The Saving Country Music 2024 Album of the Year
2024 was a stellar year for albums in country music. Though in some respects, the impact of many of those stellar albums was felt on the periphery of country music as opposed to the bullseye.
Sturgill Simpson made his triumphant return as Johnny Blue Skies, and Passage Du Desir was just about everything Sturgill fans wanted, even if only a few of the songs could be characterized as “country.”
2024 will go down as the year The Red Clay Strays saw their big breakout, built from the inspiring movements of their new album Made By These Moments. But as they admit themselves, they’re not really a country band, and instead hit on the edges of country and its surrounding roots influences.
The same could be said for Shane Smith and the Saints, who released a wide and sweeping epic in Norther that’s hard to find any fault in, but doesn’t fit well in the “country” mold. Silverada persevered through a polarizing name change to release what many consider as their favorite album of 2024. But their self-titled release also takes one step away from country as opposed to a step toward it.
49 Winchester’s Leavin’ The Holler left nothing to second guess. Jamey Johnson’s return after 14 years with Midnight Gasoline showed no rust or wear to his enterprise-level songwriting. And Billy Strings delighted us all with the year’s greatest work of bluegrass in the excellent and surprisingly pure Highway Prayers.
But in 2024, it was the women who released many of the stone cold country albums. Emily Nenni’s Drive & Cry is one of the countriest and twangiest affairs you’ll ever experience, and wickedly entertaining through Nenni’s infectious and unique vocal delivery. Kimmi Bitter and Old School was like a classic country dream come to life in the present day, and if form holds, she should have a very promising career moving forward.
Roadrunner by Kaitlin Butts is a career-level record itself with an incredible cinematic vision, and was released in a year when Kaitlin started by winning an Ameripolitan Award, launched her first headlining tour, and broke out into the greater consciousness of country music. Few if anyone worked harder than Kaitlin in 2024, and this is the reason she was named the runner up for Artist of the Year.
And no matter who wins Saving Country Music’s Album of the Year, Karen Jonas will always have the highest-rated review of the year with a completely earned 9.4 for her incredible, imaginative, and cohesive conceptualized work, The Rise and Fall of American Kitsch.
All the nominees for the 2024 Saving Country Music Album of the Year deserve nothing but praise for being catalysts for the country music revolution we’re currently enjoying, along with all the other projects in the 2024 Essential Albums List.
But in an extremely tight year for top-rated projects, it’s Saving Country Music’s 2023 Artist of the Year Sierra Ferrell and her 2024 project Trail of Flowers that takes the prize.
Like a lone flower sprouting up through a hairline crack in a barren field of blanched concrete stretching out for miles in every direction, Sierra Ferrell symbolizes the hope and determination of beauty to push through and not be vanquished even among the most trying of times, and the most foreboding of circumstances.
The world never knew it needed Sierra Ferrell. Now it feels like it couldn’t exist in proper order without her.
Sierra stoked the imagination and curiosity with Trail of Flowers, while also staunchly preserving and paying forward country music’s most elemental roots. She also left a large and lasting cultural impact on country music and the greater roots world with music that speaks to the American experience in both a timeless and starkly relevant manner.
And no matter the ideological or philosophical approach—or the individual taste of the author—we’ve seen many outlets, pundits, and critics all push Trail of Flowers forward as their top album of 2024, or near the top of end-of-year lists. It also received more votes than any other selection among Saving Country Music readers among the nominees.
Now it is on to 2025, where hopefully Sierra Ferrell, all the Album of the Year nominees, and the greater independent country and roots world continues to find the success and support it deserves, and we continue to watch country music in all of its various forms be saved in real time.
Purchase Trail of Flowers from Rounder Records
January 2, 2025 @ 9:26 am
Another year and another sincere “Thank You!” for all the hard work you put into Saving Country Music! You make it easier for all of us in this music community to find and support artists to our likings instead of settling for what corporations push between the dials.
