Gary Allan Doesn’t Suck!

Call it a backhanded compliment, if you will, but Gary Allan, Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, Sugarland and Taylor Swift have all been named by the Cleveland Scene as the 'Five Nashville Artists Who Don't Suck.'

"Nashville has a reputation for turning out crap," writes the Scene's Michael Gallucci. "Toby Keith's good-ol'-boy flag-wavers and Rascal Flatts' power ballads are enough to drive anyone to drinking. Plus, Music City recently gave Jessica Simpson and Hootie & the Blowfish's Darius Rucker new careers (and No. 1 albums) ... But not all country music sucks."

Gallucci goes on to list the five country acts his ears can tolerate, praising Allan: "His lonesome twang has a traditional kick to it, and he never tries to be a hard-ass -- especially when it comes to kids, his feelings and songs about rain."

The writer admires Lambert for balancing her sensitive and feisty sides, Paisley for his "self-deprecating style and knack for traditional songcraft," and Sugarland for effortlessly fusing country with pop. But when it comes to pop crossovers, Swift takes the cake with what Gallucci deems "last year's best pop album."