the alt root top 100 albums 2020

​01 Drive-By Truckers  –  The Unraveling
(release date 01-31-20)  ATO Records
 
02 Waylon Payne – Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The pusher& Me
(release date 9-11-20) Carnival Recording Company
 
03 Larkin Poe  –  Self Made Man  
(release date 06-12-20) Trick-Woo Records
 
04 The Ghost of Paul Revere – Good at Losing Everything
(release date 08-28-20)  self-release
 
05 Cordovas – Destiny Hotel
(release date 10-16-20)  ATO Records
 
06 Daniel Donato – A Young Man’s Country
(release date 08-07-20)  Cosmic Country Music
 
07 S.G. Goodman  –  Old Time Feeling   
(release date 05-2-20)  Verve Forecast
 
08 Strung Like a Horse – WHOA!
(release date 10-30-20)  Transoceanic Records
 
09 Lilly Hiatt  –  Walking Proof   
(release date 03-27-20)  New West Records
 
10 Jaime Wyatt  –  Neon Cross   
(release date 02-26-20)  New West Records
 
11 The White Buffalo  –  On the Widow’s Walk    
(release date 04-17-20)  Spinefarm Records UK
 
12 Lucinda Williams  –  Good Souls, Better Angels  
(release date 04-24-20) Highway 20 Records
 
13 Reckless Kelly  –  American Girls / American Jackpot    
(release date 05-22-20)  No Big Deal Records
 
14 Mary Chapin Carpenter – The Dirt and The Stars
(release date 08-07-20)   Lambient Light Records
 
15 Old 97’s – Twelfth
(release date 08-21-20) ATO Records
 
16 Ida Mae – Raining for You EP
(release date 11-20-20) Vow Road Records
 
17 Great Peacock – Forever Worse Better
(release date 10-09-20) self-release
 
18 Darlingside – Fish Pond Fish
(release date 10-09-20)  More Doug Records
 
19 Bonnie Whitmore – Last Will & Testament
(release date 10-02-20)   Aviatrix Records
 
20 Elizabeth Cook – Aftermath
(release date 09-11-20)  Agent Love Records
 
21 Pokey Lafarge – Rock Bottom Rhapsody   
(release date 04-10-20)  New West Records
 
22 Greyhounds  –  Primates    
(release date 07-10-20)  Nine Mile Records
 
23 Aubrie Sellers  –  Far from Home    
(release date 02-07-20)  self-release
 
24 Caleb Caudle  –  Better Hurry Up   
(release date 04-03-20)  self-release
 
25 The Secret Sisters  –  Saturn Return    
(release date 02-28-20)  New West Records
 
26 Dave Alvin – From an Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings
(release date 11-20-20) Yep Roc Records
 
27 Front Country – Impossible World
(release date 10-30-20)  Antifragile Music
 
28 Bob Dylan  –  Rough and Rowdy Ways
(release date 06-19-20)  Columbia Records
 
29 The Band of Heathens – Stranger
(release date 09-25-20)  BOH Records
 
30 Back to Paradise: A Tulsa Tribute to Okie Music – various artists
(release date 08-28-20)  Horton Records
 
31 Bobby Rush – Rawer Than Raw
(release date 08-28-20)  Deep Rush Records
 
32 49 Winchester – III
(release date 10-02-20)  self-release
 
33 Elliott BROOD – Keeper
(release date 09-18-20)  Six-Shooter Records
 
34 Peter Parcek – Mississippi Suitcase
(release date 09-04-20)  Lightnin’ Records
 
35 Courtney Marie Andrews – Old Flowers
(release date 07-24-20)   Fat Possum Records
 
36 James Hyland  –  Western
(release date 05-01-20)  self-release
 
37 Joshua Ray Walker  –  Glad You Made It   
(release date 07-10-20)  State Fair Records
 
38 Whitney Rose  –  We Still Go to Rodeos  
(release date 04-24-20)  MCG Records
 
39 Miss Tess  –  The Moon is an Ashtray  
(release date 02-07-20)  Miss Tess / Tone Tree Music
 
40 Will Sexton  –  Don’t Walk the Darkness  
(release date 03-06-20)  Big Legal Mess Records
 
41 Jessie Wagner – Shoes Droppin’
(release date 10-09-20)  Wicked Cool Records
 
42 Grant-Lee Phillips – Lightning, Show Us Your Stuff
