Don't listen to any guy in rhinestones and any woman with very big hair.
Best way may be to start off with some of the alt country stuff that is closer to rock - i.e. Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, John Hiatt. A taste for that will probably lead to early Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard.
It's like any genre - a lot of bland rubbish floating around, but plenty of gems if you're ready to listen around.

I agree alt country is the way to go.Add to the list,
1.The Sadies-Their new record is John Doe and the Sadies
2.Neko Case-her new record is great and so is her old stuff
3.Blue Rodeo-any album from 1988 to 2004
4.Carolyn Mark-all her stuff is great
5.Bon Iver-his latest
6.Iron and Wine-all his stuff is great
Good luck and check allmusic .com when you want to know about someone, it is a good resource

The Handsome Family
Lucinda Williams
Cowboy Junkies

I'm bound to say, however - if you feel that you HAVE to ditch country or classical (and I'm not saying that I agree with the logic), I'd ditch the country & stick with classical.....

Today the giveaway is bare midriffs for the women and hats for the men (the honourable exception being Lyle Lovett).
You could do worse than start where a lot of people got into country music and that is with The Byrds and Sweetheart Of The Rodeo. The Flying Burrito Brothers follow on from that with the Gilded Palace of Sin, but it usually comes with the weaker Burrito DeLuxe, which still has its moments.
The thread there is Gram Parsons and his two albums GP and Return Of The Grievous Angel naturally follow. Again both are avaialble on 2 on 1 CD.
This leads to Emmylou. Elite Hotel, Pieces Of The Sky, Luxury Liner are all great. Most of the rest are very good. Then there's her non country mid 90's Wrecking Ball - fabulous and Red Dirt Girl.
Emmylou leads to her good friend Guy Clark. His first 2, Old No 1 and Texas Cookin' are also on a 2 for 1 deal. Most of Guy's catalogue is worth inverstigating.
Another Clark is ex Byrd Gene (no relation). There's an excellent 2 CD compilation compiled by Sid Griffin - Flying High - that covers his catalogue. Otherwise White Light and No Other (not really country) and the 2 Dillard and Clark albums (another 2 for 1 deal) are worth investigating.
Pretty much everything Rosanne Cash has done plus her ex husband Rodney Crowell are worth looking into. Crowell's Houston Kid and Fate's Right Hand are both especially good. Mary Chapin Carpenter's Shooting Straight In the Dark, Come On Come On, Stones In the Road and The Calling are all excellent. As well as Steve Earle, his sister Stacey is really good, especially her first two Simple Gearle (ouch!) and Dancin' With Them That Brung Me.
Andrew B is wrong about Blue Rodeo, it's all worth checking out including last year's live Blue Road. Despite the name they are not really country, although the influence is there.
Groupwise almost all The Jayhawks catalogue is worth a listen. Uncle Tupelo and the offshoot Son Volt are pretty good.

Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country & Western - Crying Time Again, etc.

Merle Haggard - Swingin' Doors

Anything from the 2 Gram Parsons studio albums (GP/Greivous Angel)

George Jones - He Stopped Loving Her Today.

If none of these float your boat, head off to Arvo Part with a clear conscience

is a fantastic singer. There's umpteen "Best of" cd's but try the 2-disc, "Essential... Spirit of Country" as a way in. The man is in a class of his own.

One song (not entirely country) you must hear: Carlene Carter singing "Unbreakable Heart." It's heart-stoppingly good.

And I second Carl's recommendations, especially Gram Parsons and Gene Clark.

Emmylou Harris - either her mid 70s albums like 'Pieces of the Sky' or her great more recent records from Wrecking Ball onwards

Lucinda Williams - just possibly the best songwriter on the planet over the last decade or so 'Car Wheels on a Gravel Road' 'Essence' and 'World Without Tears' is an amazing trilogy

Gillian Welch - especially Time The Revelator

not to mention Mary Chapin Carpenter, Nanci Griffith, Dolly Parton, Alison Krauss...

And check out the debut album by The Be Good Tanyas - great stuff.

What's not to like about this?

