interesting how 'most' respondants to a thread like this center on their evaluations of 'the most FAMOUS and widest SELLING' songwriters of the past 'XXX' years...as if hype and mass media were critical factors in determining quality....*sigh*

At least Rick mentioned Craig Johnson...(just as he noted in another thread he mentioned guitarists who were not 'famous', but were beyond belief in their abilities..)

yes, it IS hard to move beyond what the popular press and publicity machines tell you is #1, etc,. but WOW there is good stuff out there that never makes the charts.