Nobody in the music industry has had as stellar and as historic of a year as Taylor Swift and none of it was really planned at the beginning of 2020. Swift had planned on touring behind her 2019 album Lover but like with most things in the entertainment industry in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to that. But Swift didn’t just sit back and relax – she went to work creating songs with a different sound than anything she’d ever recorded before with a more mellow, indie-folk vibe and more of a third-person perspective than the mostly first-person perspective she’d used before. The resulting album was folklore, released as a surprise to her fans and the entertainment world on July 24. It immediately took the music world by storm going to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and had many critics saying it was the best album Swift has ever released. When the 2021 Grammy Award nominations were announced in late November, Swift’s folklore was one of the biggest honorees gaining nominations for Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for the track “Cardigan” and Best Duo/Group Vocal Performance for “Exile,” her collaboration with indie folk artist Bon Iver. She’s likely the favorite to win Album of the Year, which would be the third of her career and make her the first female artist to ever win the award three times, something only Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon have ever accomplished. If that wasn’t enough to make her the talk of the music world in 2020, she surprised fans once again on December 11 with the release of evermore, a companion album to folklore, featuring the same type of sound. Evermore recently went to the top of the Billboard 200 making Swift the first female artist to ever have two No. 1 albums in a calendar year. 
​
Taylor Swift used the sudden downtime in her life as a result of the pandemic better than perhaps anybody else in the entertainment industry and gave her extensive fan-base and the world two critically-acclaimed albums showcasing her ever-changing artistry … that is why she is one of The Word’s Entertainers of the Year. 

​We have thumbed through as many “Best Albums of 2020” lists as we could find and have devised a formula to award points based on which ranking albums were featured at on each critical list to figure up what was the critics’ choice for the top 10 albums of 2020.

Sources:
Rolling Stone, Slate, NPR, Mojo, New York Times, Complex, EW, Uproxx, Paste, Time, Consequence of Sound, Exclaim!, Uncut, Billboard, American Songwriter, The Forty-Five, Gigwise, NME, Pitchfork, PopBuzz, PopMatters Vulture, Associated Press, AV Club, Clash, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, Noisey, NPR’s Fresh Air, PopSugar, The Ringer, Spin, Stereogum, USA Today, Variety, Yahoo, US Weekly

by Philip Price
I came to really discover the Bee Gees my junior year of high school after buying their Number Ones compilation (a new release at the time) and listening to it repeatedly on my discounted Wal-Mart version of the Walkman or Discman (I feel like I had to buy a new one every other month and new headphones every other week at that time), but even under what weren't the most optimal of audio circumstances the power of the harmonies of the Brothers Gibb was undeniable. I've carried on my perception of the Bee Gees from that day forward, thinking of them not as a band that changed with and adapted to the times, but more as the first white boys to legitimately understand how to make R&B, funk and soul music all wrapped up in one. So, needless to say I was pleased to flesh out more of their rich history thanks to Frank Marshall's lovely “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” which can be seen on HBO and streaming on HBO Max. 

The in-depth look at the songwriting process is a real highlight, though I wish Marshall might have extended his interviews with other bands made up of brothers to all of the members rather than only Noel Gallagher and Nick Jonas. This might have allowed for a better sense of just how vastly different the experience of sharing so many experiences together both as family members and co-workers can be from one perspective to the next; lending a better sense of what the differences in present interviews with Robin and Maurice might have yielded given Barry now has the single longest length of time on which to reflect. That said, Barry's final interview moment here is one for the heartbreaking books - a somber if not fitting encapsulation of how fast life moves and how much we miss what will count most later on down the line.

by Julian Spivey

25. "Pawn Shop Heart" by Left Arm Tan 
Texas band Left Arm Tan really hit me with the catchy “Pawn Shop Heart” about a breakup where the narrator gave everything he had to his partner, but she didn’t quite feel the same way. It’s OK, he doesn’t regret the relationship, he just wants his heart back as he might need it again someday. Sounding like something the Eagles may have recorded at some point in their legendary careers, “Pawn Shop Heart” includes one of my favorite choruses of 2020: “Two-steppin’, two-timin’, blue-eyed heart attack/I ain’t perfect, but, baby, I ain’t that bad/I’ll give it away again someday/Or shine it ‘till it ain’t black/It’s just a pawn shop heart/But, baby, I want it back.” 

24. "Goodbye John" by Joe Stamm
There have been a lot of hard losses this year for fans of the Country and Americana genres with the passing’s of living legends like Kenny Rogers, Charlie Daniels and more, but the one that had the biggest impact on me was the death of singer-songwriter legend John Prine to COVID-19 in April. Prine was one of the all-time best songwriters and one of many personal favorites of mine. Joe Stamm’s “Goodbye, John,” which was released exactly one month after Prine’s death, is an incredible tribute to Prine and really hit home at the hardships of 2020 and the pandemic that completely changed our world in multiple ways, and completely stopped the livelihood of traveling musicians like Stamm who can’t travel and perform so he finds his own little corner of paradise (a reference to one of Prine’s most loved songs) and finds some solace in this crazy world by listening to the master’s words. 

23. "Sarah's Flame" by Drive-By Truckers
The Drive-By Truckers released the critically acclaimed The Unraveling early in 2020 and pretty much everyone expected that’d be the last new music we’d get from the band this year – but then they surprised us with a second album The New OK on October 2. The New OK included my favorite DBT song of 2020, Mike Cooley’s “Sarah’s Flame,” which is incredibly smart in that it places some of what’s gone on in our country over the last four-to-six years or so on former Alaska governor and Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who started fanning some of the country’s racial flames before President Donald Trump even ran for office. It’s not something I’d previously though of, but I think there’s something to it.  

22. "Crazyland" by Eric Church
Eric Church has been one of my favorite songwriters for quite some time now, but he even floored me a bit with his wordplay on “Crazyland.” One of many singles released by Church this year without an announced album attached to it, “Crazyland” sees its narrator enter a bar filled with many characters who serve as tropes of your typical country music down-and-out drinking song. The whole crew is here: “sad,” “regret,” “fool,” “lost,” “all my fault” and so on and so forth hanging out listening to the blues. It’s quite the unique spin on both the traditional country music and heartbreak song and according to Church in an interview with Taste of Country the idea came to him in a dream. “I actually dreamed the chorus of the song, and I woke up and I wrote it down, and then I ended up writing the rest of the song to the chorus,” he said. 

21. "No Dancing in Bristol" by Reckless Kelly
Reckless Kelly proved greatly long ago on 2005’s “Seven Nights in Eire” that they could get that Irish sound down pat. They bring it back to a lesser extent on this year’s “No Dancing in Bristol,” off their double album North American Jackpot (on of the year’s best releases), on a song about traveling to perform overseas without your loved one. In some ways, “No Dancing in Bristol,” is kind of a more mature sequel to “Seven Nights in Eire,” as the idea of being away from the woman you love for even a short amount of time is just too much to completely enjoy the trip.

20. "The Country Doesn't Sound the Same" by John Baumann
I absolutely love the dual meaning behind John Baumann’s “The Country Doesn’t Sound the Same.” He begins the song by remarking about how the country music you hear on today’s mainstream radio just isn’t the same (read: as good) as the stuff he used to hear on his dad’s radio growing up with fiddle and steel guitar. He then pivots to how the literal countryside doesn’t look the same with family farms being bought out and going under because of cities growing larger and nature being overrun by business. Finally, he takes on the moral state of our country and the vitriolic politics that have run rampant over the past decade or so leading to American citizens treating one another like enemies more so than neighbors. Baumann’s songwriting here is powerful. It’s something many different groups of folks need to listen to and take to heart. 

19. "What Are You Gonna Tell Her?" by Mickey Guyton
The only negative thing I can say about Mickey Guyton’s incredibly important “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” is that had it been released say three or four years ago it would’ve made for a perfect theme for the #MeToo movement. Unfortunately, it’s a topic that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon in this world where women are too often treated like objects instead of the humans they are. Guyton’s vocal is heartbreaking on the song she wrote with Emma-Lee, Karen Kosowski and Victoria Banks about having to explain things like being sexually abused and being treated as inferior to the opposite sex to your teenage daughter. It’s particularly important coming from a female in the country genre, a genre that seemingly more so than any other in the mainstream doesn’t value it’s female performers as much as it should with major discrepancies in things like radio airplay for female artists compared to their male counterparts. “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?,” along with “Black Like Me,” have made Guyton one of the most important voices in any genre of music in 2020. 