(release date 09-04-20)  Yep Roc Records
 
43 Otis Gibbs – Hoosier National
(release date 09-18-20)  Wanamaker Records
 
44 The Adobe Collective  –  All the Space That There Is   
(release date 01-10-20)   Love Sand Records / JTMMusic
 
45 American Aquarium  –  Lamentations   
(release date 05-01-20)   New West Records
 
46 Jesse Dayton – Gulf Coast Sessions   
(release date 07-24-20)   Blue Elan Records
 
47 India Ramey – Shallow Graves
(release date 09-04-20)  self-release
 
48 Marcus King  –  El Dorado  
(release date 01-17-20)  Fantasy Records
 
49 The Jayhawks  –  XOXO  
(release date 07-10-20)  SHAM Records
 
50 The Panhandlers  –  The Panhandlers   
(release date 03-06-20) Motel Time Music /   The Next Waltz 
 
51 Will Hoge  –  Tiny Little Movies   
(release date 06-26-20)  Edlo Records
 
52 Katie Pruitt  –  Expectations  
(release date 02-21-20)  Rounder Records
 
53 The James Hunter Six  –  Nick of Time  
(release date 03-06-20)  Daptone Records
 
54 The Lone Bellow – Half Moon Light    
(release date 02-07-20)  Dualtone Records
 
55 Watkins Family Hour – brother sister
(release date 04-10-20)  Rounder Records
 
56 Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Reunions   
(release date 05-15-20)  Southeastern Records
 
57 Darrell Scott – Jaroso
(release date 10-23-20)  Full Light Records
 
58 The Two Tracks – Cheers to Solitude
(release date 08-14-20)  self-release
 
59 Shemekia Copeland – Uncivil War
(release date 10-23-20)  Alligator Records
 
60 The Allman Betts Band – Bless Your Heart
(release date 08-28-20)  BMG
 
61 Eliot Bronson - Empty Places   
(release date 07-24-20)   New Pain Records
 
62 Ruthie Foster’s Big Band – Live at The Paramount
(release date March 15, 2020) Blue Corn Music
 
63 Dedicated Men of Zion -  Can’t Turn Me Around  
(release date 06-26-20) Bible & Tire Records
 
64 Gretchen Peters – The Night You Wrote That Song:Songs of Mickey Newbury   (release date 05-15-20)  Scarlett Letter Records
 
65 Paul Burch  –  Light Sensitive   
(release date 04-17-20)  Plowboy Records
 
66 Chris Stapleton – Starting Over
(release date 11-13-20)  Mercury Nashville
 
67 Dawes – Good Luck with Whatever
(release date 10-02-20)  Rounder Records
 
68 John Nemeth – Stronger Than Strong
(release date 10-16-20)  Memphis Grease Records
 
69 Ray Wylie Hubbard  –  Co-Starring  
(release date 07-10-20)  Big Machine Records
 
70 Margo Price  -  That’s How Rumors Get Started  
(release date 07-10-20)
 
71 Steve Earle and the Dukes  –  Ghosts of West Virginia    
(release date 05-22-20)  New West Records
 
72 John Moreland  –  LP5  
(release date 02-07-20)  Old Omens Records
 
73 The Texas Gentlemen – Floor It!!!
(release date 07-17-20) New West Records
 
74 Elvis Perkins – Creation Myths
(release date 10-02-20)  MIR/Petaluma Records
 
75 Hayes Carll – Alone Together Sessions
(release date 09-04-20)  Dualtone Records
 
76 Bette Smith – The Good, The Bad, and The Bette
(release date 09-25-20)  Ruf Records
 
77 Will Kimbrough – Spring Break
(release date 10-23-20)  Daphne Records
 
78 Cidny Bullens – Walkin’ Through This World
(release date 08-21-20)  Blue Lobster Records
 
79 John Craigie  –  Asterisk the Universe   
(release date 06-12-20)  Zabriskie Point Records
 
80 Jeff Crosby  –  North Star  
(release date 04-24-20)  self-release
 
81 Sarah Siskind  –  Modern Appalachia   
(release date 04-17-20)  self-release
 
82 Chuck Prophet – The Land That Time Forgot
(release date 08-21-20)  Yep Roc Records
 
83 - Brandy Clark – Your Life is a Record
(release date 03-06-20)  Warner Records
 
