EJ, Sweetheart of the Rodeo has always been one of my favorites. I grew up out west with the kids of some of the Dustbowl Refugees, so I heard guys like Goerge Jones & Tammy Wynette, Marty Robbins, Chet Atkins,and Patsy Cline. Heck, my Dad I guess could be classified as a Dustbowl Refugee, since he was raised in the mid-west, and born in the panhandle of Oklahoma. So when the Byrds came out with Sweetheart it sounded new and refreshing to me. That record was what turned me onto country music in the first place. From there, I just went backwards, discovering first the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, then Doc Watson, then the Highwoods Stringband, then the New Lost City Ramblers, then Uncle Dave Macon, the Skillet Lickers, the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, oh the list goes on. So you can easily see why Son Volt, Uncle Tupelo, et al sound like rock 'n' roll to me.