My Taste in Music

Songs of the day, albums of the month, and why I like them

country

  • Look at Miss Ohio – Gillian Welch I first heard “Look At Miss Ohio” in a cover done by Miranda Lambert that is really good, but I think the original by Gillian Welch is my favorite. There’s something about the way that Gillian sings the song that perfectly matches the lyrics, almost like you can… Read more

  • Rock Salt and Nails – Tyler Childers Another song covered by so many artists, and written by, but never performed or recorded by Utah Phillips, “Rock Salt and Nails” is one of the most haunting country songs of all time. Performed by Tyler Childers, the song seems to take on a whole new level of… Read more

  • Never Been to Spain – Three Dog Night / Waylon Jennings Originally written by Hoyt Axton and covered by the likes of Elvis, Cher, Ike and Tina, and Waylon Jennings among others, I think I actually like the Three Dog Night version of “Never Been To Spain“. As I write that, I think I may… Read more

  • In Bloom – Sturgill Simpson Sturgill Simpson covering Nirvana. A perfect union of contrary things. Sturgill remains one of my favorite modern country musicians, and in all honesty probably one of my favorite artists of all time. I was first made aware of him when this album, A Sailor’s Guide To Earth came out in… Read more

  • Dance In the Desert – Daniel Donato Happy New Year! I decided to start off 2025 with a really fun one. Daniel Donato is a hell of a guitar player, and I would recommend listening to more than just the song I chose to feature to get a real sense of his style. This one… Read more

  • Atlantic City (Live) – Randy Brown Atlantic City is far and away my favorite song by The Band, which is of course a Bruce Springsteen cover from his critically acclaimed album Nebraska. The Band added some country twang to Springsteen’s somber anthem about New Jersey gangsters and the sentiment of memento mori. Honestly, the Boss’s… Read more

  • Alabama Jubilee, You Took All the Ramblin’ Outta Me, & The Uptown Poker Club – Jerry Reed Atlanta born and Georgia raised, Jerry Reed, often overlooked and criminally underappreciated by the masses; I don’t know if Jerry would have it any other way if he were still around today. I think his so-called “novelty” songs… Read more

  • Guitar Man Upstairs (Live) – Mike Cooley (Drive By Truckers) Happy Monday! Over the weekend I got to see the Drive By Truckers again, this time performing one of my favorite albums of all time, Southern Rock Opera, in its entirety at The Tabernacle. One of the lighter and fun songs off that album is… Read more

  • The World Is Ending – Brent Cobb Brent Cobb is one of the most under appreciated country artists out today, and one of my favorite “chill” country guys to listen to. This song in particular, “The World Is Ending” has a tinge of psychedelicness to it, which is almost reminiscent of the legendary and righteous… Read more

  • Rocky Raccoon – The Beatles A couple weeks ago, I said I didn’t know if I could ever write about the Beatles. Well. Here we are. Whatever reservations I had about it were in my own head, with some encouragement and the realization that there is probably nothing that I can say that hasn’t already… Read more