84 David Quinn – Letting Go
(release date 10-10-20)  Low Down Records
 
85 Dan Penn – Living on Mercy
(release date 08-28-20)  The Last Music Company
 
86 The Dirty Truckers  –  Second Dose   
(release date 04-27-20) Rum Bar Records
 
87 Willie Nile  –  New York at Night   
(release date 05-15-20)  River House Records
 
88 Sarah Peacock   – Burn the Witch  
(release date 03-27-20)  Road Dog Enterprises
 
89 Tami Neilson  –  Chickaboom!  
(release date 02-14-20)  Outside Music
 
90 The Harmed Brothers  –  Across the Waves  
(release date 06-05-20)  Fluff and Gravy Records
 
91 The Mastersons  –  No Time for Love Songs
(release date 03-06-20)  Red House Records
 
92 Mipso – Mipso
(release date 10-16-20)   (release date 08-28-20)  Rounder Records
 
93 Drive-By Truckers – The New OK
(release date 10-02-20)  ATO Records
 
94 Nocona – Los Dos   
(release date 07-10-20)  Mule Kick Records
 
95 The Daiquiri Queens – The Daiquiri Queens
(release date 06-15-20)  self-release
 
96 Arlo McKinley – Die Midwestern
(release date 08-14-20)  Oh Boy Records
 
97 Rick Shea – Love & Desperation
(release date 10-23-20)  Tres Pescadores Records
 
98 Bon Bon Vivant – Dancing in the Darkness
(release date 12-04-20)  Heroic Doses Records
 
99 Pi Jacobs  –  Two Truths and a Lie  
(release date 06-12-20)  Traviana Records
 
100 The 81s  –  2 Things & 118 Others  
(release date 05-15-20)    self-release
 

The Writers block

Dave Steinfeld Top 10 Albums of 2020 
1.  The Pretenders — Hate for Sale  (BMG)
The greatest album in a year of great albums. This is the best Pretenders disc since the ‘80s and a must-have for fans of good rock and roll. The title track and “I Didn’t Know When to Stop” are tight, in-your-face rockers. “Lightning Man” is a reggae-tinged tribute to the late musician Richard Swift (who was a friend of Chrissie Hynde’s). “”You Can’t Hurt A Fool” And “Crying in Public” are ace ballads. And the whole thing is over in a half hour.
 
2.  Bob Dylan — Rough and Rowdy Ways  (Columbia)
Dylan’s first album of original material in eight years is a great one — and proof that as he approaches 80, he remains one of our national treasures and still has some new tricks up his sleeve. Worth it for the 17-minute epic “Murder Most Foul” alone.
 
3.  Norah Jones — Pick Me Up off the Floor  (Blue Note)
Like a lot of artists in 2020, Jones hadn’t originally intended to release an album this year and hadn’t recorded these songs to be one body of work. That’s surprising, because Pick Me Up off the Floor is even lovelier and more cohesive than her last solo outing, 2016’s Day Breaks. Highlights include “Hurts To Be Alone” and “I’m Alive.”
 
4.  The Vapors — Together  (Manmade Records)
The Vapors are best known for their 1980  hit “Turning Japanese” — but there was a lot more to the band than that one song. Together is their first studio release in 39 years! While it may not quite be up to their early ‘80s output, it’s still pretty great. David Fenton was one of the most underrated songwriters of the New Wave era and Steve Smith remains an excellent bassist. 
 
5.  Bruce Springsteen — Letter to You  (Columbia)
Springsteen was another artist who initially hadn’t planned to release a new album this year. Letter to You arrives just a year and a half after Western Stars — but this is a totally different animal. Letter is life-affirming rock and roll, The E Street Band providing The Boss with their usual stellar backup.
 