18. "Long Violent History" by Tyler Childers
One of the most important moments in country music in 2020 was when Tyler Childers essentially said enough is enough with police brutality toward black folks in this country in his own Appalachian way with “Long Violent History,” the only song with lyrics on his surprise album of old-timey fiddle tunes released in mid-September. It was important because it was time that someone from the South who looked and sounded like Childers spoke directly to their audience who look and sound like him with truths that needed to be heard (and it was a risk that likely cost him some of that audience). Childers hypothesized about how many white boys it would take being killed by police just for being who they were before white folks would be meeting up in the streets in a “stark-raving anger, looking for answers and armed to the teeth.” Childers knows he hasn’t experienced life as a black man or woman in this country, but at least he can sympathize and asks his fans to do the same. 

17. "It's About Blood" by Steve Earle 
Steve Earle’s 2020 release Ghosts of West Virginia is a concept album about the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion in 2010 that killed 29 men making it one of the worst coal mining disasters in American history. Earle had come up with much of the album’s music while working on a play with playwrights Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen about the same subject that was supposed to premiere this year, but was sidelined, like most everything else, by COVID-19. The album’s “It’s About Blood” is the angstiest track on Ghosts of West Virginia as it takes on the coal company Massey Energy that seemingly cared more about profits than the lives of its employees. Touchingly Earle ends “It’s About Blood” listing the names of all 29 men killed in the tragedy. Massey Effect and Don Blankenship, former CEO of the company, may have forgotten about them, but Earle isn’t about to and isn’t going to let us forget either. 

16. "Stick That In Your Country Song" by Eric Church
Eric Church has something to say, and that’s quite unusual for someone within the country music mainstream – and that’s pretty much his entire point with “Stick That in Your Country Song.” For far too long mainstream country music, especially the kind sung by the men of the genre, has been stereotypical Southern tropes about drinking, partying, hitting on women, hooking up with women, bon fires, trucks, dirt roads, back roads, etc. Many of us country fans were tired of that schtick long ago and it’s pretty hard to find a song on country radio about anything important. Country music was meant to be the music of the blue collar, working man – lately it’s been the music of a small subset of country folks who are basically redneck frat boys. With “Stick That In Your Country Song,” Church is telling everybody else within the genre it’s time to get back to these working men and women and real stuff like the veteran who comes back from war disabled or the teacher working her ass off for little pay and essentially the same amount of recognition. I don’t expect mainstream Nashville to listen, but for the time being it’s nice to hear something with substance on country radio. 

15. "Only Children" by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
Jason Isbell can sure write a tearjerker – he’s done it with great effect before on tracks like “Elephant” and “If We Were Vampires.” Isbell told Rolling Stone: “There’s something about the sad songs where it’s not just sad, there’s a resilience, and I think that’s what really affects people.” His latest tearjerker, “Only Children” finds Isbell writing about a friend who died at a young age and remembering the dreams they each had when they were close at an earlier age. “Only Children” may be Isbell’s best songwriting on Reunions with flourishes like this beautiful final verse: “Are you still taking notes/will you have anyone to talk to/Castle walls that you can walk through/and do the dead believe in ghosts/or are you lost in some old building/with over-encouraged only children.”

14. "Drink 'Til I See Double" by Ray Wylie Hubbard feat. Paula Nelson & Elizabeth Cook
My absolute favorite duet of 2020 is “Drink ‘Till I See Double” by Ray Wylie Hubbard, Paula Nelson and Elizabeth Cook. It’s such a Ray Wylie Hubbard vibe and the line “I’m gonna drink ‘till I see double and take one of you home” is such a classic country music pickup line. I really dig duets that are kind of unique in that they don’t play up all the lovey-dovey-ness of your typical love song duet and “Drink ‘Till I See Double” fits in perfectly with some of my other favorites like John Prine and Iris DeMent’s “In Spite of Ourselves” and Hayes Carll and Cary Ann Hearst’s “Another Like You.” Interestingly, Hubbard wrote “Drink ‘Till I See Double” with Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn. 

13. "The Mine" by Steve Earle
Steve Earle’s “The Mine” is pretty much about how there’s two options to living in a mining town – you either take a dangerous, but well-paying job at the mine or it’s pretty much a life on welfare. Probably the most optimistic tack on Earle’s coal mining concept album The Ghosts of West Virginia, the song’s narrator assures his lover than he knows things are hard right now, but he’s close to a big payday when his brother gets him a job at the mine. 

12. "Even the River Runs Out of This Town" by Will Hoge
The chorus in Will Hoge’s plaintive “Even the River Runs Out of This Town” is among the best songwriting of the year: “you can’t blame a heart for getting broken/you can’t change the color of the blues/the railroad track and the highway/I guess it’s your turn now/even the river runs out of this town.” That’s so beautifully poetic it’s almost hard to believe it hadn’t been written before. It’s the kind of breakup song where the narrator still loves the one who’s left him behind, but knows he has to let her go – I think those are maybe the most heartbreaking breakup songs of them all. 

11. "The Problem" by Amanda Shires & Jason Isbell
How do you approach a topic as delicate (and controversial) as abortion in a song? With massive amounts of empathy – and few in the Americana world are as empathetic in their songwriting as the Isbells – Amanda Shires and Jason Isbell – the hit couple of the Americana genre. Written by Shires a few years ago, “The Problem” was released this year to coincide with International Safe Abortion Day with proceeds from its sales going to the Yellowhammer Fund, for reproductive justice in Alabama (Isbell’s home state). When Shires wrote the song, she imagined it as a conversation had between women, but revamped it as a duet with her husband Isbell to be about a couple discussing the possibility of having an abortion. The song features the decision making, the abortion and the after affects mentally with Isbell as the male character supporting any decision his partner makes in the chorus with, “And all I could think to say/was everything’s going to be OK/it’s gonna be all right/I’m on your side.”

10. "Honey On My Tongue" by Steep Canyon Rangers
Steep Canyon Rangers were unbelievably busy in 2020 (which seems hard for a recording artist in such a year). In January they were a part of Steve Martin’s humorous bluegrass single “California” (which also made this list). In March they released the collaborative album Be Still Moses with the Asheville Symphony. In April they released the live album North Carolina Songbook, recorded at Merlefest in April of 2019, which garnered the group a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album (a category they have won before). In October they released the studio album Arm in Arm, which features my favorite bluegrass song of the year in “Honey on My Tongue.” The track is about a relationship, that the narrator knows isn’t going to last forever, but leaves such a mark on him that he can’t help but smile and remember it fondly. It’s absolutely beautiful – both musically and lyrically – with tender lyrics and an intoxicating chorus comparing the relationship to a bee, but not caring about the danger of being stung because the honey is so sweet with the warm sounds of acoustic guitar, banjo and fiddle throughout. 

9. "Old Men" by Corb Lund
One of my absolute favorite country songs of the year from the moment I first heard it has been “Old Men,” off Corb Lund’s tenth studio album Agricultural Tragic. It’s a tribute to those gruff old codgers who came before and perfected a way of life through blood, sweat and tears and I think Lund realizes as a recording and touring musician of now at least a quarter-century he’s kind of turning into one of those “old men” from the young buck he once was. 

8. "Thinkin' 'Bout You All Night" by Reckless Kelly
Reckless Kelly’s “Thinkin’ ‘Bout You All Night” has been stuck in my head most of the year since I first heard it, because the melody is so damn good. Willy Braun said on the Reckless Kelly website: “The audience hears the melody, listens to the lyrics and makes up its own story. They cannot feel the wind as it blows through the tamaracks or smell the smoke drifting across the lake. The author, if he does his job correctly, lets them conjure up their own tale, whatever that may be, while he, upon hearing the very same song, sees places.” Braun’s chorus is unbelievably simplistic, “I’ve been thinkin’ ‘bout you all night” repeated, but the environmental images scattered through the verses mixing beautifully with that wonderful melody really paints a picture. Here the author has certainly done his job correctly. 

7. "Overseas" by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
I first heard “Overseas” at a Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit show in Memphis in September of 2019 about eight months before the release of Reunions, and even though I couldn’t make out all of the words live (something that’s almost always an issue with new songs played in concert) I knew it was going to be a highlight on whatever Isbell released next just by the great guitar playing and the feeling seeing him perform it live had. “Overseas” took its start by Isbell and his musician wife Amanda Shires being apart from each other on different tours and the feeling of disconnection it gave him and then he fictionalized a story about a couple who live literally a sea between each other and the sadness that creates. That guitar solo I remembered from the live show last year holds up as one of the best Isbell has ever laid down on record. 

