Country

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews "Too Long in the Wasteland," the debut album of singer and songwriter James McMurtry. Like his father, the novelist Larry McMurtry, James McMurtry writes of the drifters and loners of the high plains.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews new albums by Marshall Crenshaw and Chris Isaak.

Musician Lucinda Williams. She's been playing the folk and country scenes for most of the 80s, but her new album, titled "Lucinda Williams," is a type of straight-ahead story telling that crosses genres. Many listeners think of Williams as a folk singer, but in this album, Williams fronts a rock band.

Rock historian Ed Ward looks at how country musicians in the age of Elvis took their cues from African American blues and boogie-woogie to develop a new, electric guitar-fueled style.

Rock critic Ken Tucker says the group's first collaboration with country artists, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, breathed new life into their music. The second volume of that effort is less focused, with a strange and haphazard assortment of collaborators.

Rock critic Ken Tucker says that, with the rise of bad boys and neo-traditionalists in country music, fans and critics have overlooked several accomplished women artists. He reviews new albums by four singers worth checking out.

Lovett plays country music, but he's heavily influenced by rock and roll and jazz. His newest album, Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, takes its cue from the big band era.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the new country star's latest album, which flirts with jazzy blues with surprising success.

Rock critic Ken Tucker once more looks at the best and worst songs currently hitting the airwaves. Represented artists include Matthew Sweet, Bunny Wailer, Violent Femmes, Tone Loc, and Emmylou Harris.

Watson is often called the greatest flat-picker in the world. He joins fellow guitarist Jack Lawrence for an in-studio performance.

Country musician Buck Owens is back and as corny as ever. Rock critic Ken Tucker says his new album, Hot Dog!, successfully incorporates the sound and spirit of early rock and roll. A reissue of live recordings is also worth checking out.

Rock critic Ken Tucker talks with Fresh Air host Terry Gross about the year in music. He says 1988 had an eclectic array of hits, with folk and hard rock albums both reaching the top of the charts.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews recent releases by Jesse Winchester and Guy Clark, two country songwriters who are popular with critics, but who haven't yet found mainstream success. Tucker says Winchester's album leans toward new age, while Guy Clark's work may have more in common with folk than country.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews his favorite songs of the moment, performed by Annie Lennox and Al Green, Lucinda Williams, Shinehead, Billy Bragg, and Fairground Attraction

Nelson grew up picking cotton, and got his start as a musician playing in local Texas bars. Before finding fame as a singer, he sold songs he wrote to other performers, which later became hits. Nelson has a new memoir, called Willie, and an album of standards titled What a Wonderful World.

Last year, Ken Tucker reviewed albums by Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakum, whom he thought had the power to shake up the country music establishment. Now they are the establishment, both with new albums. Tucker says Travis gives listeners a postmodern take on traditional country; Yoakum has fashioned himself the genre's Raymond Chandler, with songs that are brooding and sometimes offensive.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the late Gram Parsons, who added a country flavor to rock with groups like The Byrds.

Folk singer Bill Staines gives an introductory lesson in yodeling.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews new albums by George Strait and Steve Wariner. Their music is marketed as country, but Ken says their style is similar to that of singer-songwriters of the late '60s and early '70s, like James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt.

Arthel "Doc" Watson, one of America's premier acoustic folk guitarists. His flat-pick style of playing traditional folk and bluegrass has made his sound one of the most distinctive of any folk artist. His 24 albums have earned him four Grammys. In the folk music community, Watson is best known for his part in preserving the traditional ballads and melodies of southern Appalachia.