Take Lyle Lovett and John Prine and Loudin Wainwright and Randy Newman get rid of them completely and there's much less competition for a comic/tragic singer-songwriter like Joe Conley.
Joe now hails from Maryland, but he grew up in West Virginia and North Carolina. Exposed to country, bluegrass, and old-time music from an early age, his songs cross genres like deer cross curvy roads: too hip for country, too country for folk, too folk for rock, too rock for folk. He writes about the wonders of beer, the pain of lost love, and the difficulties of getting fired--all in the same song!