Audiophile level country (genre)

[Watire]

I used to read MIX Magazine, be in awe with southern studios, think that everything Nashville was audiophile !!!

 

[Joe Smith]

I think Gillian Welch's various albums are superbly recorded, for a start. The Harrow and the Harvest being a particular favorite.

 

[Multicore]

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway have two albums so far: Crooked Tree and City of Gold. They are both excellent.

Idk if they qualify as "audiophile level". Idk what that means. But they sure sound good to me. They check all the boxes for me: composition, arrangement, performance, lyrics, are at the highest level we can expect in any popular (commercial) music.

My selection from each

There's a wonderful live version of Crooked Tree on YouTube with a dobro solo intro from Jerry Douglas. But that doesn't work for audiophile playlists.

 

[drmevo]

I'm not much of a country listener but I do like some of Sturgill Simpson's stuff:

 

[HalSF]

There are swaths of extremely commercial pop-country afflicted with bad low-DR loudness-war sound, but the vast majority of country music with traditional roots and artistic integrity is well-recorded and has excellent sound. You really don’t need to carve out a restrictive audiophile ghetto and embrace audiophile-certified titles to explore the vast majority of old and even newer country music while enjoying good sound quality.

 

[levimax]

Garth Brooks CD's, especially his early ones from the late 1980's / early 1990's are well recorded and very dynamic. They also sold tens of millions of copies because they are pretty good.

 

[Multicore]

See if this is appealing to you.

Very nice.

I noticed this once before: interesting use of shotgun mics at the tiny desk.

 

[djb]

I'm not much of a country listener but I do like some of Sturgill Simpson's stuff:

Sturgil is great but I don't care for how he records vocals. It makes his vocals unintelligible or he just sings mush-mouth.

 

[Timcognito]

Here's a favorite with outstanding sidemen

 

[Timcognito]

A lot of vintage instruments used on this one. Very nice acoustic sound. And Tone Poems II is also good if like this one, 41 instruments used on that one

 

[Bruce Morgen]

View attachment 388648
Here's a favorite with outstanding sidemen

I'm going to revisit that one -- thanks for the reminder!

 

[Bruce Morgen]

View attachment 388653
A lot of vintage instruments used on this one. Very nice acoustic sound. And Tone Poems II is also good if like this one, 41 instruments used on that one

Pretty much anything by Grisman's star student Andy Statman is an acoustic treasure.

 

[drmevo]

Sturgil is great but I don't care for how he records vocals. It makes his vocals unintelligible or he just sings mush-mouth.

I get that. I can’t really hear/process lyrics very often anyways, so it doesn’t make much difference to me - everyone sounds unintelligible. The reverb is a bit heavy for my taste on this track, though.

 

[Steven Holt]

After checking out some of your suggestions, youtube suggested this. I like this sort of thing. But I wouldn't call it country, more Appalachian or Americana which is probably splitting hairs. Especially since it is their version of a Tears for Fears song.

Thank you for posting this and OH G*DD*MN THAT GIRL IS GOOD!! (PS I'm only mentioning this b/c this is a technical forum, but this is a remake of the Gary Jules version of the TFF original -- but still wonderful and excellent. Again, thank you!)

 

[Steven Holt]

Sierra Hull is great, but it's bluegrass/Americana, not country. Likewise Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Crooked Still, I'm With Her, Nickel Creek...

Aw man, don't kill our Zen.....

 

[Blumlein 88]

Thank you for posting this and OH G*DD*MN THAT GIRL IS GOOD!! (PS I'm only mentioning this b/c this is a technical forum, but this is a remake of the Gary Jules version of the TFF original -- but still wonderful and excellent. Again, thank you!)

Did not know that was a Gary Jules song. Thank you. And yes I agree she is good.

 

[Steven Holt]

I can vouch for two : Johnny Cash MAN IN BLACK and Hank Williams THE ESSENTIAL HANK WILLIAMS. The true essence of the genre.

 

[Tom C]

I found the country music series Ken Burns did for PBS to be very enjoyable and instructive. It made it a little easier to “get it,” at least for me. I don’t appreciate all of country, but what I do like is about the only music made in the last 25 years I can enjoy.

 

[JSmith]

Audiophile Junkie - Country Playlist

Playlist converted by Soundiiz from another music platform ! https://soundiiz.com

www.youtube.com

JSmith

 

[coonmanx]

I was going to participate in this discussion but my pickup truck died, my wife left me and I ran out of beer...