It wouldn't be out of line to call Brantley Gilbert a country rocker or an outlaw country artist, but don't let those terms conjure nostalgic images of Willie and Waylon in your head, because they mean something different when applied ...

With a sterling cast of backing musicians, Griffith sings the songs that have been a part of his life since his boyhood, when he would attend church faithfully and give voice to them with as much sincerity as he does ...

Even though he also cut a slew of country ballads and honky tonk tunes, Horton's fame rests with these folk saga songs. After spending the majority of the '50s reworking the classic sound of Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, and Webb ...

One of country music's classic Christmas albums, LIGHT OF THE STABLE offers a satisfying mix of seasonal favorites and new compositions, all served up by the most compelling guardian of country music tradition, Emmylou Harris. On this 1979 release, Harris ...

Released in 1973, Greatest Hits only sums up a handful of years of hitmaking for John Denver, but what years those were. Between 1971 and 1973, Denver actually didn't have that many hits, but they were songs that defined him ...

To get an idea of exactly how many Ronnie Milsap collections are on the market, just turn to the back page of the booklet for RCA/Legacy's 2006 double-disc set The Essential Ronnie Milsap, where it lists other Ronnie albums you ...

The soundtrack to the Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw country music drama Country Strong is a collection of mainstream contemporary country that has a mild pop bent but stays just this side of country-pop. Instead, it follows the blueprint of ...

Audio Remasterer: Richard Dodd. Recording information: Treasure Isle Recording Studio. Editor: Brandon Epps. Photographer: Kristin Barlowe. Personnel: Billy Panda (acoustic guitar); Adam Shoenfeld, Kurt Allison (electric guitar); Michael "Mike Dee" Johnson (steel guitar); Tony Harrell (piano, Wurlitzer organ); Mike Rojas (piano); Tully Kennedy (bass ...

One of the strongest roots of country music has always been gospel, so this collection of country stars delivering gospel tunes live at the Opry seems like a perfectly natural occurrence. From the Charlie Daniels Band's frenetic, Southern-rock-tinged take on ...

Fantastic 2007 UK compilation that features all 23 tracks found on Ronstadt's original Greatest Hits (1976) and Greatest Hits, Vol. Two (1980). Although often overlooked today, Ronstadt was one of the most popular female vocalists throughout the '70s and '80s, ...

Mercury Nashville's 2005 compilation The Definitive Collection comes close to living up to its title billing. Although this glosses over the Statler Brothers' '60s recordings for Columbia -- it contains just their biggest hit from that time, their 1966 breakthrough ...

Colt Ford gets labeled country rap, but he's really closer in tone, spirit, and approach to rhythmic spoken word country records like Hank Williams' Luke the Drifter series, dramatically narrated trucker narratives like "Convoy," or Charlie Daniels' mock-epic "The Devil ...

Joy Williams and John Paul White aren't a couple, but they certainly sound like they're in love, singing together with the sort of familiarity that only seems to exist between couples and siblings. On Barton Hollow, their studio debut as ...

Adapters: Tennessee Ernie Ford; Jack Fascinato. Personnel: Tennessee Ernie Ford (vocals). Arrangers: Tennessee Ernie Ford; Jack Fascinato.

Containing a generous 24 tracks and spanning 17 years, from their first duet in 1971 to their final one in 1988, Mercury Nashville's 2005 compilation The Definitive Collection does indeed come close to being the final word on Conway Twitty ...

The follow-up album to 2008's Jet Black & Jealous, which yielded three Top 40 singles, 2011's Life at Best immediately gave the Eli Young Band another fast-rising hit, the Liz Rose and Lee Brice-penned "Crazy Girl." Recording information: Dark Horse Recording, ...

After two decades recording for Arista Records Nashville, Alan Jackson signed with EMI Records as a distributor of Jackson's own label, Alan's Country Records (ACR), and his 17th studio album, Thirty Miles West, produced by longtime collaborator Keith Stegall, marks ...

Release Me, Lyle Lovett's final album for Curb Records, the label he's been with since he broke onto the scene in 1985, was produced by Lovett and Nathaniel Kunkel, and features a mix of originals and covers showcasing the singer's ...

Numerous white rappers have combined hip-hop and rock, but the way the Moonshine Bandits do it on Whiskey and Women is unusual: they bring country into the mix. Whiskey and Women favors an unlikely yet successful blend of hip-hop, Southern ...

Like so many country singers from the Music City, Kip Moore got started as a songwriter, penning tunes for the duo Thompson Square. Moore displays a certain commercial savvy throughout his 2012 debut, Up All Night, sculpting his tunes with ...

Hank Williams III and Curb Records had a contentious relationship through most of the 14 years he was signed to the label, and Curb hasn't exactly been going out of its way to get in his good graces since he's ...

Country music singer and songwriter Dustin Lynch, born and raised in Tullahoma, Tennessee, honed his songwriting skills at Nashville's famous Bluebird Café, where he learned the ins and outs of the trade from some of the town's best writers like ...

Gloriana recorded their follow-up album, A Thousand Miles Left Behind, without Cheyenne Kimball, who left the band in 2011, and the remaining three members, Rachel Reinert and brothers Mike and Tom Gossin, wrote or co-wrote all the songs on the ...

A classic modern country album, THE TRIO is as pretty as music gets. The ethereal harmony vocals of three of popular music's sweetest swingers, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, would be enough--their harmonies couldn't have been closer if ...

The Essential by Earl Thomas Conley highlights the gruff-voiced country singer's 20 chart-topping entries from the late '70s and early '80s. These original RCA recordings include "Holding Her and Loving You," "Angel in Disguise," "Chance of Loving You," and his ...