The Essential Country Greats is a 1997 compilation of some of the most dripping of country music classics in existence. This was released by the British label Emporio.

Drawing on over 30 years of experience playing the country-blues, complete with tutorials from some of the undisputed masters, it comes as no surprise that Stefan Grossman can so consistently conjure up the authentic spirit of the music with each successive release. His original compositions show Grossman to be the most confident of guitarists in his genre, effortlessly borrowing from the stylings of Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis, and Blind Willie McTell among various others. While his playing isn't overly flashy, it need not be. The precision and craftsmanship injected into the fluid, rolling original "Yazoo Strut," the harder blues groove of "Spider Web Blues," and a powerful rendition of Reverend Gary Davis' "Candy Man" are country blues at its very best.

Oh, My Girl, the second album by singer/songwriter Jesse Sykes and her band the Sweet Hereafter – led by Phil Wandscher – picks up where her debut, Reckless Burning, left off. Songs are played at cough-syrup tempo, production is sparse, instrumentation equally so, offering just enough of a frame for the melody and lyrics to hang themselves on, and everything, absolutely everything, is underplayed. There is plenty of dynamic tension, but little to no dynamic range. Yes, this is a good thing. Sykes' ghostly voice, which hovers about her words more than inhabits them, has enough old-world folkiness, raw – if intentionally muted – willingness, and lonesome country pain in it to carry off these tunes with authority. Produced, mixed and engineered by multi-instrumentalist Tucker Martine, Oh, My Girl is full of slow, dipping passion, moody expressionism and poetic smarts to make it stand out in a sensual, narcotic way from the rest of the gothic alterna-twang pack. And one more thing: Sykes has more emotion in the grain of her halting, cracking voice than a whole army of Margo Timmins'es – so let the comparisons stop now, please.

German political folk singer Hannes Wader was born in Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia in 1942. Wader repertoire consists of traditional German folk songs, provocative social commentaries, blue-collar ballads and songs based around the works of poets and classical composers. He still tours regularly in Germany. Allan Taylor is one of England's most-respected singer/songwriters. His songs have been covered by artists on both sides of the Atlantic, including Don Williams, Frankie Miller, Fairport Convention, Dick Gaughan, the McCalmans, the Fureys, the Clancy Brothers, and De Dannan. Folk Roots praised him for his "ability to crystallize a mood and evoke an era with the ease of a computer memory access, crafting perfect songs with dramatic changes in the spirit of Brecht, Bikel, and Brel."

Once More It's Roy Acuff/King Of Country Music is a 2004 compilation CD by Roy Acuff. Released by Ace Records in the UK, this CD gathers two different albums by Acuff, 1959's Once More - It's Roy Acuff and 1962's King Of Country Music, both originally released on the Hickory label. The CD was remastered by Duncan Cowell.

The finest country songwriters understand that the best way to a big idea is often through a small detail. Consider the central gesture that dictates the action in Brandy Clark's beautiful song "I Cried," which appears on producer Dave Cobb's graceful compilation album Southern Family. Contemplating a grandfather's death and his wife's ensuing loneliness, Clark builds the song's chorus around the phrase, "I cried," her voice arching up into a tender, transcendent falsetto; in the next line, she takes the mood down again. "I tried to hold my head high, it ended up in my hands." That simple image so effectively captures the experience of living with grief: the attempt to show strength for others, for your own sanity, and the gradual, quiet, repetitive sag into vulnerability. Who hasn't experienced this moment at a funeral — or, as Clark describes, while simply talking on the phone with a fellow loved one left behind?

It's a safe bet to expect the unexpected in regards to any new Lambchop effort, but the cryptically titled (and beautifully packaged) What Another Man Spills is the band's most consistently surprising and deliriously eclectic outing to date, with new twists around every corner. While it's their loveliest record since How I Quit Smoking, that album's countrypolitan gauze is largely a thing of the past, replaced here by a dreamy, jazz-like patina which proves a remarkably versatile backdrop not only for Kurt Wagner's originals but for a vast range of covers, from Dump's "It's Not Alright" to Curtis Mayfield's "Give Me Your Love (Love Song)." The latter is easily the most jaw-dropping track on What Another Man Spills, with the group easily slipping into the song's soulful groove without a hint of irony, not even in Wagner's amazingly Prince-like falsetto; a later cover of the Frederick Knight smash "I've Been Lonely for So Long," while less surprising, is no less engaging, further solidifying Lambchop's growing debt to the Stax/Volt sound.

