Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Thanks for your excellent customer service!!

John, I don't know what Canadian(or U.S.) sources you usually use for CDs, so I won't suggest one, but so far as a basic start on a list of classical items I'd repeat the four Seraphims that I suggested to Scud and in particular the Holst Planets and Brahms Hungarian Dances on Naxos, which are as sure-fire CDs as any I know of. Then I also have to add some Rachmaninoff which you shouldn't be without and this is a bargain. Of course if you borrow CDs from a local library, to some extent you can try before you buy, but often the selection isn't very good.

I would say listen to K. I had never been a fan of 'country' music. But a few years back I turned off the anti-country rant long enough to listen to some old school stuff (Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, etc). Then out comes O Brother Where Art Thou and bluegrass comes into my view. Amazing music.
I agree with K that most of the 'country' out on the radio to day is to country music what N'SYNC is to pop music. Uninspired and insincere garbage to get as much of your money as possible with as little effort as possible.
So, please don't let what you hear on the radio keep you from listening to what I would call 'true artists' in country/bluegrass. You are really missing out if you do.

jr

I couldn't agree with these comments more. Living in Nashville can be fantastic, but one of the most depressing things is watching so many freakishly talented people banging their heads against a wall while the undeserving ones slide buy on a certain look and the ability to regurgitate the assembly-line drivel of the songs coming out of Music Row. The writers might possibly be the worst, since they're otherwise decent, talented folks who have been churning out formulaic crap for so long they wouldn't know a good song if it kicked them in the shins.

There are certainly exceptions to this, but the most interesting people living in this town are the true troubadours: Lucinda Williams, John Prine, Todd Snider, Gillian Welch, etc. The unfortunate thing about the hired guns - the musicians in the pick-up band or recording studio - is that they are dazzling. Most of these guys can play like you wouldn't believe. Kenny Vaughn comes to mind. But largely they're relegated to playing the most uninteresting music imaginable.

If you want to get a sense of the better side that country has to offer, try Dwight Yoakam, Alison Krauss or (I'm going to fry in hell...) Keith Urban. Yeah, he's a pretty boy, but he writes his own stuff and he's a hell of a player.