Top 25 Albums for AMA's 25th Anniversary Year • Americana Highways

Top 25 Albums for AMA’s 25th Anniversary Year

25 years ago, spurred by conversations that took place at South by Southwest in Austin, the Americana Music Association became a reality. In September 2000, the nascent organization held its first conference in Nashville. Two years later, the Americana Honors and Awards came into being. As the Association celebrates its 25th anniversary at this month’s AmericanaFest, it seems like a good time to look back at the best Americana records of the past quarter century. There’s no formal “criteria” to this list – some albums were pivotal breakthroughs for a career artist, some expanded the definition or popularity of the genre, and some are just damn good records. And there’s just one rule – each artist is limited to one appearance on the chart. With that established, the top 25(ish) albums of the Americana era:

25) (tie) – Bruce Springsteen, The Rising (2002) and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Echo (1999) – These two artists are grouped together as a result of their continuing influence on Americana music, and because these albums are the last truly great records either man has produced. Career highlights for both can be found -“Empty Sky” with its devastating couplet “I want a kiss from your lips/I want an eye for an eye” captures, in 14 words, how almost all of us felt in the days after 9/11. And Petty’s “Room at the Top” is one of the most nakedly lonely songs you’re bound to hear.

24) Hurray for the Riff Raff, The Past Is Still Alive (2024) – Alynda Segarra’s latest offering will likely end up at the top of my 2024 year-end list, partially because it feels so of-the-moment. Truthfully, though, it’s their life story in a taut (and beautiful) 35 minutes. Lines like “”Say goodbye to America/I wanna see it dissolve/I can be your poster boy for the great American fall” (in the gorgeous “Colossus of Roads”) feel so immediate, especially in a year where we could put MAGAs back in charge, that I hesitated placing it on this list, out of fear of recency bias. More likely, though, is seeing it even higher on my “30 for 30”-style list five years from now.

23) Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses, Roadhouse Sun (2009) – Before Bingham won an Oscar and got carted off (temporarily, as it turns out) to Yellowstone’s mythical Train Station, this one-time real-life bull rider regularly released excellent Southwestern-tinged country records. His second album hits cultural touchstones (“Dylan’s Hard Rain”), but mainly strives for – and nails – the hard-working, middle class American sweet spot that modern day country radio only pretends to care about.

22) American Aquarium, Burn. Flicker. Die. (2012) – BJ Barham’s band found its niche with this release, produced by Jason Isbell. Twangy anthems with more than a dash of punk delivery, combined with sadness (the heartbreaking “Jacksonville”) and fatalistic resolve (in the title track, spitting out “We do what we can, we put up a fight/Then we burn too long, we flicker and die”), the still hard-drinking frontman vowed to keep going until he couldn’t. Fortunately, all Barham’s quit since then is the drinking – his “live, original, independent” attitude continues to this day.

21) Adia Victoria, A Southern Gothic (2021) – The blues singer-songwriter gained national attention in 2020 with her standout protest single “South Gotta Change.” This provided just a hint of the ferocity found on her next album which, while gaining some amount of acclaim via its guest appearances (Margo Price, Jason Isbell, Matt Berninger among them), truly rested on Victoria dismembering the myth that there’s only one Southern Gothic.

20) Brennen Leigh, Prairie Love Letter (2020) – This refreshingly unsentimental look at a singer’s homeland (in Leigh’s case, the Minnesota/North Dakota border) is a reminder that lessons and values learned in youth are best served when applied to the outside world (especially in the tender, heartbreaking unspoken love triangle “Billy and Beau”). Leigh’s tales – and effortlessly beautiful voice – made me long for a prairie I’d never seen.

19) Waxahatchee, St. Cloud (2020) – Released days after COVID lockdowns started, the open, airy feeling of Katie Crutchfield’s first full-on dive into roots music (produced by Brad Cook and soundtracked by Michigan band Bonny Doon) felt like a breath of freedom in a closed-down world. A deeper listen, though, revealed her struggles with sobriety. Crutchfield’s been called a modern-day version of Lucinda Williams. While that may be unfair (to both artists), the respect she’s gained in the Americana world via St. Cloud and this year’s Tigers Blood will burnish her own standing for years.

