Your Take: Best of 2012
If you take the Engine 145 train to the North Pole at the end of the year, the elves are not making toys, but “Best Of” music lists. After perusing hundreds of albums and songs across several roots-oriented genres, the writers here have the task of narrowing it down to those special few that moved us the most.
So as we’re whittling down our own lists, we want to hear from you. What was your favorite music of the past year? In the coming weeks, we’ll release lists in four categories:
- Best Bluegrass Album
- Best EP
- Best Album
- Best Songs
Let’s hear from you: if you were in charge of making sure your favorite albums and tracks were on each of these lists, what would they be?
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- Luckyoldsun: Sounds good. Is she--or her husband--related to Dallas? (I'll assume not to Joe.)
- Luckyoldsun: R-- Sounds like you're expanding your palate. "60′s style California hippie vibe" sounds like something you'd have banned from your playlist.
- Rick: I like the production, the excellent guitar picking, and Rebecca has a nice voice with individuality, but the song structure ...
- Rick: That Buddy Emmons tribute album sounds kinda interesting. I just might have to give it a listen when it's available. Congratulations ...
- Jon: Jack Bernhardt is the bomb.
- Bruce: Good article on Rucker. I do not care for all his songs and he is far from my favorite. I ...
- Kelly D.: Dig the Whiskey Sisters and the write-up from ol' Jim C.
- Bruce: "Why do people talk about the authenticity and/or genuineness of others with whom they’ve had no direct, normal social interaction ...
- Luckyoldsun: Hank III says "Old Junior once said it best,"--Is that some sort of rapprochement in the Williams family soap opera? It's ...
- Joan Harrison: Hi, My husband and I really enjoy watching your show each week. You had a recipe on for pork ...
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December 8, 2012 at 10:43 am
Kathy Mattea, The Time Jumpers, Jamey Johnson, Gretchen Peters, Rodney Crowell and Mary Karr’s KIN, Don Williams, Teea Goans, Kellie Pickler, Ricky Skaggs, and Wanda Jackson would all be high on my list.
I like how you have this year’s lists split up into these different categories. Looking forward to seeing the lists.
December 8, 2012 at 11:32 am
Some albums I’d include:
Turnpike Troubadours – Goodbye Normal Street
The Trishas – High, Wide & Handsome
Ryan Bingham – Tomorrowland
Steep Canyon Rangers – Nobody Knows You
The Honey Dewdrops – Silver Lining
Chris Knight – Little Victories
John Mayer – Born and Raised
The Avett Brothers – The Carpenter
Punch Brothers – Who’s Feeling Young Now?
Trampled By Turtles – Stars and Satellites
Songs:
“Good Lord Lorrie” – Turnpike
“Strangers” – Trishas
“Ain’t It Enough” – OCMS
“The Great Exhale” – Great Lake Swimmers
“Tulsa Texas” – Easton Corbin
“Bring It On Home” – Kix Brooks
“Familiar Strangers – Kasey Chambers, S. Nicholson
“Patch of Bad Weather” – Wade Bowen
I could honestly keep going. It was a great year for music, in my opinion. Looking forward to seeing the writers’ and everyone else’s favorites
December 8, 2012 at 3:21 pm
My favorite discovery of 2012 in general is Brandi Carlile. I know she’s been around for a few years, but it’s just this year that I gave her music a real chance. So, Bear Creek is probably toward the very top of my 2012 list, though I haven’t made any final rankings yet.
December 8, 2012 at 4:53 pm
EP’s:
Emily West – “I Hate You, I Love You”
Kristen Kelly – “Kristen Kelly”
Striking Matches (Sarah Zimmermann & Justin Davis) – “Striking Matches”. A song they wrote with Georgia Middleman, “When the Right One Comes Along”, was featured on the last episode of the Nashville tv show. The SM version is far better imho.
Songs:
Don Williams with Alison Krauss – “I Just Come Here for the Music”
Wade Hayes – “Is It already Time”
Ashley Monroe – “Like a Rose”
The Band Perry – “Better Dig Two”
December 8, 2012 at 7:14 pm
Jason Eady – AM Country Heaven
Jamey Johnson – Living For a Song
Dwight Yoakam – 3 Pears
Kathy Mattea – Calling Me Home
Kellie Pickler – 100 Proof
My best new discovery of the year is Ashley Monroe
December 9, 2012 at 1:28 am
Bobby Bare’s “Darker Than Light” has been overlooked this fall on alot of best-of lists, which is a shame – no sentimentality over his reputation and history is needed because the album is amazing all on its own!
December 9, 2012 at 9:04 am
Albums:
Special Consensus –Scratch Gravel Road
Mark Houser & Bluegrass Drive – Life Uneven Road
Marty Stuart – Nashville vol. 1
Jamey Johnson – Living For A Song
Mark Collie – Alive At Brushy Mountain Penitentiary
Eric Strickland & the B Sides – Honky Tonk ‘Till I Die
Kellie Pickler – 100 Proof
Songs:
A Pretty Nice Night For Houston – Ronnie Fauss
Too Much Ain’t Enough – Clinton Gregory
Pourin’ Whiskey On Pain – Tim Culpepper
Atascosa Sand – Rodney Hayden
Gear Jammin’ Daddy – J.P. Harris and the Tough Choices
Longer Walk In The Rain – Jason Eady
Merry Go ‘Round – Kacey Mushgraves
December 9, 2012 at 11:55 am
Albums I ended up listening to the most:
JP Harris and the Tough Choices – I’ll Keep Callling
Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson – Wreck and Ruin
Marty Stuart – Nashville Vol. 1
Shovels and Rope – O Be Joyful
Kathy Mattea’s Calling Me Home is disqualified; I must have listened to it 20 times through trying to like it – but can’t.
