I have to agree with Matt about the omission of Not-Glenn Beck and with John Covil re: Michael Stipe and David Byrne (Yoakum idk about, see above: I am mostly country music illiterate) but if I was to choose an Andrew it'd be Andrew Bird
I'm sorry, but did TOM FUCKING WAITS die while I was busy doing other things? That said, I refer to Iowahawk's typically bullseye tweet about this list:
My (David Burge's) definitive list of the 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters:
Rest in peace friend of the podcast David Allen Coe. If That Ain’t Country is a mainstay on my southern rock playlist, and You Never Even Call Me By My Name was a standard at parties in my Knoxville college days, way back when.
Going to add a RIP here for Robert Hunter, who I sure hope would be on the list, were it made in 2018. That man could write some DAMN heat that pulled on the heartstrings, and loved the Bay Area almost as much as Mr. Kmele. I'm thinking Brokedown Palace, Stella Blue, and more of the like, and Jerry Garcia knew how to put it all together.
Matt once again you seem to have mined the obscure reaches of my past to find a long forgotten priceless nugget.
As a young coed and rock-ribbed rock & roller at the University of Tennessee it quickly became apparent to me that I'd need to learn to enjoy some country music if it was going to kill me (and at times I thought it might). With a few exceptions I resisted the rhinestone siren's call even to this day but hearing this song instantly sent me back to a Saturday night at The Brewery or The Longbranch Saloon on Cumberland Ave. (aka "The Strip") where it remained in regular rotation all four of my years there. I love it for all the fun, fond memories I have of belting it out with my girlfriends and introducing it to the Yankee boyfriend who would become my husband. I didn't know that Coe had died (how had he lived so long??) and I was only dimly aware of his "other" music (yikes yikes).
Now if you turn up one of these days with Knoxville's own Con Hunley's "I've Been Waiting for You All of My Life" I will surely declare you a clairvoyant and magically transform into a 19 year old in Dolfin shorts and an orange cowboy hat🧡
Liz Wolfe is back and she wrote a beautiful essay about the death of her son and life. It is deeply moving. I recommend it to everyone
https://reason.com/2026/05/04/project-freedom/
I have to agree with Matt about the omission of Not-Glenn Beck and with John Covil re: Michael Stipe and David Byrne (Yoakum idk about, see above: I am mostly country music illiterate) but if I was to choose an Andrew it'd be Andrew Bird
I'm sorry, but did TOM FUCKING WAITS die while I was busy doing other things? That said, I refer to Iowahawk's typically bullseye tweet about this list:
My (David Burge's) definitive list of the 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters:
1. All Internet
2. Ranking Lists
3. Are Meaningless
4. Ragebait Designed
5. To Harvest
6. Engagement From
7. Low IQ
8. Howler Monkeys
9. And You
10. Always Fall
11. For It
12. Because You’ve
13. Been Somehow
14. Conditioned Into
15. Thinking Any
16. Of This
17. Has Any
18. Bearing On
19. Your Life
20. Wise Up
21. You Fucking
22. Pavlov Dogs
23. Your Replies
24. Only Guarantee
25. That You
26. Will See
27. Even More
28. Of This
29. Tard-Optimized
30. Shit Content
My top snub pick was Michael Stipe, with honorable mentions to Dwight Yoakam, David Byrne, and Andrew Peterson.
Rest in peace friend of the podcast David Allen Coe. If That Ain’t Country is a mainstay on my southern rock playlist, and You Never Even Call Me By My Name was a standard at parties in my Knoxville college days, way back when.
Lists are inherently silly, written for clicks by deliberately provoking readers. With that said, where the fuck is Bob Seger?
I don’t know if he makes a top-30 list, but I’d throw Stephen Malkmus out there for consideration and I agree that Beck is a worthy candidate.
Going to add a RIP here for Robert Hunter, who I sure hope would be on the list, were it made in 2018. That man could write some DAMN heat that pulled on the heartstrings, and loved the Bay Area almost as much as Mr. Kmele. I'm thinking Brokedown Palace, Stella Blue, and more of the like, and Jerry Garcia knew how to put it all together.
Love me some George Will.
David Lowery
No Bob Seger?
No Christopher Cross!?
What is the world coming to?
Whatever. The greatest snub of a LIVING songwriter is obviously Tupac.
I'm definitely with you on the omission of Beck. I really hate these lists.
Matt once again you seem to have mined the obscure reaches of my past to find a long forgotten priceless nugget.
As a young coed and rock-ribbed rock & roller at the University of Tennessee it quickly became apparent to me that I'd need to learn to enjoy some country music if it was going to kill me (and at times I thought it might). With a few exceptions I resisted the rhinestone siren's call even to this day but hearing this song instantly sent me back to a Saturday night at The Brewery or The Longbranch Saloon on Cumberland Ave. (aka "The Strip") where it remained in regular rotation all four of my years there. I love it for all the fun, fond memories I have of belting it out with my girlfriends and introducing it to the Yankee boyfriend who would become my husband. I didn't know that Coe had died (how had he lived so long??) and I was only dimly aware of his "other" music (yikes yikes).
Now if you turn up one of these days with Knoxville's own Con Hunley's "I've Been Waiting for You All of My Life" I will surely declare you a clairvoyant and magically transform into a 19 year old in Dolfin shorts and an orange cowboy hat🧡
Clearly they’ve never listened to Eli Lake’s AI bangers.
But seriously, Jerry Joseph (with or without the Jackmormons).
stop it y'all Beck is great, going to see him in October at Fenway
A lot of the great omissions from the songwriter list have been covered (Fogerty, Randy Newman, Waits, Westerberg)…
I think Jason Isbell deserves to be on that list, though I don’t he’s incepted the public consciousness enough at this point.