It's almost Year-End List season, (The 2024 albums list should be ready later in December) so it's time for a recap of which albums topped our lists in past years.
----------
No links, no summaries, no pretty album covers, just lists.
Who knows? Maybe you'll see something you've been forgetting to check out.
———
2023
1. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Weathervanes
2. Lucero - Should’ve Learned by Now
3. William Prince - Stand in the Joy
4. Gabe Lee - Drink the River
5. Deer Tick - Emotional Contracts
6. Bully - Lucky for You
7. Ruston Kelly - The Weakness
8. Charles Wesley Godwin - Family Tree
9. Margo Cilker- Valley of Heart’s Delight
10. Pony Bradshaw - North Georgia Rounder
11. Lori McKenna - 1988
12. JD Clayton - Long Way from Home
13. Turnpike Troubadours - A Cat in the Rain
14. Whitney Rose - Rosie
15. Drayton Farley - Twenty on High
16. Amanda Fields - What, When and Without
17. Willie Tea Taylor - The Great Western Hangover
18. The Steel Woods - On Your Time
19. The War & Treaty - Lover’s Game
20. Jason Hawk Harris - Thin Places
21. Brent Cobb - Southern Star
22. Sundy Best - Feel Good Country
23. Brit Taylor - Kentucky Blue
24. Jake Stringer - Just Happy to Be Here
25. Shaker Hymns - The Highway & The Boulevard
26. Brennen Leigh - Ain’t Through Honky Tonkin’ Yet
27. Jeffrey Martin - Thank God We Left the Garden
28. Colby Acuff - Western White Pines
29. Colter Wall - Little Songs
30. Jaime Wyatt - Feel Good
2022
1. Kaitlin Butts - What Else Can She Do
2. 49 Winchester - Fortune Favors the Bold
3. Vandoliers - s/t
4. Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
5. Ben Chapman - Make the Night Better
6. Ian Noe - River Fools & Mountain Saints
7. Aaron Raitiere - Single Wide Dreamer
8. The Wilder Blue - s/t
9. Miko Marks & The Resurrectors - Feel Like Going Home
10. Michaela Anne - Oh to Be That Free
11. Gabe Lee - The Hometown Kid
12. Joshua Hedley - Neon Blue
13. Wade Bowen - Somewhere Between the Secret & the Truth
14. Arlo McKinley - This Mess We’re In
15. Adeem the Artist - White Trash Revelry
16. Kelsey Waldon - No Regular Dog
17. Amanda Shires - Take it Like a Man
18. Tami Neilson - Kingmaker
19. Band of Horses - Things are Great
20. Plains - I Walked With You a Ways
2021
(returned to just me doing the rankings this year)
