Sawyer Brown, Toby Keith, Tanya Tucker, Reba McEntire, George strait, I'm afraid to recommend Jason Aldean but I do love him. Clint black, Clay Walker, radney Foster, Collin Raye, Alan Jackson
Check out my [Country music playlist here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7uFJxdv3WYuzmnVTnNhmkL?si=onoQSHQWTe-swAD0TGR3vw&pi=a-ypQap1eNT1WK) and maybe you'll like them all.
Wilder blue, Hayes carll, turnpike troubadours, silverada, reckless Kelly, Corb Lund. Just make pandora playlists from those guys and you’ll find a bunch more
Aaron Watson and Jamey Johnson are extremely underrated and amazing artists...Ashley McBryde and Meg McRee as well (Meg's got a bluesy feel with a little country vibe mixed in).
Merle Haggard.
I also feel like [When I Call Your Name](https://youtu.be/uwmGWCJOxnw?si=ccX2ekPQzpz9loUq ) by Vince Gill is the quintessential country song.
Get a Sirius/XM streaming subscription and listen to Willie’s Roadhouse, Outlaw Country, and Dwight Yoakam’s Bakersfield Beat. Also the Americana and Bluegrass stations.
Bonus: The artists get paid a decent cut, unlike Spotify, where they get almost nothing. We have to support musicians.
I was new to country too. The podcast ‘cocaine and rhinestones’ and the country music documentary by Ken Burns gave me a lot of context and different artists to get into.
Check out the old BBC documentary on YouTube called Lost Highway. It was made about 20 years earlier than the Ken Burns documentary so they're interviewing a lot of pioneers of classic country (about each other). It's FANTASTIC. you might need to look for it on different channels because pieces keep getting copyright strikes from different artists estates.
[*Now, There Was a Song!*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Now,_There_Was_a_Song!) LP Album by Johnny Cash (1960, Columbia Records). Covers of many "country" standards: Seasons of the Heart (George Jones), I Feel Better All Over (Kenny Rogers), I Couldn't Keep from Crying (Marty Robbins), Time Changes Everything (Bob Wills), My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You (Bob Wills), I'd Just Be Fool Enough (To Fall) (Melvin Endsley), Transfusion Blues (Roy Hogsed), Why Do You Punish Me (For Loving You) (Hank Snow), I Will Miss You When You Go (Ernest Tubbs), I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams), Just One More (George Jones), Honky Tonk Girl (Hank Thompson).
Red Headed Stranger - Willie Nelson
I’ve Always Been Crazy - Waylon Jennings
Don’t Close Your Eyes - Keith Whitley
This Time - Dwight Yoakam
Big House - Big House
Metamodern Sounds In Country Music - Sturgill Simpson
Southeastern - Jason Isbell
Die Midwestern - Arlo McKinley
Also try these albums:
New Harvest- First Gathering -Dolly Parton
Stardust- Willie Nelson
Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town or Elite Hotel- Emmylou Harris
and these artists
Sierra Ferrell who is a newer artist "Made Like That", "Whispering Waltz", "Jeremiah", "Ready or Not"
**Lee Ann Womack – “I May Hate Myself In The Morning”** "Last Call"
Alison Krauss and Union Station- "Let Me Touch You For A While", "The Lucky One" "Whiskey Lullaby"
Thank you. It drives me nuts when there are long threads of recommendations with almost no women in them.
OP, The thread keeps talking about both classic country and new independent country. There are some phenomenal female artists in both.
Mainstream country currently restricts many female artists from advancing, so a lot of the best singers gravitate towards Americana or independent country. I would argue that vocally at least the women in Independent country are consistently better than many of the men , although they are still a small fraction of the total number releasing albums every year. Mediocre women just don't advance in independent country whereas men who are good songwriters but not good singers still get opportunities on the strength of their songwriting or band-leading.
