HGG Community Forums

Are you going to switch out 'generes'
of the music you listen to? One week heavy metal, next week classical? Or are you just sticking with individual songs?

@Looper, thanks for all the awesome suggestions. I was pleasantly surprised by all the Christian groups; Casting Crowns is my favorite group ever. I will definitely be looking up the groups I don't know.

@Confluence, a bit of both. The genres aren't assigned by week, but can be specific playlists. Like I might have all country music on Monday and all 80's rock on Tuesday. The groups/playlists will just change every day, so I get several genres per week.

@PeppermintC, ooh, I've never heard of Helen Jane Long. I'll look her up right away. Thank you for the suggestion!

My MediaMonkey (RIP WinAmp, how I loved thee!) has so many different genres mixed in together that it regularly makes visitors stop and go, "Bwuh?" because it made the random leap (common, I must admit) from Emmylou Harris' 'Ballad Of A Runaway Horse' to something like the Dropkick Murphys (love them! Celtic rock) 'Rose Tattoo' or Carbon Leaf's buttkickingly awesome 'Donnybrook Affair'. :))

Do try the group Carbon Leaf, not many seem to listen to them and I love their stuff, they're sort of along the same lines as NeedToBreathe and do a wide range of music that is all fantastic. Also the band The Script ('Man Who Can't Be Moved', 'If You See Kay') is really good, and a guy named Jack Savoretti is great and does similar stuff, his most well-known is probably 'A Soldier's Eyes'.

If you like a little poppy/dancy rap thrown into your day, I'd suggest Outkast, Salt N Pepa, and Will Smith's 'Lost And Found' album. Well, okay, all of Will's stuff, but especially 'Lost And Found', it's his best, I think. Also there are some great random songs like Snoop Dogg's 'Beautiful' and Crazy Town's 'Butterfly', and 'Pimpin Around The World' too, can't remember who did it but it's fun. :)) And the Fast and Furious soundtracks had some good stuff too, especially from the first three movies.

For your country moods, definitely recommend Eric Church, Chris LeDoux (cowboy country, which is different. Lol), and the Pistol Annies. Also the Highwaymen, they did a lot of truly great stuff, together and apart. Charlie Daniels is another great one, I've listened to him all my life, love 'Still In Saigon', 'Legend Of Wooley Swamp', 'Caballo Diablo' and a few dozen others. Travis Tritt is awesome too, I love his cover of 'Why Me, Lord?' and his 'Great Day To Be Alive'. And for great but lesser-known country groups who only put out one or two albums, I liked The Dirt Drifters and Pinmonkey.

And now some randomness.... For classical/instrumental, I'd suggest some Georg Solti, especially 'Also Sprach Zarathustra', it's been my favorite classical album since I was nine or so and my brother gave it to me with Lois McMaster Bujold's novel 'The Warrior's Apprentice', which I also loved. If you like Celtic music, then you totally need some David Arkenstone, he has a lot of great stuff, and The Chieftains are truly awesome. Shelby Lynne is hard to fit into any one genre but she is terrific, and so is Lucinda Williams. There's a band called 311 that I find hard to define too, they've done all kinds of stuff from techno/dance to rap and even metal, they're crazy but good.

And last but not least, for mostly instrumental acoustic guitar stuff there's a guy nobody ever heard of that I have adored for years, Ken Bonfield, and the amazing Luca Stricagnoli, who defies all logic and can play a more intricate melody alone than most five piece bands can manage. :D

Hope this helps!