@slaw, speaking of Buddy Miller, he and Emmylou Harris have been singing (ha) the praises of a guy named Doug Seegers, whose Going Down To The River album they both appear on. And oh man, is Doug the real deal! A true blue hillbilly, a real Country/Western (as it used to be called) singer. I hear a lot of Hank Williams and a little of Merle Haggard in his singing, and a similarity to newer guys like Wayne Hancock (my former-bandmate Paul Skelton played on his early albums, and then Evan Johns, with whom I recorded one album, played guitar in his road band---small world!) and Hank's grandson, Hank III. He sounds like a man, not a boy, unlike many pseudo-Country singers today---those raised on Rock, but now wanting in on the Country action. I hear that in far too many of the "Americana" bands and solo artists. They haven't lived it, how they gonna sing it?
Some not-really-Country music lovers may be put off by the sound of Doug's voice---it has the nasally/twangy character of hardcore Country singers from the South, heard in a lot of Bluegrass music. The band is the traditional Country/Western lineup---pedal steel, Telecaster guitar, honkytonk piano, fiddle, mandolin, and occasional dobro and banjo, with Doug playing acoustic guitar. For lovers of real Country/Western music only!
