Okay, I need to confess. I usually peg myself as an indie/alternative/progressive/folkie music person. But I am really finding myself working well when I start playing the following playlist (care of the new Genius playlist on iTunes):
- Online - Brad Paisley
- Landslide - Dixie Chicks
- I Feel Lucky - Mary Chapin Carpenter
- If I had a boat - Lyle Lovett
- Rambler's Anthem - Yonder Mountain String Band
- There's Your Trouble - Dixie Chicks
- Baby, Now That I've Found You - Alison Krauss & Union Station
- Long Time Gone - Dixie Chicks
- That's Right (You're Not From Texas) - Lyle Lovett
- The Fox - Nickel Creek
- The Bug - Mary Chapin Carpenter
- She's No Lady - Lyle Lovett
- Wide Open Spaces - Dixie Chicks
Maybe I can call it bluegrass? Okay, I admit my selection is limited - have any other funky, grooving, progressive country/bluegrass selections that you'd recommend?
- Log in to post comments
It is definitely more bluegrassy-folk than I was anticipating. Phew! I was worried. This is all really good though, so I will let it slide. Hehe.
I can't make fun of you - I lived in Nashville for 8 yrs while getting my PhD and I went from hating country music to being a groupie for a local country singer (me and other PhD Engineering girls!)... but I do agree, it has some touches of bluegrass, which is definitely more upscale ;)
It all looks like great stuff to me - and it's at least mildly on the alternative/blue grass path. The Dixie Chicks aren't exactly mainstream country these days, right? And it's not Aaron Tippin, thank goodness.
Since you like the Dixie Chicks... download their newest stuff ("Taking the Long Way"). The whole album rocks. It has "not ready to make nice" on it.
You might want to give more Allison Krauss a spin - "Hundred Miles or More" CD.
I confess I'm a country junkie, but Aaron Tippin makes me cringe too (and Neil McCoy). I heart George Strait.
Allison Krauss is one of my favorite artists. I have just about everything she's done. I even have a copy of the AK/Robert Plant album, which a friend who loves her too, can't stand.
Another artist you might like is who is more folk than country is Patty Griffin. Her album 1000 Kisses is one of my all time favorites. Rain and Long Ride Home are incredibly beautiful songs.
I don't regularly listen to all of the above bands, though I am a huge Yonder Mountain fan. I would recommend some of the newer jazzy folky music played on bluegrass instruments. Here are some favorites
Crooked Still - Mainly the first two albums - Crazy cellist Rushad Eggleston is mellowed out by the melodic aoife o'donnovan on vocals. there is also a bass and a banjo. The new album has a fiddle. This is really phenomenal music.
Abigail Washburn is one of my favorite singers anywhere. She plays clawhammer banjo and sings like an angel. She has a new album with bela fleck where they play with a cello and a fiddle (The sparrow quarter). I have a blog post on their new album at
http://www.newsweek.com/id/40211?bcpid=1511792808&bclid=1377894848&bcti…
and there is a video at newsweek
http://www.newsweek.com/id/40211?bcpid=1511792808&bclid=1377894848&bcti…
A few other favorites: Old Crow Medicine Show, Old School Freight Train, Joy Kills Sorrow, The Greencards, Hot Buttered Rum.
some of my "bluegrassy" favorites:
Whiskeytown (Ryan Adams)
The Felice Brothers
Old Crow Medicine Show
Justin Townes Earl
Levon Helm (The Band)
The Seldom Scene
Uncle Tupelo (Wilco and Son Volt lead singers)
Be Good Tanyas
Sarah Harmer
some of my "bluegrassy" favorites:
Whiskeytown (Ryan Adams)
The Felice Brothers
Old Crow Medicine Show
Justin Townes Earl
Levon Helm (The Band)
The Seldom Scene
Uncle Tupelo (Wilco and Son Volt lead singers)
Be Good Tanyas
Sarah Harmer
some of my "bluegrassy" favorites:
Whiskeytown (Ryan Adams)
The Felice Brothers
Old Crow Medicine Show
Justin Townes Earl
Levon Helm (The Band)
The Seldom Scene
Uncle Tupelo (Wilco and Son Volt lead singers)
Be Good Tanyas
Sarah Harmer
If you want to perpetuate this particular political/cultural divide, you can always call it "Americana". Now that bluegrass has become trendy, though, I think you might actually get more hipster cred if you say "country" with a good challenging stare.
I have some Dolly Parton on my when-I-get-a-job wishlist. I See Hawks in L.A. is grooving, progressive country that falls more on the "roots"/rock side of things than the folksy. There's the Be Good Tanyas, who I was introduced to as "lesbian bluegrass". Boulder Acoustic Society is... well, they're just sort of odd, but I suspect you'd enjoy it.
Hmm. I just tried generating a Genius playlist for The Fox, and it refused. Ditto all of the other Nickel Creek songs in my collection. This feature has a long way to go before it's actually useful to me.
You ought to check out the Biscuit Burners. The Mountain Apart cd is great and there is one especially funky song that mixes bluegrass and traditional Indian music (I think it's the Off to the Sea cut). Good stuff.
Seconding the recommendations of The Be Good Tanyas and Patty Griffin. Adding also Emmylou Harris (particularly her Wrecking Ball album) and Lucinda Williams.
Ehhhh....there's some newgrass stuff on there (non-traditional bluegrass) but not much in the way of country's finest moments (outlaw in the '70s and the progressive movement which aims at being something like the outlaw movement now)
A good start would be: Wayne Hancock (new guy, BRILLIANT old school stuff complete with the occasional clarinet and trombone); Townes van Zandt (toed a line between folk and country, but he's one hell of a brilliant songwriter); Willie Nelson (Red Headed Stranger in particular); Waylon Jennings; David Allan Coe; Kris Kristofferson; and Emmylou Harris (as already recommended, but try out the early stuff). Oh, and you may as well check out Abigail Washburn's work for something on the newgrassy-folksy side of things (old-fashioned clawhammer banjo playing mixed with a song here and there in Chinese!).
Dixie Chicks are definitely ok. You could even throw in "Jolene", because it was profiled on NPR the other day. :)
I second Townes Van Zandt. He's awesome.