Just get a Best of Hank Williams. Seriously. He lived rock and roll before it was invented, wrote some astonishing songs (which I've never heard anyone cover better than the original) and had a voice to die for. If you've dipped into the blues type rock influences then you need some Mr Williams in your life.
If you don't do a full best of, I'm especially partial to Your Cheating Heart (obviously), Lovesick Blues, Honky Tonkin' and especially I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry. If you don't like them, country isn't for you.

Aside from Hank, please get a hold of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will The Circle Be Unbroken. Old bluegrass and country people playing with Hippies, it really is wonderful.

The album which turned me to country was The Guilded Palace Of Sin by The Flying Burrito Brothers. Gram Parson's masterpiece I think.

In the meantime here's The Gourds doing Snoop Doggy Dog's Gin and Juice...

It's great. Some of my favourites are:

Lubbock on Everything - Terry Allen
Fulsom Prison Blues - Jonny Cash
Heartaches & Hangovers - George Jones
I'm A Lonesome Fugitive - Merle Haggard
Stranger's Almanac - Whiskeytown
Teatro - Willie Nelson

Williams is the 'Hillbilly Shakespeare'. I would also recommend the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's epic 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken' from 1972. Roy Acuff is well worth a listen ( when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour in 1942 one popular chant among them was, apparently, 'death to Roosevelt, Babe Ruth and Roy Acuff!' ). The Louvin Brothers and the Stanley Brothers are both excellent pairs of siblings. I agree with what everyone has said about George Jones ( when banned from driving because of alcoholism he was found halfway down the freeway on his way to the 9/11 drunk and in charge of a lawnmower ).

I would avoid all that alt country rubbish. It's not country. That's why the 'alt' is there.

My dad listened to a lot of fifties and sixties country music when I grew up, so I have some old favorites...

There are some fantastic storytellers in country music.
Check out songs such as Mr. Shorty by Marty Robbins:

Another guy not mentioned yet with some great stories in his songs is Johnny Horton.

Hang on a moment, eddie, that's an awful lot of stuff you are discarding there, my friend. I agree that the genre title stinks, as does the associated term of americana, but surely these phrases only came about to allow a distance between nashville rhinestoned country and western, the "and western" bit being historically sufficient to terrify the horses and those brought up on rock. I used to say I liked country rock to show that difference, but as time has passed I don't care who knows I love country music. And in that I include Whiskeytown, early Wilco, Jayhawks, early Giant Sand, Uncle Tupelo and the more recent Richmond Fontaine and the Drive By Truckers, all of whom I classify as country, even if the alt supplement is attached also. (I add early to many mentioned as their later works become more, um, experimental and less, to my ears, country)
I heartily commend the advice to go back to the Byrds and travel sideways thru' the Burritos and beyond, picking up the Dillards, Country Gazette et al along the way. Like Fairport and the Albion Band, there was a heftily symbiotic relationship between the Byrds and the Burritos, most of the former, perhaps to McGuinns frustration, ended up at some stage in the latter.
Names also worth a mention include Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, prime exponents of, amongst other sub-genres, Western Swing, where brass and country meet in a wondrous uplifting mix. Asleep at the Wheel also that way lie. Who recently did an album with Willie Nelson, whose back catalogue is vast but well worth exploring. Another of his recent records is backed by ex-Whiskeytowner Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, showing how the circle goes (but some discretion recommended with Adams: I would stick to studio performances.) The Dirt Bands "Circle" gets a just mention, being what opened my ears to bluegrass. Vols 2 and 3 also exist, with a greater Who's Who of modern country queuing up to get involved. And what about the Jerry Garcia angle? Whislt there are definite country influences to the Dead, New Riders of the Purple Sage, initially his side project to practice pedal steel, might appeal to a few. More up to date I would point you toward sthe pantheon of female singers who exist in their 100s, sometimes classified as folk, sometimes as country. I think the latter title fits better for, for example, Lucy Kaplansky, Mary Gaulthier, Allison Moorer (Mrs Steve Earle), maybe her sister, the more soulful Shelby Lynne, Carrie Rodriguez, Laura Cantrell, the list is endless. And what about Alison Krauss. And Gillian Welch.
Go search. It's a big, um, country, in country. Embrace it's diversity.
And don't forget the U.K.s finest exponents, the Rockingbirds

Does anyone else remember this short series on Channel 4 from the early '90's?

