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according to wikipedia, "Country music is known for its ballads and dance tunes (also known as "honky-tonk music") with simple form, folk lyrics, and harmonies generally accompanied by instruments such as banjos, fiddles, harmonicas, and many types of guitar", while Folk music, in an American context, is a broad category of music including bluegrass, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American music.
I'll keep it a buck and say I don't voluntarily listen to much country and folk, so this list is mostly off Rolling Stone.

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1. Patsy Cline (late 1940s onwards)

Starting her career on the radio at just 15, Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley) was one of the greatest vocalists in country, a genre that focuses more on instrumental melodies and less on vocal chops. Despite her tragic death in a plane crash at the age of 30, she became one of the more recognisable voices in early american pop music.
Listen: https://youtu.be/MbnrdCS57d0

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2. Johnny Cash (mid 1950s onwards)

Perhaps the greatest cross-genre singer-songwriter of all time, J.R. Cash's music traveresed different soundscapes all througout his career, with multiple classic spanning folk, country, blues, and rockabilly.
Listen: https://youtu.be/8AHCfZTRGiI

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3. Willie Nelson (mid 1950s onwards)

Not only is this man a legendary singer, not only does he write his own balads, not only does he play his guitar, Willie Hugh Nelson also wrote songs for many other country artists, cementing his solution as the pot-smoking GOAT of country music.
Listen: https://youtu.be/dBN86y30Ufc

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4. Bob Dylan (Late 1950s onwards)

The Jewish, Christian-for-a-period star of 1960s folk is on my list. Fusing acoustic guitar ballads with personal, touching songwriting, Robert Allen Zimmerman (also known as Shabtai Zissel ben Avraham) became the blueprint for any popular artist that wants to pour his soul out through his guitar.
Listen: https://youtu.be/JncbFS5ek74

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5. Dolly Parton (late 1960s onwards)

Despite being an icon of Pop Culture, popular music and western femininity as a whole, Dolly Rebecca Parton still stayed true to her bluegrass roots, still releasing albums well into the 2000s.
Listen: https://youtu.be/Vu6rTngIFvg

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This round, the penultimate round for the initial family, we'll be naming a pair of twins.

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1 (Patsy Cline): Virginia, Patricia, Petra, Joan, Ann, Betty, Thea, Mary, Mercy, Deliverance. Benjamin, Peter, Marcello, Ivan, Roger, Philip, Daniel, Andrew, Edward, Ephraim.

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2 (Johnny Cash): John, Ray, Juan, Giuseppe, José, Ethan, Declan, James, Valentino. Meghan, Jacqueline, Cleopatra, Augusta, Daisy, Marigold, Sunny, Luna, Salome, Caesaria

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3 (Willie Nelson): Guillermo, Guglielmo, William, Willem, Wilhelm, Vilhelm, Wilhelmus, Vilhelmas, Hugh.
Esther, Elizabeth, Wilmot, Margaret, Alexandra, Lydia, Nadia, Nathalia, Michal, Noa.

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4 (Bob Dylan): Robert, Allen, Alan, Alain, Alanus, Zusmann, Zissel, Sabbatius, Elston, Waitstill. Caroline, Katherine, Danielle, Michelle, Veronika, Matteuccia, Agnes, Narbona, Janet, Casey.

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5 (Dolly Parton): Daniel, Thompson, Walter, Richard, Lloyd, Martin, Carter, Jordan, Terrell, Wayne, Dwayne, Michael, Keith, Farrell. Marketta, Goodwife, Lisbeth, Malin, Peronne, Bridget, Susannah, Elspeth, Barbara, Melinda.

This message was edited 8/5/2023, 3:26 PM