The Verge Playlist: Country-fried funk

When most folks think of country music, they hear the twangy guitar, too earnest vocals, and simple driving beat that have come to typify the genre on mainstream radio. But there is another side to country music, a weird underbelly that mixes in funk, soul, rock and roll. This playlist is a collection of my favorite tunes from a genre a good friend once called “country fried.” Geographically it takes us from Texas to Los Angeles to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. It would be easy to argue some of the artists on here aren’t “country” but the fun is finding finding tracks that defy easy categorization, giving a respectful nod to Nashville before cutting a path for some unexplored territory in a backwoods Delta swamp or California coastline.