Albums 2019 - Top Ten

Based on the number of cowboy hats on display on these album covers, the running musical theme for me in 2019 is fairly obvious.  No surprise, despite being a relative neophyte, my top ten favorite albums list last year was dominated by independent country music too.  With a staggering pool of new talent to explore, I continued that deep dive again this year.  Though unexpected for me just a few years ago, I've fallen pretty hard for country music's history, its sounds, its evocative storytelling, and its sense of timelessness.

The following ten albums are my favorites of 2019.  I've chosen not to rank them, so they're listed in alphabetical order by artist name.  Any of these could be my favorite depending on the day of the week, but if I had to grab one right now for the desert island, it'd be Charles Wesley Godwin's Seneca Creek (with Joshua Ray Walker's Wish You Were Here a close second).

Check out my 2019 runners up & honorable mention list too.  A bit more variety of genre there.

Sit a spell.  Have a listen.  I hope you enjoy. . . .

Taylor Alexander:  Good Old Fashioned Pain (Hail Mary Records - 4/12/19)

Taylor Alexander knows how to roll with the punches.  This Georgia native and current Nashville resident successfully auditioned for NBC's The Voice back in 2017 with a novel country arrangement of Cher's "Believe", only to be eliminated soon after.  No doubt a blessing in disguise, Alexander took the loss as an opportunity to write, record, and release his debut album independently and the results are impressive.  Chock full of old-fashioned country instrumentation and earnest songs about humility, hard work, gratitude, and taking life one day at a time, Good Old Fashioned Pain is a Alexander's mission statement.  No pain, no gain.

Black Pumas:  Black Pumas (ATO Records - 6/21/19)

The Black Pumas specialize in a certain type of vintage funk, soul, and Afro-Latin psychedelia frequently imitated but rarely perfected, until now.  This Austin, TX, outfit is lead by former street busker Eric Burton on vocals and industry veteran Adrian Quesada on guitar and production.  Barely two years running, with sold-out tour dates around the globe, this nascent group is already nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy.  With good reason, The Black Pumas deliver a stellar debut album of stone-cold jams and aching lyricism on love, community, and empowerment.  Somewhere Wu-Tang producer RZA is bumping Black Pumas in his whip, figuring out what samples to swipe.    

Charley Crockett:  The Valley (Son of Davy - 9/20/19)

Undoubtedly among the coolest cats in contemporary country, and certainly one of its hardest working, Charley Crockett is a vessel of American music.  Four years and already six albums deep, Crockett made his way out of his native South Texas at a young age to pay dues as a rambling street busker.  Mixed race, mixed culture, and apparent decedent of Davy Crockett, Charley cooks up a rich gumbo of jazz, blues, rock, hip-hop, soul, zydeco, and country music, paying respect to legends past while paving the way forward.  On The Valley, recorded just prior to undergoing emergency heart surgery, Crockett crafts shimmering paeans to the call of the open road vs. the pull of one's home. 

Vincent Neil Emerson:  Fried Chicken & Evil Women (La Honda Records - 9/13/19)

Unassuming and unruffled, Vincent Neil Emerson knows his way around a wry country lyric and a bouncing western swing arrangement.   Hailing from East Texas and keeping great company in a growing underground scene of like-minded misfits and outlaws like Colter Wall and Charley Crockett, while tipping his hat to musical heroes like Johnny Fritz, Justin Townes Earle, and Willie Nelson, Emerson releases a doozy of a debut album.  Steeped in classic pedal steel and honky-tonk piano, on Fried Chicken & Evil Women Emerson recounts tales of small-town stagnation, hell raisin', life gone pear-shaped, and the frequent indignities of life on the road. 

