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..

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”

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

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.

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