Haven't listened to much country since about 96. It was getting shitty then and I was hoping for it to stop.
Crazy About You - Whiskeytown
It started really getting shitty around that time with all the whiney, pop sounding bands. There are still some purists that record music, a lot of them are outlaw country like Hank III, Shooter Jennings....even a few new ones out of Georgia. Some of them are a little "ackward" but it beats the pop shit like Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift. Keith Urban, who I know is a fantastic geetarr player, is too poppy as well.
IMHO, people like Colt Ford should be shot on site for the crap he puts out. Country and Rap have no business co existing in the same song. It was nice to hear Dwight Yoakam and George Jones call out all this crap in Nashville last year.