20 Standout Roots and Americana Albums of 2020: 20-11
It's tough to think of very much good about 2020, much less “best” or favorite”, unless you count it almost being over. But, while those of us who love live music (and you can guess, at a site called “Concert Hopper” that's all of us) have been suffering, one result of artists being off the road is that it's given them time to create some stellar albums. Even keeping to roots music, culling down my list of favorites to 20 was a chore, and I left some very worthy albums on the table. Note I said “favorite” there, not “best.” Plenty of sites will be giving you the “best” albums over the next few weeks. I'm not that vain. As Concert Hopper's resident roots music consumer, I'm one man with one set of ears. I can't possibly hear even 1/10th of all the albums released in a year, much less tell you what is the best. My hope is that, in the 20 albums contained in this and the forthcoming article, you will find something you haven't heard before, or something that you may have, but need to give another try.
A note on my methodology, just to curb the outrage. My list has always excluded live albums, re-records, cover albums, and compilations, just to keep the number manageable. So that's why you won't see Sturgill Simpson's excellent Cuttin' Grass or Margo Price's Perfectly Imperfect listed here. I broke that rule twice this year, but have endeavored to explain why in the individual comments.
But enough housekeeping! Let's get to the first half of what I consider the 20 standout roots and Americana albums of 2020. Where I reviewed the album, I have included a link to the full review. Where I haven't, I have included a Youtube link to one of the album's songs.
20. Antsy McClain- 15 Songs From Isolation
For anyone who is a fan of Antsy McClain or his band The Trailer Park Troubadours, it was no surprise that he was one of the first to release a full album of songs written and recorded during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Always a DIY kind of artist, this setup really isn't all that different than many of his albums. The real sell for 15 Songs From Isolation is another of McClain's hallmarks; finding the humor and silver lining in even the darkest moments.
19. Chicago Farmer- Flyover Country
“Flyover country” is a pejorative term, supposedly used to by coastal elites to describe the residents of the Midwest and the South, places they only “fly over.” Mostly it's a term used by conservative pundits to fire up those same heartland residents. But it's a perfect title for an album by Chicago Farmer. His songs weave relatable tales about the oddballs and misfits who provide color to any small town; the people who complain about “$13 Beers” at arena shows and spend their paychecks “All in One Place.”
18. Della Mae- Headlight
When I first saw them as the opening at at Americanafest's smallest venue a few years back, I knew Della Mae was going to be something special. Since that time, the lineup has changed and the people wanting to see them wouldn't fit in The Station Inn. But the things I loved then, a firm grounding in roots traditions with a willingness to experiment with new sounds and inject a much needed dose of feminist fire into a bluegrass genre that has traditionally been fairly chauvinistic, is present in spades on Headlight, bolstered greatly by assistance from gospel vocalists The McCrary Sisters, who should be contractually obligated to appear on any album with a chorus.
17. KIT- EP
When I put this list together, having Della Mae and KIT next to each other was an accident; but it ended up being a fun one. I discovered KIT aka Katie Wighton's band All Our Exes Live in Texas in the exact same circumstances as Della Mae. Following the Australian folksters on social media led me to Wighton's solo debut. For those looking for Exes type harmony, you're out of luck. Instead, KIT uses her freedom to explore power pop, punk, and country soul. At an economical 15 minute run time, KIT won't take you long to sample, and it's as good a quarter hour as you'll spend all year.
16. Secret Emchy Society- The Chaser
While Queer Country has been around for decades, it's just now grown enough to start to get noticed, and many people misunderstand the label, thinking they're signing up for “message” songs about inclusion. While that exists if it's what you want, it's not what you'll find on The Chaser. Instead, Secret Emchy Society simply wants to be out (and if you think all that's over, go look up the furor around “Girl Crush” a few years back) while producing a slate of hard living, hard drinking, and hard fighting barroom country. Album standout “Whiskey Fightin’ Terri” sounds like Waylon Jennings' lyrics if interpreted by Robin Weigert's Calamity Jane from Deadwood.
15. Cinder Well- No Summer
The most rewarding part of this job is finding bands you've never heard and likely never would have without a random press release. For me this year, that was Cinder Well. The “doom folk” group formed by Irish singer-songwriter Amelia Baker has one of the most original takes on roots music of 2020, and one that fits the year. Owing as much to the atmospheric dread of early Black Sabbath as to Appalachian and British folk, Baker has crafted the perfect album for the isolation and desperation felt by many during a year best forgotten. Cinder Well is a band I hope to keep with me long after this pandemic is over.
14. Whitney Rose- We Still Go to Rodeos
Another Americanafest discovery for me, Canadian Whitney Rose came to prominence with a voice as sweet as Skeeter Davis and an attitude as big as Joan Jett. After recording two albums with her musical mentor Raul Malo from The Mavericks, We Still Go to Rodeos is Rose's declaration of independence, as well as her first full-length album to fully embrace the musical influences of her new home in Austin. Working with producer Paul Kolderie, known as much for working with rockers like Radiohead and Morphine as with roots artists, Rose pushes her own boundaries with the addition of rock guitars while retaining the unique style that gained her fans in the first place.
13. Sawyer Fredericks- Flowers For You
Most fans who know Sawyer Fredericks know him from his winning turn on singing competition show The Voice in 2015. But to lump him in with the glut of “reality TV singers” would be a mistake. After walking away from the mainstream to record the excellent blues-folk Hide Your Ghost in 2018, the 21 year old singer evolves again, tapping into the chemistry of his road band to become not a solo artist, but more of an Americana Alice Cooper, a band that just happens to have the same name as its singer. Flowers For You also sees Fredericks evolving as a songwriter, especially on the socially charged (and instrumentally intense) album highlight “Call It Good”, decrying a culture where markets throw away perfectly good food while people starve.
12. X- Alphabetland
“Wait,” some of you are saying right now, “X, like the LA punk pioneers? In a roots music list?” Yes, because X has always had a core of Carl Perkins' rockabilly sound that drove their punk fury. After a couple of decades of solo exploration in the country scene by band founders Exene Cervenka and John Doe, their first X album since 1993 ramps up the rockabilly influences even more. Reunion albums are a hit or miss prospect. X hit it out of the park. Even in their '60s, Doe and Cervenka can out-rock and out-snarl any given Warped Tour lineup combined.
11. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings- All the Good Times Are Past and Gone
When I told you I was breaking my “no covers albums” rule this year, this is where I do it. I could try to make a good excuse for that, but the simple explanation is that Gillian Welch and David Rawlings are so consistently solid in anything they do, any release deserves a place on any year-end list. On All the Good Times Are Past and Gone, recorded acoustic and at home on reel to reel, Welch and Rawlings take on “traditionals” like the title track, as well a god-like songwriters Bob Dylan and John Prine, who give the album its two shining highlights in Prine's “Hello in There” and Dylan's “Abandoned Love.”
That's it for the first half of my favorite roots albums of 2020. Stay tuned soon for my Top 10, as well as other year wraps to come.