December 9, 2012 at 2:01 pm
Here are some albums I really enjoyed:
Ray Wylie Hubbard – Grifter’s Hymnal
Corb Lund – Cabin Fever
Justin Townes Earle – Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now
Chuck Prophet – Temple Beautiful
Turnpike Troubadors – Goodbye Normal Street
Chris Knight – Little Victories
Alejandro Escovedo – Big Station
Dwight Yoakam – Three Pears
Marty Stuart – Nashville, Volume 1: Tear the Woodpile Down
Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires – There is a Bomb in Gilead
Lindi Ortega – Cigarettes and Truckstops
James Hand – Mighty Lonesome Man
Bettye Lavette – Thankful ‘n’ Thoughtful
Shovels and Rope – O Be Joyful
Carolina Chocolate Drops – Leaving Eden
December 9, 2012 at 3:22 pm
I guess I’ll list the only albums I heard this year that actually motivated a purchase as opposed to the download singles I usually buy:
My absolute favorite purchase in a long while:
Lilly of the West – “Swings and Heartaches”
Highly recommended for fans of The Hot Club of Cowtown and Django Reinhardt for that matter..
On the hnoky-tonkin’ front:
JP Harris and the Tough Choices – “I’ll Keep Callling”
Tim Culpepper – “Pourin’ Whiskey On Pain”
Kellie Pickler – “100 Proof” (More like 200 Proof since Kellie didn’t water it down for commercial reasons)
And on the western swing front:
The Time Jumpers – Self Titled Album (Who win by default)
I still buy CDs on occasion but they tend to be Bear Family compilations from artists who hit their peak in the 1950′s. What can I say, I find far more great music buried in the past than the new stuff that’s being made today.
December 9, 2012 at 8:01 pm
Best Album of the Years:
Till The Wheels Fall Off – Bob Wayne
Little Victories – Chris Knight
AM Country Heaven – Jason Eady
Cigarettes & Truckstops – Lindi Ortega
Nashville Vol.1 Tear the Woodpile Down – Marty Stuart
Ryan Bingham – Tomorrowland
Stars and Satellites – Trampled By Turtles
Goodbye Normal Street – Turnpike Troubadours
Kin: Songs by Mary Karr & Rodney Crowell – Various
Heros – Willie Nelson
Songs of the Year:
AM Country Heaven – Jason Eady
Gin, Smoke, Lies – Turnpike Troubadours
If The Law Don’t Want You – Norah Jones
Roll Me Up – Willie Nelson with Snoop Dogg, Jamey Johnson & Kris Kristofferson
Sundown In Nashville – Marty Stuart
Pickin Wild Mountain Berries – Chuck Mead with Elizabeth Cook
White Light / White Heat – The Bootleggers with Mark Langegan
If I Had My Way, I’d Tear This Building Down – Elizabeth Cook
Momma’s On A Roll – Lee Ann Womack
Wrong Road To Nashville – Waylon Jennings
Most Disappointing Albums of 2012 (albums I had HUGE expectations for):
The Carpenter – The Avett Brothers
3 Pears – Dwight Yoakam
Living For A Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran – Jamey Johnson
Calling Me Home – Kathy Mattea
Babel – Mumford & Sons
December 10, 2012 at 11:35 am
Albums
Grifters Hymnal Ray Wylie Hubbard
Goodbye Normal Street Turnpike Troubadors
Chris Knight Litle victories
Houston Marchman Econoliner
Larry Joe Taylor Sailing on Sunday
Songs
Good Lord Laurie Turnpike Troubadors
Gatesville Girls Houston Marchman
Little Victories Chris Knight W/ John Prine
Gates of Hell Ray Wylie Hubbard
Old men and the sea Larry Joe Taylor co write credit Keith Sykes.
December 12, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Favorite Albums:
1. Iris DeMent- Sing the Delta
2. John Fullbright- From The Ground Up
3. Shovels and Rope- O’ Be Joyful
4. Alabama Shakes- Boy and Girls
5. Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale- Buddy and Jim
6. Justin Townes Earle- Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now
7. Rayna Gellert- Old Light
8. Cahalen Morrison & Eli West- Old Lady of The Tall Trees
9. Carolina Chocolate Drops- Leavin’ Eden
10. Bonnie Raitt- Slipstream
11. Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson- Wreck and Ruin
12. Tift Merritt- Travelling Alone
13. Old Crow Medicine Show- Carry Me Back
14. Sara Watkins- Sun Midnight Sun
15. The Trishas- High Wide and Handsome
Favorite EP: Zoe Muth- Old Gold
Favorite Songs:
Bonnie Raitt- “Not Cause I Wawnted To”
Shovels and Rope- “Birmingham”
December 12, 2012 at 8:32 pm
Ah, I believe that Cahalen and Eli’s album is Our, not Old, Lady of The Tall Trees ;-).
December 13, 2012 at 9:32 am
1. James Hand – Mighty Lonesome Man
2. Willy Tea Taylor – Four Strings
3. Tom VandenAvond – Wreck of a Fine Man
4. The Boomswagglers – Bootlegs
5. Various Artists – Alive at the Deep Blues
6. Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit – No Excuses
December 13, 2012 at 9:33 am
Ack, “Old Excuses”, not No Excuses
December 13, 2012 at 9:54 am
@Jon: Oops. Probably a Freudian slip….
December 13, 2012 at 7:31 pm
Bob, thanks for the tip on the Striking Matches duo. Good stuff! Apparently they are the real life Nashville equivalents of Scarlett and Gunnar! (lol)
Well if these lists prove anything it’s that the people who drop by this blog are really into the Americana, Texas Regional/Red Dirt, and alt. country styles of music. I’m hoping the next Pistol Annies album will be good enough to stand at the top of many 2013 year end best of lists..
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