Best American music of the last 25 years?

Sturgil Simpson

Emmylou Harris

But mostly the one everybody's seemingly forgotten -- John Stewart. I listened to the guy for years. Saw him live at the Troubadour, as well as other venues. I learned a bunch of his songs and sang them in a gruff John Stewart-esque folk singer bass-baritone. I was first introduced to him when I won his California Bloodlines LP when I rated the record on a Dick Clark dance TV show.

@cincyjim: Though two of your nominees fit the bill artistically, Roy Orbison died in 1988, Gram Parsons in 1973. Quite a bit longer than 25 years ago! 

@larsman

'Doesn't seem like many people on this thread like any American music from any artists who debuted in the past 25 years, just older artists who were/are still around.'

Which is why I mentioned Goose but most people don't want to know about groups they've never heard of, especially if the band is currently in their twenties.

My fav from the past decade:

Lux Prima - by Danger Mouse and Karen O

Speaking of Mary Gauthier (who DID debut within the past 25 years), Anne Johnson has a short but sweet feature article on her in the latest issue (no. 164) of the PS Audio online mag Copper, a favorite read of mine. In the same issue is Part 2 of an article on Shelby Lynne, another fine singer/songwriter.

It’s seems like a lot of younger music fanatics think in terms of bands, rather than solo artists. As you get older, you learn that it is often the songwriter in a band that makes them good, not the band itself. Many songwriters who start out in bands eventually end up going solo, then choosing the musicians they want to record their songs with.

Can you imagine Randy Newman being in a band? ;-) John Hiatt made his professional debut as a member of White Duck, whose sole album In Season (UNI 73140) is fairly rare and collectible. My copy is not for sale ;-) .