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

Drawing from a tradition that embraces excess -- whether it be in poetry, rock 'n' roll, life, or all of the above -- Patti Smith brings passion and wit to her rough-edged, anarchist music. Her songs recall the lives of such debauched, ecstatic souls as Rimbaud, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and James

Agitated, Bombast, Dissonant, Gritty, Hard rock, Punk, Religious, Rough

"If you'll gather 'round me, children, a story I will tell." So began many a Woody Guthrie ballad, invoking the huddle around the campfire, the community of the road, the generation that rode the rails during the Depression. Guthrie's songs gave a voice to that uprooted generation and to the struggle

Gritty, Pioneering, Political, Spiritual