Randy Travis has come a long way by respecting country music's traditions. Other acts out there, though, are raising a ruckus by tangling up those roots with all sorts of other music. Six signposts for this new country mile: Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, the O'Kanes, Nanci Griffith, K.T. Oslin and Lyle Lovett.
Rodney Crowell and Steve Earle, both Texas-bred, are the new country's hell raisers. Crowell's CBS album, Diamonds and Dirt, is a benchmark for country, a seamless blend of strong beat, gritty humor and surprising tenderness. Crowell, 37, who is married to another gifted performer, Johnny Cash's daughter Rosanne, is...
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