6. "If I Was the Priest" by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
“If I Was the Priest,” from the latest Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band album Letter to You (Springsteen’s first with his legendary band since 2012’s Wrecking Ball), is certainly the oldest song to make this year’s list. Springsteen penned the song about a half century ago (that’s not a typo) in either late 1970 or early 1971. It’s a wordy throwback to his earliest albums that had him being hailed as “The New Dylan,” but it never appeared on any of his studio albums. Springsteen resurrected it for Letter to You, an album that sees the band focusing on mortality and just getting back to their roots. “If I Was the Priest” is essentially a tale of coming up in an area and time when many rock acts were trying to break out and likening it to a tale of you’d see in old Western movies or TV shows where only one gunslinger can come out on top. With a different sound it could’ve made a nice addition to Springsteen’s Western themed solo release Western Stars last year, but I do love how it sounds with the mighty E Street Band. 

5. "How Long" by Iris DeMent
Oftentimes it takes me multiple listens to a song before I truly know how I feel about it or if it’ll have a chance to wind up on a list like this, but I knew probably midway into my first listen of Iris DeMent’s “How Long” that it was destined for this list. “How Long” just has a classic sound to it like it’s a song I must’ve heard many times before in my life despite being brand new. It feels like it instantly belongs as part of a movement and DeMent wrote it in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, according to her website. She opens the song by telling of someone once asking Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “how long do you stay the course and dream the dream?” when it feels like troubles such as racism are never going to end. The chorus is his reply: “’till justice rolls down like water and righteousness flows like a mighty stream.” DeMent goes on to verses about how power and greed turn a blind eye to those who truly could benefit from a bit of compassion and understanding from those in charge. It’s uplifting and hopeful, but so were those classic movement songs of the ‘60s it reminds me so much of. 

4. "Neon Cross" by Jaime Wyatt
Jaime Wyatt’s “Neon Cross” has been one of my absolute favorite songs of the year from the first moment I heard it back in February. The title track of her sophomore album with its pulsating rhythm and jangly guitar just sounds like a song announcing one’s presence with authority. And could there possibly be a better lyric for such a song than “if you don’t love me/why don’t you nail me to a neon cross?” Wyatt is resilient in this song, the “oh poor me” being sarcastic. She’s been through pain and misery – going through a stint in prison at a young age and battling addiction - and has had enough of it.  

3. "Colors" (Acoustic) by Black Pumas 
I have to admit I missed the ball on this one in 2019 or it would’ve made last year’s list. Luckily, Black Pumas cut and released an acoustic version of their exquisite “Colors” to qualify for this year’s list. I absolutely love vocalist and songwriter Eric Burton’s vocal on this song, especially when he goes falsetto – whether it’s this acoustic version or the original album version from the duo’s 2019 self-titled debut. Black Pumas producer/instrumentalist Adrian Quesada said to JamBands.com of the song’s inspiration: “Eric woke up midday and started the song as the sun was going down. He was inspired by the rich multicolored hues of the sky. The song was written in the themes of mortality and togetherness.” “Colors” definitely makes me think about how the world works better as one when folks of all different races and ethnicities blend together.

2. "The Spark" by William Prince
I had never heard of Canadian folk/country singer-songwriter William Prince before earlier this year when “The Spark” was suggested to me, I believe on a Spotify Americana playlist (one of the great perks of the music streaming app) and it instantly became one of my favorites of the year. The sound, the lyrics, the vocal, the entire vibe of the song just dropped my jaw. There’s so much soul in “The Spark,” about finding a love and how it can bring you out of the darkness of life. Prince told American Songwriter: “There is a warmth within the chemistry you feel when meeting someone for the first time and having it click.” As a writer I absolutely love the way Prince leaves the song’s title to the very end of the song, it really hits home how much this woman means to him and really wraps the entire piece together nicely. 

1. "A Better South" by American Aquarium 
As someone who has always lived in the American South, but often feels and thinks differently than many of those who live in the region I felt like American Aquarium and songwriter/frontman B.J. Barham was singing right to me on “A Better South,” off the band’s terrific 2020 album Lamentations. It’s certainly a timely song for 2020 with all the year’s injustices. Barham told AllEyesMedia.com, “I wanted to write a song that encapsulated the love/hate relationship that so many folks, including myself, have with the South. Being able to love the place that molded you while simultaneously hating some of it’s dark history.” I believe in the better South that Barham sings about and hope one day we can get there.

by Julian Spivey

50. "Welcome to Hard Times" by Charley Crockett
Charley Crockett likens the world amidst hard times to a rigged casino where you’re never going to break even (and oftentimes it feels like Hell) in “Welcome to Hard Times.” The title track from Crockett’s most recent album comes off like a pitch for sinning from the Devil himself, “do you like sinnin’?/well, you will before you go/we’ve got lots of gamblin’, ‘oh’ and we’re telling ties/you’re certainly welcome to hard times” all done with a old timey saloon like piano in the background. 

49. "Skeletons" by Brothers Osborne
Some songs just come from one kick-ass creative phrase or hook and “Skeletons,” off Brothers Osborne’s 2020 release of the same name, is that with its take on having “skeletons in one’s closet” having “bones to pick with them.” The song written by the Osbornes (John and T.J.) with Adam and Andrew DeRoberts is everything that makes the duo the best currently in mainstream country music – a deep vocal from T.J., that killer lyric and some bad ass guitar playing from John. 

48. "Working Man" by Tyller Gummersall
Songs of the working man have always been a part of the country music landscape because things have seemingly always been hard for the blue collar, working men and women of this country and one of the best “working man” songs of late is Tyller Gummersall’s “Working Man.” Gummersall sings about the hardships face by hard-working folks in this country, particularly the family farmer, and how it feels like “the patron saint of the working man” has finally retired. It’s essentially just Gummersall’s vocal and an acoustic guitar, but it’s one of the most powerful recordings of the year. 

47. "Shut Up and Sing" by Brent Cobb
I absolutely hate the phrase “shut up and sing” from supposed music fans who don’t believe their favorite artists should partake in worldly views such as politics and how it’s their job to stick to their job of performing. I do, however, love the spin that Georgia singer-songwriter Brent Cobb put on the phrase this year with his track simply titled “Shut Up and Sing.” Cobb is going to sing, but he’s going to sing about whatever the hell he pleases – even if it includes topics like school shootings and poisonous political rhetoric – because it’s his job as a songwriter to be honest and sometimes that means telling it like it is. 

46. "Ghosts" by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
“Ghosts,” one of the most rocking tracks on Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s latest album Letter to You, sees The Boss paying tribute to late bandmates from his pre-E Street Band days. When George Theiss, the singer of Springsteen’s first band The Castiles, died in 2018 it left Springsteen as the last living member of the band. It got him thinking of aging and the pain of losing friends and loved ones, which really is a theme of the new album. It’s not a sad song though as Springsteen belts in the chorus, “I’m alive and I can feel the blood shiver in my bones/I’m alive and I’m out here on my own/I’m alive, and I’m comin’ home.” Springsteen is very obviously going to rock until he can’t rock any longer and he’ll be carrying the ghosts of all of those who helped him get to where he is (the greatest songwriter in rock history, in my opinion) all the way. 

45. "Under the Devil's Knee" by Tre Burt feat. Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell & Sunny War
I really wish this song hadn’t made this list this year because that means George Floyd and Breonna Taylor might still be alive and not more names on a growing list of unarmed black men and women killed by police brutality. But those things did happen and Tré Burt’s answer to those tragic events was potentially the most heart-wrenching and important protest song of 2020. Burt sings of the killings of Floyd, Taylor and Eric Garner (from 2014) and how life is just different for black people in this world when it comes to policing and those folks that don’t stand up in an effort to stop police brutality and complicit in it. The title and chorus refrain take its name from the fact that Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killed Floyd by kneeling on his neck with his knee for more than nine minutes. Burt is joined by fellow black roots musicians Leyla McCalla, Sunny War and Allison Russell in the song’s devastating chorus. Proceeds from the song benefit the Community Justice Exchange’s National Bail Fund Network. 

44. "Sunday Drive" by Brett Eldredge
One of the biggest country music shocks of 2020 for me was the seeming transformation of Brett Eldridge into a piano ballad singer-songwriter with some stuff that’s almost Randy Newman-esque on his latest release Sunday Drive. It’s the title track from that album that truly hits the listener in the feels with its tale of a family just going on a nice Sunday drive together and looking out upon the world and how those memories can truly stick with you (I know I have similar memories). Where the track truly gets your eyes, watering is when the narrator flips the script and ushers his elderly parents around on one of those Sunday drives and seeing as all those old memories flood back. 

