Folly of the Faithful Canine

I grew up listening to all sorts of music because of my greatly spaced (in age) siblings and the fact that my mom was an earthmuffin while my dad had been raised in a very rural area so liked Country Western but also Country/Rock crossover stuff like CCR. I used to be embarassed about liking Country Western music but have since come to realize that, for the most part, Country music recorded before 1980 is great stuff with lots of folk influence. Since then it's become way too popish for my taste and is far too influenced by the crappy pop music genre going on in American music right now such as boy bands, Brittany Spears etc. There are some exceptions such as Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan who have stayed pretty true to their roots while at the same time experimenting with new genres.