The best Americana albums are a multicultural, polysexual, mixed-gender, cross-genre lineup of music that fits somewhere under the big backyard of Americana.
The artists in this year's list all use their music to create a sense of unity. Whether it is the acknowledgment of shared oppression, or in contrast, the visibility of identity, Best of Folk Music 2020 is defined by its ability to form a musical common ground.
Folk singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews' Old Flowers is about the dissolution of a nine-year relationship and has many strengths. Still, it often falls prey to the cliches of the break-up album.
The rootsy releases of 2018 prove that Americana is (and always has been) experiencing a Rainbow Wave.
Courtney Marie Andrews' talents as a singer-songwriter lie in her ability to bring the basic facts of life into an artistic perspective so that one finds the beauty in our common humanity.