43. "Stone" by Ashley McBryde
It’s always fascinating when a songwriter can take a word or phrase and pull every ounce of meaning out of it and that’s exactly what Ashley McBryde does with “Stone” from her latest release Never Will. My first listens to “Stone” had me thinking it was likely about her father, but it turns out the inspiration was her late brother Clay, who committed suicide in 2018. The song explores the sadness and anger McBryde felt in coping with her brother’s death and how similar the two of them were. It’s an incredibly touching tune. 

42. "I Called Mama" by Tim McGraw
Tim McGraw’s “I Called Mama,” written by Marv Green, Lance Miller and Jimmy Yeary, was particularly touching in 2020 when many of us have been unable to see loved ones like our mothers for much of the year. The song begins with its narrator getting a phone call from a friend about the passing of an old buddy and how his friend’s untimely death shook him up and gave him a bit more perspective on life. The narrator takes a bit of time just for himself to relax and watch nature and then, most importantly, make that phone call back home to his mama. “I Called Mama” is sure to bring a tear to your eye. 

41. "Tuesday I'll Be Gone" by John Anderson & Blake Shelton
I was really excited to get some new music in 2020 from one of my favorite old chunks of coal in country music, John Anderson, and while the entirety of Years was a let down for me it did feature the fantastic “Tuesday I’ll Be Gone,” a duet with modern country music superstar Blake Shelton. Anderson sounds as good as ever on this track with his unique twang, which is fantastic to hear after he had dealt with some health issues in the years preceding the recording. The song, written by Anderson with his producers Dan Auerbach (of the rock duo The Black Keys) and David Ferguson, finds Anderson and Shelton swapping lines about the freedom of the road and of not really knowing what comes ahead of one in life. In addition to being happy to have another great Anderson song it’s also the best thing Shelton has put on a record in a few years. 

40. "Shelby '65" by Kyle Nix
If you’re a fan of Red Dirt country music you probably already knew the name Kyle Nix, as he was (and hopefully one day will be again) the best damn fiddle player for the best damn band in Red Dirt – the Turnpike Troubadours. But in 2020 Nix showed that sawing on a hot fiddle wasn’t his only talent – he was also a very talented songwriter and could step out front and take on the role as frontman with his debut Lightning on the Mountain & Other Short Stories. My favorite track on the album is the rip-roaring “Shelby ‘65” that tells of two teenage lovers speeding through the night in a bit of American steel just daring the road to take them. “Shelby ‘65” is reminiscent to some of Turnpike Troubadours more raucous songs, like “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,” but it’s also proof Nix can be a Red Dirt superstar all on his own. 

39. "Loved & Lost" by Porter Union
The married duo Porter Union (Cole Michael Porter and Kendra Porter) were contestants on the recent short-lived USA Network singing competition show “Real Country” and were selected to be on the show by ‘90s country hitmaker Travis Tritt who saw their potential. The duo released their sophomore album Loved & Lost independently in March and instantly the title track became one of the catchiest tunes of the year. The song, written by Porter Union with Jared Hicks and Oran Thornton, plays on the saying, “it’s better to have loved and lost than to never love at all” and adds the wonderful whoever said that “has never loved and lost someone like you.” It’s a throwback to something that might have dominated country radio back in Tritt’s day, which is probably what he saw in the duo. 

38. "Damned Angel" by Hellbound Glory
I feel like Leroy Virgil, who makes music as Hellbound Glory, is the only artist who could get away with opening a song with the line: “Mama says you’ll be the death of me/you’re like methamphetamines” to a throwback to the sort of suave twang you’d hear under some smooth vocals by a Roy Orbison type. It’s a heartbreak ballad with Virgil’s raspy vocals filling in aptly where the smooth vocals of an Orbison or Chris Isaak may have been in its place. I’ve enjoyed Hellbound Glory’s rowdier side in the past, but it’s nice to see a bit of a scummy suavity to his music, as well. 

37. "Love is Not Enough" by Lydia Loveless
There is a wry sense of humor in some of Lydia Loveless’s music and one of my favorite aspects of this is the line: “I can’t believe the worst kinds of people achieve everything they want/it takes medication to get me off.” In the song Loveless is calling out some of the cliches one might find in your typical love song or even relationship. Loveless told American Songwriter: “The song is a response to the old-fashioned idea that love is all you need, as opposed to understanding, or give and take. On a large scale, it’s about people who say things like, ‘love trumps hate’ and take zero action to make it true.”

36. "I Remember Everything" by John Prine
The hardest musical moment of 2020 for me was the death of legendary singer-songwriter John Prine (essentially one of the fathers of the Americana genre) in early April from COVID-19 at age 73. Not only was it tragic because Prine was a legend and one of my favorites, but he was still at the top of his game as he’d shown on 2018’s The Tree of Forgiveness. It seems Prine was ready to give us another instant classic, but death took him too soon. In June, his final song “I Remember Everything” was release and is a lovely ballad about looking back on all the great things in one’s life – including one’s family and career. The song, which recently garnered two posthumous Grammy nominations for Prine, is just one more bit of proof of how he could take the little and simple things in life and bring so much poetry out of them. 

35. "Me + Mine (Lamentations)" by American Aquarium
American Aquarium songwriter and frontman B.J. Barham has certainly proven himself as something as a songwriter for the working men and women of this country in his past AA albums, as well as his solo stuff. “Me + Mine (Lamentations)” certainly hits upon how this country treats the blue collar, hard-working folks among them with true to life lines like: “It’s like we don’t matter, mama said, at least that’s how it seems.” The song blasts politicians who promise to return jobs to these hard-working folks, knowing damn well they won’t be able to do so. Barham said on the American Aquarium website that he wrote down the word “lamentations” in 2018, knowing full well it’s what he wanted to name his next album. “Lamentations is one of the few books in the Bible where there’s this doubt of God. I saw a direct correlation between that and a Southern man today who voted for [President Donald] Trump. I wanted to write about a broken America and all the things that lead a human being to doubting something.” Nobody has written about a broken America better in these last few years than Barham. 

34. "Smooth Shot of Whiskey" by Mike and the Moonpies & Mark Wystrach
Mike and the Moonpies, one of the most stellar and hardest working groups in the Texas Country/Red Dirt scene, released a unique tribute to the king of the honky tonks Gary Stewart this year with Touch of You – The Lost Songs of Gary Stewart. My favorite track on the album is “Smooth Shot of Whiskey,” penned by Stewart with songwriting legends Dean Dillon and Frank Dycus (whom you know well if you like classic George Strait). The song is a brotherly duet of sorts between close friends who’re both seeing relationships falter and want to drink about it over some smooth whiskey and Mike and the Moonpies singer Mike Harmeier is joined by Mark Wystrach of Midland in a perfect melding of voices. The tribute of Stewart songs that hadn’t yet reached the public was an important record for the band as Harmeier told Rolling Stone magazine: “The music of Gary Stewart has been the driving influence of our band from the first notes we played together.” 

33. "Only Faster" by Chris Hennessee
Chris Hennessee’s “Only Faster” is the kind of unique spin on a love song I’m always looking for – likening his girl’s fast paced life to a racecar on the beaches of Daytona, a cannonball, a rocket launch and all sorts of other things and how she can break your heart even faster than all of those things. With a pulsating piano-driven backing, “Only Faster” is going to make you want to put your pedal to the floor if listening to it in the car. 

32. "Space Force" by Western Centuries feat. Jim Lauderdale
I feel like “Space Force” by Western Centuries is intentionally cheeky because of how ridiculous the creation of a new military branch called the Space Force by the Trump Administration is, but maybe that’s just me putting my political spin on it. I looked it up – it’s most certainly intentionally cheeky with songwriter Jim Miller stating the real Space Force to be “one of the most ludicrous ideas ever to have been foisted upon the American taxpayer” in an interview with Seattle radio station KEXP. Even if it hadn’t been satirical, “Space Force” is a riotous blast talking about how fun it would be to be apart of the Space Force and chase all the bad guys around the galaxy. It’s essentially the band turning the Space Force into an old Western bounty hunter trip. The group is joined by singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale on the track that never fails to put a smile on my face. 

31. "Raining Horses" by Corb Lund
Agricultural Tragic just seems like a perfect title for a Corb Lund album and the Canadian country singer-songwriter tugs at the heartstrings with the catchy “Raining Horses” about a rancher who seemingly has too many horses, but doesn’t have the heart to give up on a beloved mare. According to Lund’s website: “The song is kind based around the idea of having too many horses on the place. But from a few steps back it’s more about desperation and eternal, irrational hope.” That “desperate and eternal, irrational hope” truly comes out within Lund’s vocal. 

