The 20 Best Americana Albums of 2018

The rootsy releases of 2018 prove that Americana is (and always has been) experiencing a Rainbow Wave.

                                      
Music
    
        John Prine Carves Out Another Knotty Winner with 'The Tree of Forgiveness'
    
Michael Davis

    24 Apr 2018

Music
    
        Newport Folk Festival 2017 Hit All the Right Notes
    
Sachyn Mital

    08 Aug 2017

Music
    
        Dan Auerbach: Waiting on a Song
    
Richard Driver

    04 Jun 2017

Recent

Interviews

John Prine Reflects on a Life Rich in Music

John Prine: “Just by singing the songs in (new) keys, just about all of them became brand new to me; it was really a surprise! So it renewed my interest in the old songs."

George Varga

Music

John Moreland Restores Hope in a Hopeless World

John Moreland sings tales that crawl through the soil, hiss in the night, and burrow themselves into the heartpocket of listeners.

Music

Cayamo 2015 Is a True Journey Through Song

The start of 2015 found a bevy of roots music's best artists taking to the open ocean for a week of concerts, social gatherings, and hi-jinks. (Spoiler: watch out for Kacey Musgraves if she's on a scooter.)

Baron Lane

Music

Josh Ritter: The Beast in Its Tracks

One of Ritter's most personal -- and pained -- records stands as one of his best.

Reviews

Telluride Bluegrass Festival: 21 June 2012 (Day 1)

Mandolin wars, fire on the mountain, Levon love, and John Fogerty: The 39th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival brings the heat in Colorado.

Music

Marley's Ghost: Jubilee

John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Cowboy Jack Clement, Larry Campbell, and Old Crow Medicine Show all make appearances on Jubilee but it's still unmistakably Marley's Ghost's show.

Music

John Prine: The Singing Mailman Delivers

These two discs -- one live, one in the studio -- show Prine's early songs fully formed and genuinely brilliant, though we also hear him figuring out how best to deliver them.

Reviews

John Prine: Live on Soundstage 1980 [DVD]

In this welcoming performance, one of music’s most remarkable songwriters brings you back to where it all began.

Michael Patrick Brady

Reviews

Collapse Expand Reviews

Features

29 Black Music Documentaries for Black History Month 2020: #2 'The Apollo'

England's Postwar Paranoia Creeps in the Shadows of Three Film-Noirs

Perfect Harmony: An Interview with Legendary Vocal Group the Waters

Collapse Expand Features

PM Picks

Collapse Expand Pm Picks

Pop Ten

The 25 Best Classic Progressive Rock Albums

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 1: 100 - 81

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '90s - Part 1 (100 - 81)

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

29 Black Music Documentaries for Black History Month 2020: #2 'The Apollo'

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 5: 20 - 1

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 2: 80 - 61

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '90s - Part 2 (80 - 61)

Collapse Expand Pop Ten

John Prine Carves Out Another Knotty Winner with 'The Tree of Forgiveness'

Newport Folk Festival 2017 Hit All the Right Notes

Dan Auerbach: Waiting on a Song

John Prine Reflects on a Life Rich in Music

John Prine: “Just by singing the songs in (new) keys, just about all of them became brand new to me; it was really a surprise! So it renewed my interest in the old songs."

John Moreland Restores Hope in a Hopeless World

John Moreland sings tales that crawl through the soil, hiss in the night, and burrow themselves into the heartpocket of listeners.

Cayamo 2015 Is a True Journey Through Song

The start of 2015 found a bevy of roots music's best artists taking to the open ocean for a week of concerts, social gatherings, and hi-jinks. (Spoiler: watch out for Kacey Musgraves if she's on a scooter.)

Josh Ritter: The Beast in Its Tracks

One of Ritter's most personal -- and pained -- records stands as one of his best.

Telluride Bluegrass Festival: 21 June 2012 (Day 1)

Mandolin wars, fire on the mountain, Levon love, and John Fogerty: The 39th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival brings the heat in Colorado.

Marley's Ghost: Jubilee

John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Cowboy Jack Clement, Larry Campbell, and Old Crow Medicine Show all make appearances on Jubilee but it's still unmistakably Marley's Ghost's show.

John Prine: The Singing Mailman Delivers

These two discs -- one live, one in the studio -- show Prine's early songs fully formed and genuinely brilliant, though we also hear him figuring out how best to deliver them.

John Prine - In Person & On Stage (new album / MP3)

John Prine: Live on Soundstage 1980 [DVD]

In this welcoming performance, one of music’s most remarkable songwriters brings you back to where it all began.

Electropop's Caribou Offers Joy Through Unpredictability on 'Suddenly'

Soccer Mommy Aims High on 'color theory'

James Taylor's Standards Album Sounds Exactly Like You Imagine It Does

Yasujiro Ozu on the Arts of Pachinko, Baseball, and Marriage

Ben Seretan Brings on the Catharsis with 'Youth Pastoral'

Cheer-Accident Work Through Their 39-Year History on 'Chicago XX'

Caroline Rose, A 'Superstar' Is What You Are

Racism's Trauma Reverberates Across Generations in 'Your House Will Pay'

The Tortured Mind of Anthony Asquith's Silent British Gem, 'A Cottage on Dartmoor'

Why Everyone Should Read Samra Habib's Queer Muslim Memoir

Even When He's No Longer in Fashion James Bond (Almost) Never Goes Out of Style

England's Postwar Paranoia Creeps in the Shadows of Three Film-Noirs

The New World Will Be Built by Refugees: On Two New Japanese Novellas

Perfect Harmony: An Interview with Legendary Vocal Group the Waters

James Taylor's Standards Album Sounds Exactly Like You Imagine It Does