1. Morgan Wade - Reckless
2. Charles Wesley Godwin - How the Mighty Fall
3. James McMurtry - The Horses and the Hounds
4. Sierra Ferrell - Long Time Coming
5. Mike & The Moonpies - One to Grow On
6. Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Days
7. Billy Strings - Renewal
8. Jesse Daniel - Beyond These Walls
9. Sturgill Simpson - The Ballad of Dood & Juanita
10. Emily Scott Robinson - American Siren
11. Margo Cilker - Pohorylle
12. The Steel Woods - All of Your Stones
13. Jason Boland and the Stragglers - The Light Saw Me
14. Olivia Rodrigo - Sour
15. Mac Leaphart - Music City
16. Mastodon - Hushed and Grim
17. John R. Miller - Depreciated
18. TK & The Holy Know Nothings - The Incredible Heat Machine
19. Langhorne Slim - Strawberry Mansion
20. Cole Chaney - Mercy
2020
1. American Aquarium - Lamentations
2. The Wilder Blue - Hill Country
3. Tennessee Jet - The Country
4. Zephaniah Ohora - Listening to the Music
5. Chris Stapleton - Starting Over
6. Ward Davis - Black Cats & Crows
7. Ruthie Collins - Cold Comfort
8. Futurebirds - Teamwork
9. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Reunions
10. Tami Neilson - Chickaboom!
11. Sturgill Simpson - Cuttin’ Grass Vol. I
12. Run the Jewels - RTJ4
13. Waylon Payne - Blue Eyes, The Harlot…
14. Arlo McKinley - Die Midwestern
15. Jaime Wyatt - Neon Cross
16. Ashley McBryde - Never Will
17. Jesse Daniel - Rollin’ On
18. Margo Price - That’s How Rumors Get Started
19. Elizabeth Cook - Aftermath
20. Kathleen Edwards - Total Freedom
2019
1. Vandoliers - Forever
2. Ian Noe - Between the Country
3. Tyler Childers - Country Squire
4. Charles Wesley Godwin - Seneca
5. Mike & The Moonpies - Cheap Silver & Solid Country Gold
6. Kelsey Waldon - White Noise / White Lines
7. Jade Bird - s/t
8. Jason Hawk Harris - Love and the Dark
9. Dalton Domino - Songs From the Exile
10. Whiskey Myers - s/t
11. Molly Tuttle - When You’re Ready
12. Cody Jinks - The Wanting
13. Sturgill Simpson - Sound and Fury
14. Black Pumas - s/t
15. The Highwomen - s/t
16. Caroline Spence - Mint Condition
17. Emily Scott Robinson - Traveling Mercies
18. (Tie) Tom Russell - October in the Railroad Earth
18. (Tie) Left Lane Cruiser - Shake and Bake
20. Hayes Carll - What It Is
2018
1. Lucero - Among the Ghosts
2. Jamie Lin Wilson - Jumping Over Rocks
3. Brandi Carlile - By the Way, I Forgive You
4. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
5. Cody Jinks - Lifers
6. Joshua Hedley - Mr. Jukebox
7. American Aquarium - Things Change
8. Ruston Kelly - Dying Star
9. Whitey Morgan & the .78s - Hard Times & White Lines
10. Dallas Moore - Mr. Honky Tonk
11. Shooter Jennings - Shooter
12. Sarah Shook & the Disarmers - Years
13. Brent Cobb - Providence Canyon
14. Ashley McBryde - Girl Going Nowhere
15. Caleb Caudle - Crushed Coins
16. John Prine - The Tree of Forgiveness
17. Great Peacock - Gran Pavo Real
18. Blackberry Smoke - Find a Light
19. Sleep - The Sciences
20. High on Fire - Electric Messiah
2017
1. Tyler Childers - Purgatory
2. Turnpike Troubadours - A Long Way From Your Heart
3. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound
4. Colter Wall - s/t
5. Chris Stapleton - From A Room, Vol. 2
6. Gregg Allman - Southern Blood
7. Jason Eady - s/t
8. John Moreland - Big Bad Luv
9. Shinyribs - I Got Your Medicine
10. Travis Meadows - First Cigarette
11. The Steel Woods - Straw in the Wind
12. J.D. McPherson - Undivided Heart & Soul
13. Chris Stapleton - From A Room, Vol. 1
14. Zephaniah OHora - This Highway
15. Steve Earle - So You Wannabe An Outlaw
16. Lee Ann Womack - The Lonely, The Lonesome and The Gone
17. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - Youth Detention
18. Hellbound Glory - Pinball
19. Lillie Mae - Forever and Then Some
20. Margo Price - All American Made
2016
1. Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide to Earth
2. Cody Jinks - I'm Not the Devil
3. Lori McKenna - The Bird and the Rifle
4. Brent Cobb - Shine On Rainy Day
5. Austin Lucas - Between the Moon and the Midwest
6. Justin Wells - Dawn in the Distance
7. Flatland Cavalry - Humble Folks
8. Drive-by Truckers - American Band
9. Blackberry Smoke - Like an Arrow
10. Caleb Caudle - Carolina Ghost
11. A Tribe Called Quest - We Got it From Here…
12. (tie) Jeff Shepherd & the Jailhouse Poets - s/t
12. (tie) The Sword - Low Country
14. Luke Bell - s/t
15. Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial
16. Brandy Clark - Big Day in a Small Town
17. Elizabeth Cook - Exodus of Venus
18. Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward - Bomber Heights
19. Arliss Nancy - Greater Divides
20. Quaker City Night Hawks - El Astronauta
2015
(2015 was the first year we did a staff-voted list)
1. Turnpike Troubadours - s/t
2. James McMurtry - Complicated Game
3. Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free
4. Chris Stapleton - Traveller
5. Whitey Morgan - Sonic Ranch
6. American Aquarium - Wolves
7. The Yawpers - American Man
8. Ray Wylie Hubbard - The Ruffian's Misfortune
9. John Moreland - High on Tulsa Heat
10. Jonathan Tyler - Holy Smokes
11. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear (tie)
William Clark Green - Ringling Road (tie)
Jason Boland and the Stragglers - Squelch (tie)
