country stuff

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six

six

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howdy partners :p

I thought about getting into country a bit and to do so I think I have to listen to one or two records.

now here's my problem: outside the Southern States it seems to be a sin to listen to country music :D so there's no one I know who could tell me which albums to get.

I listened to some keith urban stuff and I really liked his style. so can anyone name some more artists in this direction - if possible with a bit more guitars?

thank you
 
A few years back I started working with some country writers (recording/co-writing) however, at the time counry was not the music I normally would have in my CD player.

However, I saw an opportunity to get published (not to mention a whole bunch of potential billing hours for the studio - so - I started to study various country CD's to understand the writing and production techniques. I now listen to almost nothing but country and jazz (I'll always be a jazz fan)

While there are way too many very good country artists to get too specific, I have found Clint Black, Delbert McClinton, Randy Travis, Brooks & Dunn and Gartch Brooks all have material that is well produced, well recorded and normally features some well written (and well played) material.

An interesting fact about country music. In the 80's and into the 90's many of the LA studio cats (players, producers & engineers) got sick of the LA scene and wanted to live (and possibly raise families) in a more sane environment. So they stared to re-locate to Nashville. Right around that same time many of the "newer" country artists were poeple who grew up on rock & roll. So the influx of country artists with a rock & roll edge and the LA production people created "new country". Most of the current country music rocks just as much, if not more than pop music.
 
Six, I'd love to throw a few names out there. Before I do, however, there are many styles of country. The best of which (in my biased opinion) do not come out of anywhere near Memphis. ESPECIALLY if you're looking for unadulterated lyrics and real country feel.
A few names and recordings:
Merle Haggard (Greatest Hits will do)
Robert Earl Keen ('No Kinda Dancer' being the "most country")
Guy Clark
Dwight Yoakum (one of the best produced IMHO, does have a Elvis-y memphis feel)
Steve Earle ('Corazon' is great... a real outlaw sound)
James McMurtry ('Saint Mary of the Woods')
Bob Wills ( the king of Country Swing)
Rusty Weir
Ed Burleson
Lyle Lovett


I could literally go on and on. Most of these guys are tried and true... Pretty amazing stuff. Hope this helps.

-Andy
 
Hi Six,

As the others have posted, there are many ways to go here - good and bad.

Those listed by the others are good to me too...there's so may genres under the country name.

If you want old-school you should also try Hank Williams sr. and Patsy Cline...go well well with Merl

Blue grass calls fro Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs...(and many others) The new band Nickel Creek is awesome too (I've never heard mandolin playing like that!)

Swing stuff - beside Bill Monroe (a must!) - can also include Asleep at the Wheel (and many others)

Allison Krauss & Union Station almost deserve a category unto herself/themself - awesome singer/players/band)

Also, check out Junior Browm. He invented this guitar (half steel half electric) and calls it a "guit-steel". He's an awesome player and just plain good!

I've dabbled in writing/pitching commercial country and while it is indeed a craft in the first order, in my car I rarely listen to it - opting instead for outsiders by the likes of Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, Mary-Chapin Carpenter and those liek above.

Others that are CERTAINLY worthwhile more in the contemporary vein include, Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, Sons of the Desert...even the Dixie Chicks are a good listen. I'm afraid I'm out of touch with some of the really NEW acts out. There maybe some good ones that others can post here. (by and large the whole current scene - to me - sounds sooo manufactured and homoginized ...)

Album names?

I by no means have a large collection, and still have much to learn and hear, but here are records that I thoroughly enjoy:

Clint Black - "No Time To Kill"
Lyle Lovett - "Step Inside This House" and "Road to Encinada"
Allison Krauss "So Gone, So Long" (I think that's the title)
Best of Hank Williams Sr.
Lucinda Williams - "Lucinda Williams" (has Big Red Sun Blues on it) also the "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" cd
the soundtrack to "O Brother, Where ARt Thou?" - it's an awesome collection to get your feet wet too!

Oh well, That's enough for now.

Have fun!
 
Hey man...folks have thrown out a lot of great ideas for listening. When you listen, pay close attention to the song structure and the great story telling that happens in most of the songs. That is what I really like about Country music. I love a good story in a song.

Writing country tunes that are acceptable to the industry (Nashville) is quite an art unto itself. There are certain rules that are generally followed. I'll tell you what I've found. A song that sounds simple and appeals to many people is not that easy to write.

Check out books/articles by Pat Pattison. There are some great pointers there. Consider joining Nashville Songwriter's Association International (NSAI). They have a lot of good information as well, but it costs an anual membership fee.

Have at it man and have a good time. I write mostly country oriented stuff (not that I've done that much) so I'll be interested to hear what you come up with.

Good luck & have fun
 
hey jag

you'll have to wait quite a while ;)

if i get some good material to listen to I will have my first song about in a month - the earliest. and then i'll have to record it.

is there any collection that features most (or at least some) of the artists mentioned?

just to start with.
 
six said:

is there any collection that features most (or at least some) of the artists mentioned?

just to start with.
Click to expand...

Try Internet radio....
you can get a helluva good choice of sub-genres that way...
do a search man...you can listen to what's on the box in Nashville at home...or Boston...or New York...or LA...ya know?

Happy Trails pardner :D
Joe
 
Good point. You don't get a lot more Country than Alan Jackson. Also check out George Strait (the master ;))
 
..especially older George Strait ("Right or Wrong"..Amerillo By Morning"). AJ has some good stuff ("Chatahoochie" era) some other of his is down-right silly (i.e "Tall Tall Trees", and "Itty Bitty")
 
get david alan coes 1st 2 albums (mysterious rhinestone cowboy/once upon a ryme)...they are available on one CD from bear family records....most record stores can order it and have it there in a couple of days.

Coe wrote some really great songs and covered some great songs on those 2 albums.
actually, if you ever get cocky and think your great at writing songs you can put this CD on and it will really humble you.

if you want to get into some new contry get tim mcgraws new album.

only thing is this.....don't listen to the coe stuff before you listen to the tim mcgraw stuff. you will find yourself going "damn, how are these chezzy songs selling now days?"

the new country style is to make the mix so thick and polished that the words get washed out (damn good thing too.....cause lyrics arn't really there on most of the new country in my opinion)

my wife got the new tim mcgraw album and i heard this chorus line while she was playing it:

"you're my kind of rain,
you're falling down,
like you're from a drunken sky,
you're my kind of rain."

is it just me or don't these lyrics suck?
is the bitch falling down because she has been sybolized as "rain"?...
or is she falling down because she is "drunken" along with the sky?
If she is falling because she is rain...then what in the hell does a "drunken sky" symbolize?
what does "drunken" have to do with the sky anyways?

poorly written lyrics IMHO
to top it off my wife says "oh I love that song!
i said "well have you listened to what the words are saying?"
"no" she says

its a great mix with a real catchy melodie and killer harmonies....just no substance at all the the lyrics

10 years ago that song would have never made it to a major label artist...it would have went in file number 13...real quick
 
KHYI.com has a great internet radio site for traditional country. They broadcast from here in Dallas.
-Andy
 
David Allen Coe

is the badest country mutherfucker in the world.
 
guys, thank you very much for your replies so far.

i checked out some of the artists you mentioned (yes, I downloaded some material but I will buy the records that please me most).

steve earl is definitely cool - raw and pure I'd say.

and songs like gary allan's "alright guy" just are the thing I'm looking for.

as I like some of the new stuff (like keith urban) I just had to give a listen to tim mcgraw... not that bad BUT:

1. I hear autotune - I HATE autotune
2. Is "indian outlaw" a parody on Europe's "Cherokee"? ;)
 
Hey six...
for contempoary Country...
check out Buddy Jewel and Cris LeDoux....
They are up and comers man...very cool tunage...

Take it easy,
Joe
 
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