You cannot talk about Americana, outlaw country, country-rock, folk-rock, or roots music without starting with Dylan. 'John Wesley Harding,' 'Nashville Skyline,' 'Blood on the Tracks,' 'Time Out of Mind' — and that's just the country-adjacent shelf. He gave The Band a home, gave Johnny Cash a duet, gave the songbook a second century.
- Woody Guthrie
- Hank Williams
- Robert Johnson
- The Band
- Johnny Cash
- Joan Baez
- Tom Petty
Pull the thread
USA · 1944 — 1997
Townes Van Zandt
The patron saint of the kitchen-table songwriters.
USA · 1953 — present
Lucinda Williams
Louisiana made audible.
USA · 1978 — present
Sturgill Simpson
Walked into Nashville with a haircut and an attitude.
USA · 1991 — present
Tyler Childers
Appalachia, unfiltered and unembarrassed.
USA · 1988 — present
Sierra Ferrell
Sings like she found the songs in a creek bed.
USA · 1984 — present
Charley Crockett
Keeps the bones, throws out the gristle.
USA · 1979 — present
Jason Isbell
Wrote 'Southeastern' and meant it.
USA · 1983 — present
Margo Price
Outlaw country with a working-class spine.