30. "The Curse" by Will Hoge
Will Hoge has proven he’s a many of many genres. He can write a straight up country ballad (check out “Even the River Runs Out of This Town” on this very list), he can write folky tunes, he can write rockers with a punk edge to them (check out “The Overthrow” on this very list), but maybe he’s at his best when playing the kind of heartland rock that artists like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and John Mellencamp popularized. “The Curse,” off Hoge’s latest album Tiny Little Movies, is a tale about meeting the right person and how their love can have such a positive change on someone’s life, effectively turning it completely around. This one is sure to get stuck in your heads for days. 

29. "Pawn Shop" by Brandy Clark
How many extremely important objects in a person’s life do you think have ended up in pawn shops because people needed quick cash to escape a life or change their life? Brandy Clark approaches this subject on her excellent “Pawn Shop,” co-written with Troy Vergas on her newest album Your Life is a Record. The third-person tale talks of a wedding ring given up after a dead relationship and a guitar given up by a musician who needs to change his career path to help feed his family. Clark told The Boot: “I was reading a book and a guy [working] at the pawn shop said, ‘I have the job of telling people that something’s not worth what they think it is.’ That really hit me as a song idea.” 

28. "Letter to You" by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
There’s a lot of dealing with mortality on Letter To You, the latest album from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (the first as a band since 2012’s terrific Wrecking Ball), as “The Boss” and his bandmates are coming to terms with being senior citizens and knowing there’s less in front of them than there is behind. Despite their advanced age the band sounds better than ever as they recorded the album in just five days live in studio with no overdubs, just the raucous live energy they bring to their sometimes four hour live shows. The title track is one of the album’s highlights as it sees the aged rock star using his years and experience to pen a letter to someone (perhaps his younger self, perhaps his early bandmates with differing bands growing up who’re no long here or his faithful fan-base). 

27. "Be Afraid" by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
The idea of musicians (and celebrities in general) using their platform to speak on topics such as politics and other important things rubs some people wrong. Jason Isbell thinks artists should do it anyway. “Be Afraid,” from Isbell and the 400 Unit’s latest release Reunions, is a call to action, in fact, for artists to try and inspire change – after all, most of the greats in the history of a multitude of musical genres have done just that. Isbell told Rolling Stone Country in February when the single came out: “If I don’t do what I considered to be the right thing – which is speak my mind – I’m not gonna be able to sleep when I’m an old man.” 

26. "Starting Over" by Chris Stapleton
If there was ever a year to feel like just wiping the slate clean and starting over it would be 2020, maybe that’s why Chris Stapleton’s title track to his latest album Starting Over, his first single in over two years, just feels right. It could also be that Stapleton’s smooth, yet gruff soulful voice could probably sing the phone book and be pleasing to the ears and his harmonies with his wife Morgane are always incredible. “Starting Over,” co-written by Stapleton and his ex-SteelDrivers bandmate Mike Henderson, is essentially just he and his wife singing to an acoustic guitar and some light percussion. It may be simple, but it works flawlessly. 

by Julian Spivey

75. "All in One Place" by Chicago Farmer
According to an article in American Songwriter, singer-songwriter Cody Diehkoff, who goes by the recording/stage name Chicago Farmer, thought he may have a small fortune headed his way in royalties when his song “Everybody In This Town” hit 10,000 plays on TouchTunes Jukeboxes. He received a check form TouchTunes for $11. That’s where the humor in the outlaw country-esque “All in One Place” come about. How you think you’re going to make something as a recording and traveling musician, but then the royalties or T-shirt sales or album sales can barely buy you dinner. Good thing most musicians aren’t in it for the money. 

74. "Whiskey Kinda Night" by William Michael Morgan
Drinking songs have always and will always be part of country music and one of the best of 2020 was William Michael Morgan’s “Whiskey Kinda Night.” With a smooth vocal reminiscent of someone like Joe Nichols, Morgan tells of a love who’s left and how the only remedy for his pain is whiskey. Hey, it’s pretty simple and the type of theme that’s been done time and time again, but the vocal and laid back contemplative sound make the track, written by Morgan with Doug Johnson and Adam Wood, soothing to the ears. 

73. "Crows and Buzzards" by Andy Brasher
One of the strangest recurring themes in particularly the genres of country and folk music has been the murder ballad, specifically the murder ballad of a man killing a cheating spouse or partner, which is admittedly jarring and I can understand why some people find it problematic, but dammit if there aren’t a lot of really well-written murder ballads and Andy Brasher’s “Crows and Buzzards” is one of them. The most unique aspect of “Crows and Buzzards” is just how mellow it sounds given its dark theme, which gives it that originality and different sound you’re always looking for from an often-used theme. 

72. "Loving Her" by Katie Pruitt
“Loving Her” is a terrific love song by Katie Pruitt about her girlfriend and how she doesn’t care if anybody has a problem with the fact that she’s in love with a woman. She told The Boot: “I feel like this is one of those songs I’ve been trying to write my whole life. I’ve been trying to say a certain thing in a certain way, without coming across as upset or angry, because it’s really hard to talk about that and not be, you know, angry about it.” This song came from a hard conversation Pruitt had with her father about being in love with a woman and how he just didn’t understand it and how that made her feel. 

71. "Can't Do Much" by Waxahatchee
Katie Crutchfield, who records solo as Waxahatchee, has recorded what she calls, “an extremely unsentimental love song, a love song with a strong dose of reality.” Her vocal is terrific and the song has a really lovely, relaxing melody to it that undoubtedly came from influences like Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. Crutchfield told Rolling Stone: “[The song] was written early on in a relationship, where the feelings were super intense, but also fear or apprehension were sort of keeping m from totally relaxing in it yet. Sort of like, ‘it’s annoying that I love you so much.’ Totally unromantic, which sort of makes it really romantic to me.” 

70. "The First Thing I Reach For" by Ashley McBryde
“The First Thing I Reach For,” off Ashley McBryde’s Grammy-nominated album Never Will, is country as hell. McBryde and co-writers Mick Holland and Randall Clay pretty much wrap all your usual country music vices into one great song about knowing all these things are bad for you, but also knowing their easy – hence “the first thing I reach for is the last thing I need.” It’s a terrifically twangy number by one of the best mainstream country music has had to offer of late. 

69. "Black Like Me" by Mickey Guyton
Once again, this year we saw that there are real disparities in the way some people live compared to others and how we can’t start to even things out until we realize the situation some folks are in. Mickey Guyton shouldn’t be an outsider, but simply being African-American (and a woman) in the country music genre has essentially made her one. Her song “Black Like Me” does a lot to help some folks who may be oblivious to the disparities faced in this country by folks who don’t look like them realize those disparities. Guyton sings about how “it shouldn’t be twice as hard” just to live in this country as a black person and how the fact that black folks shouldn’t have to do so in “the land of the free.” 

68. "The Overthrow" by Will Hoge
I have to admit that if Joe Biden had not won the 2020 Presidential Election over President Donald Trump that this song would not have made this list. That seems like a weird reason to either add or leave a song off a year-end best of list, but the song is basically about the American people overthrowing President Trump, so had that not have happened it just would’ve been an awkward placement on the list and, frankly, I probably could not have bared listening to Will Hoge’s “The Overthrow” again. “The Overthrow” sees Hoge at his most punk (something I’ve likened him to in the past) as he basically is looking forward to the American people saying “enough is enough” to the “Darth Vader with a spray tan” in charge of the country. It would’ve been perfect for Hoge’s politically-charged 2018 release My American Dream, but as it stands makes for a great victory anthem. 

67. "Knowing You" by Kenny Chesney
Kenny Chesney always seems to be at his best when singing nostalgic songs about lost loves or past love. His latest track featuring this theme is “Knowing You,” the highlight of his 2020 release Here and Now. The song, written by Adam James, Brett James and Kat Higgins, finds Chesney in that sweet spot vocally where he’s no longer with this woman, but just having spent time with her and known her will leave lasting memories for the rest of his life. 

66. "Starts with You" by American Aquarium 
American Aquarium’s “Starts With You” is a fun listen with some awfully good lines like the opening “they say you’re only as sick as your secrets/if that’s the truth then, friend, I’m dying” and a verse about sad songs making the narrator (presumably AA front B.J. Barham himself) happy, but how he’s found a woman that’s made him smile than “every sad song ever written.” It’s the kind of love song I believe even the gruffest or most jaded among us could dig. 

65. "On Borrowed Time" by Bryan James
If any year could make you believe every single word of Bryan James’s “On Borrowed Time” it’s certainly 2020. The song from his album Politics or Religion talks about the after-life and how nobody really knows what’s to come and how our time on Earth is just us being on borrowed time and how we should learn to live life like we only have a finite amount of it. It’s certainly a great lesson for us this year. 