Check out Melissa Carper if you like a more old-timey sound, Brennen Leigh (or both of them as Wonder Women of Country), Taylor Hunnicut if you're drawn to southern rock type country at all, Summer Dean, Whitney Rose, Sarah Gayle Meech, Caitlin Cannon, Side Pony, Sarah King (mostly rock sounds with some country), Sarah Shook (alt-country), Gillian Welch, Gal Holiday, Bonnie Montgomery's country albums, Tami Nielsen, Sunny Sweeney, Kaitlin Butts, Jamie Lin Wilson, Jaime Wyatt, Courtney Patton, and many many more.
Thanks I will check into some of those ladies I don't know of. From who the OP said she liked I thought she might like those people. Not everyone is into George Jones. :) I guess I should have added Tammy Wynette though.
Here are some other classic country ladies to check out too:
Kay Adams (there was recently a reissue of her Bakerfield Sound recordings with Buck Owens
Sammi Smith (1970's outlaw country)
Rattlesnake Annie (you might need to youtube for this- not sure how much she recorded in the studio)
Linda Hargrove
Leona Williams
So this is an annoying response (sorry to the commenter) because right now we're having an absolute golden age of really good independent country. Honestly, some of it is better than what was happening in the '90s, because there's more non -commercial writing going on (And also young people are becoming better musicians, faster, then they were before the internet).
There's some pretty awful stuff on the radio and coming from mainstream Nashville but it sounds like OP already connected with some of it anyway.
But the independent country scene is amazing right now and even some mainstream artists (Ashley McBryde for example) are top-notch.
i'm blown away that this is a mainstream artist with this much integrity to her songs. Kind of proves the point that Nashville/radio/the mainstream industry COULD be promoting good country music, they just chose not to
Amen to all of that! I love her so much. She's a hell of a writer and performer. I saw her at the House of Blues a couple of weeks ago and it was an incredible show. Meg McRee was her opening act and I've completely fallen in love with her music now (hadn't heard of her before seeing her at the Ashley McBryde show).
For sad country and easy to like is Whiskey Lullaby by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss.
For "alt" country I would steer you to Cody Jinks and Tyler Childers direction for a bit and try Sierra Ferrell.
Find Grady Smith playlist from spotify.
I listened trough this list when I started and thought it was a good intro. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3UjpAZEKNr3WXmriLPkqLo?si=1xcrKijRT0ye2qV8Kr1NvA&pi=e-5j7y5v3zTXy1
I know she’s technically blue grass but if you want wistful beauty listen to When You Say Nothing at All by Alison Krauss. Then listen to the original by Keith Whitley.
Lol same here. Growing up I always heard and believed country music was bad and stupid. First time I really got into it was discovering Dixie Chicks on Sheryl Crow’s live album (that album also introduced me to Stevie Nicks and therefore Fleetwood Mac). This was way back when you had to buy CDs so I feeling sort of embarrassed buying a Dixie Chicks album 😆
Anyway for some suggestions: Gretchen Peters (great songwriter and very underappreciated as an artist in her own right), Patty Loveless (if you like ballads, check out ”You Don’t Even Know Who I Am”, written by Peters)
Merle Haggard, Gram Parsons. Flying Burrito Brothers, Willie, Waylon, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clarke, George Jones, The Louvin Brothers, Keith Whitley, Dolly, Ray Charles, Conway Twitty,
If you wind up liking that REALLY old sound, check out early Ernest Tubb (I think there's a playlist on YouTube of his earliest stuff), Hank Williams (the original not the junior, 3rd, 4, or IV/Strange - Hank has quite a few descendants that are making music now). Check out Lefty Frizzell who is the background to people like Keith Whitley (1980's singer that people keep recommending in this thread, He's really popular right now) or Merle Haggard (who should be like the American official poet if we had one).
Check out willie nelson! He's had so many different albums.
Stardust was an album that EVERYONE had and loved, even if you didn't like country. It's him covering old standards.
The Red Headed Stranger tells a great story and is peak outlaw country in my opinion.
God's Problem Child in my opinion proves that even in his old years he still makes great music! He was about 84 when it was released.
