Anyway, continuing with the end-of-year stuff, here are some 2018 album picks. First, a few caveats. I still haven't gotten Malcolm Holcombe's new album, and that's probably a winner. I'm also going to disqualify Jason Isbell because his album was a live release, and the tracks, while quite good, were all things available elsewhere in not-dissimilar versions. Great stuff, but Jason doesn't get to dominate everything every year, particularly with the live release trick. So, I'll just give you three picks for my favorites.
First up, I think my clear favorite for 2018 is Sarah Shook's Years. Sarah kicks more ass than anyone else around. Country should be badass, and nobody is more badass than Sarah Shook. Here's "What It Takes."
It doesn't end there. I'll give a couple more. One of the most reliably great country bands today is The Black Lillies. Borne of the ashes of Robinella & the CCString Band, Cruz Contreras (the "CC") never misses the mark. Stranger To Me is the latest in a string of albums that prove him to be one of the best musicians on the country scene. Here's "Ten Years."
Finally, this one might have topped my list, but for one thing. Cahalen Morrison is as consistently great as anyone on the country scene. Currently, though, he is but one member of Western Centuries. Good stuff. Their last album, Songs From The Deluge, was a winner, of course. I'd rather just have a solo Cahalen album, but I'll take what I can get. Here's "Warm Guns."