At this point, I’ll probably never get into Sierra Ferrell. I love “Fox Hunt,” but the rest is lost on me. I recognized that’s a fault in my upbringing at this point and madly respect your decision to name Trail of Flowers SCM AOY!
Thank you for bringing The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys to my attention this year. And for The Franklin County Trucking Company years ago and keeping them on the radar!
My Top 20 Country Music Albums of 2024
1. Leavin’ This Holler – 49 Winchester
2. Tales of Misfortune – Colby T. Helms
3. Time is Calling – Brayden Mullins
4. Survived – Lost Dog Street Band
5. Highway Prayers – Billy Strings
6. By and By – Jordan Lee King
7. The Border – Willie Nelson
8. The Death-Defying Adventures of the Franklin County Trucking Company – The Franklin County Trucking Company
9. Shooting Star – Benjamin Tod
10. Wanderers Like Me – The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
11. Highlander – Missy Raines
12. I Built a World – Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
13. Earl Jam – Tony Trischka
14. Cowboys and Dreamers – George Strait
15. Midnight Gasoline – Jamey Johnson
16. Songs of Love and Life – The Del McCoury Band
17. Broke Down – Jayce Turley
18. Dark Cloud – J.R. Carroll
19. Last Leaf on The Tree – Willie Nelson
20. Love, Prison, Wisdom and Heartaches- Connie Smith
There’s a handful of artists that helped defined my 2024 through singles, EPs, social media content and in concert that did not release a proper album. I wanted to recognize them somehow, then realized I have a pretty good list ….
My Top 5 Emerging Country Artists of 2025
1. Cody Powers
“Merle (When I Cry)”/ “Me, You, and a Gibson”/ “Honest Wage’ / “No Good to Complain”/ “Crows”
If you like Deer Tick’s John McCauley’s vocals, check out Springfield, Kentucky’s Cody Powers independently released Logan Rd. (2023). Cody has softened his vocals and moved towards the more center of country music stylistically in 2024 with a string of singles capped off with show favorite “Merle (When I Cry)” – one of those clever songs that pays tribute to an artist by using song titles in the lyrics. Only 20 years old and married, this soon to be father is wiser beyond his years relating more to middle-aged themes in songs like “No Good to Complain.”
2. Brennan Edwards
Stones – EP / “So Long”/ “Good Woman Blues”
This Shenandoah Valley native has taken the visual content route and following the path blazed by fellow Virginian Oliver Anthony. Edwards and his Winchester neighbor Chris Hunt Jr (below) have a ton of original and cover performances posted on social media. Like Tyler Childers, religion is the cornerstone to Edwards music releasing two religiously themed EPs – Yeshua (2023) and Stones (2024). But he has a strong mastering of Mountain Music and Hillbilly Honky Tonk displayed on his Till the End of My Days EP (2023).
3. Hunter Flynn
“Wilted Flowers’/ “Can’t Never Could”/ “East Kentucky Dream”
More of a poetic, self-inflicted tortured artist then the others on this list, Flynn, hailing from Pulaski County, Kentucky, picks and sounds a lot like high and lonesome “Bottles and Bibles” Tyler Childers, but with the solemnness of Sunday Valley Sturgill Simpson.
4. Chris Hunt Jr.
“Second Thoughts”/ “Heading Home Again”/ “Railroad Rider”
Hunt has deep baritone vocals (like Colter Wall and Johnny Cash) and writes about some of the darker subjects of Appalachian life. He’s yet to get into a proper studio and most of his content is unpolished but check out his videos on Appalachia Untold to watch an outstanding performance of Justin Townes Earle’s “Mama’s Eyes.”
5. Waylon Wyatt
Til The Sun Goes Down – EP, “Jailbreak”
At 18 years old, Wyatt needs more seasoning, but he’s as authentic and humble as the FFA jacket he wears on stage and the most charming follow on TikTok. There’s a lot of Zach Bryan clones out there, but this kid from Hackett, Arkansas will be making a name for himself much sooner than later.
