I love country music without knowing too much about it. Can anyone recommend some of the big artists so I can search and listen to them.

Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood
Miranda Lambert

they're not a country artist but bon jovi did a country album called lost highway

Martina McBride
The Band Perry
Blake Shelton
Lauren Alena (not sure spelled correctly)

Couldn't name a better three. I 100% agree.

The best live singer I have ever heard is k d lang and she started out as a country singer although she would not be classified as that now.

My Morning Jacket.

An amazing, underrated and commercially ignored band that mix country/southern rock with pretty much every other genre going.

The lead singer Jim James has an absolutely stunning voice, and is also a "weird crush" of mine...
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=jim+j...w=1280&bih=636

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=jim+j...w=1280&bih=636



Some examples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFsNePTw29I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybC1Dh4Jxw0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEgkgCgRFII

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol2XM8RQi_Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohE3Dm9H0_g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnOa4...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OMpaFvTOFk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHkfMpOQfBc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1NaC1SsCPo

Just some of their best, but they have many many more amazing songs. Hope this helps

This is k d lang singing a Patsy Cline classic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwIH4...eature=related

Glen Campbell
Loretta Lynn
Patsy Cline
Justin Townes Earle - [Alternative Country]
Steve Earle - [Alternative Country]
Neko Case
k.d lang - [She has dabbled in country successfully]
Gretchen Wilson

All of these are great.

Carrie Underwood ftw.

Taylor obviously.
Sugarland are also excellent especially their first 2 albums.
Garth Brooks
Faith Hill

Kasey Chambers
Lucinda Williams

The Band Perry
Kellie Pickler

Alan Jackson, George Strait, Terri Clark, Chris Ledoux, Garth Brooks

Kathleen Edwards

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLDdIRoLSYY

Shelby Lynne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjN84M7wCY0

Kasey Chambers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SQ4MsdYFYA&ob=av2e

Neko Case

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0vk5SGmw3w

You might also like Shawn Colvin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHGMY8r_Yqw

These, they're all great.

And The Band Perry too.

Try some of these for size.

Darius Rucker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlsT61o25Jg

Justin Townes Earle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-quUt...eature=related

Brad Paisley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz9eK...eature=related

Forgot the best of the lot.

Elizabeth Cook, who Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith and Lucinda Williams rate the best female singer/ songwriter around at the moment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_rHU...eature=related

.....Dolly Parton?!

Garth Brooks is my favourite.

Alison Krauss
Sara Evans
Faith Hill
Emmylou Harris

Carrie Underwood is a treat.

The Band Perry's album is awesome. If I die young is such a beautiful song.

I recommend Revolution by Miranda Lambert. Its an excellent album, very accessible. Also Jason Aldean's My Kinda Party. A couple of my favourite albums of the last couple of years Easton Corbins debut album and the last Billy Currington album.

Another overlooked artist who is very talented is Matraca Berg often a session songwriter for others but she does have a few albums of her own, her new album The Dreaming Fields is really good. My hubby is in the music industry and he was lucky enough to work with her some years back.

Patsy Cline
Considered a Legend among the Country music world. Sadly she died very young at age 30