2021 Music Favorites
This is a bit of a different post this week. Every year I keep a list of my favorite songs and I make a CD for my aunt. This year, I thought I would share my list, since I have been pretty consistent with my blog. If there are any stories that goes along with the songs, they will be listed with the song. My top two artist of the year were Ralph Stanley and Mary Chapin Carpenter, both coming in with three songs on the list. At the bottom I have a YouTube playlist with all the songs.
January
Foghorn Stringband- “Sow ‘Em On the Mountain”
For the past two years my Aunt E. and me have had tickets to Delfest. When I go to a festival I like to listen through the people on the line up. The Foghorn Stringband was on the line up.
Blackberry Smoke and Amanda Shires- “Let Me Down Easy”
Aunt E. and me went to see Emmylou Harris, Marty Stuart and Carlene Carter in concert in Nashville. On the way there, we listened to WMOT and they played this song as we were coming into Nashville. I had heard it before, but it hit me different this time.
Johnathan Edwards- “Hearts Overflowing”
Emmylou Harris sung harmony on this album, which is why I listened. This song and “Christian Life” were my favorites. I listened to this song on repeat during an animation project I worked on.
I’m With Her- “See You Around”
I also listened to this song (and this full concert) while working on an animation.
February
“Open My Eyes That I May See”
This particular version isn’t really my favorite. I think we sung this at church and I really liked it. I haven’t been able to find a definitive recorded version.
March
Blackberry Smoke- “Southern Child”
YouTube recommended this to me after I played “Let Me Down Easy”.
Emmylou Harris- “Boy From Tupelo”
There always has to be an Emmylou song on the list.
April
Ralph Stanley- “Let It Go”
Mary Chapin Carpenter- “Farther Along and Further In”
I became interested in MCC after her Songs From Home series. I didn’t keep up with that series super well, but I saw where she had a new album out and I listened through it. This was my favorite from the album.
May
Linda Ronstadt- “The Tattler”
Linda is always one of my favorites. I got a CD at Half Price Books that had this on it.
Ola Belle Reed- “I’ve Endured”
Not sure how I found this one. Traditional, mountain sound.
June
Mary Chapin Carpenter- “I Take My Chances” and “The Hard Way”
On the same trip to Half Price Books when I found the Linda Ronstadt CD, I also found this one by Mary Chapin Carpenter. Since finding these songs, I have heard them several times on 98.7 out of Liberty.
July
Jeff Bridges- “Fallin’ and Flyin’”
Aunt E. gave me this album. Love this song.
Stanley Brothers- “Drinking From the Fountain”
August
Nanci Griffith- “Let it Shine on Me”
Nanci has long been one of my favorite singers. I found her through her album “Other Voices, Other Rooms”, which Emmylou and Iris Dement sang on. Nanci died this year, which was so sad. I wish she was still performing when I found out about her.
October
Dori Freeman- “Must Come in at the Door”
Dori is one of my favorite artists that is currently playing. She independently released a gospel album. This song isn’t on YouTube, but you can buy it on Bandcamp. Highly recommend if you like the old hymns with an Appalachian flair. She also has another new album out called “Ten Thousand Roses”, which is also fantastic.
https://dorifreeman1.bandcamp.com/album/heavenly-sunlight
Ralph Stanley and Ricky Skaggs- “Shouting on the Hills of Glory”
Upbeat and fun bluegrass gospel tun.
Rodney Crowell- “Hymn #43”
This is from a new album of Rodney’s. I feel like this song reminds me of the song “Traveling Kind”, which he did with Emmylou in 2015.
Brandy Clark- “Who You Thought I Was”
Aunt E had been a Brandy Clark fan for a while. I had liked her, but this song really brought me into the fold. She was on the AmericanaFest Day Stage livestream put on by WMOT. I heard the song there and then I heard it again on Austin City Limits.
November
JENNIFER WARNES- “I Know a Heartache When I See One”
All the credit for this find goes to Suzy Bogguss. She sung this at the end of one of her “Wine Down Wednesday” shows (if you don’t watch it, you should). I had never heard the song or heard of JENNIFER WARNES, but after Suzy sung it I looked it up.
December
Lacy J. Dalton- “Girls From Santa Cruz”
Lacy had been on my list of people to look up (I gather the list from articles and interviews). The story of the song is what drew me in.
Bonus
Gillian Welch- “Wayside/Back In Time”
I have been obsessed with this song this year, but for some reason it never got wrote down. So I felt like it needed to be added.