Reply #47: Yes, but Nashville "product" has never represented the Best....

[Bridget Burke]

I like old-timey--that's pre-Bluegrass. The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers & ragged rounders like Charlie Poole. Too many modern Bluegrass players concentrate on how many notes they can pick rather than soulfulness. But some are fine.

Western Swing rules--from Bob Wills & the other originators to Asleep at the Wheel & modern players.

Twang? Are Hank Williams Sr, Floyd Tillman & Lefty Frizzell twangy enough for you? Even the slickest countrypolitan arrangement can't hide George Jones's roots. The Bakersfield gang fits in here somewhere--Buck & the Buckaroos in their prime, Merle Haggard any time.

Johnny Cash, anyone?

Then we've got the country rockers--Gram & the guys who managed NOT to OD. And the folkies who went to Nashville. And the Nashville guys who came back to Austin. (Yes, I survived the Cosmic Cowboy era--the concert on the attached poster was in benefit of Houston's Pacifica station.)