Your Favorite Modern Country Music?

I know we have a lot of old school country music purists in here. But the song Ticks by Brad Paisley that Elwood posted awhile ago got me thinking there is still some pretty good country music out there, even if they use today's production techniques and instruments.

So what are your favorite modern country songs? By modern, it pretty much means anything you don't consider old school I guess.

I'm gonna use this thread to post some modern country songs over the years that I like.

First up is The Band Perry with If I Die Young. It's a nice ballad.

[YT="The Band Perry - If I Die Young"]7NJqUN9TClM[/YT]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJqUN9TClM

One of my favorite songs this year...

[YT="Laura Bell Bundy - Drop On By"]Bb9T8Jcjmo0[/YT]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb9T8Jcjmo0

Specific songs?

Not normally a huge fan of theres but...
[yt=I believe]X5z-jjWyAJq[/yt]

[yt=8th of November]SfElHIt7n0s[/yt]

[yt=Boondocks]zTSJAUul7I8[/yt]

[yt=Joey]lrP2jcTJ_fM[/yt]

[yt=Need You Now]eB7T3lJ3dZ4[/yt]

That's just off the top of my head...I don't want to cram too much into one post

He gets a lot of grief but he does a lot of stuff I like too...

[yt=Live Like You Were Dyin']7mHaFMqde6A[/yt]

[yt=Angel Boy]QQhOsEESX1w[/yt]

And for something more light...

[yt=Do You Want Fries?]jxC-Hzcy7pc[/yt]

I'll probably be thinking of songs all night now....

I can't discuss Taylor Swift without this descending into Red Room debauchery.

I don't care for modern country music, but it doesn't get any better than:

[wyt=This!]6_NUVf3Pysg[/wyt]

Fuck country music.

The Derailers, among others.

I can't stand mainstream country music at all.

Country music died in the early 80's and has never recovered. Now they spoon feed us pop and rock with a bit of a twang and call it country, but it ain't so.

That's not ENTIRELY true, there are traditionalists around...but there is more similarity between a lot of modern "country" and that which was considered pop-rock in the 80's thatn there is to what was considered country in the 70's (for instance, "Come On Eileen" would have been a country song today - notwithstanding a lot of po/rock then was still quite unlike current country)

I still say, though, that it's rose-colored hindsight to glorify old country. Sure, the giants were giants for a reason - Cash, Waylon, Hag, et al. And it's the corresponding LACK of such monumental talents that makes then different from now. But there were just as many lame-ass mediocre people making mediocre country music in 1970 as there are now, it's just that we don't preserve and remember the mediocre, we let it fade (or block it) from our memory and it doesn't get played anymore.

The only "modern" country I can stand is Leann Rimes, and only because she covers old Patsy Cline tunes.

Now Patsy, there's a lady who could belt out a heart-wrenching song.

I don't really "do" country from nowadays. Give me Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Hank Sr., Hank Jr., Roy Acuff, Ray Price, Roy Clark, the Statler Brothers, Crystal Gayle, George Jones... you get the idea.

Don't forget Merle Haggard, Waylon & Willie, Mel Tillis, and Dolly Parton.

The only performer who's come close to matching the caliber of the great ones would be Randy Travis.

Fuck you!

The best country music these days isn't going to be played on a mainstream country station (Top 40, or whatever you want to call it).

Look guys, i respect anyone's musical tastes but you can surely come up with better examples.

I'm not a huge fan of modern country but I can - with a little thought - probably name 50 acts from the last 20 years better than Mel friggin Tillis and Roy Clark.

Can anyone compare to Cash and Waylon and Merle? Nope, already said that.

But, for example, Reba and Martina McBride, just to name two, are FAR more talented than Chrystal Gale (and i liked her ok)

Clint Black and Alan Jackson and Travis Tritt and yes Tim McGraw and many many more put Tillis and clark to shame (props to Tillis as a songwriter and Clark as a musician but I'm speaking of singing here)

That's not to say there are not artist of that era who far outshine the modern crowd - but please don't insult Waylon by putting his name in the same paragraph with Tillis, let alone the same sentence.

And just to show you i'm not against the old guys, I'll throw in Roger Miller, Tammy Wynette, Charlie Rich, Ronnie Milsap, Charlie Pride, Lorretta Lynn, Conway Twitty - giants all.

But not ALL those who pre-dated 1990, or 1980, or whatever your line is, were giants just because they shared the airwaves with giants.

It was just a random sample of the general sort of country music I like! No need to read anything epic into it.

[YT="Alan Jackson - That'd Be Alright"]97LNIDgRvR0[/YT]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97LNIDgRvR0

If my dear old dog never got old,
The family farm never got sold,
Another bad joke, never got told,
That'd be alright.

New Jamey Johnson album coming out September 14.

http://wm.allaccess.com/allaccess/jameplay.wma

Best country music out.

Willie's still alive, does he count? No?

Ok maybe Drive By Truckers or possibly Hank III.


[?=Best Modern Country & Western Music][/?]

It's too bad this group split up. They made quite a few good songs while together.

[YT="The Wreckers - Tennessee"]KZbY4CJnt-4[/YT]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZbY4CJnt-4

Now here's the new direction of country! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCAM3C3dpIA

Another wicked song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPmjri35cBM
[YT="David Nail - Turning Home"]IPmjri35cBM[/YT]

Love the song, love the lyrics, and the fella has a hell of a voice.

Didn't like the video that much. They could've put more Americana and less of the band.

I like Leann Rimes, but only because she covers Patsy Cline tunes.

I like Rodney Carrington.

Hank III

Downloaded this. it is good.

Never let it be said you aren't repetitive

This is what the kids of classic Canuck country grew up to play
[YT="the sadies"]uQj1fZdUQPQ [/YT]

[YT="another sadies vid"] 5sP--pKxJOg&feature=related [/YT]

Has anyone mentioned what Darius Rucker (Hootie + The Blowfish) brings to the country music table? He seems to be putting that recognizable voice to good use so far!