Best lesser known and underappreciated songwriters. - Page 3

You might like A. A. Bondy

Kate Rogers
Rhett Miller
Cliff Hillis

Will Oldham / Bonnie 'Prince' Billy.

I wish man, I was on a very carefully curated trip, but the price was right...we didn't even make it to non tourist trap bars...

Only Israeli noise/outre music I'm really familiar with is a blackened/death metal group called Melechesh. Very good. I also like the ambient/drone stuff from Oren Ambarchi, who, I'm guessing is Israeli from his name.

Of course I have an Israeli name and I'm from Virginia.

There have been many good recommendations thus far, so I won't repeat them. Astonishing, though, that nobody named Joni Mitchell; perhaps they assumed you were already familiar with her work. Most of the songwriters people have listed are natural follow-ups to Cash, Cohen, and/or Dylan. An obvious step from the Beatles and the Stones would be the Kinks (Ray Davies) and the Who (Pete Townshend), although the latter might be "too rock and roll" for you. You might also try getting into more country; with Cash as a jumping off point, check out Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, and then see where that gets you. The list of great country songwriters is substantial.

On a different tack, I recommend Peter Gabriel and Laurie Anderson. Different still, Stephen Sondheim.

^
Do you really think any of the people you listed there are "lesser known and underappreciated" though?

It's in the center of Jerusalem and sells mostly rare US records and art magazines, along with beer on tap. Thought you might have stumbled on it during free time. Oh well, next year as they say.

Is Guy Clark considered a lesser known songwriter? I think he is just as talented as TVZ. I'm gonna draw flak for that.

By whom? Me, no. The OP, perhaps. I have gathered from other threads that he is considerably younger than I, and thus may not be familiar with writers whom I would normally consider blindingly obvious (e.g., 2/3 of StephenHero's list). His reference points don't indicate a knowledge of anyone less obscure than Leonard Cohen. Thus, he may not know anything of the Kinks beyond the two or three biggest hits, which is like "knowing" the Beatles from "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

If all goes well, he'll let us know what's familiar to him and what isn't and, of the former, what he likes and what he doesn't. From there, the recommendations will conform better to his needs.

Excellent point; you're right.

The Tallest Man on Earth is very Dylan-like, if you want to branch out but not too terribly far.

Al Stewart....

Definitely, Nick Cave! Although, he's not that unknown, but most of the general public is unaware of his raw, powerful talent.

i'll back you on that, actually. and i knew both of them. townes was a great, great songwriter, but god his emotional range ran from depressed to absolutely suicidal. guy can write equally well about old men waiting to die and home-grown tomatoes.