The territory
Cosmic Country
Gram Parsons' invention, still mutating.
Gram called it 'Cosmic American Music'. Pedal steel through phaser, country songs played by people who'd been listening to The Byrds and the Grateful Dead. Sturgill, Orville Peck, Kacey Musgraves and the Cactus Blossoms all live somewhere on this map.
The artists
Names worth knowing
USA · 1978 — present
Sturgill Simpson
Walked into Nashville with a haircut and an attitude.
USA · 2010 — present
The Cactus Blossoms
Brother harmonies in the Louvin tradition.
USA · 1988 — present
Kacey Musgraves
Cosmic country with a pop heart.
Canada · 1988 — present
Orville Peck
Glam outlaw country with a fringed mask.
USA · 1946 — 1973
Gram Parsons
Cosmic American Music — invented, then gone at 26.
USA · 1968 — 1972
The Flying Burrito Brothers
Rhinestone suits and broken hearts in the canyon.