2014
1. Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
2. The War on Drugs - Lost In the Dream
3. Adam Faucett - Blind Water Finds Blind Water
4. Hiss Golden Messenger - Lateness of Dancers
5. Old 97's - Most Messed Up
6. Lydia Loveless - Somewhere Else
7. Run the Jewels - RTJ2
8. Kelsey Waldon - The Goldmine
9. Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden
10. Lee Ann Womack - The Way I'm Livin'
11. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - Dereconstructed
12. Stoney Larue - Aviator
13. Tami Neilson - Dynamite!
14. Cory Branan - The No-Hit Wonder
15. Fire Mountain - All Dies Down
16. St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Half the City
17. Don Williams - Reflections
18. Matt Woods - With Love From Brushy Mountain
19. Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives - Saturday Night/Sunday Morning
20. Jimbo Mathus - Dark Night of the Soul
2013
1. John Moreland - In the Throes
2. Jason Isbell - Southeastern
3. Sturgill Simpson - High Top Mountain
4. Arliss Nancy - Wild American Runners
5. Drew Kennedy - Wide Listener
6. Run the Jewels - RTJ
7. Brandy Clark - 12 Stories
8. Austin Lucas - Stay Reckless
9. Fifth on the Floor - Ashes and Angels
10. Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose
11. The National - Trouble Will Find Me
12. Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer, Different Park
13. Shooter Jennings - The Other Life
14. Queens of the Stone Age - …Like Clockwork
15. Ha Ha Tonka - Lessons
16. Son Volt - Honky Tonk
17. Guy Clark - My Favorite Picture of You
18. Possessed by Paul James - There Will Be Nights When I'm Lonely
19. Vince Gill and Paul Franklin - Bakersfield
20. Todd Farrell Jr. and the Dirty Birds - All Our Heroes Live in Vans
2012
1. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - There is a Bomb in Gilead
2. Marty Stuart - Nashville, Vol. 1 Tear The Woodpile Down
3. Chris Knight - Little Victories
4. The Pollies - Where the Lies Begin
5. Turnpike Troubadours - Goodbye Normal Street
6. The Departed - Adventus
7. Dwight Yoakam - 3 Pears
8. Uncle Lucius - And You Are Me
9. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, M.A.A.D. City
10. The Trishas - High, Wide and Handsome
11. John D. Hale Band - More Than I Can Handle
12. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
13. Lindi Ortega - Cigarettes & Truckstops
14. Shooter Jennings - Family Man
15. Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
16. Arliss Nancy - Simple Machines
17. Darrell Scott - Long Ride Home
18. Jason Eady - AM Country Heaven
19. Matt King - Apples and Orphans
20. Lucero - Women and Work
2011
1. The Damn Quails - Down the Hatch
2. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Here We Rest
3. Hellbound Glory - Damaged Goods
4. Hayes Carll - KMAG YOYO
5. Jimbo Mathus - Confederate Buddha
6. Cary Anne Hearst - Lions and Lambs
7. Butch Walker and the Black Widows - The Spade
8. The Black Keys - El Camino
9. Adele - 21
10. Ponderosa - Moonlight Revival
11. Austin Lucas - A New Home, In the Old World
12. Kasey Anderson and the Honkies - Heart of a Dog
13. Stoney Larue - Velvet
14. Drew Kennedy - Fresh Water in the Salton Sea
15. Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire
16. Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels
17. Wilco - The Whole Love
18. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Scandalous
19. Mastodon - The Hunter
20. Will Hoge - Number Seven
2010
1. Jamey Johnson - The Guitar Song
2. Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer
3. Two Cow Garage - Sweet Saint Me
4. Austin Collins & The Rainbirds - Wrong Control
5. Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
6. Joe Pug - Messenger
7. Trampled by Turtles - Palomino
8. Kasey Anderson - Nowhere Nights
9. Rodney Hayden - Tavern of Poets
10. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - I Learned the Hard Way
11. Paul Thorn - Pimps and Preachers
12. Truth & Salvage Co. - s/t
13. Dirty Sweet - American Spiritual
14. The Black Crowes - Croweology
15. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
16. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis
17. Randy Houser - They Call Me Cadillac
18. Hellbound Glory - Old Highs and New Lows
19. The Black Keys - Brothers
20. Drive-by Truckers - The Big To-Do
2009
1. Charlie Robison - Beautiful Day
2. Ben Nichols - Last Pale Light in the West
3. Buddy and Julie Miller - Written in Chalk
4. Magnolia Electric Company - Josephine
5. Lucero - 1372 Overton Park
6. BettySoo - Heat Sin Water Skin
7. Wrinkle Neck Mules - Let the Lead Fly
8. Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
9. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Tell 'em What Your Name Is
10. Drew Kennedy - An Audio Guide to Cross Country Travel
11. The Black Crowes - Before the Frost...Until the Freeze
12. Justin Townes Earle - Midnight at the Movies
13. Son Volt - American Central Dust
14. The Devil Makes Three - Do Wrong Right
15. Slaid Cleaves - Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away
16. Joshua James - Build Me This
17. Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane
18. Miranda Lambert - Revolution
19. Krizz Kaliko - Genius
20. Mastodon - Crack the Skye
2008
1. Drive-by Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
2. Jamey Johnson - That Lonesome Song
3. Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson - Rattlin' Bones
4. Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers
5. Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind
6. Sun Kil Moon - April
7. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
8. The Felice Brothers - s/t
9. Two Cow Garage - Speaking in Cursive
10. Fleet Foxes - s/t
11. NQ Arbuckle - XOK
12. Blitzen Trapper - Furr
13. Chris Knight - Heart of Stone
14. Metallica - Death Magnetic
15. Reckless Kelly - Bulletproof
16. The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
17. Justin Townes Earle - The Good Life
18. Bruce Robison - The New World
19. The Steeldrivers - s/t
20. Drag The River - You Can't Live This Way
