's like rap, minus the social commentary.

Also, Taylor Swift.

Also, also Miley.

The rodeo song.

Would you call Red Solo Cup Bro Country?

I'd call it a rare fluke, like that one Taylor Swift song where she isn't throwing shade or a good Voyager episode.

The only country singer I dislike more than Garth Brooks is Toby Keith.

Anyone remember Rank and File? I used to have a cassette of theirs that I picked up on sale somewhere. They were often classified as cowpunk; a definite country sound but with a lot of other influences in there too.

The name sounds familiar (probably because of Austin), but I don't recall any of their music.

I own a lot of albums from Jason and the Scorchers, another cowpunk band out of Nashville.

You're dead to me.

Jason and the Scorchers are about the worst Nashvegas band out there. Their cover of a John Denver song should be considered a war crime (not that Denver's song was anything decent to begin with). There are a shitton of artists in Nashvegas who're great, but because they don't fit in with what the CMA thinks should be considered "country" they get the shaft. The CMA even fucks over folks in othe genres of music because of how much power they hold in this town.

Meh. I like 'em well enough.

They're pretty far down my list of favorite bands, but I enjoy the music when it bubbles to the top of my iPod.

Germans had the best country music.

Hank Williams, Hank III, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, The Jayhawks.....

Bro County should be killed with fire.