good afternoon all. i've been thinking about this for some time now.
i was raised on traditional country music. it's in my blood. as a long-haired teen i rebelled and started listening to and playing heavy metal and rock. now, at age 42, i find myself listening to more country. here's why.........
i relate more to the lyrics
it's not the country i was raised on (more like southern rock)
great guitar solos
great song writing and vocals
i know some folks despise country music and thats beyond okay with me. but, there are some outstanding players in the country music biz right now that can't be dismissed.

anyone????????
be gentle.

Country music = 3 chords and the truth.

I've been inspired by many country pickers. Most of 'em are listed here :

http://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_ ... uitar.html

_________________
Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Amen brother mike. great list.

I used to love country music and still love the old stuff, Everything new sounds alike to me - I agree that there are some good guitar players out there though.

Some of my old favorites are - Johhny Duncan,Eddie Rabbitt,Marty Robbins, Waylon Jennings, Joe Sun, Merle Haggard, George Jones,Sammy Smith and many more which continued till about the year 2000 when for me the bottom dropped out.

Blues Rocker myself... But.. i just picked up The Zac Brown Band's new release "You Get What You Give" I gotta say "GREAT STUFF"!

_________________
Hey, Boy Blue is back!

Mark me as a Brent Mason fan big-time.

Any album he's ever played on by any artist is usually loaded with the tastiest of riffs.

As for country in general, I enjoy the new stuff......

Montgomery Gentry
Brooks & Dunn
Little Texas
Tim McGraw
Toby Keith
Trace Adkins
Reba
Shania

The whole bag of chaw, pard!



Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Check out some Albert Lee and Bill Kirchen on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8ljrPfs ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGpr-Zy_wRs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeJHnkUK ... re=related

_________________
Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Brad Paisley is a great guitarist and country music musician.

_________________
Blues with a feeling.

GUILD GUITARS: MADE TO BE PLAYED!

Blues only ever got into the mainstream because of it's borrowing from Country.

How many people would buy a recording of some bloke howling in a field?

May not like a lot of the secular country I hear. Can't deny the whole genre because of that though.

_________________
No no and no

I can't say I'm enthused the slighest bit by today's country music however I admire the virtuosity of guys like Brad Paisley,Ricky Scaggs and Travis Tritt.I really like the older "cheatin' heart" type songs and players like Danny Gatton,Chet Atkins,Roy Clarke,Scotty Moore et al. As for Am I A Pain aka Shania Twain ,Steve Earle summed it up the best by saying "She's not hard to look at but awful hard to listen to."

_________________
'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

check out the Deads version of Mama Tried by Merle Haggard great stuff

_________________
BSG

i love country music, albert lee is amazing! As are so many other players, some of the moves are brilliant!
Also its quite interesting when you get someone like john 5 incorporating it into rock songs which is quite cool as well Listening to his version of Sugar Foot Rag got me into the whole country and bluegrass thing

Love Brad Paisley's "Guitar" CD.

The person who got me started on guitar, my cousin, was a country and western guitarist/singer, so, yes I do like country/western music. This style would be closer to my age group though

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSrPcI9Y ... re=related

_________________
you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

The virtuousity of the players is without question. I think you could place the average Nashville session player against almost anyone and they would hold their own easily.

However, the majority of the Top 40 Country Pop out there is just playing to the lowest common denominator; it's so cheesy, processed and manufactured that I can't stand it. Most of it is just Def Leppard with a fiddle or Lady Gaga with a steel guitar. You only like "processed cheese food" until you try real, aged cheese on your sandwich...the same can be said of music.

Having said that, I love a great deal of the Alternative Country/Americana/Red Dirt/Outlaw/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. It hits home with me much more than the overly manufactured crap coming out of Nashville nowadays.

_________________
Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals