Comments on Setting The Woods On Fire: Favorite Country Artist Poll - Final Results!

Thanks for the post. It's good to know that the cl...

2010-02-08T14:00:29.757-05:00

Thanks for the post. It's good to know that the classics are still ranking high in popularity.

The Dixie Chicks are in but no Faron Young?!

2008-07-03T11:27:32.302-04:00

The Dixie Chicks are in but no Faron Young?!

LONG overdue on checking in here! The blog is look...

2008-07-01T11:57:17.303-04:00

LONG overdue on checking in here! The blog is looking better and better each time I visit. I have an even better understanding of your musical tastes after having experienced Nashville for the first time last week. Heard a wailing upstart at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge on Broadway - the place where Willie Nelson got his start. Have been listening to your COUNTRY CLASSICS mixes and bluegrass on XM radio ever since. Looking forward to catching up on my reading and learning here - thanks for all of your hard work bro!

I have to disagree about Gram Parsons being overra...

2008-06-28T22:10:07.360-04:00

I have to disagree about Gram Parsons being overrated, though that is a popular view.

Anon @ 4:18 - great point about non-music factors influencing the categories. I need to investigate Brown.

One other who doesn't seem to be mentioned on this...

2008-06-28T16:18:14.893-04:00

One other who doesn't seem to be mentioned on this site. I've lately been a little obsessed with Greg Brown's Milk of the Moon album. He seems to be generally pigeonholed as a "folk" artist, but he's pretty close to Johnny Cash musically. Then again Johnny's classic stuff always sounded closer to Woody Guthrie than Hank Williams to me. I think non-musical criteria play a big part in these musical distinctions. When Johnny hit the scene, "folk" was for college students; Greg's from North Dakota and plays folk festivals, so that's how he's categorized. Anyway he's great, and I especially recommend Milk of the Moon/

I love lists like this. I agree with the previous...

2008-06-28T14:39:58.377-04:00

I love lists like this. I agree with the previous commenters about Johnny Paycheck, Dick Curless and Mickey Newbury. I'd like to add Gary Stewart and Sammi Smith. I think Gram Parsons & his trust fund are perpetually overrated. Cool to see Jason & the Scorchers make it.

rand-olph,First of all, these aren't my definition...

2008-06-27T10:07:40.766-04:00

rand-olph,

First of all, these aren't my definitions. I'm going by what the experts say at the All Music Guide. And maybe I am trying to push the boundaries of "country" a little bit by relying on the AMG categories. But I think that's a good thing.

Think about "rock" for comparison purposes. "Rock" includes Buddy Holly, Simon and Garfunkel, and Megadeth. That's a big tent.

I'm also curious why you think "Americana" is any more specific or helpful a label than "country." They're both just words. One implies from the American musical tradition. The other implies rural. Not a big difference there. And how do I know when an artist is "roots" versus "Americana"? Wouldn't it be easier if we just called them all "country"--I mean provided that their evokes one of the traditionally "country" such as bluegrass, honky-tonk, or western swing?

Just for fun, I would be curious to know your opinion of the least "country" artist in the top 60. My answer would be Lucinda Williams, but according to AMG she has some "country" in her, so that's good enough for me.

I think some of the opposition of fans of "roots" and "Americana" to the label "country" is based on an idea that there is something uncool about listening to "country," as if "country" means only popular acts like Shania Twain and Garth Brooks. It's elitism. Or, at least, it looks like elitism sometimes.

And all this time I thought it was just semantics....

2008-06-27T09:46:51.360-04:00

And all this time I thought it was just semantics. What I call Americana you call country. What I call roots music you call country. What I call folk you call country. If someone asked me to describe the bands in question, country is third or fourth word I'd use. Maybe I'd start with country-infused, actually. But what held me back from just saying country? Because, like it or not, it is not the most apt classification for every artist on this list.

And I'm done.

godoggo, I'm with you on Jerry Lee!

2008-06-27T06:16:06.734-04:00

godoggo, I'm with you on Jerry Lee!

Hi, I just discovered this blog. Honestly, I have ...

2008-06-27T02:50:10.666-04:00

Hi, I just discovered this blog. Honestly, I have more love of country than knowledge, but I still like to think I have pretty good taste...I still haven't heard anybody whose country singing moves me more than Jerry Lee Lewis in his prime ('60s-early '70s). I guess he loses points for not writing (many of) his own songs, but I think it has more do with him mainly being associated with rock'n'roll. Anyway, as he hasn't even been mentioned here, I'd say he's definitely underrated.

i would like to add jon langford.

