45 RPM (Reasons to Purchase Music) for 2025
Musically, 2025 stands out for two reasons – 1) the indie country boom and 2) being backloaded as hell. Eight of my top albums came out in the second half of the year, and four of them (plus several of my top songs) could comfortably be categorized as indie country, per my own definition – “the slightly disheveled city cousin to Americana’s country mouse” – that I used in my August review of Greg Freeman’s record, Burnover (yes, it’s on the list). But 2025 had excellent music throughout the year, across several genres (seriously – if your own year-end list is ruled by one hyper-specific genre, you need to get out more). Presented with wide-open ears, here’s my 45 RPM (Reasons to Purchase Music) for 2025.
Top 10-ish Albums
11) Mavis Staples, Sad and Beautiful World – It’s produced by Brad Cook and features songs and guest spots from our best indie and Americana artists (Kevin Morby, Katie Crutchfield, MJ Lenderman, Jeff Tweedy, Allison Russell, Hozier, etc), but the heart of this troubled, but ultimately hopeful, record is all Ms. Staples. In our deeply messy times, we may not deserve Mavis, but we need her.
https://stores.portmerch.com/mavisstaples/
10) Kathleen Edwards, Billionaire – After taking time from music to sling coffee in Ottawa, Edwards returned to form with 2020’s excellent Total Freedom. This record, though, is her best since 2002’s Failer. Produced by Gena Johnson and Jason Isbell, Billionaire’s title track has Edwards’ most emotive vocals to date, while also featuring tunes excoriating us for our selfishness (“Need a Ride”) and celebrating her new favorite place (“FLA”).
https://www.dualtonestore.com/collections/kathleen-edwards
9) Wednesday, Bleeds – Putting aside all of the gossip (her break-up with still-in-the-band MJ Lenderman is the second biggest separation in the Americana sphere), Karly Hartzman continues to make the band her personal outlet for some of the best observational songwriting around.
https://www.wednesday.band/merch
8) Neu Blume, Let It Win – The Detroit (via Tempe, Arizona) duo – Mo Neuharth and Colson Miller – produced a full-length debut that’s warm and begs to be played on a car stereo during a long, unhurried road trip. Careful, though – Miller’s subtle, chime-y guitars and Neuharth’s gorgeously melancholy vocals on tracks like “Fourth of July” are likely to set your mind dangerously adrift.
https://neublume.bigcartel.com/
7) Laney Jones and the Spirits, Laney Jones and the Spirits – This Nashville quartet managed to, with zero fanfare, kick out the best straight-up rock record of 2025. Whether serving up attitude in the gloriously noisy “Waiting on You” or carefully cataloging their emotions after the loss of their dog in “Bitch Year,” Jones and husband/drummer Brian Dowd show a knack for writing hooky ass-kickers.
https://ffm.to/lrqqd2x
6) Greg Freeman, Burnover – Some of the best songwriting of 2025 can be found on the Vermonter’s second album. Whether it’s broken car windows, historic trees, or the messy Rust film set, Freeman approaches his subjects with a mix of subtle quirk and dark humor, all delivered with remarkably unaffected vocals.
https://gregfreeman.merchtable.com/?
5) Lily Seabird, Trash Mountain – Speaking of Vermont, she’s the would-be queen (if she had even a whiff of pretension) of the Burlington scene. Remarkably detailed (“There was a man pushing a shopping cart full of bottles of belief” in the “1pm” version of the title track), yet seemingly applicable to just about every American small city, Seabird lyrically illustrates our mess of a year.
https://lilyseabird.bandcamp.com/album/trash-mountain
4) Snocaps, Snocaps – Billed as an indie supergroup of sorts which includes MJ Lenderman and Brad Cook, this reportedly one-off record centers around the songwriting talents of sisters Allison and Katie Crutchfield, who once upon a time performed together as P.S. Eliot. Having moved onto other projects (Katie records as Waxahatchee, Allison working at a record label), the twins have reunited to record a collection full of indie janglers with just a bit of Katie’s more recently acquired sense of twang. And dang, it’s a fun listen.