18) Johnny Cash, American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002) – This record could be here because it was Mr. Cash’s last album released before his death, or because the lively title track has been cleverly dropped into numerous movie trailers, or because of its unironic take on Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus,” or really just because it’s Johnny Goddamn Cash. But his indelible cover of “Hurt,” accompanied with a heartbreaking video showing some of the last images of Johnny and June together…it makes no Earthly sense that one of his greatest moments would be a solemn cover of a Nine Inch Nails song, but what a gift he left us by doing it.

17) Elizabeth Cook, Welder (2010) – Sex, shitty cars and heroin – they’re all characters on Cook’s fifth studio album. And while the clever diss-turned-desire “El Camino” has more genuine laughs than four minutes of your average Netflix comedy special, it’s the familial heartbreak (in “Heroin Addict Sister”) and outright lust (in the incredibly sexy “Follow You Like Smoke,” penned by then-husband Tim Carroll) that’ll stick with you.

16) Lucinda Williams, Essence (2001) – Speaking of lust…the title track to Williams’ Car Wheels on a Gravel Road follow-up may just be the sexiest song ever written. “Steal Your Love” and “Get Right with God” are top-notch Lucinda songs, too, but it’s “Essence” that puts this record, over West and Ghosts of Highway 20, on this list.

15) Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real (2017) – Sure, he’s got the last name, but he’s earned everything musically with talent and hard work – Neil Young doesn’t ask you to tour with him because you’ve got the right genes. So it’s ironic that his best bit of songwriting comes from leaning right into his father’s legacy with “Forget About Georgia,” which drives home how painful playing a love song – on stage, every night, with Dad – can truly be.

14) Songs: Ohia, Magnolia Electric Co. (2003) – Sometimes when I listen to this, I hear Neil Young. Recently, I’ve been hearing MJ Lenderman. Jason Molina was originally a hard sell for me, until I started to hear the lineage from his influences right up to what I listen to today. From the light twang of “The Old Black Hen” to the crunching guitars of “John Henry Split My Heart,” this record is alt-country at its very best.

13) Brandi Carlile, By The Way, I Forgive You (2018) – You could just as easily put her breakthrough, 2007’s The Story, here. Either way, Carlile HAS to be on this list, but “The Joke” (my top song of 2018) continues to be an absolutely essential primer of where we are on human rights in this country – making progress, ever so slowly, but not nearly there yet. The kids in this song, though? They’re the ones who will get us there.

12) Sturgill Simpson, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (2014) – Two years before A Sailor’s Guide to Earth landed Simpson a Best Album Grammy nom and an SNL invite, this record seemed to break open a dam, giving old-school country fans something new to love. Sneakily, though, amongst the Bakersfield-influenced twangers, he also included a gorgeously country cover of the previously synthy “The Promise” by English pop band When in Rome, showing us, early on, that Sturgill can do whatever the hell he wants.

11) Chris Stapleton, Traveller (2015) – Stapleton kicked around country music for years, including time as a songwriter and fronting bluegrass band The SteelDrivers. But NO ONE saw this solo debut pushing him to superstardom. Sure, performing “Tennessee Whiskey” with Justin Timberlake at the CMAs didn’t hurt, but his success comes from nothing more complicated than good damn songs and a once-in-a-generation voice.

10) O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2000) – I’m usually against putting multi-artist soundtracks on any sort of list, but this album, produced by T-Bone Burnett, introduced much of America to Alison Krauss, Dan Tyminski, Gillian Welch and the legendary Ralph Stanley. Roots music, for a moment, was the hippest thing going. And “I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow” is a banger.

