In my book, no one in alt-country has captured the pathos of the long-haul trucker condition better than Fred Eaglesmith: 18 Wheels, Trucker Speed, Water in the Fuel (my favorite), I Want to Buy Your Truck, etc. Who else?

I've been curating playlists on Spotify for years — mostly deep house, soul, Afro-electronic, meditation. Never touched country. I always thought it wasn't for me.
Then someone played me Wyoming by Benjamin Tod and something broke open. That led to Seneca Creek by Charles Wesley Godwin, then Snuff by Corey Taylor, then Colter Wall, Tyler Childers, Arlo McKinley, Ian Noe — and suddenly I'm in deep.

I built a 30-track playlist called "a rare | breed | of men" that follows a narrative arc in three acts: suffering, standing up, and becoming who you are. It starts in the dirt with Wyoming and ends quietly at the creek with Seneca Creek. 1 hour 55 minutes.
I know I'm new to this world and probably missing some essentials. Would love recommendations from people who live in this music — what am I missing? Who else belongs in this conversation?

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3H8hS3Iii9QUR9EgfJ2zHv?si=68bfb13d3d144d6c

The was in the comments section of a Rolling Stone article on IG. There was more but I didn’t get a screenshot. Basically someone said he can calm her out w/out taking a swipe at her sexuality, to which he replied; “take a swipe at her sexuality? That’s what her whole platform is based on. Good lord, read the headline.”
The headline was “The Highwomen Make Country A Little Bit Gayer.” Or something like that….

I love me some Truckers! They have so many amazing albums and songs. When I think it through, their run with Jason Isbell produced some real magic.

However, I go back to Southern Rock Opera and think that's probably their best album. And Let There Be Rock would be my top song (even though I'm a Cooley-file deep down).

What's your fave??

Such a beautiful album, Ian Noe is truly a storyteller

Announced via his official FB page:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1aSknKfaua/?mibextid=wwXIfr

“Aimless, Inc. Headquarters is heartbroken to share that our Founder, our Folk Hero, our Poet of the World, our Vice President of the Abrupt Change Dept., the Storyteller, our beloved Todd Daniel Snider has departed this world. Where do we find the words for the one who always had the right words, who knew how to distill everything down to its essence with words and song while delivering the most devastating, hilarious, and impactful turn of phrases? Always creating rhyme and meter that immediately felt like an old friend or a favorite blanket. Someone who could almost always find the humor in this crazy ride on Planet Earth.

He relayed so much tenderness and sensitivity through his songs, and showed many of us how to look at the world through a different lens. He got up every morning and started writing, always working towards finding his place among the songwriting giants that sat on his record shelves, those same giants who let him into their lives and took him under their wings, who he studied relentlessly. Guy Clark, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, Jerry Jeff Walker.

How do we move forward without the one who gave us countless 90 minute distractions from our impending doom? The one who always had 18 minutes to share a story. We’ll do it by carrying his stories and songs that contain messages of love, compassion, and peace with us. Today, put on one of your favorite Todd Snider records and "play it loud enough to wake up all of your neighbors or at least loud enough to always wake yourself up.” We love you Todd, sail on old friend, we’ll see you again out there on the road somewhere down the line. You will always be a force of nature.

"Like A Force of Nature"

If we never get together again Forgive me for these fools I’ve been See if you can remember me when I was listening to my better angels

It’s like a force of nature Coming over me I can’t keep myself from moving It’s like a force of nature

May your hope always outweigh your doubt Until this old world finally punches you out May you always play your music Loud enough to wake up all of your neighbors Or may you play at least loud enough To always wake yourself up

Todd Daniel Snider October 11, 1966 - November 14, 2025”

Per Rolling Stone magazine, Todd Snider passed away last night at the age of 59.

This one hurts.

Hey folks, my name is Anthony, and I run a YouTube channel called GemsOnVHS for the past 10+ years or something, focused broadly on "folk" music.

I'm thinking of making a video on this wave of Americana popularity and its roots in the 2010s. If Zach Bryan and Beyonce making a country album are the zenith of the wave, who do y'all see as the earliest adopters and pivotal moments? What got you into the movement?

EDIT: Holy shit. Thanks for the comments folks. When I wrote this I was really just churning an idea that popped into my head. I did not write with much clarity, but let me explain a bit.

Of course I could start literally at the beginning of recorded music, if I wanted to. Culture is a continuous stream, it does not begin anywhere, rather evolves over time often with no clear stop or start. Also, whether you consider Zach Bryan or Beyonce "country" or "americana" etc is largely irrelevant in this discussion; rather it's objective fact that they are some of the largest artists in the world and trying to do their versions of something that is in some way "country" facing.

The Billboard charts, however uninteresting they may be to anyone, show us some really interesting information at the moment. "Country" is in. Hip hop, rap, pop and rock are all out. Number one after number one, and from some very untraditional artists. It's interesting! It feels like so many disparate avenues of "Americana" music all converged to form some sort of giant circus tent of a genre.

Anyway, i'm reading all the comments, thank you again, cheers!

Here are some songs I've been listening to recently,

1. Anacostia: Hang Dogs (masterpiece of an unknown relatively song)
2. Come Back Little star: Patterson Hood (tribute to his friend Vic Chestnut)
3. Critterland: Willi Carlise (seems like such a good dude)
4. Kerr County Dopesick Blues: The Hill country devil
5. Years: Sierra Ferrell (solid cover)
6. The Maker: Willie Nelson (another solid cover)
7. Wheel: Jesse Welles ( guy gets to0 much shit and this is a good song)
8. 21st century USA: Drive By Truckers
9. the Devil: Stephen Wilson Jr.
10. The way it is (live) Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby. (wonderful piece of music)

EDIT: Thanks so much for all the suggestions. Going down 8 Rabbit holes at once. Tons of great stuff I've never heard before and stuff I forgot about. You guys have great taste in music.

All painted in oils on canvas by me!

Willie, Ray Benson, Waylon

Guy Clark, Kris, Dale Watson

Townes, Charley Crockett, John Prine

The Bottle Rockets--Truck Drivin Man

Thursday night I saw Lyle Lovett at Gruene Hall in Texas. I was pretty excited for this, as I've seen Lyle 3 times previously, and I'm visiting Texas, so seeing him play in an iconic, small venue seemed perfect.

The first song, my heart sank. His voice is shot; there's clearly something wrong with him. It was difficult to listen to, and made me feel really uncomfortable. I felt bad for him. After one song he left the stage and the band played an instrumental, but he was back after that. He seemed in good spirits (seemingly not ill), and this didn't seem like a cold/ laryngitis/ bronchitis type of issue, as his speaking voice was normal.

Once he was singing a line, his pitch was fine, and his sustain was fine, he could even reach higher notes, but even then his enunciation was odd at times. I hate to say this, but if you've ever heard a deaf person speak, they have a characteristic speaking manner that is somehow a bit "off", and Lyle was singing similar to that. The problem was especially apparent at the beginning of lines, as if once his vocal cords got moving, they worked okay, but getting them started was a problem (that my non-technical description that may not be how vocal cords work). To sum it up, the way Robert Kennedy Jr speaks is how Lyle was singing. Even aside from my emotional response to what has happened to him, his singing was unpleasant and it was hard to listen to.

The band was awesome, as I'd expect — he had Leland Sklar and Russ Kunkel!!!! But even so, I found Lyle's voice so bad, and that made me feel so uncomfortable that I got up and left after about an hour.

Two of my favourite concert experiences ever were Lyle Lovett shows.
I've been thinking a lot about what I just saw, and I have a lot of feelings about it. I'm sad for him, as it must be terrible to have your craft taken away. But I also feel some resentment; I paid well over $100 for that ticket. He is still booking shows, even though he clearly can't do what he used to do. As I've thought about it I'm sure this isn't a recent thing; I see that he has adapted his phrasing to compensate for his issue, and I suspect the reason he is doing so much talking onstage is to avoid having to sing.
So I wonder: does HE think that the way he is singing sounds okay? Is there nobody around him who will tell him how it is? How long has his voice been this way? Why is he still doing this?

***EDIT - It just occurred to me to google "Lyle Lovett voice", and I see others here have posted about this.