https://kf-merch.com/collections/waxahatchee
3) Dove Ellis, Blizzard – The Irish songwriter’s biggest boost came from a series of shows opening for indie upstarts Geese, but that – and all the goodwill that comes with it – is earned with Ellis’ poetic, often hypnotizing tunes. Scrapes of strings, bleating saxes and an overall pensive mood color songs like the post-quickie marriage “To The Sandals,” but it’s the 22(!)-year-old’s grown-up wisdom that makes the songs truly stand out.
https://doveellis.bandcamp.com/album/blizzard
2) Jason Isbell, Foxes in the Snow – Speaking of break-ups, two albums this year addressed the biggest elephant (sorry) in the Americana world. While Amanda Shires’ Nobody’s Girl (understandably) took on the wreckage left by a shattered marriage and broken home, Isbell’s album, featuring just his voice and his 1940 Martin 0-17 acoustic guitar, largely looks forward – updated life expectations and new love inform most of the 11 songs.
https://stores.portmerch.com/jasonisbell/jason-isbell-music-and-video.html
1) Fust, Big Ugly – March 7 was, musically, the best day of 2025, bringing us the top two records on this list. Songwriter Aaron Dowdy is the leading figure in the latest generation of Southern storytellers – booze, back roads and busted furniture are just a few of the tropes that Dowdy twists into newfound observations about small town living. The characters are flawed, yet lovable in their fuckuppery. Like most of the folks we all know.
https://fust.band/merch
Top 25 Songs
25) Vandoliers, “Valencia” – “Three cheers for the lovers who can’t touch” may be the most heartbreaking lyric of the year. But bands like this, and brave folks like lead singer Jenni Rose, are hoping to create a bigotry-free future where lovers of all stripes won’t have to hide.
https://store.vandoliers.com/
24) Big Thief, “Los Angeles” – While Double Infinity didn’t reach the indie ubiquity that 2022’s Dragon Warm Mountain I Believe in You did, Adrianne Lenker still knows how to write a damn gorgeous song, and “I’d follow you forever/Even without looking” is one of her most happy sigh-worthy couplets.
https://store.bigthief.net/collections/music?filter.v.availability=1
23) Josh Fortenbery, “Poppy’s Waltz” – The Alaska-based Fortenbery shares some of the best songwriting traits (dark humor, self-deprecation) of none other than John Prine, but this complicated – and loving – story of the singer’s grandfather is a song no one else could write.
https://joshfortenbery.bandcamp.com/album/tidy-memorial
22) Craig Finn, “Bethany” – The Hold Steady frontman’s record, Always Been, is largely a character sketch of a failed preacher, and this lead track introduces Nathan to us, defrocked and somewhat desperate – “Drinking off what’s left of the glasses on the table/When the couples get their checks and walk away.”
https://merchnow.com/collections/craig-finn
21) Willow Avalon, “Gettin’ Rich, Goin’ Broke” – The singer’s Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell was one of this year’s most pleasantly surprising debuts, but this track reminds us that even those relatively new to the biz are subject to the same old industry B.S. – “The more they take/The more there ain’t no pennies in the piggy left for me.”
https://store.warnermusic.com/products/southern-belle-raisin-hell-opaque-baby-pink
20) Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band, “New Threats from the Soul” – Davis’s twisty indie country album is definitely one album I didn’t spend enough time with this year, but the nine minute-plus title track displays all the best traits of this dense record: equal parts sax and pedal steel and a twisty narrative that invites – and rewards – active listening.
https://sophomorelounge.bandcamp.com/album/ryan-davis-the-roadhouse-band-new-threats-from-the-soul
19) Friendship, “Betty Ford” – The Philly-based band, fronted by Dan Wriggins, released Caveman Wakes Up, which included this typically laconic, yet subtly heartrending, look at addiction – “I’vе been on a mission every day of my life/At thе top of my game/Stupid high.”
