Roots accessibility, stoner-funk arrangements and occasionally some very weird lyrics. Sort of the Allman Brothers meet Zappa (for whom George sang back-up and with whom he collaborated), with the odd Dixieland overlay. Good for making your Deadhead friends feel a bit parochial.

Gritty, Joyful, Playful, Whimsical

Steve Earle, the renowned country music rebel, once said of his early mentor: "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole wide world, and "I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." A bold statement -- but in certain regards, Van Zandt's influence stretches as

Contemplative, Gritty, Rebel, Rough, Smoky

Johnny Cash is "The Man in Black." A patriarch of country music, Cash has played with and influenced some of the greatest figures in contemporary music. Cash has a voice that can bend steel. Deep, resonant, and manly, when combined with his songs' marching bass lines, the Cash voice evokes a sense of

Dark, Gritty, Intimate, Masculine, Pathos