Country Favorites
Over at his blog, John linked to another blog whose author is collecting people's lists of their top 10 country artists. This is almost an impossible challenge; the fun (for people like me) will really be in making the lists and then talking about them. John's choices are all great, too, and I can't argue with his selections. I also think he made a good point with his ground rules about genre considerations, though I think he and I have a slightly different placement for the dividing line between pop and country. (Plus he didn't want to include Biggie, which is just biased.) Still, the list is supposed to be favorite country artists in the slightly more traditional sense — someone whose name is typically identified with the genre — so that's the direction I leaned. If anyone's interested in discussing this difference, I'm geekily all for it.
Anyway, the selection process was tough, but here are my top 10 country artists. The race was so close that the ranking is almost arbitrary:
1. Old 97's
2. Gram Parsons
3. The Jayhawks
4. Steve Earle
5. Johnny Cash
6. Emmylou Harris
7. Townes Van Zandt
8. Lyle Lovett
9. Willie Nelson
10. Dixie Chicks
To celebrate, here's Steve Earle doing "Fort Worth Blues":
Great list. And I agree we have a slightly (and reasonably) different dividing line. For me, the Jayhawks are, in some ways, closer to my Country category than the Old 97's, though neither of them make it. The early 97's records are pretty close, though there's obviously the punk-rock influence. Once they get to Fight Songs, though, I think they turn into more of a pop group -- a very good one, but still.
I might list my top 10 almost-country acts. Could be fun.
May 28, 2008 12:23 PM