All right, here's an interesting suggestion for you.
Nashville by Bill Frisell. Got some outstanding pickers on it (3 members of Union Station and others), a mix of traditional country and then of course (if you're familiar with this artist) Bill Frisell takes some of the tunes to places where country music doesn't often go.
A great listen. |
Listen to KPIG Radio from Calif.
A fine selection of creative country/rock songs.
No pop or top 40 here. |
I just picked up Neko Case ("Blacklised" and "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood"), and Gillian Welch ("Revival"). All excellent , both of them fantastic voices. |
American Flyer is one of my favorites, but it's a little hard to find. I'm pretty sure it was made up of some of the Pure Prairie League guys before they became more well known. |
Wow! 10 years later a post... |
Haha, didn't notice the date! Oh well, not the dumbest thing I've done by far... |
A fine Canadian band -- Blue Rodeo. Five Days in July. |
Los Lobos, when they're in the mood, is a fine country band. Such tracks as "One Time, One NIght in America" and "Evangeline" qualify. Also worth checking out is their cover of the Dead's "Bertha."
Several tracks on Judy Collins' "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" give Buddy Emmons room to shine on steel guitar--notably "Poor Immigrant," "Someday Soon" and "Bird on the Wire." That stuff goes straight to my heart.
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Shurman is good. I agree with Joe Henry. Not sure if Jeff Talmadge is a fit, but I like him. Don Henry is great, too. Turnpike Troubadours, 2 Dollar Pistols, Whitey Morgan, Jason Isbell, Boxmasters, etc.
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Man, there are some great, great lists here! Lots of good names, but for me it always comes back to The Everly Brothers, imo the first and still best Country Rockers. Gram Parsons is associated with the great Felice & Boudleaux Bryant song "Love Hurts", but it was written for them, and their 1960 version is so, so much better than his. No Everly Brothers, no The Beatles. Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe included a bonus 7" EP in the original pressing of their Rockpile album, containing their versions of four Everly Brothers songs. High praise coming from the likes of them. Dave Edmunds, another fantastic Country Rocker---in fact, the best of his generation imo. |
Poco, self-titled album.....New Riders of the Purple Sage, self titled. bdp24 on the subject of the Everly Bros you ever listen to the Louvin Brothers? |
Absolutely, pehare! I have a few collections of their stuff, plus the Satan Loves Sin (!) album. The Everly Brother sure didn’t invent close 2-part harmony, but they (along with Buddy Holly, with whom they were close friends) did mix it with the new Rock ’n Roll to create the template everyone (including and most especially The Beatles) has been using ever since. |
In the more rock than country category, I like:
Drive-by-Truckers
Slobberbone
Jupiter Coyote
Jolene
Southern Culture on the Skids
Marshall Tucker
Green on Red
Futurebirds
You guys have already mentioned many of the tight harmony, pedal steel acts like the Byrds and New Riders. I would throw in some of the Grateful Dead stuff. My list is more difficult to categorize. My list are more rock acts with country overtones. At any given moment, they might include an electric fiddle, pedal steel, or banjo in the mix with electric guitars. The common denominator of course is that they all sing about loose women, drinkin’ whiskey, and trailer parks.
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For a little bit of soul thrown in try Solomon Burke, "Nashville" featuring some great guests produced by Buddy Miller. It's an all-time fav here. |
Hell yeah pehare! Mighty fine album, produced by the great Buddy Miller. A+! Solomon’s early albums were produced by another great, Jerry Wexler, and the band on those records is the fantastic Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, the best studio band in the history of recording! |
bdp24...I'm grateful to have seen Buddy Miller (w/out Julie, unfortunately) live at a small music festival here in N. Fla. a few years ago...what a show he put on - fantastic to say the least. |
I envy you. Buddy never seems to come out West. |
I like Heybale, a local Austin band with some veteran sidemen from the likes of Merle and Johnny Cash bands. But I'm not sure if the "rock" part applies. Certainly the guitarist is virtuosic and loud, so maybe so.
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Do the Outlaws, Ozark Mountain Daredevils qualify?
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Austin’s amazing, Tostado. Last time I was there, my pal and I stopped in at a neighborhood bar for a beer, and Redd Volkaert, Merle Haggard’s guitarist, mosied up on stage and starting playing. Only in Austin! |
bdp24, yes, we get spoiled here. Redd is guitarist in Heybale. He tears it up no matter who he's playing with. Until recently we had (lap steel guitarist) Cindy Cashdollar living here and they sometimes appeared together. Add in Hot Club of Cowtown, Junior Brown, mandolinist Paul Glasse, pianist Floyd Domino and so many others and it makes for quite a feast for the locals to partake of. Oh, and we've got Bill Kirchen living here again. He and Redd make an impressive Tele-duo. This makes me realize I need to get out and hear more live music.
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My second trip to Austin was courtesy of Junior Brown. I went to his show in L.A., and MCA had a lottery from the ticket stub numbers. My ticket had the winning number (and I hadn't even paid for the ticket!), so I got an all-expense paid---air fare, car rental, room at The Driscoll---3-day trip to Austin for two. Thanks MCA (and Jr !). Too bad Brian Ding hadn't yet started Rythmik Audio there yet. |
I saw the Ozark Mountain Daredevils at a high school football field in Ozark in the early 90's. Several member's families were there. They hung around and talked after the show, very nice people, great vibe!
They qualify to me. |
Also, David Allen Cole was great to see. I strategically bought some pitchers for tables near me just in case.
The old saying is 'I was at a fight and a DAC concert broke out.'
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