I thought it was excellent. Mr W, filmed in suitable American locations, gave the history of a number of the original early greats. It's possibly on YouTube now. I should look.

Anyway his renditions of a couple of Louvin Brothers tunes were marvellous. Especially 'Hold Back The Rushing Minutes'. Beautiful lyrics.

I'd start with The Louvins.

I love country music and all the alt. acts mentioned too,(NB - don't forget Iris Dement) but I'd back up the point that you need to hear some of the seminal acts to make sense of country - Tammy, Dolly, George Jones, Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard et al. For bluegrsaa some Bill Munroe is essential since he invented it. Buck Owens for some Bakersfield. Country is multi faceted and goes a lot wider than the legacy of "Sweetheart of the rodeo" much as I love it.

for 2 reasons. One, the "politics" - all that Guns, God, Republicanism, Mom's Apple Pie, Pro-Life (so lets shoot doctors) and Hideous Whiteness.

Two, the "sound" - all those syrupy choirs, down home baritones and soap-opera sopranos, that goddamn whiney pedal steel.

Yet, for all that - there is some great stuff in there as many of the posts above have alluded to. Even in the Big Hair and Rhinstone section. That's where the line between C&W and Adult Contemporary Rock becomes invisible. If you like Stevie Nicks, there's no reason you why you won't like Beth Nielsen Chapman

But it is in its origins and its closeness to strands of Black musical heritage where things get really interesting.
Nashville and Memphis are in the same state, Sun and Stax only streets apart.

In the mid 90s, a fine album was released that teamed up some of the greatest names in Country and Soul/R&B. The results were electrifying.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rhythm-Country-Blues-Various-Artists/dp/B000002O...

I know why Twangers added this advice, but I discreetly suggest you acclimatise ahead of immersion in her acquired warble. I wouldn't wish you to fall at her hurdle too soon.
(And I did try again, T, I did, honest, but that song about the Old Opry near turned my blood to saccharine. Especially when she re-inserts the missing consonant in Op(e)ry. I think Cap'n needs easing in more gently...)
In serendipitous mode, only yesterday I was musing on the song to me that "defines" country-rock to me, even if I partially distance myself from the phrase earlier on. This would be "Sing Me Back Home", a venerable C&W stalwart, but as performed by the Flying Burrito Brothers. Get to verse 2, where Gram, singing as achily as he ever could, comes to "play a few old gospel songs": the backbeat rhythm guitar chug is pure rock, whilst the steel, the sentiment (and sentimentality) are pure country. Wonderful, wonderful song.
Is it on spotty? I'm at work so can't check....

Niks started a country playlist on Spotify some time ago. Lots of the artists mentioned above are there. Go here -

http://open.spotify.com/user/niks/playlist/6UUfgqWgt0f8aRUYwRDf3R

...I'm going in. June is now Country Music Month chez Underpants. I'm going for full immersion.

Will report back in a few weeks. If I never return, keep the hat.

Thanks to all for the steers. Steers! Ha.

But I do have soft spots for Glen Campbell, George Jones, Tammy Wynette and Kenny Rogers. Dolly Parton and Bobby Gentry too.

The Seventies was a rich vein for country songs in the charts, which you simply don't get these days, which introduced a lot of people to country music. As well as most of the above, there were also these:

Blanket On The Ground/Billie Jo Spears
Soldier Blue/Buffy Sainte Marie
It's Four In The Morning/Faron Young
Behind Closed Doors/Charlie Rich

To name but a few. I'm a fan.