https://friendshipphl.bandcamp.com/album/caveman-wakes-up
18) SG Goodman, “Heaven Song” – This nearly-nine minute tune is a winding road trip featuring Love, Faith, Jesus and a dog, but it’s the part about twin brothers that’s stuck with me all year long – “You could hardly tell the one from the other/One said his name was Real, the other Authenticity.” Authenticity can be faked, What Goodman has cannot.
https://stores.portmerch.com/sggoodman/
17) Greg Freeman, “Gone (Can Mean a Lot of Things)” – One of the more straight-up rock songs on Burnover, this one takes down-and-out to new, non-wondrous places – “Just waiting for some company man to can me/And like a sponge for the gin, there grew a beard over every chin.”
https://gregfreeman.merchtable.com/?
16) Brandi Carlile, “Church & State” – Historically, Carlile’s commentary has typically shaded toward subtle and uplifting. In 2025, though, she’s no longer ready to make nice. She busted out this one at Red Rocks prior to the release of Returning to Myself. It’s a none-too-quiet reminder of the freedoms we’re supposed to share, along with a devastating kiss-off to bigots – “They’re here today, then they’re gone forever.”
https://shop.brandicarlile.com/
15) Patterson Hood feat. Waxahatchee, “The Forks of Cypress” – You can hear the humidity drip off this solemn tune as Hood sorts through memories, with Katie Crutchfield’s harmonies providing just enough sweetness to balance out the bitter.
https://pattersonhood.com/records/
14) Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, “South of Here” – The title track from Rateliff’s Americana Music Association’s Album of the Year has the Colorado transplant seeking shelter from the noise – “Then I would have to move away/Maybe south of here they’d let us be.”
https://shop.nathanielrateliff.com/products/south-of-here-pre-order
13) Handsome and the Humbles, “St. Therese” – Josh Smith takes a look back at a busted marriage and a life no longer possible – “I thought of all that would never be/All the places that I’d never see/They felt like home” – in a surprisingly road-worthy anthem.
https://handsomeandthehumbles.bandcamp.com/album/draw-some-blood
12) Geese, “Taxes” – 2025’s indie it-band provided maybe the sonic highlight of the year – about 90 seconds in, when this muted, sludgly tune snaps into focus, with Biblical imagery that climaxes in “You’re gonna have to nail me down.” Loud guitar music is definitely back.
https://geeseband.com/store/
11) Samia, “Bovine Excision” – One of the first songs that grabbed my attention this year. It’s not at all Geese-like, but, with its quiet-to-loud dynamics, it, too, is a sonic thriller.
https://threefourco.com/collections/samia
10) Ken Pomeroy, “Flannel Cowboy” – In which the Oklahoma singer-songwriter subtly dismisses a substandard lover – “There ain’t a way that I deserve it/Then again I’m taking what I want.”
https://rounder.com/collections/ken-pomeroy
9) Laney Jones and the Spirits, “We Belong Together” – This single, from the band’s first full-length, is rock ‘n’ roll at its 2025 best – tempo changes, driving lyrics, and lotsa LOUD guitars.
https://ffm.to/lrqqd2x
8) Kathleen Edwards, “Say Goodbye, Tell No One” – 80s synths and guitar solos (both courtesy of Jason Isbell) allow this un-rushed track time to differentiate between truth and the lack of – “The hardest part about a lie/You can’t outrun it if you try” – with Edwards’ characteristic caustic wit.
https://www.dualtonestore.com/collections/kathleen-edwards
7) Dove Ellis, “Love Is” – The Irish singer-songwriter’s debut is full of gems, with this single – “Love is not the antidote to all your problems” – containing the simplest, best piece of advice sung this year.
