"new country" music recomendations please

Mary Gauthier's album is indeed addictive. I keep the cd in my car and the vinyl gets played about once a week. I often tell people that it is country/blues. She really is in a league of her own. You might also like Greg Brown's "Slant 6 Mind". With lines like, "A picture of a picture of whore holding a picture of a John", or " A two bourbon twilight falls from God's Cigar" only available on cd or "The Poets Game" which can be found on vinyl. Also, try some of Tom Russell's stuff.

Both Delevantes cds "Postcards From Along the Way" and "Round About That Time" may now be out of print, but are definitely worth seeking out.

In a more traditional vein, you might enjoy Alison Krauss & Union Station which features AK's great voice and Jerry Douglas great guitar and dobro. I'd start off with "Now That I've Found You" (greatest hits) or "So Long So Wrong" and note that the live album features more of Douglas' playing- if virtuoso guitar is more your thing.

Robert Earl Keen's "#2 live Diner" and "Picnic" are crossover rock/country with clever, often very funny lyrics.

The Reivers (all cds, especially "End of The Day") and Uncle Tupelo (all cds, especially No Depression) are even more towards the rock end of the spectrum, but both bands were really influential and worth hearing if you don't know them. Reivers are more harmony driven pop country, while Uncle Tupelo is a mash up of banjo and garage that mixes genres in a clever, expansive way. Uncle Tupelo also spawned Jay Ferrar (Son Volt), Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) and less directly Jay Bennet (especially Jay Bennet and Edward Burch "The Palace at 4 AM") and Brian Henneman (Bottle Rockets). All worth hearing in either a broad "new country" or "y'alternative" kind of way.

Guy Clark
Townes Van Zandt
Amazing Rythym Aces
Buddy Miller
Tift Merritt

All great suggestions, esp Lucinda Williams and Ryan Adams. You might also enjoy Johnny Cash's American Recordings (all great, much more accessible to rock & folk fans than his ealier work - which is also great), Townes van Zandt, Guy Clark, Rosanne Cash, Casey Chambers, Tift Merrit, the Jayhawks, and let's not forget Willie Nelson, who has done an amazingly wide range of things over the years (I'm liking his latest, Songbird, produced by Ryan Adams).

I had similar feelings to yours about country for years until discovering that like most music, the commercial stuff tends toward crap but if you dig a little deeper you find some really moving music.

Get a copy of NO DEPRESSION magazine. Each issue is filled with music it sounds like your into. I use it all the time to make my purchases. It basically covers AMERICAN music, country, blugrass, blues, roots-rock, some jazz. The best resource there is for honest music.