10 Cool Country Bands From Europe
You talk to most any independent country, roots, or Americana artist, and to a man they will tell you their fortunes tend to be better in the European market. Whether it is because the competition is less, or the support for the arts in general is more, European tours are what allow many of your favorite artists to make it in the music business. With so many European tours and the continued spread of American country music, it was only a matter of time before country began to rub off on the locals and American roots music spread like wildfire throughout the Old World.
This is in no way a complete list or compendium of the dozens upon dozens of country and roots artists and bands that call Europe home. It’s simply a cross section of some cool examples of how Europeans from many different countries, and in many different disciplines from traditional country to bluegrass have taken up the country cause. You’re encouraged to leave your own lists and examples below.
My Darling Clementine
If you’ve been wondering whatever happened to the classic, beautiful sound of the country music duet, look no further than the UK’s My Darling Clementine. Spellbinding voices mixed with a 50’s-60’s golden era styling make this English pairing something the whole world can enjoy.
G-runs ‘n Roses
You may chuckle at the name, but G-runs ‘n Roses from the Czech Republic are an energetic, high-octane bluegrass band that can bring the roots as deep as any of their transcontinental counterparts. Language and cultural barriers be damned, once they launch into song, you might as well be in Kentucky.
First Aid Kit
Maybe the most commercially-successful band on this list, this pair of Swedish sisters offer succulent harmonies and stellar songwriting in music that is inspired heavily from the Gram Parsons/Emmylou Harris camp. Born into a house where folk and country was ever-present, and not hindered whatsoever by barriers of language or culture, the only thing giving these girls away as not being from the US is their lack of pretentiousness. First Aid Kit gives many American singing duos a run for their money.
The Rip Roaring Success
A super fun band from the UK featuring guitar player Russ Williams sandwiched between two hot girls in Wild Lucy Williams slapping on double bass and Nicole Terry on a sweet, smokin’ fidddle. The Rip Roaring Success have a distinct, stripped-down Western-swing style that’s hard to not start moving to when they get going.
Dad Horse Experience
One of the most unique performers you will ever see or hear, Dad Horse Experience from Germany is a banjo-playing one man band accompanying himself on bass organ with his feet and sometimes sporting a kazoo. His songs serenade a bereft world with cautionary wisdom, while the music is not afraid to work in fun and whimsy.
Rattleshack
From Celtic jigs and folksy tales, to the legacy of the American storytelling song and Southern anthems, UK’s Rattleshack traces a nexus between English-speaking country and folk music, and marks a guidepost for the listener to see how the roots of the music all intertwine and share the same origin. It’s not that this hasn’t been done before, but it’s not been done nearly enough, and never with the fun, underground country twist Rattleshack displays.
The Dinosaur Truckers
Possibly the pinnacle of new-school punk-infused bluegrass from Europe, the Dinosaur Truckers can be as fast and precise as any, regardless of continent. But music is not a skills competition, and the best part about this band is that they know how to slow it down and make it about the song as well. Their recent, self-titled album was awarded a full two gun up review by Saving Country Music.
Crooks & Straights
One of Europe’s oldest country bands originally formed in 1999, Crooks & Straights from Rijeka, Croatia might be the most straightforward country, honky tonk style band on this list. Known for excellent musicianship and players, aside from a slight Croatian accent to the lyrics, you would never know this band didn’t originate in North America.
Heinrich XIII & The Devilgrass Pickers
From the underground/hellbilly side of country, Henrich Steuernagel from Wölfersheim, Germany brings a hellish take to country and bluegrass in self-penned songs. Germany is one of the epicenters for underground country in Europe, and Heinrich is also known for being an ambassador/tour guide/liasion for American bands touring through locally.
The Kruger Brothers
Maybe one of the most familiar bands stateside since they have been based in the US for many years, the Swiss-born Kruger Brothers consisting of brothers Jens, Uwe, and Joel are considered one of the top folk and bluegrass trios in the entire discipline. They have released a total of 16 albums, and banjo player Jens Kruger just won the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass Music.
October 9, 2013 @ 9:23 am
Hey man, you forgot Sweden’s Hillman Lighthouse!
Don’t worry, I got it right here for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxhYSpnbSFc
May 7, 2015 @ 8:10 am
THANKS! Just checked these guys out. It’s like Boston and Skynyrd had a party and invited Ian Gillan to sit in.
October 9, 2013 @ 9:29 am
interesting! I surely will take a closer look at some of these!
October 9, 2013 @ 9:32 am
What about The Don Darlings from Sweden.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkOg5p2y7A8
October 9, 2013 @ 9:39 am
Folks! As was explained above, it would be impossible for me to list every single country band from Europe, so nobody got left out or forgotten. Even if I had listed 100 artists, there still would have been someone from somewhere left out. So instead I tried to do the best job I could illustrating that there are many great bands from many different countries playing many different styles of country, hopefully encouraging people to dig deeper themselves to discover these great bands. Everyone is encouraged to leave links and lists of their favorite European bands. Like Kindergarten, this is all about sharing and discovery. And hopefully in the future we can highlight more European bands and offer even better resources to discover Europe’s great country talent.
