Category: Country
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Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers ‘Once Upon A Christmas’ (1984)
It’s hard to imagine a more iconic match in the mid-1980’s than Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers teaming up to do a Christmas album together, but the world managed to grace us with its presence for one winter in 1984 when they released Once Upon A Christmas. It’s a terrific soft-listening experience filled with all…
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Brett Eldredge ‘Mr. Christmas’ (2021)
Brett Eldredge has one of the finest and rich country voices in the industry today and is a consistent go-to for me when I’m in the need of an old-fashioned emotional pick me up. The title track off his 2020 album Sunday Drive has made me well up with tears on numerous occasions (a story…
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Butch Walker ‘Over the Holidays and Under the Influence’ (2017)
Butch Walker is one of America’s best songwriters and producers that you’ve likely never heard of. His personal catalog is extensive and filled with his unique blend of grimy rock bangers sandwiched in between saccharine sweet love songs (The Rise and Fall of…Butch Walker and The Let’s-Go-Out-Tonites being his definitive solo album in my book)…
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Glen Campbell ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ (1975)
Rhinestone Cowboy sounds like a cowboy from Arkansas moved to Beverley Hills in the 70’s and wrote a bunch of theme songs for sitcoms and game shows during his time in Los Angeles. I can literally see the introduction credits in my head– character in various locations going about their day, noticing the camera, and…
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Patsy Cline ‘Showcase’ (1961)
Patsy Cline was one of country music’s most influential stars during the formative years of the genre in the early 1960’s, and left a legacy that reverberates to this day. It’s hard to fully articulate just how much Cline means to the country community– her rich and powerful voice, effortlessly punctuated with a steadily controlled…
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The Everly Brothers ‘They’re Off & Rolling’ (1958)
The Everly Brothers were at the crossroads of country music and R&B in the late 1950’s and served as an influential act on a generation of bands that followed them in the 1960’s. The most notable band they influenced was The Beatles– early in John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s career they actually referred to themselves…
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George Strait ‘Strait From The Heart’ (1982)
George Strait is the epitome of old school classic country. Possessing a crystal clear voice and a backing band that’s solid as nails, Strait rolls through his vintage brand of country music effortlessly during 10 songs that span an efficient 29 minute runtime on Strait From The Heart. This was the album that put Strait…
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Zach Bryan ‘American Heartbreak’ (2022)
It’s not often you get a non-compilation triple album, but there’s nothing really normal about Zach Bryan’s rise to fame. A U.S. Navy veteran who enlisted at the age of 17, Bryan rose to prominence five years ago the way so many breakthrough artists are nowadays– through a viral YouTube video. This led to his…
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Merle Haggard & The Strangers ‘Mama Tried’ (1968)
“Mama Tried” is the song country legend Merle Haggard is best known for and it’s actually a semi-autobiographical one. At the age of nine years old Haggard’s father died of a brain hemorrhage, a moment that had a materical impact on the young Haggard. With the absence of a father figure in his life Haggard…
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Johnny Cash ‘At Folsom Prison’ (1968)
I’ll be in attendance at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville tonight for the first time in my life and cannot wait. This is the birthplace of American country music, the Mecca where it all started, and has long been on my bucket list of places to see a live show. It’s going to be…
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Jamey Johnson ‘That Lonesome Song’ (2008)
Jamey Johnson is a country throwback in nearly every way– a deep voice that booms like a bass drum with a bit of a marble mouthed drawl, meandering acoustic guitars that tell a story all to themselves, and a backing band that understands when to hit their spots and when to take center stage. 2008’s…
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Waylon Jennings ‘Honky Tonk Heroes’ (1973)
Waylon Jennings is an almost mythical force in the history of outlaw country, a sub-genre that bucked the norms of the Nashville establishment in the early 70’s. Disillusioned with both the artistic and sonic constraints of producers like Chet Atkins who favored slick production over a more organic and natural sound, artists like Jennings and…
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David Allan Coe ‘Longhaired Redneck’ (1976)
David Allan Coe has always been country’s crazy old drunk uncle, a freewheeling individualist that stood out even in a genre that was filled to the brim with them. Like one of his country music icons Merle Haggard (whom he namedrops in the title track), Coe’s outlaw country bonafides were the real deal– the early…
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Midland ‘Let It Roll’ (2019)
There are few country artists today who are able to expertly walk the line between contemporary appeal and old-school roots. It’s a delicate balance to strike between popularity and parody. Midland is one of those bands, the best at playing that game in 2023, and maybe the only country music act who makes me feel…
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Florida Georgia Line ‘Anything Goes’ (2014)
I have pangs of self-loathing every time I listen to Florida Georgia Line for the very simple reason that intellectually I understand what they’re doing is just tapping into sounds that don’t challenge my brain at all, but emotionally I can’t help getting amped up and start singing along every time one of those big…
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Willie Nelson ‘Red Headed Stranger’ (1975)
Willie Nelson’s 1975 album Red Headed Stranger was a watermark moment for country music in that it moved the genre beyond a collection of singles pressed onto a 12-inch circular piece of polyvinyl chloride (i.e. a vinyl record) and into a singular world that had a common thematic structure. Put another way, the art of…
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Garth Brooks ‘Double Live’ (1998)
I don’t do too many live album reviews for a handful of reasons, the primary one being they end up effectively being a compilation of hit songs for many artists and not necessarily a true reflection of what an album stands for. We’ve made exceptions this year (1971’s At Fillmore East by The Allman Brothers…
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The Statler Brothers ‘Flowers on the Wall’ (1966)
The Statler Brothers were a gospel country quartet that rose to the prominence in the late 60’s and early 70’s, enjoying an extensive career that lasted until their final goodbye tour in 2002. Infusing their gospel music roots with traditional country instrumentation and barbershop quartet inspired vocal arrangements, the group was known for being one…
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Pecos & the Rooftops ‘Pecos & the Rooftops’ (2023)
Pecos & the Rooftops is a throwback to mid-2000’s alternative rock and modern country (think Nickelback meets Dylan Wheeler) and is here to do nothing but keep it simple and straightforward. The band actually shot to prominence off their single “This Damn Song” which was released over four years ago and got incredibly popular during…
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Moe Bandy & Joe Stampley ‘Just Good Ol’ Boys’ (1979)
Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley were outlaw country stalwarts in the mid-70’s. Taking influence from the rough and tumble honky tonk of Hank Williams, their individual solo careers were filled with barroom ballads covering topics like lost love, cheating, and whiskey (three topics that are natural fits together) and helped drive redneck regalia to the…
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Brooks & Dunn ‘Red Dirt Road’ (2003)
Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn are nothing short of icons in country music, a duo entirely synonymous with the honky tonk mainstream country sound that dominated the airwaves in the 90’s and early aughts. You know exactly what you’re getting when you throw on a Brooks & Dunn record– Telecasters with crunchy tone, drums that…
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Taylor McCall ‘Black Powder Soul’ (2021)
Black Powder Soul by Taylor McCall sounds like if Dustin Kensrue from Thrice and The Black Keys got together to write an outlaw country record. In other words, it sounds pretty fucking awesome. This has all the elements that check the box for what I love about outlaw country music. Acoustic guitars in minor keys,…
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Jerry Reed ‘East Bound and Down’ (1977)
Jerry Reed is the kind of guitarist that you listen to for the first time and it either inspires you to further dedicate yourself to the craft or causes you to give it all up and pivot your hobby to knitting quilts. The man is that good. Reed is a fingerstyle guitar player which is…
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Old Dominion ‘Happy Endings’ (2017)
Good country music has a tight narrative structure that tells a compelling story with a satisfying conclusion. Great country music has a tight narrative structure that tells a compelling story with a satisfying conclusion, but (and this is important) at some point the song introduces a pattern interrupt along the way. This is the bucket…
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Pat Green ‘Wave on Wave’ (2003)
It’s been nearly 20 years since I’ve listened to Pat Green (as an old friend recently reminded me, Green was the soundtrack to many late nights of debauchery during high school), which meant that during the album listen I was stuck somewhere in between the present tense and the past, filled with nostalgia for country…
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Eric Church ‘Chief’ (2011)
Blending together traditional country music arrangements with a dash of rock and roll, Eric Church’s Chief is an adequately solid country album. In my mid-20’s this album meant a lot to me, speaking to my long-lasting love for rock as well as my ever-growing appreciation for country music. As the years have gone by I…
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Paul Cauthen ‘Room 41’ (2019)
Here’s the headline– Paul Cauthen’s Room 41 is one of the best country records ever made, should be on every critic’s Top 100 list, and will be a mainstay in my rotation forever. The backstory of “Room 41” is stuff legends are made of. Following an abrupt breakup with his long-time fiancee, Cauthen rented a…
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Keith Urban ‘Golden Road’ (2002)
What Keith Urban lacks in sonic exploration he more than makes up in stellar production, tight arrangements, bubblegum melodies, and technically diverse guitar work. These roads may have been paved over many times before, but there’s still some gold in here nonetheless. Standout Songs: “Somebody Like You”, “You’ll Think of Me” LISTEN ON SPOTIFY
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