2008-06-24T01:51:52.998-04:00

i would like to add jon langford.

I agree ld. I dare say there was atime when the By...

2008-06-20T17:37:01.200-04:00

I agree ld. I dare say there was a
time when the Byrds 'Sweetheart Of The Rodeo' wasn't considered a true country record. In fact it was an album that won them no friends at all at the time but is an undisputed turning point in country/country rock history now. Even Kristofferson himself could be shelved under Rock/Singer-Songwriter if you were to be ultra fussy about inclusiveness. Maybe it
is personal perception but all I know is that the world of country would be a duller place without the likes of Son Volt, the Jayhawks
,Alejandro Escovedo or even Lyle Lovett. None of these artists are 100% traditionalist but to me personally they mean just as much as Hank Williams or Johnny Cash. I would definitely reccomend giving Spon Volt's 'Trace' a second chance though Randolph. It's not the most instant of albums and it takes time to get under your skin.
But given time it reveals itself to be a truly magical and timeless
record.

I guess what bothers me about the "is or isn't it"...

2008-06-20T13:31:53.330-04:00

I guess what bothers me about the "is or isn't it" argument is that it usually ends up being a solipsistic argument. "I like country, but I don't like Son Volt, therefore Son Volt isn't country." That's unacceptable. I'm not crazy about '80s mainstream country, but I can't act like it's not country, you know? I'm never gonna be more than a passing fan of the occasional Eddy Arnold song, but his stuff is as country in its own way as Lefty Frizzell. The belief that shit-kickin honky-tonk is more "real" than rock-influenced country or polished Nashville country is academic nonsense, and I say that as someone who advocated such a belief for years. At some point I realized it was MY prejudice and it had nothing to do with the actual music or audience. What country is can be a slippery beast, especially as you move to the fringe, but one thing it should never do is meet some arbitrary standard of authenticity. We're all gonna have our own takes on the matter, but I think it's much healthier for the genre if it embraces stuff I don't like and never will because then I know it's not about me. It's about the health of the music, which is gonna far outlive my narrow tastes.

(1) What are the essential elements of a piece of ...

2008-06-20T13:23:12.153-04:00

(1) What are the essential elements of a piece of music that make it "country"?

(2) What makes an artist a "country" artist? Is it more than just the music, i.e., marketing/label?

(3) Are bluegrass, western swing, and alt-country sub-genres of country?

FWIW, I think Gillian Welch is more "country" than some of the others on the list, such as Lucinda Williams. Plus, I've seen a picture of her wearing a cowboy hat next to Emmylou.

ld,No, see, I just don't think Son Volt is that go...

2008-06-20T13:08:01.795-04:00

ld,

No, see, I just don't think Son Volt is that good. Most great country music consists of electric guitar and drums.

In regards to Gillian, I thought we were talking country. Look at the list of country figures on the right side of this blog. These aren't merely musicians falling under the Americana umbrella; these are true, non-diluted country singers and players with unmistakable sounds, roots and intentions.

Thank God musicians from different backgrounds run into each other in this tent of yours, but are we to include any alt-rock band that uses pedal steel on a song? On this distinctive blog, I think it's "silly" to label anyone who ever produced something remotely country as country, even if my hero Kristofferson said what he did.

Or maybe I've just over-romanticized my idea of country.

I don't even know what I'm, or anyone else, is talking about anymore. This is all just masturbation for alienated country fans. All I've learned is that when some people decide to put on a country record their first eight choices are like everyone else's, and their next 52 are a fucking mess.

I know Neko's evolved quite a bit from The Virgini...

2008-06-20T09:29:55.761-04:00

I know Neko's evolved quite a bit from The Virginian, but I do think she still fits in the 'country' category, albeit in the big tent way (not to speak for her but I don't think she does much with labels for herself apart from 'music'). She has just taken country in a different direction from what we'd be used to. Likewise, Gillian Welch, and she's headed it in a different direction from what Neko has gone in. Both women however write sterling songs and as we see in Welch's case are already entering the communal canon. Are these two women any less country than Reba McEntyre or Shania Twain, because they don't conform to a money-making cliche? All of them speak to a particular North American experience, just some speak to the fringed edges of it while others are part of the whole cloth.

Going by vocal strength alone however Neko by all rights shoulda been a contender. :)

(PS the women around Neko, Kelly Hogan and Carolyn Mark, especially when singing together (what harmonies *swoon*!), are also exceptional talents.

What defines country? "Well if it sounds country m...

