Saturday music: If you don't love country, you hate 'mer'ca

Let's keep going with a 2017 album pick list. Unlike with jazz, I think the best country really is being made today. Yes, my love of country music is authentic and unironic. Picking a single album for 2017... too hard. Hell, Chris Stapleton put out two albums! So, here's just a bunch of great stuff.

Malcolm Holcombe's "Good Ole Days," a bluegrass-tinged cut from Pretty Little Troubles.

Jason Isbell. "White Man's World," from The Nashville Sound. If I really had to pick one album, this would probably be it.

David Rawlings, "Cumberland Gap," from Poor David's Almanack. Then again, maybe this one.

Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, "Heal Me," from Sidelong. Or... this...

And, finally, Chris Stapleton put out two volumes of From a Room. Both are amazing, and you should get both. Here's "Broken Halos," from Volume 1. Yeah, I could pick either of these for country album of the year.

What a year for country music. I say this completely without irony. For all my 'mer'ca snideness, country music can be great, when done properly. Just listen to all of this!