What Country Sangers Got You In Country Music?

I think country music was on the radio in the room when I was born! I grew up going to the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, LA and listening to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio. I was fortunate at a very young age to see the Carter family, Hank Williams, Sr and Jim Reeves. As a teenager, Jim Reeves was my favorite. After he died in late summer of 1964 I continued to be a fan of his recordings until the later part of the 60's when a young Texas singer first hit my country music radar screen: Gene Watson. Gene was a huge favorite regionally around Houston, TX and when I would visit my cousins there we often went to see Gene and his band (which was not called the Farewell Party Band at the time). It came as no surprise to me when Gene's talent hit the big time in the mid-70's and although I have never been a huge fan of his first big hit, "Love In The Hot Afternoon", I did like the release just prior to that of "Bad Water". "Where Love Begins", "Farewell Party", and "Got No Reason Now For Going Home" have been life long favorites. While I like "Paper Rosie" and "14 Carat Mind", they are not usually on my list of favorite Gene Watson songs. The fact that Gene Watson is still singing and recording traditional country music is amazing to me all these years later. His 2009 album "A Taste Of The Truth" is a treasure and it's hard to pick a favorite from that album but if I had to, I'd say it's "I Know An Ending". His newest release with Rhonda Vincent "Your Money And My Good Looks" has 11 of the greatest country duets I've heard since Conway and Loretta! So here I am in my mid-60's and I'm still a Gene Watson music fan!