'Red headed stranger' and 'phases and stages' are pretty much as good as it gets. Both are concept albumns.

it is a movement, an attitude, a way of life. It was tried in the UK with Punk and Britpop but because they were intrinsically fashion based movements they crashed and burned. Americana or whatever you want to call it transcends fashion and as a result has lasted a lot longer. For me the catalyst for the whole movement was Johnny Cash - Alabama 3 know it and so do most of the people who aspire to the 'movement'. Johnny Cash - a country artist with Rock and Roll attitudes, the James Dean of Country. He alone made rock stars think that country is cool - not the Grand Ol Opry God fearing, homophobic, right wing idiots who tried to control anything and everything with a musical note coming out of Nashville. Johnny Cash the pill popping, hell raising rebel who decided to go onto Death row and sing to the inmates.All that is good that has come out of country music is a result of his trailblazing ways. To the point where Pop,Country,Rock,Jazz, Blues even have merged into an American wide melting pot that fascinates many in this country because of the Icons that we were fed as kids. The diners, juke boxes, wide open highways, the films, the music, the legends are all embodied in the feel of Americana. The cinematic qualities of Calexico, Giant Sand, Richmond Fontaine and Chuck Prophet. The swampy sounds of Tony Joe White and even Creedence Clearwater Revival. The Raymond Carveresque characters populating Tom Russell songs, the literary eloquence of Conor Oberst, the symphonic questing of Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Bird and others. The straight ahead rock of Drive by Truckers - all have a place in Americana, all owe a debt to Johnny Cash. Female singer songwriters too numerous to mention here but many great names, legends like John Prine, Warren Zevon. Artists blurring the boundaries such as LCD Soundsystem, TV on the Radio, The New Pornographers and David Byrne. Many of these are clearly not country but all are as a result of an adventurous spirit prevalent in American music that embraces diversity. Far from dismissing this genre it is by far the most interesting in modern country/rock/pop music and above all else there is something in there for everyone.

that song which is like Arthur Conley's paean "Sweet Soul Music" - but eulogizes country stars instead? Has the immortal line "spotlight on Tanya Tucker now - wouldn't you like to ...be in her video?"

"Bradley's Barn" - The Beau Brummels. 60s pop idols make early country rock album / minor classic

Gene Clark - try (deep breath) Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers (compiled on CD as "Echoes"); both of the Dillard and Clark albums; the "White Light" album; "No Other" (not strictly country, albeit country flavoured but, who cares? It's a work of genius)

Mike Nesmith and the First National Band - "Magnetic South", "Loose Salute", and "Nevada Fighter" - again not strictly country but (very) country-flavoured, and all brilliant

None of the above is C&W and, frankly, that's not a bad thing.

If you let the average US country fan loose on this blog he/she would wonder whats going on.

The problem is that in this country we always seem to shy away from real current country in favor of

(a)the old heroes Cash/Williams/Jones etc
(b)country played by rock bands or their offshoots (Byrds/Burritos etc)
(c)alt country (enough already)

The fact is that modern country contains a huge amount of music played by real musicians with guitars etc many of whom seem capable of composing a song with decent hook.

I've gone through this list looking for Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Keith Urban........

So below a spotify list hastily assembled. Buried in here are some of the best Stones type rockers heard in recent years (and that includes the boys themselves)

http://open.spotify.com/user/nacko/playlist/4oZdPYMj33IbaMfWjZHQvW

One problem; you need to be able to live with Southern Accents.

Mmmm well they were until Bernie Leadon left, then they became another AOR American Band, no better or worse than many others.
They absolutely ruined Joe Walsh as a rockster.
However, check out Poco... they were the defintive country/rock band, IMHO.

if American Country Music is defined by playing allsorts of American music, a good place to start would be Stephen Stills Manassas double album... there is country, bluegrass, rock, blues.
A wonderful underrated album.

I'm a week into my journey of discovery of country music and here's what I've learned so far. Caution: contains sweeping statements.

I did a couple of days of Hank/ Jimmie Rodgers / Carter family, etc but the initial attraction quickly turned into My Dad v. The Ramones, ie. it all sounds the bloody same. But there's enough good tunes in there that I was forced to stop work, pick up the acoustic (one of the joys of the jobbing journo is the deskside guitar) and harmonise lustily along to a song I'd never heard before two minutes earlier.

