baaa

The only acts out there that I know of are Toby Keith, and Montgomery Gentry.
Is there anyone else

perripken

Hank Williams Jr. is the ballsiest country musician I know. If you haven't listened to him, give him a try. Travis Tritt also has some ballsy stuff.

warrrreagl

Good God, yes. But first, get off the beaten Nashville track. Turn your ears toward Texas and listen to The Gourds. They do kick-ass country covers of Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice," and David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust." My personal favorite Gourds track is a piece called "El Paso."

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baaa

Hank Jr. is good, but I'm looking for younger people. Why is it that is you want to listen to some rowdy country you have to listen to a 60 year old?

Randerolf

"I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die." -Johny Cash

I have no respect for modern Country music. Give me bluegrass or anything else for godsakes. The pop infuences are just terrible.

djtestudo

Steve Earle

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Jdoe

Gotta give a second for the "Key of Steve." Pick up some of his early stuff, ignore the last couple or so releases. Maybe try them out later. Try to get a copy of "The Hard Way," it has been out of print for a while.

Great singer songwriter, and used to not care what the critics and listeners said...just put out good music.

Jdoe

YaWhateva

Johnny Cash rules, even though he isnt new lame country music. There is no good new country music out there.

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perripken

I don't think Hank is 60, but o.k., I get your drift. Like I said, I like Travis Tritt also- He ain't a young punk, but he also ain't in a wheelchair. I'm guessing late 30's.

World's King

Johnny Cash.

All others are shit.

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YaWhateva

*edit* oops, mis-post.

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“If the Americans go in and overthrow Saddam Hussein and it's clean, he has nothing, I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the Bush administration again.” - Bill O'Reilly

"This is my United States of Whateva!"

eris

Give Dwight Yoakem a shot - his guitarist Pete Anderson is the man.

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allhaileris

baaa

Dwight is a good call

JazzmanAl

Most of today's country is nothing more than pop with an accent. Garth Brooks has always been a favorite of mine. Most of his good stuff never recieves any air play. He was a fine song writter, and an even better performer.

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Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.
-The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot

Your dumber then me.

mrcraptastic

the only country song with 'balls' other than some johnny cash, is "the rodeo song".. its apparently by a band called 'showdown'.. but i'm sure there's been covers done by it.. bloody hilarious anyways

rodgerd

Hmm. Nash, Earle. Kristoffersen. So far, getting on.

Wait: Mojo Nixon. For extra fun, the Mojo Nixon/Jello Biafra collaboration. Skid Roper.

Seriously, country is even more constrained by particular looks, sounds, and whatnot than mainstream pop. And the politics are worse (more restrictive) than pop.

jimk

try their first two albums, no depression & still feel gone. the first music with twang i could listen to without throwing up. sound like hank & johnny crossed with the clash.

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-iggy

baaa

Thank ya'll for your advice.
I will have to look some of these guys up

hawkeye

This is interesting, I'm actually agreeing 100% with WK.
He hit it exactly.

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baaa

There isn't anybody else out their today that can come close to Cash.

teshadoh

Good call on Steve Earle & Dwight Yoakum. Also, for a girl Lucinda Williams has huge balls. Her lyrics would make a grown man blush.

Exodus

Give Junior Brown a listen too. Although I would have to agree... Johnny Cash is THE man to listen to.

dy156

I actually agree with this. He was great before he became so overexposed, and occasionally still has some good stuff, even though it will be discounted by country purists and thrown in with the trash of new country. I also think it showed balls when George Strait and Alan Jackson sang Murder on Music Row at a country music award show. Dwight Yoakum is also good, but I don't have anything of his in the last few years, if there is anything. The new Texas college country guys are fun to listen to, but the "let's all drink and talk about as many things in Texas as you can" is cool when you first hear it, but gets a little old after you're exposed to it too much. One song I liked recently was "three wooden crosses", ironically by Randy Travis, someone who I doubt has balls. -just look at how he dresses!
Speaking of dress, call me superficial, but real country should be played by someone usually in a cowboy hat and not with silk shirts, leather pants, and/or spiked hair. Examples:
George Strait-hat and old jeans -good
Tim McGraw-hat, but leather pants -soccer mom country
Robert Earl Keen -no hat, jeans -good (it's okay because he sings a line "I don't wear a Stetson, but I'm willing to bet, son, that I'm as big a Texan, as you are.)
Another rule of thumb, generally stay away from what you see most on the country music video channel.

rev_skarekroe

Hank.
Williams.
III.

sk

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anleja

Ween made an album of country songs, using country session players. Its like a crazy weird psycedelic album disquised as a country album.

Maybe you'd like Reverend Horton Heat. Probably not "country", but they have a bunch of songs with that feel to it. They did a pretty authentic version of Folsom Prison. "Rock-a-billy" is how I heard them described as. If you should want to check them out, I'd recommend "The Full-Custom Gospel Sounds Of Reveren Horton Heat," or any of their earlier stuff, before they got too electric.

MoNoXiDe_XXX

Hank III for sure, Here to out the Dick in Dixie, and the Cunt back in Country.
One of my favorite acts ever, way better than Hank Jr.
Also look up The Barnyard Ballers. They kick some major ass

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Fearless_Hyena

You definitely gotta check out Hank III -- if he aint ballsy I don't know what is!

Tophat665

I don't know. Johnny Cash was truly awesome, and country music will never recover fully from his passing, but was he the be all and end all? Probably not.

Lyle Lovett isn't exactly ballsy, but some of his stuff is excellent.

Some of the Alt-Country stuff is really good: Son Volt, Uncle Tupelo, Wilco. The Jeff Tweedy crowd.

I second the Gourds. That cover of Gin 'n Juice is rolling on the floor hysterical. More bluegrass than country, though.

As for the rest, hell, the ballsiest thing to come out of country in the last 20 years is the Dixie Chicks telling Bush he's a bloody minded moron. Doesn't matter to me. Their music <strike>still blows.</strike> is not to my taste.

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Grouper

I would also throw in David Alan Coe and The Charlie Daniels Band (although CDB is more southern rock than country).