Well, I was most of the way through this thread before anyone mentioned Steve Earle -- in my opinion the greatest songwriter working today (although some days I'd give the edge to Richard Thompson; and Bob Dylan is still working, but his current stuff doesn't meet the standards he set in years past).

Craig -- Is this the same David Qualey who did an acoustic (nylon string) guitar album on Windham Hill back in the early-mid 80's? It's not that common a name, and I think the liner notes said he was an American living in Germany. It was a pretty good album, more substantive than a lot of the New Age wallpaper that was being put out at the time. But it sure wasn't singer-songwriter stuff. I always wondered what happened to him.