9) Ryan Adams, Gold (2001) – I haven’t forgotten the New York Times piece – far from it. His career took a much-deserved hit, in terms of both sales and respect. But, before we knew all the bad stuff, he released some damn good music, and this record is one of the reasons I’m here writing. From the heartbreaking coincidence of the video for “New York, New York” (shot on September 7, 2001) to “When the Stars Go Blue” (so good, it was covered by everyone from Tim McGraw to The Corrs (with Bono!)), this is the prolific Adams’ best collection of songs. It took me a long time to go back to listening to any of his music, but when I did, this was the first thing I reached for.

8) Gillian Welch, Time (The Revelator) (2001) – Welch and partner David Rawlings are truly inseparable – they appear on virtually all of each other’s work, no matter whose name is above the title. Here, Welch and her incomparably unadorned voice take the lead with a collection of songs that travel across a chunk of American history, including Elvis and Dr. King, before concluding with the hypnotic 14-minute masterpiece, “I Dream a Highway.”

7) Our Native Daughters, Songs of Our Native Daughters (2019) – I generally loathe the descriptor “important” music, but this record is just that. Comprised of Rhiannon Giddens, Amethyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla and Allison Russell, this group traces the history of black women in America (and, along with it, the evolution of the banjo) from slave ships right up to, well, today. This history still stings. But only if you take the time to listen.

6) John Prine, The Tree of Forgiveness (2018) – We didn’t know that this would be Mr. Prine’s last album. At the time, we enjoyed having him back making music with his friends, whether it was the heartbreaking “Summer’s End” or the horny “Egg & Daughter Nite, Lincoln Nebraska, 1967 (Crazy Bone).” If COVID hadn’t stolen him from us in 2020, this would still be a great album. But listening now to “When I Get to Heaven”…you realize how cruel, and how joyful, life can be. And he’d certainly prefer we remember the joy.

5) Allison Russell, Outside Child (2021) – Since we’re on a run of finding beautiful music amongst the pain of living, let’s slide Russell’s solo debut in here. Detailing her life of abuse as a girl and teen, Russell still found solace in young love and music. Before she became the representation of all that’s good in Nashville, she had to clear her story from her soul. What she went through would end more than a few people. Instead, she made one of this century’s most beautiful records.

4) Big Thief, Dragon Warm Mountain I Believe in You (2022) – This beloved, quirky indie band broke wide with this double album, with songs that spanned subjects like heartbreak (“Change”), road trips (“Wake Me Up to Drive”) and potato knishes (“Spud Infinity’), alternating between intense, dreamy and (occasionally) silly with enviable ease. Especially since this ridiculously prolific band somehow hasn’t released a proper album in 2 ½ years, the last words on this record – “What should we do now?” – leave us anxious for more.

3) Drive-By Truckers, Southern Rock Opera (2001) – The album starts with a car wreck and ends with a plane crash, but it’s the legendary Alabama figures in between – Ronnie Van Zant, George Wallace and Bear Bryant – that help Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley tell the tale of a still-very messed up South. It took years to record (and was repeatedly almost scrapped), but what we’re left with is a filthy, guitar-ridden epic that began to reveal the power and poetry of what is still, 23 years later, America’s best rock ‘n’ roll band.

2) Tyler Childers, Purgatory (2017) – The loyal Kentuckian who, today, can (and does) do whatever he damn well pleases musically, was still a nascent talent – respected, but mostly unknown outside of a hardcore group of believers, just seven years ago. Then this album hit, and it stayed – on the charts (it was a Billboard mainstay for years), and on turntables and jukeboxes, even if radio never gave it a proper sniff. The songs – “Whitehouse Road,” “Feathered Indians,” “Lady May” – continue to define Americana, even if Childers might prefer a different term.

1) Jason Isbell, Southeastern (2013) – This one changed everything: hearts, minds, how we looked at recovering alcoholics – think about how much more carefully and respectfully we talk about addicts in the time since “Cover Me Up” came out (and since Isbell began talking so openly and honestly about his struggles and successes). From the soul-crushing “Elephant” to the raucous “Super 8” to the ultimately optimistic “Relatively Easy,” this is a collection of beautifully written, perfectly played songs that pull moments from what could be anyone’s life and hope to point out a path to something better.