1.  Steve Earle and The Del McCoury Band - The Mountain  (E-Squared)
  2.  Tom Waits - Mule Variations (Epitaph)
  3.  Fred Eaglesmith  50-Odd Dollars  (Razor & Tie)
  4.  Johnny Dowd - Pictures from Life’s Other Side  (Koch)
  5.  Julie Miller - Broken Things  (Hightone)
  6.  Guy Clark - Cold Dog Soup  (Sugar Hill)
  7.  The Derailers - Full Western Dress  (Sire)
  8.  Wayne Hancock - Wild, Free and Reckless  (ARK 21)
  9.  Roger Wallace - Hillbilly Heights  (Texas Round-Up)
10.  Marty Stuart - The Pilgrim  (MCA)
11.  Kelly Joe Phelps - Shine Eyed Mister Zen  (Rykodisc)
12.  Mark Lanegan - I’ll Take Care of You  (SubPop)
13.  Freakwater - End Time  (Thrill Jockey)
14.  Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver - Winding Through Life  (Sugar Hill)
15.  The Sovines - Trucker’s Welcome  (Kingpin)
16.  Jim Lauderdale & Ralph Stanley - I Feel Like Singing Today  (Rebel)
17.  The Damnations TX - Half Mad Moon  (Sire)
18.  Jack Logan - Buzz Me In  (Capricorn)
19.  Hot Club of Cowtown - Tall Tales  (Hightone)
20.  The Ex-Husbands - …All Gussied Up  (Tar Hut)
21.  The Gourds - Ghosts of Hallelujah  (Munich)
22.  Joe Henry - Fuse  (Mammoth)
23.  Beaver Nelson - The Last Hurrah  (Freedom)
24.  Carl Sonny Leyland - I’m Wise  (HMG)
25.  Mike Ness - Cheating at Solitaire  (Time Bomb)
26.  Kelly Willis - What I Deserve  (Rykodisc)
27.  The Del McCoury Band - The Family  (Ceili)
28.  D. Powell, T. O’Brien and J. Hermann - Songs from the Mountain  (Howdy
Skies)
29.  Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder - Ancient Tones  (Skaggs Family)
30.  The Souvenirs - King of Heartache  (Will)
31.  Hank Williams III - Risin’ Outlaw  (Curb)
32.  John Prine - In Spite of Ourselves  (Oh Boy)
33.  The Meat Purveyors - More Songs About the Buildings & Cows  (Bloodshot)
34.  The Weepers - Bitterangerconstantfear  (self-released)
35.  Various Artists - Return of the Grievous Angel  (Almo Sounds)
36.  Don Walser - Here’s to Country Music  (Sire)
37.  The Old 97’s - Valentine  (Elektra)
38.  Johnny Dilks & His Visitacion Valley Boys - Acres of Heartache  (HMG)
39.  Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder - Soldier of the Cross  (Skaggs Family)
40.  Buddy Miller - Cruel Moon  (Hightone)
41.  Biller and Wakefield - The Hot Guitars of Biller and Wakefield  (HMG)
42.  Sally Timms - Cowboy Sally’s Laments for Lost Buckaroos  (Bloodshot)
43.  Longview - High Lonesome  (Rounder)
44.  Terry Allen - Salivation  (Sugar Hill)
45.  Mandy Barnett - I’ve Got a Right to Cry  (Sire)
 
 
 

BEST OF THE REST:

Alison Krauss  Forget About It  (Rounder)
IIIrd Tyme Out - John & Mary   (Rounder)
J.D. Crowe & The New South - Come On Down To My World  (Rounder)
Ray Wylie Hubbard - Crusades Of The Restless Nights  (Philo)
K.C. Groves - Can You Hear It  (Self- Released)
Alejandro Escovedo -  Bourbonitis Blues  (Bloodshot)
June Carter Cash - Press On  (Risk/Small Hairy Dog)
Various Artists - Kentucky Old-Time Banjo  (Rounder)
Blue Highway - Blue Highway  (Ceili)
Various Artists - Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza  (Acoustic Disc)
Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys - Forever Always Ends  (Bloodshot)
David Olney - Through A Glass Darkly  (Philo)
Dry Branch Fire Squad - Memories That Bless & Burn  (Rounder)
Tom, Brad & Alice - Been There Still  (Copper Creek)
Wilco - Summerteeth  (Reprise)
Split Lip Rayfield - In The Mud  (Bloodshot)
George Jones - The Cold Hard Truth  (Asylum)
Kevin Welch - Beneath My Wheels  (Dead Reckoning)
Lil Mo & The Monicats - Hearts In My Dreams  (Passin' Fancy)
The Continental Drifters - Vermillion  (Razor & Tie)
Dolly Parton - The Grass Is Blue   (Sugar Hill)
Richard Thompson - Mock Tudor  (Capitol)
Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, & Dolly Parton - Trio II  (Asylum)
Lynn Morris - You'll Never Be The Sun   (Rounder)
Jim Lauderdale - Onward Through It All  (RCA)
Richmond Fontaine - Lost Son  (Cavity Search)
Various Artists - Real: The Tom T Hall Project  (Sire)
Bottle Rockets - Brand New Year  (Doolittle)
Leftover Salmon  The Nashville Sessions  (Hollywood)
Dave Schramm - Hammer & Nails  (Catamount)
Rico Bell & The Snake Handlers - Dark Side Of The Mersey  (Bloodshot)
Joe Thompson - Family Tradition  (Rounder)
Doc & Richard Watson - Third Generation Blues  (Sugar Hill)
Nadine - Downtown, Saturday  (Undertow)
Deke Dickerson & The Ecco-Fonics - More Million Sellers  (Hightone)
Tara Nevins - Mule to Ride  (Sugar Hill)
The Volebeats - Solitude  (Safehouse)
Lynn Miles - Night In A Strange Town  (Philo)
Joni Harms - Cowgirl's Dream  (Warner Western)
Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time - Murder On Music Row  (Shell Point)
Mountain Heart - Mountain Heart  (Doobie Shea)
Ed Burleson - My Perfect World  (Tornado)
Emmylou Harris & Linda Ronstadt - Western Wall: The Tuscon Sessions  (Asylum)
Asylum Street Spankers - Hot Lunch  (Cold Spring)
Shaver - Electric Shaver  (New West)
Hadacol - Better Than This  (Checkered Past)
Rollie Tussing III -  Blow Whistle Blow  (One Man Clapping)
Blue Mountain - Tales Of A Traveller  (Roadrunner)
Jon Dee Graham - Summerland  (New West)
Scottie Sparks - Scottie Sparks  (Doobie Shea)
Dale Ann Bradley - Old Southern Porches  (Pinecastle)
Chuck E. Weiss - Extremely Cool  (Slow River)
Stacey Dean Campbell - S.T.  (Paladin)
Ronnie Dawson - More Bad Habits  (Yep Roc )
The Blue Rags - Eat at Joe's  (SubPop)
Katy Moffatt - Loose Diamond  (Hightone)
Bare Jr. - Boo-Tay  (Immortal/Epic)

REISSUES:

Grayson & Whitter - The Recordings of...  (County)
Spade Cooley & The Western Swing Dance Gang - Shame on
You  (Bloodshot/Soundies)
Bill Monroe - Live from Mountain Stage  (Blue Plate)
Woody Guthrie - Buffalo Skinners: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 4  (Smithsonian
Folkways)
The Volebeats  Ain’t No Joke  (Gadfly)
Jimmy Murphy - Electricity  (Sugar Hill)
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver - The Original Band  (Sugar Hill)
Rex Allen - The Last of The Great Singing Cowboys  (Bloodshot/Soundies)
Chet Atkins & Doc Watson - Reflections  (Sugar Hill)
Tommy Jarrell - The Legacy of Tommy Jarrell: Sail Away Ladies  (County)
Billy Jack Wills and His Western Swing Band - Crazy, Man, Crazy!  (Joaquin)
Swing West, Vols. 1-3  (Razor & Tie)
Loud, Fast and Out of Control  (Rhino)
Johnny Cash - Live At Folsom Prison  (Columbia/Legacy)
Waylon Jennings - Waylon Live  (Buddha)
Hank Thompson - Hank World  (Bloodshot/Soundies)
Richard Buckner - Bloomed  (Slow River/Rykodisc)
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver - Once and For Always/The News is Out   (Sugar
Hill)
Willis Alan Ramsey - Willis Alan Ramsey  (Koch)
Red Simpson - Country Western Truck Drivin' Singer  (Razor & Tie)
Lee Hazlewood - Trouble is a Lonesome Town  (Smells Like)
Bruce Springsteen - 18 Tracks  (Columbia)
Lefty Frizzell - Sings Jimmie Rodgers  (Koch)
Sir Douglas Quintet - The Crazy Cajun Recordings  (Crazy Cajun)