OK... I actually don't listen to a lot of country...i listen to all sorts of stuff...but maybe i can make some suggestions.
lots of people who like rock absolutely love johnny cash, and those later albums he did .. i think they were called "american" and then roman numerals afterward... he did at least up to IV... they have some beautiful covers of rock songs and some wonderful renditions of traditional folk songs.
i used to have a dolly parton bluegrass album "the grass is blue" (someone borrowed it and never returned it) i loved it. if you're someone who can't stand fiddle and banjo, you may not get into it... but the songs are so full of emotion and great ballad narratives, it may have been the first bluegrassy thing i liked.
willie nelson is pretty good too, but very mellow... sometimes he's been hard for me to get into. my brother always loved merle haggard, but the more recent albums. lately a lot of the past nashville greats have been getting signed to punk rock labels so they can do whatever they please, and they've been putting out awesome stuff.
it's also fun to try and find old recordings, usually put together by smithsonian/ folkways, of folk singers from the 30's.
"new country", what they play on radio in the u.s., is crazy bad. so bad it is funny. there's a song that's all about this girl that's so attractive, the narrator wants to check her for ticks. (gross!) and who can forget "she thinks my tractor's sexy"?
well, horrible country aside, i've started listening to a little of it. i like that country songs tend to have lyrics with really particular stories, like a ballad. the music part seems to be secondary to this. it's totally different from rock in that way.
saturn, if you're curious and want to hear more, and you're on facebook, i can get some files to you.
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MUSIC I LIKE: well, it is a lot. but right now i really like yo la tengo, and this new album by beirut, and sufjan stevens ...polyphonic spree... the flaming lips...brian eno... rufus wainright, magnetic fields... typical person-my-age indie stuff. i've also been having fun distracting myself by listening to bad hair rock from the 80s and old hip hop.


