You might do equally well by immersing yourself in the roots of country music. Take it all the way back to the beginning. Jimmie Rodgers was Elvis before there was an Elvis. What you are really talking about here is Americana, a concept that is far separated from what most folks think when they hear "country"--and a concept that informed the very beginnings of rock and roll. One of my favorite CD's is the one I have of modern artists covering old Jimmie Rodgers songs. They are as pure now as they were then.
Move on to Hank Williams. Again, this guy was the equivalent to what something like Coldplay would be today. Except he was even bigger. And ballsier. After Hank the environment changed, but it's important to know where you come from.
Past that things changed a lot, but Gram Parsons is an important link between the past and the present. He was the one, nominally, who fused country and rock in the modern era. Start with the Byrds' "Sweetheart of the Rodeo." Move on through The Eagles. Finish with Uncle Tupelo's "No Depression" and Son Volt and Whiskeytown and all the rest. Enjoy Johnny Cash's late projects. Americana as best it can be done.
Have a good time with classic rock. But immerse yourself in Americana, and you may gain an appreciation of a century-long genre, which quietly informs most of what we consider modern rock.
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