First of all this list is in no particular order. It was very hard to narrow it down to just 10 as there were tons of great releases this year. This was a big year for Country/ Americana/ Bluegrass with great releases from Sturgill, Billy Strings, Sierra Ferrell, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Jim Lauderdale, Charley Crockett, to name a few. Sierra Ferrell showed she could overcome the sophomore slump with her fantastic album “Trail of Flowers”. musclecars released a tremendous album showing that the House genre can still create captivating full-length albums. Overall a banner year for new music, regardless of where your taste lies.
| Artist | Album | Label | |
| 1 | Billy Strings | Highway Prayers | Reprise |
| 2 | Sierra Ferrell | Trail of Flowers | Rounder |
| 3 | Sturgill Simpson | Passage Du Desir | High Top Mountain |
| 4 | Justice | Hyperdrama | Ed Banger |
| 5 | musclecars | Sugar! Honey! Icedtea! | BBE |
| 6 | Common, Pete Rock | The Auditorium Vol. 1 | Loma Vista |
| 7 | Gillian Welch and David Rawlings | Woodland | Acony |
| 8 | Ezra Collective | Dance, No One’s Watching | Partisan |
| 9 | Tyler, the Creator | CHROMAKOPIA | Columbia |
| 10 | Kelly Finnigan | A Lover is Born | Colemine |