64. "Old Man" by Zach Bryan 
Zach Bryan sort of popped up out of nowhere in 2019 with videos of his stripped down country music just his vocal and a guitar going viral, which lead to a debut album DeAnn, which sounded much of the same. Bryan must have had the songs stacked up (or either he’s a real quick songwriter) as he was already onto releasing his sophomore album Elisabeth (definitely seems to be a theme developing with his album titles), which was just as stripped down as the first (which wasn’t necessarily by design, rather circumstances as Bryan is an active member of the U.S. Navy without as much free time as your average musician). The highlight of Elisabeth is “Old Man,” which honors fathers who sacrifice a lot by working hard and long hours to provide everything for their families. I would imagine Bryan’s inspiration was his own father, but it’s a beautiful tribute that anyone with a blue collar, hard-working dad can appreciate. 

63. "The Cure" by Watkins Family Hour
The Watkins family is mighty damn talented when it comes to bluegrass and American roots type music as siblings Sara and Sean Watkins (both originally in the Grammy-winning bluegrass trio with Chris Thile) are incredibly talented and proficient at multiple string instruments. Watkins Family Hour, their group when not working on other projects, released the aptly titled Brother Sister this year that features the lovely “The Cure.” The first time I heard “The Cure” I felt it had religious meaning to it with the line “I avoided the cure, but it found me anyway,” as in I avoided God and religion, but it eventually found me instead of the other way. That was a misreading. I was hooked on the song either way. According to the group’s website “The Cure” was inspired by Sean watching “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo” on Netflix, while being in a bad relationship and hitting on the concept of throwing away those things you don’t need and love. 

62. "exile" by Taylor Swift & Bon Iver
The most shocking thing on this year’s list for me is the inclusion of a Taylor Swift song. It wasn’t all that long ago when I thought Swift was one of the biggest problems with country music and bringing pop influences into the genre. Then she completely left country music behind to go pop (which I always felt she was anyway). And then this year she came out with folklore, an indie-folk release that showcases her songwriting in a more singer-songwriter fashion than any of her previous releases. There are multiple tracks on the album that could’ve made this list, but I’ve settled on “exile,” a duet with Bon Iver (another artist I’ve never cared much for as I thought he always sounded pretentious) as my choice. “exile” isn’t new territory for Swift, it’s a breakup song, but unlike much of her past breakup songs it sees things from both sides and really shows a maturation in the now 31 year-old’s work. 

61. "Put On Your Brave Face Mary" by Reckless Kelly
One of the sad hypocritical realities of this country is how we send brave men and women off to war to fight for their country, calling them heroes and patriots all along, and then completely forget about them when they come home, often with wounds that can’t be seen. Reckless Kelly’s “Put On Your Brave Face Mary,” is a passionate telling of this problem and how the V.A. is understaffed and ill-equipped to deal with “demons they don’t understand” and how the politicians in Washington are just full of hot air and don’t seem to truly care about the tragic number of veterans who commit suicide on a daily basis. Willy Braun is at his most Bruce Springsteen-esque on this track that speaks to one of our nation’s least talk about and important issues. 

60. "Outlaw Blood" by Ray Wylie Hubbard feat. Ashley McBryde
Ray Wylie Hubbard writes songs with so much specificity in them that I just can’t help, as a writer, but love. He also writes lyrics that seemingly only he could write or get away with like “her mama got a tattoo says, ‘free Sonny Barger’ or “She got mascaraed eyes and raven black hair, buys her shoes at Kim’s Exotic Dancewear.” I can’t say that I’d actually be interested in the type of women with the “outlaw blood” that Hubbard writes about in “Outlaw Blood,” but he sure makes them seem fun. I love that Hubbard not only features Ashley McBryde on harmony vocals, but also tributes her in a verse with the line, “loves to hear Ashley McBryde sing.” It’s cool that McBryde has already drawn that kind of love from one of outlaw country’s greatest. 

59. "Her" by Randy Rogers & Wade Bowen
In 2015, Texas Country stars Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen teamed up for the terrific collaborative album Hold My Beer, Vol. 1, which featured one of my favorite songs of that year “Standards.” I was thrilled the two got together again to release Hold My Beer, Vol. 2 early this year and the album might even be better overall than their first effort. My favorite track off Vol. 2 is “Her,” which feels like an instant classic drinking song and story song wrapped into one like the kind of humorous thing Bobby Bare might have recorded in his heyday. It makes perfect sense that the song is a co-write between Buddy Cannon and Dean Dillon. The narrator of “Her,” sees a couple at the bar and has an eye for the woman, so he pulls up beside them on the next barstool, chats up the man and keeps supplying him with drinks until the guy is good and drunk, passes out and our narrator runs off with “her.”   

58. "Marie" by Lori McKenna
Lori McKenna writes a country story song as good, if not better, than anybody else currently within the Americana or country music genres. Her latest album The Balladeer is “in some ways her life story,” according to her website. One of the most heartbreaking, but also resilient, songs on the album is “Marie,” about her older sister’s influence on her after the death of their mother at an early age. It’s a reminder of just how important one’s family can be during the hard times.  

57. "Sometimes" by H.E.R.
For the second year in a row while watching the Grammy Awards, I was floored by a performance by H.E.R. In 2019 it was her performance of “Hard Place.” This year it was the performance of “Sometimes” and it has stuck with me all year. Let’s get one thing straight – H.E.R. is a R&B artist. So if you want to scoff at me passing her off as Americana for the purpose of this list go for it – but honestly isn’t Americana supposed to be this huge melting pot of musical forms that developed in this country and R&B and soul belong as much as country, folk, blues and what have you within the community. The vocals and guitar playing by H.E.R. on this track, which is an inspirational anthem about getting through life even when things aren’t going your way. 

56. "Small Town Hypocrite" by Caylee Hammack
You wouldn’t know Caylee Hammack was merely 26 years old upon hearing “Small Town Hypocrite,” with such a maturity and knowing to it when it comes to someone dreaming of getting out of their small-town feeling their too good for it only to find themselves trapped there for seemingly eternity. The fact that such a song comes on her debut album, If It Wasn’t For You, is also remarkable. “Small Town Hypocrite” sees its narrator give up on her dreams at a young age to marry a high school sweetheart, only to settle down and have kids and have the guy leave. There’s much reality to Hammack’s song who gave up a music scholarship to Belmont University for a boy who told her he couldn’t go on without her. She may have given up on that particular dream, but something tells me Hammack is going to be OK. 

55. "Someone to Use" by Hellbound Glory
Hellbound Glory is certainly no stranger to debauchery, but his most recent album proudly called Pure Scum makes debauchery sound smoother and classic countrier than he ever has on record before. One of the biggest highlights of the record is “Someone to Use,” a loving tribute to sex with no strings attached as a means of soothing away his loneliness. Sure, it’s not going to make any list of “true love” songs, but it’s something many in the age of Tinder booty calls can identify with.  

54. All the Pretty Colors" by Sturgill Simpson
​In May Sturgill Simpson told his followers on Instagram that if they raised $1 million for a multitude of charities in a matter of two weeks, he would repay their philanthropy with two records this year. His fans lived up to their side of the bargain and in mid-October Simpson released Cuttin’ Grass – Vol. 1 (Butcher Shoppe Sessions, which saw the Grammy-winning Kentuckian re-record many of his best songs from his previous albums in a bluegrass style. Many of my favorite Simpson songs were recorded for this album, including my all-time favorite “Living the Dream” (which topped this yearly list in 2014), but I wanted to feature something new to me and to many of Simpson’s fans – one of the three songs Simpson on the album that he did with his previous band Sunday Valley that are really hard to find these days. My favorite of these threes is “All the Pretty Colors,” which features exquisite lines like: “all the colors are bleeding/where’s ol’ Van Gogh when you need him/I bet you my left ear he can relate.” Simpson got some of the best pickers in the world to play with him on this album and he continues to show he can pretty much do it all and in many different sounds. 

53. "Clotilda's On Fire" by Shemekia Copeland
One of the great blues tracks of 2020 is “Clotilda’s On Fire,” from Shemekia Copeland’s latest release Uncivil War. The song tells the tale of the last slave ship to smuggle African captives to American shores, long after the practice was outlawed, and how fire was set to the ship after delivering its captive passengers to destroy any evidence of the deed near the shores of the Alabama coast. The wreckage of the ship was just uncovered last year. Copeland sings about how the descendants of Clotilda, after being emancipated at the end of the Civil War, prospered by founding the all-black community of Africatown, just north of Mobile, Ala. It’s a true rags-to-riches story and Copeland absolutely nails the vocal, with some fine guitar playing behind it. 

