Country That Rocks

I grew up on country music so naturally as a young teenager I hated it and opted for Nirvana and Gangster Rap, everyone hates the cops at some point in their life.  Anyway, my mom listened to country and it was prevalent at school dances and whatnot.  My first concert ever was Ricky Van Shelton at the Phelps County Fair, he sang "Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox When I Die".  I didn't come back to it until my freshman year of college when heard Uncle Tupelo a perfect mix of country, folk, and distorted rock.  Country can be cool.  I took all of the old vinyl from my mom's house and got back into the greats, Willy, Merle, Hank Williams, Cash and so on.  Its hard to find good new country.  The radio is the worst place to look.

Here are some of the songs and albums I like.

Classics I come back to:

Dolly Parton                     Jolene (my all time favorite)
Marty Robins                   Big Iron
Roger Miller                     Dang Me
Townes Van Zandt          Any song is good but Live at the Quarter is a great Album
Bettye LaVette                 What Condition My Condition Is In
Dwight Yokam                 Guitars and Cadillacs
Lyle Lovett                       Cowboy Man
Woody Gutherie               Hobo's Lullaby (sing it to my kids at bedtime)

Newer Stuff I like:

Ryan Adams                    Easy Tiger
Justin Townes Earle         Lone Pine Hill
Mofro and JJ Grey           Dirtyfloorcracker
Jayhawks                         Tampa to Tulsa
Ween                                Piss Up a Rope
Plant/Krauss                     Rissing Sand is amazing
Jason Aldean                    Big Green Tractor (love the lyrics, hilarious)

I am no expert on the genre and don't really know what qualifies as country, country western, folk ect.  I think the way to tell if its country is play it for any 15 year old in a large town, and if they hate it, it's probably county.

If you have others please post them in the comments.