For the second time in a row we’ve finished a year like no other. On the plus side, all that time at home seems to have upped everyone’s songwriting skills. I can’t remember the last time my first pass at the annual favorites list was so long.
The first couple of picks were relatively easy. James McMurtry returned with a vengeance on The Horses And the Hounds. His stories about a time and a place combined with wry observations on life’s details are vignettes you can listen to time and time again. Joe Troop used his time off the road to, well, go on the road, this time living the social activism he sings about. Those experiences filled Borrowed Time with bittersweet tales set to Troop’s unique, addictive blend of North and South American folk music styles.
I leaned into bluegrass hard this year, with Leftover Salmon’s Brand New Good Old Days and I’ll Come Back from AJ Lee & Blue Summit both making my top five. Stalwart Bela Fleck and phenom Billy Strings, on My Bluegrass Heart and Renewal respectively, got heavy rotation on my playlists as well. New-to-me singer-songwriters John R. Miller, Ryan Curtis, and Rod Abernathy also made my top ten. For something a little less twangy, check out Kings For Sale from Afton Wolfe and AHI’s Prospect.
Here’s the full list:
- James McMurtry – The Horses And the Hounds
- Joe Troop – Borrowed Time
- Leftover Salmon – Brand New Good Old Days
- The Flatlanders – Treasure Of Love
- AJ Lee & Blue Summit – I’ll Come Back
- John R. Miller – Depreciated
- The Furious Seasons – Home All Day, Home All Night
- Ryan Curtis – Rust Belt Broken Heart
- Pokey Lafarge – In the Blossom Of Their Shade
- Rod Abernathy – Normal Isn’t Normal Anymore
- The Shootouts – Bullseye
- Bela Fleck – My Bluegrass Heart
- The Brother Brothers – Calla Lilly
- Tony Kamel – Back Down Home
- AHI – Prospect
- Afton Wolfe – Kings For Sale
- I See Hawks In LA – On Our Way
- Ted Russell Kamp – Solitaire
- Billy Strings – Renewal
- Gov’t Mule – Heavy Load Blues
- Korby Lenker – Man In the Maroon
- Brandi Carlile – In These Silent Days
- American Aquarium – Slappers, Bangers & Certified Twangers, Vol 2
- Asleep At the Wheel – Half A Hundred Years
- The Black Keys – Delta Kream
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.