https://doveellis.bandcamp.com/album/blizzard
6) Lily Seabird, “Trash Mountain (1pm)”/”Trash Mountain (1am)” – Two inseparable portraits of life in Seabird’s slice of heaven in Burlington, Vermont, a mix of urban decay and a tough love of home – “One street light hangs on the edge of town/I live ten paces beyond in a hole in the ground”
https://lilyseabird.bandcamp.com/album/trash-mountain
5) Jason Isbell, “True Believer” – One of the few songs on Foxes in the Snow that directly references the past and the gossip surrounding it – “Take your hand off my knee, take your foot off my neck/Why are y’all examining me like I’m a murder suspect?” – ends with Isbell declaring an unwavering faith in the future.
https://stores.portmerch.com/jasonisbell/jason-isbell-music-and-video.html
4) Ethel Cain, “Nettles” – To get the entire story behind the song, you could dive into Cain’s 73-minute opus, Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You (a worthwhile endeavor, FYI). But for eight minutes of the most gorgeously melancholy music you’ll hear this year, dial this one up and bathe in the sad.
https://ethelcain.ffm.to/wtialyphys
3) Florry, “First it was a movie, then it was a book” – Florry’s best tracks tend to engender more than a little anxiety – you’re always waiting for them to run right off the rails. “First it was a movie…” is maybe the best example of that – guitar licks that insist on picking up the pace as singer-songwriter Francie Medosch deals with her own agita – “Movie made me sad cos I saw myself in everyone, how’d they make a movie like that?”
https://florry.bandcamp.com/album/sounds-like
2) Wednesday, “Elderberry Wine” – In the Americana world, this was the song of the summer – twangy, bar-set and boozy, but also etched with regret that hits even deeper when you know the history of the players – “Say I wanna have your baby/’Cause I freckle and you tan.”
https://www.wednesday.band/merch
1) Fust, “Spangled” – Somehow both anthemic and intimate – ““And I’m not one to try to get/All the way to heaven/But now I can’t even visit/The last place it was relevant” – this riffy, steely ghost story only hints at the Southern lore in virtually all of Aaron Dowdy’s best work.
https://fust.band/merch
Class of 2025 Superlatives
Most Gorgeous-Sounding Album
John Calvin Abney, Transparent Towns – I wanted to set this record apart from lists – the first time I listened to it, on an advance stream during a late night drive home, it just sounded different, in a way I still can’t quite qualify. Do yourself a favor – give it a proper listen.
https://www.johncalvinabney.com/product-page/transparent-towns
Best Reasons to Release an Album
Luke Bell, The King Is Back – Even when he was with us, Luke Bell was a sorely underappreciated songwriting talent. Now that he’s gone, the ache provided by this outstanding collection (songs mostly unheard until now) is lessened only by the knowledge that all royalties from the album will go toward the Luke Bell Memorial Affordable Counseling Program, helping folks secure mental health care in Bell’s Wyoming home (see link below).
https://stores.portmerch.com/lukebell/
https://www.lbmacp.org/
Shawn Camp, The Ghost of Sis Draper – What to do when you have a book full of story-songs penned with your close friend, the late Guy Clark? Recruit a crack band and bang ‘em out in a single day. This mostly-true story of the legendary itinerant fiddler retains the string band palette that both Draper and Clark preferred to paint with.
https://shawncamp.store/
Best Archival Release
Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska Outtakes – The Boss released 10(!) discs of largely unheard material in 2025, and while Tracks II was the most critically lauded and Electric Nebraska the most heavily anticipated, it was this collection of “leftovers” from the original Nebraska sessions that I’ve returned to the most. From “Losin’ Kind” (a veritable flip side to “Highway Patrolman”) to “Child Bride” (a haunting precursor to “Working on the Highway”), listening to this is comparable to listening to a ghost, an auditory glimpse of what Springsteen might have become if he’d gone solo permanently.