Then came George Jones and things looked up. He Stopped Loving Her Today is, as many here have said, a little heartbreaker, but there's many like it, such as She Still Thinks I Care. Tremendous stuff for a good wallow. I think I'll be coming back to George.

Tammy and Dolly, early stuff; too shrill.

Patsy Cline: Probably sounded great at the time, but the best songs have been covered so much, and with better quality production, that I found it all a bit too familiar.

I'm currently charting the remarkable decline in Willie Nelson's voice over 40 years. Dylan, you're forgiven.

Best bit, I think, has been discovering the original versions of songs I knew years ago through rock bands' cover versions but have subsequently forgotten about, like The Race is On (Rockpile), Wild Side of Life (er...Quo) and Let It Be Me (The band from the film Stardust, IIRC).

One more thought; how hard and/or expensive would all this have been in the days before Spotify?

When it comes to music the Brit will always revert to wanting to fit music into a category and then start to decide if they like it, or can like it.
Country is all about the song and the songwriter, it does not fit into the norm for the average Brit listener. The reason for this is that British radio is afraid to embrace the format.
Many of the popular songs in Country make their way into the mainstream via producers who ensure their artists record them.
I could list no end of tracks that have crossed over to the pop charts, but first you have to listen before you comment.
Hank Williams wrote great songs that have become standards and influenced the alt country movement.
I regularly visit Nashville and the Country artists are willing to embrace all forms of popular music. Last time I saw everything from Metallica to Justin Timberlake being performed by name artists. Kenny Chesney did a blinding set with what remains of Bob Marley's Wailers and had a Country No.1 with them.
Can I suggest you have a listen to 'Voice of Country' via the internet. The station is based in Nashville, but broadcasts especially for the UK market.

was the record for me. Great songs.

I'd recommend these records as a start point;

John Prine - In Spite of Ourselves
Thad Cockrell - Warmth and Beauty
Ray Charles - Modern Sounds of Country and Western
Hank Williams - 40 Greatest Hits
Lyle Lovett - Step Inside This House
Willie Nelson - You Don't Know Me (The songs of Cindy Walker)
Emmylou Harris - Luxury Liner

This album (from 1997) isn't on Spotify but trust me: Word readers will love it: country meets Stax.

....like people above, I highly recommend Steve Earle.

If you fancy trying out a range of styles, check out:

The Duhks
Pete Seeger
Big & Rich
Dixie Chicks
Sara Watkins
Hayes Carl

These are just a starter obviously, and cover a few different variations of the country 'theme' which could help you decide whether it's worth leaving or not.

the thread seemed to be stuck with the "aristocracy" of country eg The Carter Family, Hank Williams, George Jones. Its nice to see "new" country being recommended. Country as a genre is where the money is in America and hence, attracts the cream of songwriters. Whilst much of Nashville's output seems to pay lipservice to "old" country there is still much to recommend. George Strait is one of the biggest selling artists in America but as far as I am aware has never ventured to the UK. Alan Jackson came here once never to return. Vince Gill is considered by no less than Eric Clapton to be one of the world's finest guitarists. Toby Keith whilst perhaps a little too over the top with his patriotism has written some of the tenderest love songs ever. Females would include Martina McBride (at the O2 31st July on a rare visit), Alison Krauss (check out her solo albums as well as with Union Station), Tift Merritt and Laura Cantrell. Groups such as Big and Rich, Dixie Chicks and Lady Antebellum are all huge acts.
Additionally, Australia has it's own modern country scene with Lee Kernaghan, Sara Storer, Adam Brand, Troy Cassar-Daley and and John Williamson all highly recommended.
A much derided genre that has lots to offer - we still think of Country and Western in the UK and dismiss it too easily.

Having only the week before made excellent use of e music and downloaded her latest, one corker of an album, I wonder whether she would count as country? Several of her songs are drenched in steel and sentiment, even if others are more standard american roots fare, of incidentally also excellent quality. Strangely her work reminds me a little of Chris Isaak, with less echo, and when he was at his brief peak.
Pinmonkey, you forgot Kasey Chambers in your antipodean mentions.
(Isn't Pinmonkey the name of a Bob Harris radio fave of americana hue?)