AllMusic 2015 Year in Review
Favorite Americana Albums
This year's top Americana outings included another collaboration between Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, new records from Steve Earle, Rhiannon Giddens, Jason Isbell and Rhett Miller of the Old 97's, plus the latest from Oscar-winner Ryan Bingham.
The Nashville-based singer/songwriter's sophomore studio long-player is a winning pastiche of '70s soft rock and modern Americana.
Fourth solo album from the Canadian singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist is a splendid exercise in updated countrypolitan.
The brothers who formed the Blasters return with a fun, passionate set of acoustic and electric blues classics.
Dave Rawlings Machine / David Rawlings
Rawlings' strong second outing as frontman is filled with brooding grandeur.
After entering the Nashville Songwriter's Hall of Fame, the artist delivers a wide-ranging, career-defining album.
The singer/songwriter's follow-up to Southeastern is another triumph of smart, nuanced songs about hard-won life lessons.
The veteran alt-country troubadour delivers 12 wonderfully evocative sketches of the Texas Panhandle.
Rootsy songwriter picks up a regular band that helps him sort out his ideas on one of his most satisfying albums to date.
Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams
Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams
After nearly three decades of marriage, this professional couple delivers a righteous debut album.
Second album from this born songwriter is looser, rocks harder, and better suits her free-spirited personality.
An understated, resonant interweaving of Knopfler's past and present anchored in pub rock and accentuated by British folk.
The singer/songwriter's first album for her own PGM label features 13 personal songs about the many guises of love.
The Nashville indie combo's excellent sophomore LP ripples with a rambling country-folk feel and psych-rock spirit.
The veteran Texas singer and songwriter delivers a tough, soulful set that mixes up blues, rock, and country.
Swampy but sophisticated sounds from the Tennessee singer and songwriter as he spins evocative tales of love and life.
Sixth solo effort from the Old 97's frontman, who is joined in the studio by members of the Decemberists and R.E.M.
The Carolina Chocolate Drops leader goes solo with a handsome, slyly inventive interpretation of female-fronted American roots music.
Rodney Crowell / Emmylou Harris
The second duets album from these longtime friends and collaborators is sweet, heartfelt, and just rough enough to satisfy.
Ragged, hard-fought ballads from the craggy-voiced singer/songwriter.
Steve Earle / Steve Earle & the Dukes
The acclaimed singer-songwriter gets the blues, and the result is his most easygoing and satisfying album in years.
The family band's long-shelved 1998 album finally sees a belated (and most welcome) release.
Engaging mix of high-lonesome country and laid-back New Orleans atmosphere on this group's debut album.
The band sidesteps country and revels in Latin music, ska, rock & roll, romantic moods, and much more to impressive effect.
On her second outing, the Canadian singer/songwriter and producer Raul Malo redefine classic country.
The Nashville singer/songwriter delivers a poignant, rocking set about memory and coming to terms with the past.