2008-06-20T08:11:52.377-04:00

What defines country?
"Well if it sounds country man, that's what it is, a country song"

Kris Kristofferson

I'm all about the big tent! Nice comment LD. Rem...

2008-06-19T15:17:57.860-04:00

I'm all about the big tent! Nice comment LD. Reminds me of my back and forth with Ed of the Old Blue Bus. Just what is country anyway? That's a good question.

My definition for this game was any artist with any country style category on All Music Guide.

On Neko - I agree that Furnace Room was her high point, though I do enjoy many songs from Fox Confessor. (I'm kind of a sucker for torch songs too, I guess. Patsy Cline has a few of those.)

On Wanda - I love her rockabilly stuff. I'm less wild about her more strictly country material, but her name needs to be in the discussion.

Thanks for all of the comments. You're giving me many ideas for future posts featuring those left behind in this round of voting.

For what it's worth, I think arguments about what ...

2008-06-19T15:07:56.522-04:00

For what it's worth, I think arguments about what is and isn't country tend to be silly. If it's vaguely country, it's country. Gillian Welch singing "Miner's Prayer" might be more traditionally country in arrangement and theme than a LOT of Jimmie Rodgers material, which could pass for blues, or most of the Nashville Sound recordings from 1959 on, which could pass for pop, but I wouldn't dare say Jimmie or Chet Atkins or Jim Reeves aren't country artists. Son Volt's "Windfall" is one of the best country songs ever written by anyone. But because there's electric guitars in the band and prominent drums it's not country? Have y'all actually heard Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison? That's a thumpin' rock band. But it's Johnny so we shorthand to country. Which is fine. Hell, I don't really think Bob Wills is country ... instrumentally speaking he's closer to jazz than he is Nashville ... but we accept it because the players are wearing cowboy outfits. I'm just sayin ... it's a big tent and there's room for lots of people. Let folks bump into one another and see what takes root. What may not sound like country to you may just be the shot in the arm the country tradition needs.

Mickey Newbury. Where is Mickey Newbury? Pick up...

2008-06-19T14:32:39.483-04:00

Mickey Newbury. Where is Mickey Newbury? Pick up Frisco Mabel Joy, people.

And Gillian Welch. I truly love her music, but classifying it as country is a stretch. I like to think it exists in its own realm of roots music.

Similarly, though for less noble reasons, Son Volt does not belong on this list, in my opinion.

I originally brought up the Kris/Earle debate and still stand by it. Kristofferson could write circles around the majority of this list. And very few of them have released an album as solid throughout as Kris' debut, Kristofferson.

One of the other commenters was right about Johnny Paycheck, too. Add Dick Curless, the Gosdin Brothers and the Wilburn Brothers while you're at it. Boot the Dixie Chicks and we've got an opening!

But it's favorites, right?

I was a shameless Neko fanboy circa Furnace Room L...

2008-06-19T11:14:46.480-04:00

I was a shameless Neko fanboy circa Furnace Room Lullaby, but since then she's confined herself to the torch song ghetto and all but forsaken roots and rock 'n' roll. Not completely, but mostly. From an artistic standpoint, I simply don't get it. But she routinely plays 1000-2000 seat concert halls ... at least last time I paid attention ... so maybe she knows what she's doing. Still, it's not like those folks are gonna start walking out because she channels her inner Wanda Jackson.

Hey, that reminds me, I'll see your Charline Arthur and raise you a Wanda Jackson. "Let's Have A Party" alone puts her in the mix. Also, Rose Maddox and her brothers could out-rock probably 80% of this list and are EASILY in the Underrated Top 10.

Sticking with the females, I think Emmy is a bit overrated. Patsy, Loretta, and Dolly should all be ahead of her and I'd probably say in that order. But overall the list is pretty strong.

Carrie, I was really surprised about Neko not gett...

2008-06-19T07:52:26.075-04:00

Carrie, I was really surprised about Neko not getting votes. Maybe she is not considered country anymore. Her voice certainly is great.

Neko Case shoulda been there - what a voice she ha...

2008-06-19T03:37:21.771-04:00

Neko Case shoulda been there - what a voice she has.

I change day to day between Patsy and Loretta...An...

2008-06-18T22:37:10.063-04:00

I change day to day between Patsy and Loretta...

Another early female country singer that you don't hear much about is Charline Arthur. Her stuff was great and her career/life story is pretty interesting. It will have to be the subject of a post one of these days.

its tough, but id have to say patsy, you?

2008-06-18T22:27:32.411-04:00

its tough, but id have to say patsy, you?