For fifteen years, Austin-based band Reckless Kelly has been travelling a road that runs somewhere between the realms of country and rock.

When it comes to hot acoustic guitar picking, soaked in blues and country traditions, George Worthmore is one of the finest around.

The first songs were probably love songs -- unless they were hunting and gathering songs. Regardless, romance is one gift that keeps on giving to songwriters.

As the year comes to a close, KDHX is pleased to present some of our favorite live in-studio videos of 2011 -- and there were so many, we just couldn't narrow it to 10!

A freight train barrels out of the drum kit. Spanning the distance between mandolin and bass guitar, this rhythmic drive sustains Ha Ha Tonka's delicate harmonies.

Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter are preoccupied with the intangibles of existence. As such, their music is as ambiguous and mercurial as the layered worlds of their fancy.

Of all the cover bands in St. Louis, Jake's Leg is surely among the most faithful. They're as close to the Dead as you'll get without a time machine.

For the veteran pickers of the SteelDrivers, patience has paid off. Individually, they've spent decades on the Nashville country and roots scene; together, bluegrass has become their truest calling.

Stealing your heart -- and a few beers from the fridge -- Lydia Loveless is like the girlfriend who jacks your El Camino and leaves you in the dust. Then, for some reason you still love her for it.

Equal parts Beach Boys and My Morning Jacket, the Fling come from southern California with mournful harmonies, psych-rock guitar layers and jangly beats.

It isn't easy being a string band in Nashville. If Music Row doesn't kill your spirit, the competition from the pickers will. But the Farewell Drifters more than hold their own.

The "doom-wop" sound of Mister Heavenly is sure to get even the most subdued indie rock congregation moving.

For years, Darrell Scott has been one of Nashville's best kept secrets. But with his work with Robert Plant's Band of Joy and a stream of solo albums, fans of roots music have taken notice.

One of the foremost artist on the St. Louis reggae scene, Zion and the Lion Roots Band specialize in conscious reggae in the style of Bob Marley and the Wailers.

Many artists mine the multi-layered bedrock of American music -- country, blues and jazz -- but few return with so many personal riches like Jolie Holland.

Not many musicians can boast a 70-year career packed with accolades and adoration in all 50 states and a handful of continents besides, but the Blind Boys of Alabama can. And now they've finally gone country, in style.

Prohibition wasn't exactly party time, but the '20s did give rise to some deliriously danceable and singable music. St. Louis band Wack-A-Doo captures the speakeasy scene in all its vintage glory.

If the Scottish invasion is going to last, it needs more bands like the post-punk and hook-smart We Were Promised Jetpacks.

Dave Nada and Matt Nordstrom combine forces as Nadastrom, a DJ/production crew that believes "there are never any rules" when it comes to dance music.

Although they may not be as well known as the bands they've influenced, alt-rockers Meat Puppets continue to play the country-tinged, psychedelic rock that their fans crave.

Heavy on the bass, heavy on the psychedelics, Unknown Mortal Orchestra still manages to make music that lifts far off the dirty, fuzzy rock 'n' roll ground.

With his signature scraped and sly delivery and intricate and literate word play, Mike Doughty continues to challenge singer-songwriter expectations.

When it comes down to it, the Jack Daniels-swigging, Southern rock-swaggering force of nature that is the Drive-By Truckers is grounded in great songs. Patterson Hood and Jay Gonzalez prove it in this special duo acoustic session.

A trio of gifted songwriters and singers, 3 Penny Acre bridges the worlds of bluegrass, folk and Americana.

In an alternate universe where country singers wear overalls, sing about rehab and murder, and rock like punks, Bobby Bare Jr. would be as big a star as his father.