October 9, 2013 @ 11:23 am
I get what you’re saying, but what’s cool about people who post “what about this band?” or “what about that band?” is that it gives us a few more cool bands to check out. I checked out The Don Darlings and liked them enough to buy it because of that post as well as a couple from your list.
October 9, 2013 @ 9:47 am
From Spain, again “the booty hunters” in Muddy Roots Europe 2014
October 9, 2013 @ 10:11 am
hey man! thanks for mentioning us!
here’s one great band i can add to the list: http://www.reverbnation.com/cowboybobandtrailertrash
October 10, 2013 @ 9:33 pm
Hey Heinrich XIII and Cowboy Bob both sound like winners after first listens. Gonna give them a try. I think its great that our European brothers are influenced by our Country and Americana music. I certainly appreciate authenticity over imitation and I think these are going to be dang good.
October 9, 2013 @ 10:51 am
The thing to bear in mind when you’re talking about country music, real country music, is that in essence it’s folk music and those folk who popularized it are almost entirely British descended. Mountain music, Hillbilly, call it what you will is the bastard child of the Welsh, English, Irish and Scottish folk melodies that the original settlers of the Southland, Ozarks and Appalachia passed on down the generations.
It shouldn’t raise any eyebrows, comes as any sort of surprise to anybody that country music should have it’s adherents in the old country. It’s in the blood, woven into the DNA.
Check out Charlie Thompson on the link. He’s a fireman from The UK but close your eyes and listen… you could be in a backroads Alabama Honk Tonk in 1951.
https://www.facebook.com/CharlieThompsonRockabilly/app_2405167945
October 9, 2013 @ 9:33 pm
I totally agree there’s more of a trans-Atlantic connection to folk and country than many people realize. I think a lot of these bands help to illustrate this.
October 9, 2013 @ 12:24 pm
Cor Blimey! Ya got my video of The Rip Roaring Success on here! It’s a real early one where the quality ain’t so good, but I got lot’s of acoustic street and woodland films of Americana, country and ragtime and stuff – including some real intimate Carrie Rodriguez duets and girls singing to squirrels and steam trains and birds and bees and…well – other stuff! Stop by and introduce yourself.
http://youtube.com/thefrankgarlandshow
October 9, 2013 @ 12:57 pm
You left out an older band from the Czech Republic. The Greenhorns did some awesome eastern-bloc country.
October 9, 2013 @ 5:06 pm
I got to see First Aid Kit do a full set on the Santa Monica Pier last Sunday and it was top shelf. Those gals sure can sing!
My two current faves from Europe are:
1.) Bulgarian Lilly Drumeva and her “Lilly of the West” ensemble:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oitSnU2wBSg&list=PL08B5A747FC45D65A
2.) The Davitt’s Country Band From Ireland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jlR9_Y3tkM
Definitely some of the best new music I’ve encountered over the last couple of years…
October 9, 2013 @ 7:46 pm
Some great stuff here!
Come say hello to The Trailer Trash Orchestra –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3G40FeAves
http://www.trailer-trash.co.uk/trailertrashorchestra
October 10, 2013 @ 3:53 am
An excellent bluegrass country band from Britain in France : Jack Danielle’s String Band. The leaders are a brother and a sister who really named Jack and Danielle
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xxcltr_clip-country-parasite-du-jack-danielle-s-string-band_music
October 10, 2013 @ 6:24 pm
I am so grateful and happy for this site. I have found so many artists I like here. Before finding out about this website, it took me a lot longer to find artists music I really enjoyed listening to. If i found list on a site of music I liked, I already knew a lot of the musicians. People on here has impeccable taste in music.
October 11, 2013 @ 2:11 am
France is poorer in country than most of its neighbours; most of the “alt-roots”-interested crowd leans more towards blues. But for documentary purposes ;°) here’s what the local scene of Montreuil, a lively blue-collar suburb of Paris, would have to offer :
a well-beloved old-time / hillbilly band : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8uput1bG5w
a “local stars” countryish-punk (aka mainly punk with a tongue-in-check but deep love of country) band : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-ucnAysrrg
October 12, 2013 @ 3:15 am
One more note about the french scene. What we do have, and they’re often among our best, are guys that proudly claim a strong country influence; still, most of them would hardly say they’re proper country.
On a dark, folkish-punkish side, you’ve got for example Slim Wild Boar, a tight songwriter from Brittany (which could be said to be the french Appalachias) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXG8Mv7XOmE .
And of course some of our rockabilly cats pay their respects where it’s due (2 birds with the same stone here ;°) ) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF6QZhhuto0
You’re better able to say whether any of these guys are country enough, not to mention cool enough, for any list… but they still sound more country to me than Luke Bryan, not that that’s hard to do !
