Nick Cristiano's Best in Country / Roots

Ry Cooder, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down (Nonesuch). The veteran roots-rocker's devastating state of the union mixes anger and poignancy, the scrappy populism of Woody Guthrie, and folkish first-person narratives a la Springsteen - all set to a rich melting pot of folk, blues, country, rock, and norteño. Another Southern California roots-rocker and master storyteller, Dave Alvin, also impressed with Eleven Eleven (Yep Roc).