Sound Obsession

Another year done and gone, and what a great year for music.  These are my top ten favorite albums of 2024, in alphabetical order by artist name . . . . 49 Winchester:   Leavin' This Holler     (New West - 8/2/24) This six-piece country rock outfit out of southwest Virginia is one of independent roots music's greatest success stories in recent years, and one of my favorites - soundtracking many a road trip and impromptu singalong.  Comfort food embodied in music.  The title of their fifth album, Leavin’ This Holler , may as well be metaphorical as it finds the band spreading their wings and reaching for wider horizons.  Following their breakout album from 2022, Fortune Favors The Bold , here we get even more expansive compositions featuring sweeping strings and thundering choirs, finding the band in more sophisticated spaces without compromising their down home Appalachian sensibility. ...

This year unfolded casually for me, musically speaking, with most of my favorite albums arriving during its latter months.  At its start 2022 showed no particular promise, no major albums on the horizon, and no favorite artists announcing elaborate album cycles and tours.  Years like this often prove to be the most musically rewarding as I get a chance to explore freely, spend time with artists and genres I'd previously neglected, and stumble serendipitously on new favorites.  The first half of the year I spent a great deal of time with an era of country music I'd only experienced begrudgingly and in meager doses the first time around - 80's and 90's country.  George Strait and Clint Black became new favorites.  Even Garth Brooks earned my respect - based on a front-row stadium concert experience this summer that I consider among the best of my life so far.  Brooks' charm and energy fall somewhere between that of a preacher and a pro-wrestler, and the songs...