Essential Country Songs
 

What songs are essential for a Country band. You can split it into Traditional and Modern categories if you like

Neon moon
The Shake
Silver wings
The Fireman
Boot Scoot boogie
Always on my mind
Little Sister
The Chair
The Dance
Friends in low places
Folsom Prison
I got stripes

Gee...so many but these jumped at me as one that always got the dance floor swinging or huggin in my country band days. There are allot of good ones.

I know it's not what you asked, but I have a different kind of answer. It's easier to look at essential artists:

Classic/The Greats: (Little of this)
Hank Sr.
Hank Jr.
Waylon
George
David A. Coe



80's-00's: (Little of this)
Garth Brooks
George Strait
Alabama
Travis Tritt
Brooks & Dunn
Charlie Daniels
Allen Jackson
Vince Gill
Daryl Singletary
Hank Jr.
Hot Apple Pie
John Michael Montgomery

New Country: (more of this)
Chesney
Church
Luke
Bentley
Jason Aldean
Jamey Johnson
Blake
Zac Brown
Chris Young
Billy Currington
Brad Paisley
Brantley Gilbert
Little Big Town

Heck, there's too much to list, but all these artists do well.

+1 to to all the above. And adding a couple...

"Dust on the Bottle" (don't know the artist)
"Don't Close Your Eyes" - Keith Whitley

Where are you and what instrumentation will your band have? Country is a huge category and every part of the nation and the world has it's own local country roots traditions. It's pretty cool I think when possible to incorporate some aspect of the traditional music of your region in your act to some degree whether you play more trad or modern. Knowing what instruments/voices you have to work with too can help determine what direction to go.

You would also probably want some Toby Keith material represented.

Not a big personal favorite of mine but he's a pretty safe bet with bar crowds.

Don't forget Willie and George Jones.

One of my favorites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w_8j4ie73g

Amen!!
We do Who's Your Daddy and Red Solo Cup.

Also- if you have a female singer:
Gretchen Wilson
Miranda Lambert
Carrie Underwood
Little Big Town

You can also look at Lady Antebellum and Sugarland but their stuff is usually more mellow. We have a couple of their songs on our set list right now but as we add more upbeat stuff, we're going to cut out more of the slower ones, maybe just leave in 1 or 2 for the night.

When I first joined my current band we had co-lead singers (a guy and a gal) and we did the Sugarland, Little Big Town and Lady Antebellum stuff and it just killed.

Not long afterward we parted ways with the female so all those tunes got tossed out but they're good ones if you have the lineup to pull it off.

Thats us! We're looking for a wider range of upbeat stuff for the gal singer. But she is amazing with the Little Big Town stuff.

Faith Hill, Shania Twain and Martina McBride are always golden if you've got a good female singer.

Many Thanks

Some of ours to help you out;

Classic Country

Mama Tried- Merle Haggard
Good Hearted Woman- Waylon/Willie
Luckenback Texas- Waylon/Willie
Help Me Make It Through The Night- Sammi Smith (original)
On The Road Again- Willie Nelson
Silver Wings- Merle Haggard
Workin' Man Blues- Merle Haggard
Tulsa Time- Don Williams
Amanda- Don Williams
Your Cheatin' Heart- Hank Williams
The Race (Is On)- George Jones (actually, we have two versions of this, George Jones and Sawyer Brown)
Tiger By The Tail- Buck Owens
Folsom Prison Blues- Johnny Cash
Ring Of Fire- Johnny Cash (actually we do Joaquin Phoenix's recording from Walk The Line)
Girl From The North Country- Bob Dylan/Johnny Cash


Modern Country Tunes

People Are Crazy- Billy Currington
That's How Country Boys Roll- Billy Currington
Hicktown- Jason Aldean
CrazyTown- Jason Aldean
Country Girl Shake It For Me- Luke Bryan
I Ain't As Good As I Once Was- Toby Keith
A Little Less Talk (A Lot More Action)- Toby Keith
Fast As You- Dwight Yoakam
Guitars, Cadillacs- Dwight Yoakam
Play Something Country- Brooks And Dunn
Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)- Big-N-Rich
Coming To Your City- Big-N-Rich
Honky Tonk World- Chris LeDoux
T-R-O-U-B-L-E- Travis Tritt
Friends In Low Places- Garth Brooks
If Tomorrow Never Comes- Garth Brooks
Little Sister- Dwight Yoakam (cover of Elvis Presley)
What Was I Thinking- Dierks Bentley
5-1-5-0- Dierks Bentley
Am I The Only One- Dierks Bentley
Tip It On Back- Dierks Bentley (we just started on this one)
Country Must Be Country Wide- Brantley Gilbert
Drink In My Hand- Eric Church
Smoke A Little Smoke- Eric Church
Springsteen- Eric Church (we don't do this but a lot of "modern" country bands do)
Six Days On The Road- Sawyer Brown (not the original artist but it's the version we cover)

Crossover songs that appeal to country crowds;

Can't You See- Marshall Tucker Band
Sweet Home Alabama- Lynyrd Skynyrd
Call Me The Breeze- Lynyrd Skynyrd
Gimme Three Steps- Lynyrd Skynyrd
Keep Your Hands To Yourself- Georgia Satellites


As you can see we are a guitar-oriented band.



These are just a few of what we do.


Good luck!

Here's my list:

Ohh... yea those were always good ones. Looks like I might have to dust off my country chops. The BL from the country band I used to play allot of these songs in called and wants me back. I am sitting in tonight at their practice to see where we are all at.:smug:

Oh, and if you have the right crowd and the right vocalist, Steve Earle's "Copperhead Road" is fun. Not really country at all, but in my mind it's an influential song because to me it was a great predictor of what country would meld into 20 years later.

Bear one thing in mind.......country music fans either like the new country or hate it. The modern stuff is really not country music, per se, it's really 3 and 4 chord rock with a country twang and a southern drawl. When it comes to country, you need to know your audience.

Just a thought.

My favorite country songs I ever played:

"On a Good Night" by Wade Hayes
"Silver Wings" by Merle Haggard

"Don't Close Your Eyes" ... the first time I ever heard that song was when I played it live. Literally. I was subbing for my former band and their new LG/singer called it and I was like, what the eff is this but instantly the dance floor filled up.

It was pretty harrowing to follow the first time cause the changes aren't exactly conventional for a country song but it's not hard once you get it down. And it's a huge crowd pleaser at least in these parts. Devastating lyrics.