Tag: country

696. Roger Miller

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(December 2025) Episode 696 is ROGER MILLER. I’ve always admired his “King of the Road” as an exceptional feat of songwriting — concise storytelling, simple yet tuneful. His style gets him labelled as a country artist although he made his mark with novelty songs like “Dang Me!” His voice was plain but could be subtly wry, putting some charm into his honky-tonk flavor.

Favorite album: The Third Time Around

Favorite song: King of the Road

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: A greatest hits disc will do

648. Buck Owens

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(May 2025) Episode 648 is BUCK OWENS. His music is perfect. I don’t mean it’s my favorite or meets some objective universal measure of excellence (like J.S. Bach). But to my untrained ear, this is what quality country music sounds like. It’s straightforward, unadorned and rhythmic. That’s the Bakersfield sound he’s famous for. He rolled through the 60s with album after quality album. But his career and reputation changed after he started hosting Hee Haw; that’s the only way I knew him from my youth – as a corn-pone TV presenter rather than a productive musical artist.

Favorite album: I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail

Favorite song: Under Your Spell Again

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Buck ’Em! The Music Of Buck Owens (1955-1967) is a good anthology for the casual fan.

641. Jason Isbell

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(April 2025) Episode 641 is JASON ISBELL. I had conceived this episode within the “country” genre, but quickly realized Isbell performs in that big space variously called Americana, southern rock, root-rock, alt-country. It might conclude signing in a Southern twang (he’s from northern Alabama) is a reflexive signifier. Whatever the label, Isbell is a gifted songwriter for melody and turn of a phrase, and he has gained wide fame because of it. I tend to prefer his solo recordings to the ones with his band, the 400 Unit, especially his most recent, all-acoustic release, Foxes in the Snow.

Favorite album: Foxes in the Snow

Favorite song: Miles*

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Something More than Free, Reunions, Weathervanes, Foxes in the Snow

* not characteristic of most his work, but the opening riff’s homage to Down By the River got me.

553. Ricky Skaggs

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(March 2024) Episode 553 is RICKY SKAGGS. I never listened to Ricky Skaggs (much less any country) back in the day but I did have a sense he was different than his peers who were playing hot country in arenas and Super Bowl halftime shows. True. Throughout his career he’s been a traditionalist, primarily in bluegrass. And I like bluegrass. He was a child phenom who connected early with legends Earl Scruggs and Ralph Stanley. Mandolin is his main instrument but he can pay almost anything, and his voice is the high tenor characteristic of the bluegrass genre. His recordings, particularly for a long stretch in the 1980s-90s, ventured into other styles of country — not all of it is my cup of tea – but never too far from traditional roots.

Favourite album: Ridin’ that Midnight Train

Favourite song: Bluegrass Rules!

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: Start with the bluegrass oriented stuff, including tributes to Bill Monroe and such. The Instrumentals album is a fun listen. I love turbo-speed bluegrass pieces.

529. Taylor Swift

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(October 2023) Episode 529 of the “opus project” is TAYLOR SWIFT. I’m not saying I did an episode on T.S. to prove to my daughter that I can listen to more than just obscure late-60s psychedelic rock bands. But I’m not not saying that too. Whether it’s the early cotton-candy country pop or the later autotuned-to-hell hyper-productions, this is not music I enjoy. However, I did tolerate the two stripped-down, decapitalized albums from 2020, folklore and evermore. The best thing is that she writes her own songs, which separates her from most other mega-stars.

Favorite album: folklore

Favorite song (bouncy): Shake It Off

Favorite song (dark): Vigilante Shit

Best moment: When I heard the lyric “Or does she mouth, ‘Fuck you forever’?” from mad woman on folklore as “Or does she mouth-fuck you forever?”

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: 274 million Instagram and 100 million Spotify followers can’t be wrong, right?

517. Merle Haggard

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(August 2023) Episode 517 is MERLE HAGGARD. If I have to go country I will choose outlaw country, with which Haggard is identified as a leader of the Bakersfield sound.  He was a very prolific songwriter, many of which became classics, resulting in 66 studio albums (this was a long episode), which stayed fairly consistent in quality across the years.  His career accompanies an amazing personal story of overcoming a troubled youth, having famously watched Johnny Cash perform at San Quentin prison. His songs “Okie from Muscogee” and “The Fighting Side of Me” gained him a conservative political audience although he denied the intention and resisted the association. Recognizing his gifts, to my untrained ear he comes off as more normie country (and thus less appealing) than other outlaws like Nelson, Jennings and Cash.

Favorite album: Mama Tried

Favorite song: Working Man Blues

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: A sampler will do for the casual listener.

452. Loretta Lynn

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(November 2022) Episode 452 is LORETTA LYNN, which I started after her passing. Legendary and iconic, Lynn had a voice perfect for her music. Her long recording career covered all kinds of country music, but she is perhaps best known for songs giving voice to the lived experiences of women: “Fist City,“ “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind),” “The Pill”.

Favorite album: Van Lear Rose (the one with Jack White)

Favorite song: Too Far

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: solid in any country playlist

445. Sturgill Simpson

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(October 2022) Episode 445 is STURGILL SIMPSON.  I’ll never be a country music fan but I’m trying to expand my knowledge. In conventional mode, Simpson evokes outlaw country and Merle & Waylon (much better than hot country which I loathe), and nails bluegrass and ballads too. But he also goes iconoclast on a couple albums with electronic sounds and distorted guitars for an alt rock sound.

Favorite album: Metamodern Sounds in Country Music

Favorite song: Fastest Horse in Town

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: if you’re into country you’re probably already into him; if not, give it a try

424. Roy Orbison

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(July 2022) Episode 424 is ROY ORBISON. He’s in the pantheon of early rock-n-roll icons, but also stands apart. For one, his melodic crooner voice contrasted with the bombast of his peers. And his music resided discretely at the intersection of rock, country and pop. Again, I’m not a listener of early rock-n-roll, but his songs don’t sound as much like museum pieces as those of fellow icons. With Lefty, I have now reviewed all the Traveling Wilburys.

Favorite album: In Dreams

Favorite song: Oh, Pretty Woman

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: mostly for historical interest

421. Carl Perkins

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(July 2022) Episode 421 is CARL PERKINS. A huge influence in early rock ‘n roll, particularly rockabilly. His influence on the Beatles is documented by the number of his songs they covered. He also wrote songs that others made huge hits (Elvis’ Blue Suede Shoes). I’m not into early rock ‘n roll, but it’s interesting to see what inspired others.

Favorite album: Dance Album

Favorite song: Matchbox

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: only of historical interest