https://brucespringsteen.store/collections/nebraska
Best Live Show(s)
American Aquarium/BJ Barham – The hardest working man in Americana – songwriter, bandleader, storyteller, label head and, this fall, political candidate – continues to preach the benefits of live, original, independent music. I attended both of his Denver shows this year. The first, at Larimer Lounge, was a Barham solo venture, full of songs and stories that induced both belly laughs and a tear or two. The second, at the Bluebird Theater, was a full-band affair that broke out all of our Barham favorites. For a taste of the latter, check out a recording of the band’s 2024 Red Rocks debut – as of this writing, CDs are only $5, and chances are BJ Barham, full-service to a fault, will mail it to you his own damn self.
https://www.americanaquarium.com/store/p/lpui9rvu9liljb2ygr411vqvkr9wiu
Best Colorado Album
Covenhoven, Field Notes – Colorado music, to me, sounds equally good in headphones or while on a meandering drive through our mountains – either way, it leaves room for thinkin’. Joel Van Horne has been writing and releasing just the kind of quietly cinematic music that fits this bill. He does often venture outside of the Centennial State, so if you see his name attached to a small venue or house show, make sure to go and get yourself a taste of the Rockys.
https://www.covenhoven.com/store
Best Way to Craft a Greatest Hits Album
Greensky Bluegrass, XXV – The traditional “greatest hits” release is, in reality, quite dead – all you need is a smart phone to make your own. To celebrate 25 years of progressive bluegrass, then, GSBG reracked crowd favorites and invited esteemed guests – Billy Strings, Sam Bush, Lindsay Lou, and Nathaniel Rateliff, among others – to reinvigorate their best tunes. The highlight – pianist and frequent collaborator Holly Bowling sitting in on a gorgeous 14-minute take on the Joshua Davis-penned “Last Winter in the Copper Country.”
https://greenskybluegrass.redstarmerch.com/collections/xxv
Best Christmas Albums
Melissa Carper, A Very Carper Christmas – Holiday moments joyous, funny and poignant all show up in this (mostly original) collection from the Texas singer-songwriter-upright bass player. Personal favorite – the sepia-toned (but never maudlin) “Christmas Memories.”
https://www.melissacarper.com/shop/shop-by-album/a-very-carper-christmas
The Milk Carton Kids, Christmas in A Minor Key – The album title alone seems designed to draw me in. And this collection of standards live up to that billing – downtempo, gorgeous but simple instrumentation, and never beating you over the head with holiday cheer.
https://stores.portmerch.com/themilkcartonkids/christmas-in-a-minor-key-lp-festive-red-vinyl.html
Bonus Reason to Purchase – Best Book about Music
Tamara Saviano, Poets and Dreamers: My Life in Americana Music – Saviano is the former president of the Americana Music Association, but this book covers the entirety of her expansive career, from working in radio (before Big Media behemoths sucked all the humanity out of broadcasting) to working with Kris Kristofferson and Guy Clark. There’s a wealth of knowledge here, to be sure, but the best stories in the book are punctuated with Saviano’s joy in the intimate moments we don’t generally get to witness firsthand. I always joke that I want to be Anthony Mason when I grow up, but Saviano’s music-adjacent career is equally enviable.
https://www.tamarasaviano.com/store/p/poets-and-dreamers-my-life-in-americana-music
As always, thank you to the artists and musicians we cover each week, the studio folks who make it all sound good, the publicists who work so hard to get their music into our ears, Melissa for chasing down all of that music, and the other fine writers at Americana Highways. Thanks, too, to everyone (performers, bookers, club employees, bartenders, sound techs and roadies) whose entire jobs center on allowing us to enjoy live music. All of these endeavors require money – YOUR money – to survive. Buy music, buy tickets, buy merch. It’s the best thing you can do to support the music that gets you through. #listenbetter
Check out our Spotify playlist with all 45 Reasons to Purchase Music: