I’d try Robert Earl Keen, Pat Green, Charlie Robison, Corey Morrow, Chris Knight, Ed Burleson, and Kelly Willis. Plano has a really good alt-country/america radio station. If you go to their website, you can listen to it over the internet.
If you’re getting into country try picking up Drive by Alan Jackson, which is an incredible album from front to back. Is ‘pop-country’, but not too much so (you can hear the twang).
And if you liked Garth, go for some of his stuff two. Double Live may appeal to you, since it’s got a nice selection of his work.
The twanginess is the main thing I dislike about country music, so I’ll stay away from Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline.
Yes I love Siouxsie, Nick Cave, etc. It may help you undertstand my music scene to note that when I go out dancing, I look like this, and so does everyone else there–I’d probably look out of place in a C&W bar.
I’m saving this thread as a reference for next time I head over to itunes. This “alt-country” thing sounds promising…
If you want a great start, run out and get Loretta Lynn’s new album, Van Lear Rose. It’s the best album of the year so far. Produced by Jack White of the White Stripes, it’s simply amazing.
Before you write Cash off completely, you ought to listen to his haunting cover of “Hurt” by nine inch nails. That song has done a lot to turn Goths, punks, hipsters, and assorted country-haters on to the greatness of Johnny Cash. He also does a beautiful cover of “One” by U2 that you need to hear. Again, if you like Nick Cave, there’s no reason why you wouldn’t love Johnny Cash, particularly his last four albums produced by Rick Rubin. He even has several “murder ballads”!
I would say that if you don’t like country (and I don’t), the best entry point is Lyle Lovett. Get his Live in Texas for a sampler.
Townes van Zandt.
I don’t listen to country music and I don’t really like most of what I’ve heard (especially recently), but there’s one song that has always stuck with me: Clint Black’s “State of Mind.” It’s got a great melody, and the lyrics, while a bit sappy, are nice. The part I really like is the harmonica solo in the beginning (cut out of radio versions I heard) and the violins throughout the song.
Incidentally, that song has a line, “Mind drifts like a big balloon.” I always hear it as “I’m dressed like a big balloon.”
Didn’t Garth Brooks come out with a non-country album many years ago? What was it and was it any good?
Three perfect albums with absolutely no wasted tracks:
Lyle Lovett and His Large Band Lyle Lovett
Come On, Come On Mary Chapin Carpenter
** Shadowland: The Owen Bradley Sessions** k.d. lang
Steer clear of Shania Twain, though. You’ll buy it for the sexy photo album cover, play it once, and fob it off on some unsuspecting relative.
David Allen Coe didn’t write “you never even call me by my name”. John Prine and Steve Goodman wrote it. They’re both great for getting into some folk/country. Also, Fred Eaglesmith, Robert Earl Keen, Gillian Welch, Adam Carroll, Richard Shindell and Old Crow Medicine Show
Being a youngun, I wasn’t raised on traditional Country. Most of it is much too Country for me. I prefer stuff after 1990.
Clint Black, Alan Jackson, Alabama, Lonestar, Reba, Martina McBride - all great singers.
You really should listen to Toby Keith and Trace Adkins. Some of their stuff is very Country but not in the same way as the traditional stuff. Chances are pretty good that you’ll like even those songs. A lot of their stuff is just plain funny.
You should also try out Big and Rich. I’ve heard about 5 of their songs so far and they’re all great. Trick Poney is another good relatively new group.
Bluegrass is great. AKUS or Nickel Creek are good places to start.
Well, **peculiar ** hailstone, a friend of mine named Steve Goodman wrote that song. He told me it was the perfect country and western song. I wrote him back and told him it was not the perfect country and western song because it hadn’t said anything about momma, or trucks, or trains, or prison, or getting drunk.
may be admittedly bad since it’s from memory
I’m a fan of another sub-genre of Country - very traditional western. Esentially a hearkening back to the kind of music sang in the Rocky Mountain west before and during the early days of recording. The only widely known group of this style is probably Sons of the Pioneers, but I would suggest Don Edwards and maybe Sons of the San Juaquin (sp?). Riders in the Sky has some good stuff, too, but they are mostly a parody. Be careful, though, sometimes you run into yodeling. I don’t mind yodeling in small doses myself, but yodeling is to western as twang is to country.
Seconds on Gillian Welch, Union Station and Nickel Creek.
I basically second Zoe’s entire list. And as Voodoo Lou mentioned, a nice primer album is the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. Some original-artist classics, and some covers by the best of today. Kind of a roots-country 101.