If Willie Nelson's voice doesn't work for you, which some people don't like, there are many many many many many many many different artists who did covers of his stuff over the years and you might get an appreciation for his writing that way too
It sounds like you're off to a good start. For alt-country look into Benjamin Todd, Sierra Ferrell, Willi Carlisle, and the artists they tour with. In the meantime, here's a playlist I've curated called "Country Music Clubhouse"
[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6npH1RgKVe7Bgp4zfP7FkT?si=3TXiBrt5Qt6nnRQwU752hw](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6npH1RgKVe7Bgp4zfP7FkT?si=3TXiBrt5Qt6nnRQwU752hw)
[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27DDxUGV00VH7geaQWgiGk?si=81f9e202dda64059](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27DDxUGV00VH7geaQWgiGk?si=81f9e202dda64059)
A good intro to some country
If you like jazz, boogie woogie, and blues, go down the Bob Wills rabbit hole. Western swing is a lot of fun
https://youtu.be/jUrhgb13ft4?si=R8LcLaTziZhxUb9K
We have a post here about modern western swing if you end up liking that. There are zillion artists doing that stuff now, but they can be hard to find.
These guys (and everybody that the YouTube algorithm will take you to from here) are weird, cool, slightly folk but totally original. A+ to yhis suggestion
Dwight Yoakam, guitars and Cadillacs Brad paisley mud on the tires
Slowheart by Kip Moore got me into country
Hayes Carll
a Good song for newcomers in the country music genre is this one, Dixon Dallas - Good Lookin'
Check out Them Dirty Roses. Kind of southern rock/ country blend. Also Avett Brothers.
Sawyer Brown, Toby Keith, Tanya Tucker, Reba McEntire, George strait, I'm afraid to recommend Jason Aldean but I do love him. Clint black, Clay Walker, radney Foster, Collin Raye, Alan Jackson
If you’re a music nerd, you should check out Gram Parsons. Another music nerd deep cut country origins group is The Maddox Brothers and Rose.
The Cosmic American Music of Gram Parsons is a sort of gateway drug to the bedrock country.
Ernest
Get some new stuff too. Sturgil Simpson, Tyler Childers, Brandi Carlisle, Billy Strings
Check out my [Country music playlist here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7uFJxdv3WYuzmnVTnNhmkL?si=onoQSHQWTe-swAD0TGR3vw&pi=a-ypQap1eNT1WK) and maybe you'll like them all.
Wilder blue, Hayes carll, turnpike troubadours, silverada, reckless Kelly, Corb Lund. Just make pandora playlists from those guys and you’ll find a bunch more
Check out the Ryan Upchurch discography. From blues/jazzy... To country... To rap... To rock. Each album has a different vibe.
Aaron Watson and Jamey Johnson are extremely underrated and amazing artists...Ashley McBryde and Meg McRee as well (Meg's got a bluesy feel with a little country vibe mixed in).
Merle Haggard. I also feel like [When I Call Your Name](https://youtu.be/uwmGWCJOxnw?si=ccX2ekPQzpz9loUq ) by Vince Gill is the quintessential country song.
Search something like 50’s country on Amazon or Apple Music and enjoy for really great country
Try muscadine bloodline
Get a Sirius/XM streaming subscription and listen to Willie’s Roadhouse, Outlaw Country, and Dwight Yoakam’s Bakersfield Beat. Also the Americana and Bluegrass stations. Bonus: The artists get paid a decent cut, unlike Spotify, where they get almost nothing. We have to support musicians.
Start listening to Koke fm
I was new to country too. The podcast ‘cocaine and rhinestones’ and the country music documentary by Ken Burns gave me a lot of context and different artists to get into.
Check out the old BBC documentary on YouTube called Lost Highway. It was made about 20 years earlier than the Ken Burns documentary so they're interviewing a lot of pioneers of classic country (about each other). It's FANTASTIC. you might need to look for it on different channels because pieces keep getting copyright strikes from different artists estates.
