I missed this, Lee, but I'm sure I would have enjoyed it. I've developed an interest in country and Western for the first time, really, since I saw Brokeback Mountain--though a Texas boy all my life, I grew up on rock and pop, and actually tended to be disdainful of C & W most of my adolescence and adulthood.
I have since found that country and Western has a satisfying earthiness to it--it is of the earth, and makes me feel centered, 'homey'. Rock and pop tend to be more dreamlike or spacey--this seems like music of the air as opposed to the earth, so to speak. At any rate, I have found that country and Western has been a great comfort to me while driving, and makes me feel connected in a special way to the landscape.
There were some country and Western acts that I liked before BBM, but folks told me that these were actually more 'pop' than authentic C & W. At any rate, I liked them then, and still like them now, and find that these too have that 'earthy' quality that I find so appealing. Two of these artists/groups are Restless Heart and Shania Twain.