52. "Hanging Tree" by Drew Moreland
I’m a sucker for a Western cowboy ballad – you know like the kind Marty Robbins popularized – and Texas country artist Drew Moreland released a good one this year in “Hanging Tree.” The song finds our outlaw narrator, who grew up in a good family with big plans, who went wayward and now finds himself waiting at the hanging tree for his impending execution. There’s some fine mandolin and fiddle on this track, especially the twang of the fiddle at the song’s end that signifies the bottom of the gallows has given way and the rope has dropped. 

51. "Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)" by Dion feat. Paul Simon
One of the most touching and heartbreaking songs of 2020 is “Song for Sam Cooke (Here In America)" by Dion on his latest album Blues With Friends. Dion writes about touring the United States in the early ‘60s as one of the nation’s top pop stars with fellow superstar singer and friend Sam Cooke and how it took doing so for him to see things in this country were completely different for a white Italian-American than they were for an African-American. It’s a great tribute to his friend and a good listen for anybody needing an explainer about “white privilege.” Dion is joined by the legendary Paul Simon on the track, who gives the song some terrific harmonies. 

by Julian Spivey

100. "Can't Be There Today" by Billy Bragg & "I Ain't Been Nowhere" by Chuck Mead
Especially during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic this year artists seemed like they were rushing to see who could be the first to get a coronavirus song out on the market – like that was something the listening public, even in those first days of this seemingly never-ending nightmare wanted – and the majority of them were absolute crap (even from artists I really like). But there were two of these songs that truly stood out to me – one that really hit on the loneliness of the pandemic and another one that’s just creative and funny as hell. Billy Bragg’s “Can’t Be There Today” is incredibly depressing because it was written and released in March in the very early days of quarantining and the pandemic and as we now approach the Christmas holiday and many of us still can’t be with our families and loved ones it really shows how life-changing this whole year has been, and frankly shows how goddamn selfish many of our fellow Americans have been, who could’ve done a lot to help this thing simmer down when it’s instead exploding. On to the fun one … every country music fan knows the Hank Snow 1962 classic “I’ve Been Everywhere” (and if you don’t your certainly know Johnny Cash’s cover). Well, in April Chuck Mead put a funny spin on that classic with the cabin fever brought on by the pandemic and quarantining. It’s a note for note parody of the original and really hits home at the monotony of quarantining and all the stuff one does to pass the time like playing board games and going through every last show on Netflix. It was nice to have some levity during a terrifying year.

99. "Fancy" by Orville Peck 
I try not to include many or any cover songs on my annual list if I can help it just to give artists a chance to showcase their originals and to just help put something new out into the world, but I knew the moment I heard Orville Peck’s take on the Bobbie Gentry/Reba McEntire classic “Fancy” there was no way I wasn’t including it. Peck, an out Canadian country singer known for the frilly mask he wears when performing (nobody has seen the man’s face!), put a gender-bending spin on “Fancy” that just worked for me as a listener from the first listen. Peck switches up some of the pronouns in the song to give an added meaning, but it’s a mostly faithful performance lyrically, but where he really changed it up was in how it sounded taking some of the darkness in the song’s lyrics about a mother turning her daughter into a prostitute to give her a better life by giving the song a haunting, sparseness that works perfectly for it. If an artist is going to cover an all-timer of a song that have to find a unique take for it and Peck certainly has. 

98. "Too Much Alike" by Robert Planet & Patty Griffin
Robert Plant, the former lead singer of hard-rock legends Led Zeppelin, has had quite the solo career as an Americana singer, especially when collaborating with some of the best female musicians in the American Roots genres. Plant’s collaboration with Alison Krauss on Raising Sand in 2007 earned him the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2008. Plant has teamed up with Patty Griffin for the duet “Too Much Alike,” a cover of an old Charley Feathers rockabilly tune, that fits their voices perfectly. The jangling guitar, a trademark of rockabilly music, is one of the track’s true highlights. 

97. "River of Fools" by Logan Ledger 
Logan Ledger has instantly proven himself as a master of different kind of classic country styles on his self-titled debut album, but it’s a song not upon that album, but done as part of an Amazon Originals series with producer T-Bone Burnett that stuck out the most to me. From the first time I heard Ledger’s “River of Fools” I thought of one of my all-time favorite country music songwriters Roger Miller. “River of Fools” just has that wacky, fun-loving appeal to it that Miller did better than anyone has ever done, but it’s important to note while it sounds like it could be a tribute to Miller, it doesn’t sound like a copy or a parody (which is a problem I had with another country artist this year you’d find on a few other ‘best of’ lists). “River of Fools” is just a fun vibe.  

96. "Panhandle Slim" by The Panhandlers 
The Panhandlers, a supergroup of some of the brightest in the Texas Country/Red Dirt subgenres of country music Josh Abbott, John Baumann, Cleto Cordero (of Flatland Cavalry) and William Clark Green, made its debut in early 2020 with a self-titled release. The best track on the debut is “Panhandle Slim” (there’s probably too many Texas panhandle references on the album though) co-written by Baumann and Cordero about a lone wolf cowboy of the panhandle who doesn’t know he needs love until it one day knocks him off his feet. It’s a lovely little folky-country waltz. 

95. "Bad Car"  by Brandy Clark 
Great songwriters can take inanimate objects and bring such life out of them and the inanimate object that songwriters have probably brought the most life out of are automobiles. Brandy Clark certainly brings a lot of nostalgia and feelings to her remembrance of an old car that’s been through so many things with her in “Bad Car,” off her recently Grammy-nominated album Your Life Is a Record. Clark said in one of her Play and Tell YouTube videos that the song, co-written by Jason Saenz, could’ve truly been about anything – a hometown, house, etc. – anything that gathers memories and eventually is left behind.  

94. "Haven't Even Kissed Me Yet" by Aubrie Sellers
Aubrie Sellers truly has a multitude of sounds to her music and seemingly does them all very well. Seriously, I’ve seen her do a cover of The Kinks classic “All Day and All of the Night” live in concert and it's garage band punk glory. On “Haven’t Even Kissed Me Yet,” the daughter of award-winning country singer Lee Ann Womack, is a soft sounding ballad of a potential burgeoning relationship with sort of a swaying, lowkey surf vibe to it. It’s tender and vulnerable with a terrific vocal from Sellers, who should be more known than she is. 

93. "P-Town" by Lilly Hiatt
Songwriting talent simply runs in the veins of the Hiatts as Lilly’s father is the legendary singer-songwriter John Hiatt. There’s a lot to be excited about on Lilly Hiatt’s 2020 release Walking Proof, including the title track, but my favorite track is the kiss-off tune “P-Town.” The jangly-rock song finds our narrator and her significant other during a disagreement in Portland, Ore. (one of Hiatt’s favorite towns) that’s unfortunately based on a real moment in her life. Hiatt told PopMatters.com: “It was a fun song to write, but had I written it two years ago, there would have been a little more pain. To me, it’s a bit funny, and I can laugh to myself about the whole week. It’s impossible to be a visitor there and not have a great time, but somehow in that week, I was able to get wrapped up in a frenzy of emotion.” And, yes Lilly, I absolute hate it when people say, “it is what it is”!!  

92. "Long Hard Life" by 49 Winchester 
One of the funkiest songs to make the list this year is 49 Winchester’s “Long Hard Life,” about how hard it is when all you have to show in this world is 13 acres of property, three dogs, two kids and one wife. Cowboys & Indians magazine explained the song has “so many elements of a classic country song”: “a funky walking bass line, a mid-song key change, an impressive twangy guitar solo, and a humorously told hard-luck tale involving a questionable money-making scheme.”  There’s no doubt the song from the Virginian band is a helluva lot of fun. 

91. "California" by Steve Martin with Steep Canyon Rangers
Steve Martin is a true renaissance man; he can pretty much do it all. Many know by now he’s an incredibly good banjo player and records albums with the bluegrass outfit Steep Canyon Rangers. Early in 2020 I saw Martin and Steep Canyon Rangers on “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” performing a new song called “California” and it immediately stuck with me. It’s quintessential Martin mixing fun humor with excellent picking. 

90. "Lost in the City Lights" by Johnny Falstaff 
You can get lost in time listening to Johnny Falstaff’s “Lost in the City Lights,” the title track to his latest album. The twang of his Telecaster guitar and the crying of a steel guitar just take you back in time to a honky tonk, where some might be shedding a tear in their beer at the bar while others spinning their loved ones around the dance floor. Falstaff told ProCountryMusic.com: “This one takes me to a peculiar little corner of my mind. I had moved back home to Texas from Nashville in ’91, kicked it around with a few bands, and eventually put one together called The Sundowners. Houston had a really cool scene at the time, and we would put on the Western finery and go out carousing amongst it. That is what the song is about and I think it still holds true.” 

