Rice

There's talent in it.
There is emotion in it.

Better than the rubbish in the UK.

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P A N

i like country because... wait a minute... i don't like country.

but i like johnny cash... cuz he's just so seemingly wise. actually, i like a little bit more country than that, i just don't know the names of the artists. a dude i used to drive to work with every day was right into it, and he used to be into punk rock quite heavily, and i think it was that influence that caused him to amass a collection of country artists that were just plain dirty. they talked about the craziest sh*t in their music. and i know some rednecks that behave in a very careless manner that i felt was properly expressed in some of those tracks, a way of life that is not so much for me, but one i admire nonetheless.

the thing i don't like about country is all the double-time and twang. it just rubs me the wrong way. an acquired taste to be sure... one that i have no need to acquire.

lauren825

the songwriting is (usually) fantastic (minis this garbage pop country that everyone loves right now)

derek

you mean taylor swift...

TboneFrank

I like country music because it brought a larger variation of instruments and another style for the rock genre to expand itself on. A genre that crosses over all kinds of styles of our great American musical heritage: folk,blues,country,soul,r&b,jazz

I got into hearing a lot more straight country music only after getting into it's sub-genre country-rock. In the 70's I grew up with artists like The Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, New Riders of the Purple Sage, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Pure Prairie League and Emmylou Harris. And also artists that crossed over from rock into country music like Bob Dylan (Nashville Skyline), Neil Young (Comes A Time), and John Fogerty (The Blue Ridge Rangers) all made a great impact on me eventually getting exposed to Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, The Carter Family and Loretta Lynn among others. I don't listen to straight country regularly but it's important that anyone serious about Rock and Roll have to respect that it was country music that fused with R&B to create it. Metal can even be linked back to early blues and folk-country-rock influences on psychedelic-acid rock that progressed to glam and hard rock that in turn led to the sub-genre of heavy metal.

This has got to be the coolest country-rock band video ever (Long Live Gram Parsons..the father of country-rock)

j.w.

When I was young, my mom would sing Hank Williams' Hey, Good Lookin', but she always swore she never listened to Hank Williams. Turns out, she got it from Ray Charles' Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music album (which is fantastic). And then I got heavy doses of southern gospel in church growing up. And it wasn't until later that I realized how deeply that stuff took hold. I'm pushing 30, & it's what I gravitate to now. But I don't see a lot of clear partitions... everyone in Chicago called what Chuck Berry was doing country, & it was to some degree, even if we called it rock & roll in the south. A lot of Ray Charles' stuff could be considered country, & not just the Country & Western record. Some of Larry Jon Wilson's stuff could pass for funk. Elton John has a lot of honky tonk stuff, Country Comfort is one of my all-time favorite records. Solomon Burke's Nashville is incredible, too. Anything that's got that soul to it resonates with me, whether it's funk or soul or country or whatever.

Country gets a bad rap, at least where I grew up, a lot of the stuff we listen to ain't what most people think of when they think of country.

If anyone's looking for some gateway records to country, Leon Russell did a record called Hank Wilson's Back that's phenomenal. Also, Elton John's Country Comfort or Delbert McClinton's first solo record.

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Paul Smeenus

I won't post very much past this to this thread, all I'll say is that I'll respect any and I do mean ANY music that's genuine and honest and from the heart. I've heard some very good country-ish music from the likes of Alison Krause, Nancy Griffith and Willie Nelson, to name 3. It's not anything I would play very often but I respect it tremendously. But having said that, I utterly loath and despise the corporate, rubber-stamp cookie-cutter Nashville machine with every breath in my body.

Alice in Chains

I like some country.

I'm mostly annoyed by it because it's typical for me since I AM technically country (From Kentucky.) But I have a soft spot for it sometimes. Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, The Band Perry, Lady Antebellum, Aaron Lewis, Charlie Daniels, Casey James, Hayden Panettiere, Carrie Underwood, and Taylor Swift are among my favorites.

tahúuon

My fav! Country music is real!! That other crap makes no sense!

Clifto

Real contry music tells a story, now this stupid pop country shames the name of country music.