"[Moore] engages in a bait and switch: cloaking old-school values with new-school references. He is in no way a dissenter, merely someone who understands that old forms can stand even stronger with injections of new ideas […] Mr. Moore is solid in his convictions: that country music of the 1970s, the more accessible side of the outlaw years, is worth preserving, and that the true modern spirit of that sound is mindful of the rest of the world." Rolling StoneOff the Beaten Path is the third studio album by American country music artist Justin Moore. The album includes duets with Miranda Lambert and Charlie Daniels. The album includes the singles "Point at You", "Lettin' the Night Roll" and "This Kind of Town".

Produced by Dan Knobler, Headlight carves a new path for Della Mae, and features original songs by the band and some by or in collaboration with writers including Mark Erelli, Caitlin Canty, Maya de Vitry (of The Stray Birds), Tony Kamel (of Wood & Wire), and Melody Walker (of Front Country). Songs that mark a time of honesty and courage in our culture, songs that celebrate strong women, and stand together as a call to action to continue to do the work of change.

Pinegrove’s new album begins with a breath and ends with a shimmering exhalation. In between is Marigold, an urgent, multivalent meditation—and an expanded take on the blend of alt-country, indie rock and cerebral humanism that’s inspired the band’s ardent fan community. Marigold marks their Rough Trade Records debut, offering what songwriter Evan Stephens Hall calls a “heart-first” perspective. Those familiar with Pinegrove will recognize signature elements of the band’s sound: literary yet conversational lyrics, geometrically interlocking guitars, the dynamic shifting shadows of rhythm and structure. But this effort marks the most spacious, bold, and well defined iteration of the project yet

Grammy Award-winning vocal group Little Big Town announced this morning, the release of their ninth studio album Nightfall, and accompanying headline tour, The Nightfall Tour. The foursomes' new album will drop January 17, 2020 succeeding a once-in-a-lifetime performance at the historic Carnegie Hall in New York City on January 16, 2020. This is the first mainstream country performance featured at Carnegie Hall since Alan Jackson in 2013.

C.G.P. is the fifty-fifth studio album by Chet Atkins. It was released in 1988 by Columbia Records. The initials in the title refer to the Atkins-coined title "Certified Guitar Player", a moniker he assigned not only to himself but other guitarists he admired and felt contributed to the legacy of guitar playing. Atkins performs a rare vocal tune on the live rendition of "I Still Can't Say Goodbye".

Dustin Lynch's fourth album is named after the Tennessee town in which he grew up in. 'It's all about me and growing up in my hometown', Lynch said in a release. 'Every song on this album points to something that happened to me or my close friends and family'.

While both Carter and Ralph Stanley are musical treasures of the first rank, I have to confess that Ralph Stanley is my favorite bluegrass performer, and one of my favorite singers of any musical genre. Both brothers possessed prodigious musical gifts (anyone doubting Ralph's genius need only listen to his stunning a capella rendition of "O Death" on the O BROTHER WHERE ARE THOU? soundtrack to bring about a revision of their opinion), so it is almost impossible to imagine a greater bluegrass singing voice than these brothers.

EMI's two-disc collection Souvenir: 1989-1998 rather nicely chronicles the decade when the Rankin Family rose to prominence in the Canadian pop/folk scene and opened a floodgate of likeminded musicians who brought Celtic influences into the contemporary scene. The collection is evenly focused on their entire career, with a bit of emphasis on the albums North Country and Uprooted, but also properly serves as an end cap to an impressive career (the Rankins disbanded in 1999) and as a memorial to the late John Morris Rankin (1959-2000). It is the perfect place to start for the curious and a fine set for those looking for a comprehensive retrospective.