January 2, 2025 @ 11:12 am
Great list here.I just thought the Brayden Mullins one was called Unfamiliar Writings but I could be wrong.
January 2, 2025 @ 11:33 am
You are correct. Unfamiliar Writings is the album title. “Time is Calling” is a song off the album. I don’t know why I did that. His whole dicsography is a mess in my library right now. Right when I got turned onto Unfamiliar Writings, they pulled the Birds in the Air EP supposedly to re-record it, but we’ve only got a re-recording of the “Virginia” single to date with different artwork while the old EP is greyed out in my library. Thanks for catching that!
January 2, 2025 @ 2:24 pm
#8 is such a great album! FCTC are sooo much fun.
January 2, 2025 @ 2:53 pm
I beg them monthly on social media for a tour. Could you imagine an I-75 tour : Cincinnati, Knoxville, Atlanta or I-80: Pittsburgh, Columbus, Indianapolis? I’d go multiple dates. It would be so much fun.
January 2, 2025 @ 3:13 pm
I only live a few hours north of them, never had a chance to see them live. They play occasionally in St. Louis, but haven’t caught up with them yet. Would definitely go to Cincy for a show, love that city.
January 2, 2025 @ 9:43 am
An excellent choice! My most played album this year. Something very special about that girl.
January 2, 2025 @ 9:58 am
I am a little like HopTown, SF is never in my heavy rotation. Think I just have not given her enough chance. Have many long plane trips this month and I will give more listens while in the air. Does not mean I don’t appreciate her art or am critical of this decision.
My heavy plays were the Fear of Standing Still, Leaving This Holler, Roadrunner, Drive and Cry, Made By These Moments, Live at Dan’s Silverleaf by Jamie Lin Wilson (Just dropped on NY Eve), The Droptines, The Coastal Plain by Muscadine Bloodline, Another Petal Falls Off of the Rose by Jeff Crosby, Brighter Days from Dwight Yoakam and Taylor Hunnicutt’s Alabama Sound. Reckless Kelly just on the outside looking in.
Trig, As always, thanks for the reviews, lists, thoughtful obits and the community you created.
January 2, 2025 @ 10:12 am
Great choice, a worthy winner. Though somehow, I still think Sierra Ferrell’s best (or most popular) work is ahead of her. I believe she has a rock/americana album in her that turns her into a household name and major festival headliner. Just see how she delivers cover songs like me and bobby mcgee and don’t let me down. She could be Stevie nicks for a new generation.
January 2, 2025 @ 10:41 am
I agree. I think she could be the Stevie Nicks/Dolly Parton/Janis Joplin of this generation, and in some respects, already is. Nothing but upside potential in the coming years, and the momentum she’s built behind “Trail of Flowers” and the end-of-year praise it’s received will only help.
There are a lot of folks making a lot of noise on Tik-Tok at the moment. How long that will last, I don’t know. Sierra Ferrell is the long bet.
January 2, 2025 @ 11:21 am
country music for people who don’t know what their pronouns are.
January 2, 2025 @ 11:43 am
The appeal of her music also extends to those who own guns and use 2000-era naughty words.
In 20 years the whole pronoun thing is going to be looked at like the weirdest part of 90’s evangelical Christian culture.
January 2, 2025 @ 1:39 pm
One of the things that makes Sierra Ferrell so powerful is that you can’t pigeon hole her, especially in the culture war binary. She’s got tattoos and piercings and wears gregarious costumes on stage. But when she won the Americana Music Association’s Album of the Year for “Trails of Flowers,” she thanked her lord and savior Jesus Christ. At first glance, she could come across as self-centered with all the image-centric social media posts. But her music is decidedly simple and earthen, and refuses to sell out for fame.
