Po Girl – Vagabond Lullabies:  This first album will reveal a common theme from this year – bluegrass-y music from Canada and points north. Po Girl are Toronto and Montreal-based musicians. This album was my introduction to them. What’s also cool is that you can listen to samples of a few mp3s from this album via their web site. Just click on the “Music” link and find the underlined songs from each album. From Vagabond Lullabies, I’d particularly recommend listening to “Take the Long Way,” which features the first rap and bluegrass mixture I’ve ever heard. More tunes at their MySpace page.

Gillian Welch – Revival: Wow, it’s hard to believe this album is from 2001! Still, Welch and David Rawlings at their roots bluegrass best. Songs that hit me hardest: Orphan Girl, One More Dollar, By the Mark (youtube video) and Tear My Stillhouse Down. More at her MySpace page, including a great version of Black Star that also has a special place in my iTunes library.

Redbird – Redbird: For those who’ve never heard of them, Redbird is a sort of supergroup of a few awesome folk singer-songwriters: Peter Mulvey, Jeffrey Foucault and Kris Delmhorst. Every year they get together for a few shows in Madison, Wisc. around Christmas. Other than that, the Redbird Collective is difficult to catch live. This album features mostly covers, with a few songs written by the members. For the covers, Buckets of Rain (Dylan), I Gotta Get Drunk (Willie Nelson), and You Are the Everything (R.E.M.) are probably my favorites, although Moonglow (Benny Goodman) is also good. As for songs from the Redbirds? Ithaca is a haunting song with Delmhorst carrying the vocals. Redbird, the eponymous song, is a toe-tapper as well, with all three joining in on the vocals.

The Be Good Tanyas – Chinatown: Another Canadian act that performs “roots music” in a style of the American southeast. This album, now six years old, provides a strong introduction to these fine musicians. The music on the album kicks off with the excellent “It’s Not Happening” (YouTube below), and maintains a level of quality that you don’t always find on an album. It includes some awesome covers, including Waiting Around to Die (Townes Van Zandt) and In My Time of Dying (Led Zeppelin). More music at their MySpace page.

Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker: Okay, so this is another older album. Adams recorded this album soon after the breakup of Whiskeytown. It’s a relatively stripped down album, compared with some of his recent material with the Cardinals (MySpace page). Still, there are some awesome lyrics in here. One of my favorites is Sweet Carolina (YouTube below) which features Emmylou Harris on backing vocals. You can also catch some other roots music all-stars in the background on some of the other songs. Gillian Welch does a turn on Bartering Lines. And Come Pick Me Up is a classic rocker that I always have to turn up full volume when listening.

Todd Snider – Near Truths and Hotel Rooms Live: Todd Snider is a long-time singer-songwriter who grew up in the Northeast and settled in Nashville. He’s perhaps best known for Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues (YouTube). He does a lot of talkin’ and playing the guitar, rather than just singing. I’m partial to Double Wide Blues (YouTube), and there are some hellaciously funny songs on this live album, including Statistician’s Blues and Beer Run. I’ve heard a couple of Snider’s studio albums, but they don’t capture the energy of his live shows (which I hope I’ll experience in person some day). Here’s his MySpace Page.

So there you have it, a few good albums I’ve been listening to this last year. Right now, there’s a new Ani DiFranco album working its way into rotation (download a free song here), and Donna the Buffalo is also getting some serious play, which means there’ll be a whole new list next year.

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