The "red state" glurge that passes for country these days is utter tripe. But roots country stuff from the 1930s through the late 1960s can be pretty cool. In addition to Hank Sr. there's Faron Young and Lefty Frizzell, and a whole lot of other really cool old performers and songs. But you have to sort through a lot of sentimental crap to find the good stuff sometimes.
And there's stuff that's hard to tell whether it was country, blues, or early rock & roll, like The Everly Brothers or Johnny Burnette & The Rock & Roll Trio or Roy Orbison. Or early Johnny Cash.