June 6, 2014 @ 4:16 am
it’s pretty damn difficult to find ANYONE being played on what they call “counry” radio that is a country singer anymore.
i had thought that there was hope with travis tritt, alan jackson, and that group, but, they’ve disappeared.
miranda lamber, carrie underwood, and tobey keith are about the only country singers around now
of course, the good thing about this is that it has forced me to look, and find, some truly great country singers in the rest of the world.
for the record, there are some GREAT country singers in japan
October 11, 2013 @ 9:05 am
what about thsi, one of the first europeans to play at the Opry in 1953!
😉
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbejaan_Schoepen
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bobbejaan_schoepen_grand_ole_opry_1953.jpg
October 11, 2013 @ 9:06 am
this*
October 11, 2013 @ 11:17 pm
Found this article late at night, and listening to “Emmylou” by First Aid Kit put me in a mellow, pensive state of mind. It’s a beautiful song, and an excellent example of how to reference the names of musical idols in a respectful way.
It’s hard to explain, but you can sense the real reverence those girls have for their Americana forebears, which contrasts with the namedropping you typically hear in laundry list bro-country. I guess the intent is subtly different.
As always, I find it sad that a song like this could never be played on the radio, except for a handful of scattered AAA “indpendent” stations. I’m not sure it was even released as a single, but in my imagintiation it should be a hit song. As great as podcasts, blogs, and websites are for forming music communities / spreading information, there is still compelling about the ideal of a great radio station. There’s something compelling about the less-fragmented nature of traditional radio. You can hear a song and know (or assume) that a ton of other people are having the same musical experience at the same time. Ceding radio completely over to the crappy corporate music machine robs us of enjoying that experience, which sucks.
Sorry guys, I got sleepy and started rambling. To sum it up, gee whiz, there sure are a lot cool bands in Europe!
October 12, 2013 @ 2:33 am
Further to my earlier comment about the origins of country music I’m putting up another couple of links by a young Welsh folk singer, Jodie Marie. Have a listen. Obviously the form has evolved as its crossed the Atlantic but you can definitely discern the common root easily enough. Wales is a tiny area, geographically, on the western side of Britain but it’s where The Carter Family’s folks hail from, those of Hank Williams, both George and Tammy, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sam Phillips, Whitey Morgan and a whole host of others….including Jesse James 🙂
Listen in to the links, it’s the point where old world folk and new world country seem to blur and merge. Her album’s called Mountain Echo and it resonates, right enough.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuLNJJ1QuVM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc_HFbvEkKk
October 23, 2013 @ 11:00 pm
Finally got to My Darling Clementine. The music just blows me away. I love it. As for First Aid Kit, they’re one of my favourite bands now. For me, they seem to fuse country and indie pop so well, two of my favourite musical genres.
November 3, 2013 @ 8:06 pm
As a country music fan of Croatian decent, this post and finding out about Crooks & Straights makes me very happy.
December 9, 2013 @ 2:12 pm
From Sweden..
March 13, 2014 @ 7:12 am
Hey there.
Just to let you know, Croatian Crooks&Straight being formed in 99 isn’t by far the oldest coutry band in Europe. I don’t know who is, but Plava Trava Zaborava, another Croatian country (well, more blue grass I guess to be exact; plava trava means blue grass in Croatian) was formed in 1982. Way back, when Croatia was still a part of Yugoslavia, formally a communist country. I’m from a neighbouring country of Slovenia and Plava Trava Zaborava was in fact my first encounter with coutry music back in the 80s.
Cheers!
August 30, 2014 @ 2:58 am
You may want to read this article again and see that nobody ever claimed the “Crooks & Straights” were the oldest country band in Europe. However, the way I understood it, at least, they are certainly among the oldest listed here. As for “Plava Trava Zaborava”, yes, they were good, but let’s face it. Not even at their peak could they have made it to this list.
All the best.
April 4, 2014 @ 1:12 am
Hey country music fans,
we’re a french country music band, we play our own songs.
Name of the band is “Sabrina & COUNTRY FEVER Band”, jst have a look to our website, and it coul be very interesting to share many songs with many europeans country bands. I got a webradio, I ‘ll be happy to play music from songwriters in Europe.
See you
Pat
July 5, 2014 @ 5:50 pm
Here is a band you all may find very interesting though they are American. reverbnation.com/orchardfire
February 27, 2015 @ 7:53 am
Hi all, thanks for some great bands, I have a country music show each week on Abbey104 small radio station in UK, and was looking at doing a European special. Lot of great music shown so far.
Cheers.
March 9, 2017 @ 6:59 am
and of course The Trailer Trash Orchestra – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VszqGMK06B0
August 9, 2018 @ 6:14 am
Here’s an up and coming singer from Croatia, called Mia Dimsic, or simply Mia. She sings in Croatian, but does have a song on her debut album sung in English. Check it out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpjKKsTmJWE
October 1, 2019 @ 10:59 am
It’s great that you elaborate on the 10 cool county band, and why they are they famous for. Personally, I don’t know much about country bands, but I have a friend that loves country music. I’m going to look online for country band tours to take my friend.