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Staff Picks: Down Home

PG editors and Tele master Guthrie Trapp discuss country classics.

Visiting Nashville for NAMM during the dog days of summer always makes us a little nostalgic for the golden age of country, but alas, the genre is alive and kickin’. Music City’s own Telemaster Guthrie Trapp joins us in pondering our all-time fave country joints. What's your favorite country album? Tell us in the comments!


Gary Hicks -- Reader of the Month
What are you listening to?
Invitation by the California Guitar Trio. It’s just a stellar display of guitar—everything they put out is amazing. The Whippoorwill by Blackberry Smoke and Ramshackle by The Bluefields have gotten a lot of spins lately as well.
What’s your favorite country album?
Any Conway Twitty or Merle Haggard, any Buck Owens with Don Rich on guitar, any Dwight Yoakam with Pete Anderson on guitar. There is no one favorite—there are many favorites.


Tessa Jeffers -- Managing Editor
What are you listening to?
New Ocean, the new solo album from Jake Bellows (Neva Dinova). Always in awe of poets making magical, impactful tones with guitar and words.
What’s your favorite country album?
Country is soul music. There’s nothing quite like the yowl of Dwight Yoakam, the spitfire spunk of Jerry Reed or Dolly, or the command of Johnny Cash’s dark side. Dylan’s Nashville Skyline is one of my true loves, and anything from Neko Case—gal’s got a honky-tonk heart.


Staff-Picks-Guthrie-Trapp

Guthrie Trapp -- Guest Picker
What are you listening to?
The newest thing I'm loving is John Scofield's Überjam Deux that just came out a few weeks ago. Killin' record! Anything by Scofield is just great. Also, a great new band I heard at Bonnaroo this year called Lucius.
What’s your favorite country album?
Probably Jamie Hartford's What About Yes. This is as cool as it gets to me. Ray Flacke is on there, as well as Jamie, tearing it up. No pedals—just old Teles into Fender Princetons and Ray's Lab Series amp.


Andy Ellis -- Senior Editor
What are you listening to?
The Big E—A Salute to Steel Guitarist Buddy Emmons. A dozen great steel players pay homage to the master. Transcendental twang!
What’s your favorite country album?
Sweetheart of the Rodeo. When the Byrds released this honky-tonk masterpiece in 1968, it shocked rock guitarists like me who were immersed in psychedelia. Gram Parsons masterminded this cultural collision, and it took all of 30 seconds for me to embrace the album’s aching pedal steel and Clarence White’s snappy Tele.


Chris Kies -- Associate Editor
What are you listening to?
Initially bummed by the Arctic Monkeys’ forthcoming LP—I wanted some desert-rock burners—AM is disintegrating my stone core with softer, sleeker, more danceable grooves, and Acid Bath frontman Dax Riggs’ solo album, Say Goodnight to the World, is hauntingly dark, yet damn catchy.
What’s your favorite country album?
If these albums ain’t country, you can kiss my ass: Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues and American Recordings, Hank Williams’ Cold Cold Heart, Jerry Reed/Chet Atkins’ Me and Chet, and Patsy Cline’s Patsy Cline Showcase.


Charles Saufley -- Gear Editor
What are you listening to?
Been on the move a lot this month, and haven’t hit the record store much. So it’s been the comfort of old friends and inspirations on the iPod—Bardo Pond, Nikki Sudden, Parson Sound, Velvet Underground bootlegs, Six Organs of Admittance, and a whole lot of Michio Kurihara’s many projects.
What’s your favorite country album?
Country is 45s on a jukebox. Buck Owens’ “Love’s Gonna Live Here Again,” Waylon’s “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line”—and if I need an LP for the long ride home, Kris Kristofferson’s Kristofferson.


Shawn Hammond -- Editor in Chief
What are you listening to?
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fever to Tell. Tracks like “Tick” and “Man” prove Karen O is possibly the most badass female vocalist alive, and Nick Zinner and Brian Chase’s bristling noise rock is riveting.
What’s your favorite country album?
I don’t own a lot of country albums, but I dig Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and some Patsy Cline. I also love the acoustic blues masters who informed country pioneers, as well artists who cleverly insert twang and grit into a stylistic mélange.


Rich Osweiler -- Associate Editor
What are you listening to?
Robin Nolan’s Gypsy Blue. This renowned Gypsy jazz guitarist brings a 12-pack of manouche that’s sprinkled with blues, flamenco, and even sitar-esque sounds on “Ravi.” Nolan’s take on Zepp’s “The Rain Song” is pretty stunning.
What’s your favorite country album?
I’m not even quite sure what defines country anymore, but I’ve always had a hankering for Willie Nelson’s Stardust.


Jason Shadrick -- Associate Editor
What are you listening to?
This month's musical fast is all about the New Orleans guitar tradition. I started with some Steve Masakowski, turned left at Leo Nocentelli, and ended up at Phil deGruy's Just Duet.
What’s your favorite country album?
For me it's a dead heat. Brent Mason's Hot Wired—which codified the early ’90s country guitar sound—and Bryan Sutton's Ready to Go, an album that opened my ears to how truly virtuosic newgrass players can be.