Thx Dennis. Oh how I mocked a neighbor when I was 10 when his parents were playing The Carter Family.
http://www.salon.com/ent/masterpiece/2002/05/06/circle/
George Jones, too. See the great set of chapters on Jones, drunk as a skunk, in a book by the Elvis biographer, Peter Guralnick. Should get around to reading Nick Tosches too.
Get the Rhino anthology of Kris Kristofferson and his album w/ the songs on the Sandinistas.
Blanking on the name of the classic country artist that influenced Phil Ochs. Sean Penn, red-diaper baby, for a long time, has wanted to make a film on Ochs.
EmmyLou Harris, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggerd, The Louvin Brothers, Gillian Welch, Iris DeMent (her political songs are great), Jar Farrar, Wilco, Son Volt, Dave Alvin, Rank & File (from punkers, "The Dils, ", "Class War, " to country), Willard Grant Conspiracy (cf. 16 Horsepower, twisted, gothic tales of sin and redemption), Pinetop Seven, Calexico, Giant Sand...
-- Michael Pugliese