89. "Emmylou" by Gabe Lee
Gabe Lee’s 2019 debut album farmland was one of my favorite releases of last year, so it was surprising that Lee already had a sophomore release in March of this year with Honky Tonk Hell. The album sees Lee make a departure from the John Prine-esque songwriting of his first and going in a more country than folk direction. My favorite track on Honky Tonk Hell is Lee’s piano-driven (there’s also some nice organ on the track too) ballad “Emmylou,” which sees Lee at his best singing a heartbreak ballad about a woman. Lee’s vocal on the track is one of the most powerful on any record this year with Saving Country Music’s Kyle Coroneos saying of it: “It’s not just about some natural gift of singing. It’s his instinct to know how to use it. The second time Gabe sings the simple named, ‘Emmylou,’ you’d swear it would have the power to make a barren field sprout flowers with the amount of emotion contained in those few fleeting, but eloquently elongated syllables. 

88. "Hotter Than Hades" by Anna Lynch 
The first thing that captured my attention on Anna Lynch’s “Hotter Than Hades” was her stunning vocals, especially the twang in her voice when she hits that ‘ha’ sound on ‘hotter’ in the chorus. “Hotter Than Hades,” off 2020’s Apples in the Fall, is an exploration of modern love in the age of finding hookups and potential relationships via apps like Tinder. Lynch told WideOpenCountry.com, “I wrote [the song] whilst being a single person being extremely frustrated with the whole modern courting process, I was frustrated with feeling like I should be ashamed for being ‘promiscuous’ (I hate that word so much) and I think the most hurtful judgment is from my fellow women.”

87. "Mama Drank" by Jessi Alexander
Jessi Alexander’s “Mama Drank” is in the vein of tough country women like Loretta Lynn or more modernly Miranda Lambert (heck I could see the track on a Lambert album). “Mama Drank” is about your every day, blue collar woman trying to do it all for her family – both working a full-time job and being a mother and wife to her kids and husband and all the hard work both of those things entail and how you just need a little something to take the edge off. Alexander told The Boot: “[This song is] one I had to live to write. I had this title when our firstborn was probably six months old. I think I said it as I was changing a diaper or something.” It’s the real stuff that makes for the best country music. 

86. "Watch the World Die" by Cody Jinks 
When is Cody Jinks not releasing new music? Despite having two complete album releases in 2019 and one the year before that he found time to release “Watch the World Die” in 2020. It’s a more apocalyptic take on how things have been going in 2020, but with a fairly positive spin about how if the world truly is dying he’s just going to sit back and make love to the woman he loves and let everything else burn around him. Guess there are definitely worse ways to go if we’re truly approaching the end times. 

85. "Drive" by Austin Lucas 
Austin Lucas goes back to his punk rock roots for “Drive,” off his latest album Alive in the Hot Zone. I love the imagery of just being alone out on the highway with all the thoughts racing through your head as the white lines pass by and particularly the line about playing the steering wheel like a drum (because I’m constantly doing that). Lucas told Americana-UK.com, “The song goes out to anyone escaping horrible situations at home, in order to live as their truest and most authentic selves.” 

84. "Janie Lynn" by The Wilder Blue (Hill Country)
Zane Williams has been one of the best in the Texas country music scene for a while now – he’s appeared on this annual list multiple times – so it was not a shock to me that his newest project The Wilder Blue (which started out as Hill Country and then changed names after its first album release, but before its first year as an act even finished in a confusing mess perhaps due to the generic-ness of the name) would release one of my favorite story songs of the year, “Janie Lynn.” “Janie Lynn” is a Western tale about a miner who rides into town and becomes enamored by the sight of the titular woman, a dancing girl at a bar, and the short relationship between the two. When the drunken narrator sees Janie Lynn being roughed up by another man he kills that man and is sentenced to death for the killing, but tells his love that, “ten minutes with you was better than a lifetime in the mine.” OK, so that line is maybe too much, but the song still rocks. 

83. "Sinner, Saint, S.O.B." by The Statesboro Revue feat. Wade Bowen
Austin’s The Statesboro Revue released one of my favorite raucous little country-blue-rock numbers of the year with “Sinner, Saint, S.O.B.,” featuring red dirt legend Wade Bowen as a guest. With one of the catchiest choruses of 2020 - “Look at me how I’m shinin’/like a West Texas bolt of lightnin’/all the girls are linin’ up to take a ride with me/I’m the highest member of my family tree/I’m a sinner, I’m a saint, I’m a S.O.B.” – the group is showing that all sorts of genres meld together perfectly down in Austin, Texas. 

82. "100 Proof Honk-Tonk" by The Reeves Brothers
With piano playing reminiscent of Jerry Lee Lewis or Mickey Gilley’s “Don’t the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time,” The Reeves Brothers’ “100 Proof Honky-Tonk” kicks off with one of the finest honky tonk numbers in recent memory. The narrator’s girl has left him and he wants to drown his sorrows at the bar with classic country on the jukebox and if it’s not straight-up cheating songs with crying steel guitar it’s just not going to do for him. 

81. "Body in a Boxcar" by Sunny Sweeney
If you’ve never had a chance to see Sunny Sweeney live in concert then you’re really missing out. It’s a raucous show filled with terrifically traditional country music from one of the best songwriters in the Texas Music scene. On Recorded Live at The Machine Shop Recording Studio, Sweeney and her band captures the live sound of their shows perfectly with many of her career’s best works, but a real highlight is “Body in a Boxcar,” a new song co-written with Buddy Owens and Galen Griffin, filled with steel guitar and an incredible fiddle solo it’s honky tonk at its finest.  

80. "Dreamsicle" by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
“Dreamsicle” by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit really hits home the sadness experienced by children from broken families forced to move from town to town. The line that particularly hits me comes early on: “Gotta break the news to all my friends/but they won’t care/they’ll just find another face/to fall behind, to take my place/to run way out past second base/and just stand there.” Wow! “Dreamsicle” has all these traditional memories of childhood like eating ice cream in a folding chair on a summer night, but there’s this beautiful tragedy underneath it all about how things could have been had mom and dad just stayed together. Isbell truly does have a great knack for finding beauty amidst such sadness in his songs. In some ways that makes him a natural torch bearer for his last friend John Prine – though I feel Isbell is probably too humble to agree with the comparison. 

79. "Babies in Cages" by Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers have proven time and time again, especially over this last decade, that they aren’t going to pull any punches when it comes to their music and if you have an issue with it you can move along. This year’s The Unraveling pretty much picked up where 2016’s excellent American Band left off when it comes to songs about the current state of the U.S. and with a song titled “Babies in Cages” I’m sure you know where it’s headed. I first heard the song live in concert at a DBT show in Little Rock in 2018 more than a year before it appeared on this album. It’s essentially songwriter Patterson Hood struggling with how to explain to his children the horrors this country has become when the President and his administration have no qualms about separating children from their parents at our Southern border and keeping them in cages. It’s horrifying, but it’s also important that musicians like DBT won’t just let it slide and disappear. 

78. "St. Augustine at Night" by Dawes
Taylor Goldsmith has proven to be one of the most adroit songwriters in the Americana genres – sure, some would consider Dawes more indie rock, but it’s all relative for me. His pen is delicate as he weaves a story like “St. Augustine At Night,” from the group’s seventh studio album Good Luck with Whatever, about one’s relationship with their hometown (in the song’s case St. Augustine, Fla.) and when you’re young your hometown might seem idyllic, but once you mature you view it more as a trap. Goldsmith told Rolling Stone: “[It’s] also a song about the varying degrees to which we all watch our lives pass us by.” 

77. "Monte Carlo" by Caleb Caudle
Caleb Caudle’s gritty “Monte Carlo” is just a bad ass of a song. It’s the kind of tune that makes you want to jump in your own car and beat on down the road to nowhere in particular. Caudle told Rolling Stone: “I have to give full credit to my childhood for the imagery in this one. My grandpa had a 1970 Monte Carlo that was glitter green with dark green leather seats. He had a little Batman figurine hanging from the rear view. We would ride all over the back roads in North Carolina.” It’s a fantastic rootsy rocker about just pressing that peddle to the floor and going for broke. 

76. "Die Midwestern" by Arlo McKinley 
Arlo McKinley is trying to come to grips with something I’m sure a lot of folks from the Midwest (and I know some folks from the South, where I’m from) have to come to grips with – love of hometown coupled with the desire to branch out and find or do something bigger elsewhere. In “Die Midwestern,” the title track from McKinley’s latest album, he fears it’s time for a make or break decision or he’ll wind up too old and set in his ways to do anything about it.