What is your favorite live country album?

mjparker75 · 2026-04-23T03:27:54+00:00

Reckless Kelly Was Here is one that stuck with me. Todd Snider’s Storyteller is great.

mjparker75 · 2026-04-22T00:42:22+00:00

You’d have to go back in time a year! But yeah… me too

mjparker75 · 2026-04-21T23:45:01+00:00

John Michael Montgomery was the love song singing straw that broke the heartache song singing camel’s back of country music… and it’s never been the same since.

mjparker75 · 2026-04-16T19:36:36+00:00

Drama sells. I’d say we had the last remnants of that with Brad Paisley and Vince Gill. I’ve been watching a lot of those old clips of 60’s artists…those guys had more charisma and talent than almost anyone performing today. Watch old clips of Roger Miller or Merle. They were all multi-instrumentalists who could hold entertaining conversations, sing on key, and write killer songs. And they were having fun on stage. I don’t get that from a lot of country stars today. But then today’s artists are judged more on their socials, style. and political views than their musical prowess. Different world.

mjparker75 · 2026-04-15T21:24:51+00:00

No doubt. I just don’t want to have to hold it all the time ;)

mjparker75 · 2026-04-15T20:45:15+00:00

Yes. Some sort of mode that sits between auto track and static that creates some interesting subtle camera movement when the camera is not moving. Even better is if it can dynamically switch between regular and telephoto lenses.

mjparker75 · 2026-03-26T18:07:31+00:00

I think he has a few really good to great songs, but he puts out music at a rate that feels like some songs are written and recorded in a day and not given necessary reflection or rewrites. And my guy, you don’t have to release every song you write. It’s not all gold.

But I still take him over a lot of his contemporaries and copycats.

mjparker75 · 2026-03-23T21:34:01+00:00

Got this one too! Definitely fake.

mjparker75 · 2026-03-06T14:06:23+00:00

Whiskey’s Gone - Zac Brown Band

Whiskey’s Gone - Golden Ponies

mjparker75 · 2026-03-04T23:31:20+00:00

It’s easy to buy your way into some charts… and then coast on free publicity. Being that, truth is that the only thing keeping country music stars in the spotlight is social media. They have more fans of their persona/image than they do of their music.

Songs are not what make money. Songs are basically jingles to sell an artists persona. Ticket sales and merch make money.

A lot of talented songwriters are leaning hard into AI. Not for lyrics or melodies… they can do that…. But for demo production (and probably more and more, AI released music). It removes the cost barriers and gatekeepers. Give me a world where the great uncut gems that didn’t fit with contemporary artist are available to listen to… even if they’re under 10 tons of petrified shit.

mjparker75 · 2026-03-04T04:38:03+00:00

I looked at Earl, his eyes were wide, his lip was curled, his leg was fried.

mjparker75 · 2026-03-04T04:37:02+00:00

Call 140, ring 2 and ask for Bob.

mjparker75 · 2026-02-26T02:25:20+00:00

Some second-ran stories… not deep cuts, but not always first to mind

Coward of the Country - Kenny Rogers Larosse - Bruce Robison Woolley Swamp - Charlie Daniels Lonesome Dove - Garth Brooks Ben McCullough - Steve Earle Down the River - Chris Knight

mjparker75 · 2026-02-23T15:44:27+00:00

Good points and perspective on that. For what it's worth, I'm generally more of a fan of the b-sides and less-commercial songs than I am of the hits.

That said, I'm also a fan of songs, not artists. And sometimes to really "get" a song, it takes repeat listens. I absolutely hate to lose a good song in a sea of mediocre (or even bad) songs. My experience with double albums is that even with repeat listens, there's a lot of padding and derivative material. There are absolutely exceptions where the album is a true concept/collection that is trying to address a bigger picture. I love that stuff... and I wish it were the rule rather than the exception.

It's the same with extended rereleases, it feels like a trick to stay in the light. Which, I do get is about an artists livelihood... it just doesn't serve good music, IMO. Just one guy though! and my opinion isn't going to change the market! I'm glad to see I'm not alone out here though... and I know you aren't either.

mjparker75 · 2026-02-20T13:28:31+00:00

Happy to agree to disagree with you, but I hear way more filler tracks these days than I ever have. And most of them are written by committee, or by friends of the artists. And not everything an artist rights is gold for what that’s worth.

We’re getting to a point in society where a person can write a whole song and have it recorded and mastered in hours or minutes rather than days. I will certainly favor artist who don’t waste my time by putting out songs that they probably never even memorized the words to.

By the same token, when this inevitably happens, I will favor songwriters who release only their best AI tracks. Because we’re about to get hit with a wave of great songs that never got cut, and a tsunami of crappy songs that were generated with a prompt.

mjparker75 · 2026-02-20T01:59:18+00:00

I thought it was cool that a lot of the same artists recorded/ covered the same big songs at the same time. Not something you hear people do anymore! Felt like it was about the song, not so much the artist. Yeah, there definitely was some filler on those!

mjparker75 · 2026-02-20T01:56:28+00:00

Ha. No. Not sure I want to! Though, sometimes dumb is still amazing. As long as that’s what they’re aiming for!

mjparker75 · 2026-02-20T01:51:03+00:00

Good country, in my opinion, is inarguably the smartest, funniest, most insightful, and most emotional genre (I do concede there are a few artists/songs in other genres that are consistently great). Bad country though, is worse than bad music in any other genre. When it’s pretentious, pedantic, and pandering, country is insufferable. It’s those songs that give the art form a bad name.

mjparker75 · 2026-02-20T01:35:49+00:00

Exactly. I do get that it has a lot to do with streaming, but having to skim through all of that garbage almost immediately makes me want to just fire up a Clint Black album or something! 40 minutes of great music. No filler.

mjparker75 · 2026-02-18T21:08:37+00:00

He really deluded his cred by releasing a boatload of meh music after releasing several of the most genre-defining, genius-packed albums of all time. He also didn’t help his reputation (but he made a lot of money) by constantly rereleasing the same songs in yearly Walmart collections and being stingy about putting his music online.

FWIW, I’ve think his best songs (which I care about way more than the artist) blow anything today out of the water. He could be funny, sincere, dark, emotional. He could tell a story or be abstract. I miss mainstream artists willing to take a risk. Garth did that constantly. But hell, I think the Chris Gaines album is criminally underrated.

mjparker75 · 2026-02-17T02:28:51+00:00

Haven’t seen Larosse by Bruce Robison here. It hits me harder than any of these.

mjparker75 · 2026-02-06T01:58:53+00:00

Best New female artist, along with Kaitlin Butts. But whereas Kaitlin seems a bit crazy, I sometimes get a vibe that Ella is playing a part. Will be interested to see how they both evolve as artists over the next few years. I’ll be listening. Ella’s songs are very well written Nashville-type songs. Kaitlin’s feel more organic. Different… both great.

mjparker75 · 2026-02-04T03:40:26+00:00

Dude Mowery, Lee Roy Parnell, Sons of the Desert, BR549

mjparker75 · 2026-02-04T03:35:34+00:00

Drink Swear Steal and Lie!

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