Charles Wesley Godwin:  Seneca (Charles Wesley Godwin - 2/15/19)

Not to discount a certain red-headed phenom from the hollers of Eastern Kentucky, I'd say West Virginia-born Charles Wesley Godwin takes the crown this year for his native Appalachia with his stunning debut album.  Written, produced, and released independently, Seneca Creek is at once intimate, epic, and profoundly moving.  Hailing from an oft maligned region hit hard by industrial plunder, generational poverty, and addiction, Godwin could've easily painted a grim portrait but instead delivers a message of hope and resilience.  With a honeyed bellow and a knack for vivid lyricism, Godwin pays homage to Appalachia's rich history, independent spirit, and natural splendor.  Essential listening.

Gethen Jenkins:  Western Gold (5 Music - 7/26/19)

Western Gold is pure, no-fuss, American honky-tonk music from a latter day country outlaw.  Born in West Virginia and raised in a Native American village in rural Alaska, Gethen Jenkins served eight years in the US Marine Corps, including deployment to Iraq in 2003.  Now based in Southern California, and a regular performer at high desert roadhouse Pappy & Harriet's, Jenkins releases his debut album.  In a hearty baritone, with a touch of grunge-era yarl in his country drawl, Jenkins covers all the bases - drinking the pain away, lost love and reconciliation, the call of the road, and leaving the Corp for some well-deserved R&R hauling ass on his custom built chopper.     

Kendell Marvel:  Solid Gold Sounds (Easy Eye Sound - 10/11/19)

Nashville denizen, by way of Southern Illinois, Kendell Marvel logged considerable time writing for country luminaries like Jamey Johnson, Brothers Osborne, and Chris Stapleton before embarking on a solo recording career.  On his sophomore album, Solid Gold Sounds, Marvel links up with Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach to produce a lavish collection of recordings recalling a bygone era with choral accompaniment, strings, horns, twinkling bells, pedal steel, and baritone vocals drenched in reverb and phaser.  Despite the opulent studio treatment, among Auerbach's best, Marvel keeps these songs lyrically grounded and efficient, always focused on those three chords and the truth.  

Mike & The Moonpies:  Cheap Silver & Solid Country Gold (Prairie Rose Records - 8/2/19)

Austin, TX, five-piece Mike and the Moonpies made this top ten list last year with their jubilant fourth album Steak Night at the Prairie Rose. So how does a shit-hot honky-tonk outfit follow up a critically lauded, career-making LP?  They roll the dice and detour to London's legendary Abbey Road Studios to record their fifth.  The gamble pays off.  Dripping with luxuriant string arrangements, gorgeous pedal steel, easy tempos, clever lyricism, and crooning vocals, Cheap Silver and Solid Country Gold is among country's most unusual and rewarding albums this year.  If James Bond ever gets rebooted as a Western, this would be the soundtrack.

Sturgill Simpson:  Sound & Fury (Elektra - 9/27/19)

Kentucky native Sturgill Simpson has turned on'ry and mean.  Launched into the spotlight with back-to-back Dave Cobb productions spanning the traditional to the psychedelic, and a self-produced Grammy-winning opus incorporating funk and soul, Simpson was hoisted up as country music's new savior.  He'll have none of it.  On his fourth studio album, again self-produced, Simpson torches the playbook and delivers something as ugly as it is thrilling - a confrontational rock & roll record.  Drenched in lyrical piss and vinegar amidst a whirlwind of screeching electric guitar, buzzing synthesizer, and elephantine disco rhythms, Sound & Fury is high-octane music for the end times.                      

Joshua Ray Walker:  Wish You Were Here (State Fair Records - 1/25/19)

Joshua Ray Walker has a way with words and pulls off a great yodel too.  Born and raised in Dallas, TX, honing his musical skills from a young age, Walker recorded his debut album at the same studio where Willie Nelson sought refuge from the Nashville bustle to create his 70's classic Red Headed Stranger.  Imbued with that same mojo, Walker crafts a remarkable collection of vignettes and character studies - an underage prostitute dutifully earning her way, an aimless ex-lover finding solace in his former partner's misplaced diary, and two last-call strangers drawn together if only to keep the solitude at bay.  Graceful, humorous, and heartbreaking, Wish You Were Here is an understated triumph.
   

Check out my 2019 runners up and honorable mentions.