6.  Ben Watt — Storm Damage  (Caroline/Unmade Road)
Best known as the male half of Everything But the Girl, Ben Watt has been on a roll since he revived his solo career with 2014’s Hendra. Like that disc, Storm Damage offers 10 songs about love and loss. The best moment may be “Irene,” a six-minute song about an aging chanteuse. Few people in popular music write about loss as well as Watt does. 
 
7.  Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever — Sideways to New Italy  (Sub Pop)
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever: lousy name, talented band. The sophomore set from this young Australian quintet picks up where 2018’s Hope Downs left off. They’re at their best on haunting rockers like “Not Tonight” and “Falling Thunder.”
 
8.  The War and Treaty — Hearts Town  (Rounder)
The War and Treaty is the husband and wife duo of Michael Trotter and Tanya Blount and Hearts Townis their eagerly awaited sophomore set. Great vocals and impassioned lyrics abound — particularly on the song “Five More Minutes.”
 
9.  A Girl Called Eddy — Been Around  (Elefant)
Erin Moran (AKA A Girl Called Eddy) inhabits a space somewhere between jazz and pop. Been Aroundis her first album in a whopping 16 years and marks a most welcome return. 
 
10.  Willie Nile — New York at Night  (River House Records)
Veteran singer-songwriter Willie Nile’s latest is his best disc since 2013’s American Ride. New York At Night lives up to its title, offering a dozen tunes informed by Nile’s love for both New York City and rock and roll itself. 
 

Jeff Munger - Top 20 for 2020
 
1) Drive-By Truckers - The New OK
 
2) Greyhounds - Primates
 
3) Daniel Donato - A Young Man’s Country
 
4) Otis Gibbs - Hoosier National
 
5) Nocona - Los Dos
 
6) Back To Paradise: A Tulsa Tribute to Okie Music
 
7) Southern Culture on the Skids - Kudzu Records Presents
 
8) Jesse Daniel - Rollin’ On
 
9) Kenny Roby - The Reservoir
 
10) Katie Pruitt - Expectations
 
11) Robert Cray - That’s What I Heard
 
12) Dave Alvin - From An Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings
 
13) Tom Petty - Wildflowers & All The Rest
 
14) Chris Stapleton - Starting Over
 
15) Caitlin Cannon - The Trashcannon Album
 
16) Matt walsh - Burnt out Soul
 
17) Frazey Ford - U kin B the Sun
 
18) Kacy & Clayton & Marlon Williams - Plastic Bouquets
 
19) Charley Crockett - Welcome to Hard Times
 
20) Jeff Graham - Jeff Graham and the Juvination
 

​Bryant Liggett - Top 10 of 2020 
1 - Charley Crockett - Welcome to Hard Times.
Part old-school country, part old-school R&B, all glorious rootsy and gutsy groove.
 
2 - David Quinn - Letting Go
David Quinn makes a record that explores every facet of country and roots rock.
 
3 - Jangling Sparrows - Bootstraps and Other American Fables. 
Paul Edelman lays down a Springsteen-inspired record of aggressive sing-along rock and heart-tugging ballads.
 
4 -Jon Stickley Trio - Scripting the Flip 
A glorious exploration of new-grass and acoustic fusion led by a daring and adventurous guitar picker.
 
5 - Caitlin Cannon - The TrashCannon Album 
A wonderful roots-prog record that somehow marries Country and New Wave into a slick, hook filled package.
 
6 - Various Artists  - On the Road: A Tribute to John Hartford. 
Loads of Roots and New-Grass musicians honor one of the earliest people to give Bluegrass a beautiful twist.
 
7 - Country Westerns – Country Westerns 
Indie rockers connecting the dots between roots country and grass-fed rock and
roll.
 
8 - Jesse Dayton - Gulf Coast Serenade 
The always diverse Dayton, who can Country croon while also being a Roots punk, throws down the party record of the year.
 
9 - Devil Doll - Lover & A Fighter 
Banging female fronted rock and roll that swings into lusty lounge and Rockabilly.
 
10 - American Aquarium- Lamentations. 
A songwriter’s record, the B.J. Barham led band writes thinking man’s rock from the South delivered in a roots and alternative country package.