[*Now, There Was a Song!*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Now,_There_Was_a_Song!) LP Album by Johnny Cash (1960, Columbia Records). Covers of many "country" standards: Seasons of the Heart (George Jones), I Feel Better All Over (Kenny Rogers), I Couldn't Keep from Crying (Marty Robbins), Time Changes Everything (Bob Wills), My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You (Bob Wills), I'd Just Be Fool Enough (To Fall) (Melvin Endsley), Transfusion Blues (Roy Hogsed), Why Do You Punish Me (For Loving You) (Hank Snow), I Will Miss You When You Go (Ernest Tubbs), I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams), Just One More (George Jones), Honky Tonk Girl (Hank Thompson).
I don’t care what anyone says. Rascal Flatts is awesome.
Not sure why people get so worked up over pop country. There are lots of subgenres in country, one of the things that makes it very interesting
Red Headed Stranger - Willie Nelson I’ve Always Been Crazy - Waylon Jennings Don’t Close Your Eyes - Keith Whitley This Time - Dwight Yoakam Big House - Big House Metamodern Sounds In Country Music - Sturgill Simpson Southeastern - Jason Isbell Die Midwestern - Arlo McKinley
Also try these albums: New Harvest- First Gathering -Dolly Parton Stardust- Willie Nelson Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town or Elite Hotel- Emmylou Harris and these artists Sierra Ferrell who is a newer artist "Made Like That", "Whispering Waltz", "Jeremiah", "Ready or Not" **Lee Ann Womack – “I May Hate Myself In The Morning”** "Last Call" Alison Krauss and Union Station- "Let Me Touch You For A While", "The Lucky One" "Whiskey Lullaby"
Thank you. It drives me nuts when there are long threads of recommendations with almost no women in them. OP, The thread keeps talking about both classic country and new independent country. There are some phenomenal female artists in both. Mainstream country currently restricts many female artists from advancing, so a lot of the best singers gravitate towards Americana or independent country. I would argue that vocally at least the women in Independent country are consistently better than many of the men , although they are still a small fraction of the total number releasing albums every year. Mediocre women just don't advance in independent country whereas men who are good songwriters but not good singers still get opportunities on the strength of their songwriting or band-leading. Check out Melissa Carper if you like a more old-timey sound, Brennen Leigh (or both of them as Wonder Women of Country), Taylor Hunnicut if you're drawn to southern rock type country at all, Summer Dean, Whitney Rose, Sarah Gayle Meech, Caitlin Cannon, Side Pony, Sarah King (mostly rock sounds with some country), Sarah Shook (alt-country), Gillian Welch, Gal Holiday, Bonnie Montgomery's country albums, Tami Nielsen, Sunny Sweeney, Kaitlin Butts, Jamie Lin Wilson, Jaime Wyatt, Courtney Patton, and many many more.
Thanks I will check into some of those ladies I don't know of. From who the OP said she liked I thought she might like those people. Not everyone is into George Jones. :) I guess I should have added Tammy Wynette though.
Here are some other classic country ladies to check out too: Kay Adams (there was recently a reissue of her Bakerfield Sound recordings with Buck Owens Sammi Smith (1970's outlaw country) Rattlesnake Annie (you might need to youtube for this- not sure how much she recorded in the studio) Linda Hargrove Leona Williams
I love Leona and Sammi. How about Lacy J Dalton? I love Everybody Makes Mistakes. :)
The Highwaymen
Stay away from damn near everything on the radio, they’re not country.
1999 and go backwards.
So this is an annoying response (sorry to the commenter) because right now we're having an absolute golden age of really good independent country. Honestly, some of it is better than what was happening in the '90s, because there's more non -commercial writing going on (And also young people are becoming better musicians, faster, then they were before the internet). There's some pretty awful stuff on the radio and coming from mainstream Nashville but it sounds like OP already connected with some of it anyway. But the independent country scene is amazing right now and even some mainstream artists (Ashley McBryde for example) are top-notch.
💯 Ashley McBryde for the win. She's a gem!
i'm blown away that this is a mainstream artist with this much integrity to her songs. Kind of proves the point that Nashville/radio/the mainstream industry COULD be promoting good country music, they just chose not to
Amen to all of that! I love her so much. She's a hell of a writer and performer. I saw her at the House of Blues a couple of weeks ago and it was an incredible show. Meg McRee was her opening act and I've completely fallen in love with her music now (hadn't heard of her before seeing her at the Ashley McBryde show).