I’m a big fan of the old stuff, by which I mean pre 1970. Most of the more modern songs make me cringe. There are plenty of exceptions, but as a whole, the ‘new country’ genre is pretty terrible.
If you’re at all a fan of roots rock’n’roll, like Elvis, Bill Haley, Buddy Holly or the Everly Brothers, you’ll probably get a kick out of a lot of the older acts. The late 50’s and early 60’s saw a lot of crossover hits on both the pop and country charts.
That was a great time for music. Billboards hit charts often featured Elvis, Sinatra and Johnny Cash in the same week. The segregated charts of today bore me.
thwartme
OpalCat
Garth Brooks did a concept album called In The Life Of Chris Gaines. I only ever heard one track, but it was pretty bad.
Of course, I don’t like Garth’s regular music…
thwartme
For those of you recommending the Oh Brother soundtrack, you might want to see if this tour is coming to a town near you… I caught the act in Minneapolis, and, well, you can see what I thought on the front page under user reviews. 
Just a couple of corrections:[ul][li]The Song Remembers When is by Trisha Yearwood[/li][li]John Deere Green is by Joe Diffie[/li][/ul]
Just like rock, country music has lots of flavors. Without knowing the flavor you prefer, it’s difficult to recommend artists/songs to you. My preference is the country of the early-to-mid 1990s, which had a tendency to be more pop influenced. Some of the artists/songs I really like are:
Trisha Yearwood - Trisha is my all-time favorite country artist. She has a sound and style that’s remniscent of Linda Ronstadt, and usually chooses smart material that highlights her wonderful voice. My favorite albums are The Song Remembers When and Thinkin’ About You, on which Trisha does a cover of Melissa Etheridge’s You Can Sleep While I Drive which I really love. I also love On a Bus to St. Cloud on the same album.
Patty Loveless - Patty is a remarkable artist with the ability to sing everything from bluegrass classics to pop-influenced country. My favorite album is Only What I Feel and my favorite song is Nothin’ But the Wheel on that album. Another favorite song is The Last Thing on My Mind from her Strong Heart album.
Wynonna Judd - The daughter half of the phenomenal mother-daughter Judds duo, Wynonna made an easy transition to solo artist. My favorite song is Only Love from her Tell Me Why album. Girl can rock too!
Clint Black - One of the so-called “Hat Acts” of the late 80s/early 90s, Clint helped bring back the traditional sound of country, but updated it with modern production values. My favorite album is a toss-up between The Hard Way (favorite songe We Tell Ourselves) and No Time To Kill (favorite song A Bad Goodbye duet with Wynonna).
Steve Wariner - Steve is a great singer and even better guitar player. He’s performed studio work for some of the biggest names in country music (Clint Black, Garth Brooks), as well as producing 29 Top Ten country hits of his own. He was more successful during the 80s than he was during the 90’s, but his work I like most overall is his 90’s stuff (it reminds me of a really happy time in my life!) My favorite songs include Some Fools Never Learn and Drivin’ and Cryin’.
Mary Chapin Carpenter - Mary is a singer-songwriter whose songs can be poignant, humorous, and thought-provoking, sometimes all at once. She injects a little bit of feminism in the otherwise conservative world of country music. My favorite songs include He Thinks He’ll Keep Her and Down at the Twist and Shout.
Sawyer Brown - Believe it or not, this band was able to parlay it’s win on Star Search into a long-lived and successful career. Their brand of country can best be described as a one part country and one part rockabilly, with a layer of pop slathered on top. My favorite songs include All These Years and Hard To Say.
These are just a few of the country artists I like. Whether or not you will like them depends on your tastes and what appeals to you. But my recommendation is to keep an open mind (too many people dismiss country music as unworthy of their time or interest) and expose yourself to a variety of artists and styles. You may find that you like “New Country” or “Alt Country” or “Bluegrass” or “Classic Country” or all of the above!
But don’t expect to hear these artists on your local country station much. Just like in other genres, country artists have a “life cycle” and most of these artists are on the downside of their “radio careers”. (The exception seems to be Clint Black.)
Just adding my two cents. I DJ’d Country for 23 years. Most of the suggestions here are excellent.
Recommending Country music for the person who hates Country…
Stay with the crossover acts…Don Williams has been mentioned, The Columbia records version of Charlie Rich (stay away from the RCA version) and Johnny Lee come to mind.
And if you’re going to pay money for a Chet Atkins instrumental–double the value and get Chet paired with Jerry Reed.
i used to hate country music, but after years of managing a music store you kinda get to like everything, even things you thought youd never listen to. bluegrass is fun happy music, alison krauss is amazing. johnny cash and emmylou harris are great too!