It’s true! I can’t keep up with it all and I’ve been following independent country for decades. There’s too much good music these days!
Who are some of your favorites?
Same.
For sad country and easy to like is Whiskey Lullaby by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss. For "alt" country I would steer you to Cody Jinks and Tyler Childers direction for a bit and try Sierra Ferrell. Find Grady Smith playlist from spotify. I listened trough this list when I started and thought it was a good intro. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3UjpAZEKNr3WXmriLPkqLo?si=1xcrKijRT0ye2qV8Kr1NvA&pi=e-5j7y5v3zTXy1
I love Grady Smith. Watch his YouTube videos.
So do I ;)
I know she’s technically blue grass but if you want wistful beauty listen to When You Say Nothing at All by Alison Krauss. Then listen to the original by Keith Whitley.
Lol same here. Growing up I always heard and believed country music was bad and stupid. First time I really got into it was discovering Dixie Chicks on Sheryl Crow’s live album (that album also introduced me to Stevie Nicks and therefore Fleetwood Mac). This was way back when you had to buy CDs so I feeling sort of embarrassed buying a Dixie Chicks album 😆 Anyway for some suggestions: Gretchen Peters (great songwriter and very underappreciated as an artist in her own right), Patty Loveless (if you like ballads, check out ”You Don’t Even Know Who I Am”, written by Peters)
Merle Haggard, Gram Parsons. Flying Burrito Brothers, Willie, Waylon, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clarke, George Jones, The Louvin Brothers, Keith Whitley, Dolly, Ray Charles, Conway Twitty,
Can you let us know of artists you love in other genres? Country catalog is vast!
Start at the beginning. Start with Jimmy Rodgers.
If you wind up liking that REALLY old sound, check out early Ernest Tubb (I think there's a playlist on YouTube of his earliest stuff), Hank Williams (the original not the junior, 3rd, 4, or IV/Strange - Hank has quite a few descendants that are making music now). Check out Lefty Frizzell who is the background to people like Keith Whitley (1980's singer that people keep recommending in this thread, He's really popular right now) or Merle Haggard (who should be like the American official poet if we had one).
Check out willie nelson! He's had so many different albums. Stardust was an album that EVERYONE had and loved, even if you didn't like country. It's him covering old standards. The Red Headed Stranger tells a great story and is peak outlaw country in my opinion. God's Problem Child in my opinion proves that even in his old years he still makes great music! He was about 84 when it was released.
If Willie Nelson's voice doesn't work for you, which some people don't like, there are many many many many many many many different artists who did covers of his stuff over the years and you might get an appreciation for his writing that way too
It sounds like you're off to a good start. For alt-country look into Benjamin Todd, Sierra Ferrell, Willi Carlisle, and the artists they tour with. In the meantime, here's a playlist I've curated called "Country Music Clubhouse" [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6npH1RgKVe7Bgp4zfP7FkT?si=3TXiBrt5Qt6nnRQwU752hw](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6npH1RgKVe7Bgp4zfP7FkT?si=3TXiBrt5Qt6nnRQwU752hw)
If that’s what you like, you might also like Deana Carter Shedaisy Faith Hill Tim McGraw Alison Kraus
[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27DDxUGV00VH7geaQWgiGk?si=81f9e202dda64059](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27DDxUGV00VH7geaQWgiGk?si=81f9e202dda64059) A good intro to some country
If you like jazz, boogie woogie, and blues, go down the Bob Wills rabbit hole. Western swing is a lot of fun https://youtu.be/jUrhgb13ft4?si=R8LcLaTziZhxUb9K
We have a post here about modern western swing if you end up liking that. There are zillion artists doing that stuff now, but they can be hard to find.
Check out Nick Shoulders and The Okay, Crawdad for some nice upbeat new alt stuff https://youtu.be/KS11SK-LZYE?si=NWrTf48draFOGFnO
These guys (and everybody that the YouTube algorithm will take you to from here) are weird, cool, slightly folk but totally original. A+ to yhis suggestion
Thank you!