January 2, 2025 @ 1:57 pm
“you can’t pigeon hole her, especially in the culture war binary.”
Only if you don’t view her Instagram stories.
January 2, 2025 @ 5:46 pm
This is true. I unfollowed her on Instagram for this reason.
January 2, 2025 @ 5:52 pm
Her “earthy pagan” image is probably her best defense against the Pop Country music forces that would want to dillute her music. Her image keeps her real while also making her less marketable in the mainstream. The fact that she posts lots of pictures of herself just makes it obvious that she isn’t censoring herself much and that her social media is what it would be like if she had 1k followers. I think this is to her credit. All the major acts will have social media managers to help curate their posts and run their accounts.
January 3, 2025 @ 7:02 am
I mean listen, she’s obviously very image conscious, so therefore I’m conscious of her image. When I try to reconcile her sound with her image and social media activity I’m not feeling the kind of country authenticity that I’m seeing and hearing from other younger female artists like the Castellows and Harper O’neil, or slightly older female artists like Kelsey Walden and Sunny Sweeney. She reminds me more of the weird purple haired kid that lives down the street from me with her two moms.
January 3, 2025 @ 8:45 am
I don’t see what that has to do with anything. Country music is a big tent.
January 3, 2025 @ 2:07 pm
“She reminds me more of the weird purple haired kid that lives down the street from me with her two moms”
And there were kids like that even in my rural high school and I’m around the same age as Sierra and grew up approximately 100 miles from where she did. They tended to gravitate more to art classes, marching band and drama than the cheerleading squad, but they were definitely there and were as much a part of the culture as anyone else. My ex definitely fits your description and, although she was into a bunch of emo and pop punk bands, she also loved Dolly, Loretta, Tanya, and the Dixie Chicks. Hell, she’s the one who turned me onto K.T. Oslin and I’d thought I already knew every classic country artist worth knowing.
My guess is that if you went to a random country show at a random dive bar in a random small town, most of the women in the crowd would remind you more of Sierra Ferrell than the Castellows. Which isn’t to say that Castellows are inauthentic, just that you would be more likely to come across women like them at church on Sunday morning than at a dive bar. Both are authentically country.
January 3, 2025 @ 7:22 am
I mean listen, she’s obviously very image conscious, so therefore I’m conscious of her image. When I try to reconcile her sound with her image and social media activity I’m not feeling the kind of authenticity that I’m seeing and hearing from other younger female artists like the Castellows and Harper O’neil, or slightly older female artists like Kelsey Walden and Sunny Sweeney. She reminds me more of the weird kid that lives down the street from me with her two moms.
January 2, 2025 @ 2:09 pm
That is some frail masculinity on display right there. People with their pronouns. What is next? Everyone is gonna have a different first name that I am forced to remember? The horror. Imagine a world like that where we use each person’s first name! And most of them are different!! How can I remember them all?
January 4, 2025 @ 4:27 pm
Thinking gender is based on feelings is frail if you ask me. Are you the age you feel? Goodness if feelings are who you are then good luck.
As for Sierras music, I don’t get the genderless vibe at all.
January 2, 2025 @ 11:27 am
I am pleased making the choice of album of the year was not mine! There have been so many great albums this year. It is hard to disagree with your choice as it is a great album and I have played it a lot. For me, my album of the year is Shane Smith’s Norther. Not really knowing them, I read your review, bought the album, and I have played it much more than any other album this year. Although I think the production could be better, whatever the genre, it is a superb album. Silverada, Billy Strings, Sierra Ferrell, Kaitlin Butts would all be close contenders. 2024 was a great year for great music. Thank you for introducing me to so much great music. Happy new year to you and all your readers.
January 2, 2025 @ 11:35 am
Thanks for reading WuK.
January 2, 2025 @ 11:34 am
Yup. I had Roadrunner a nose ahead of Trail of Flowers but one cannot argue ToF was this modern creation of Old-time/App. music wrapper around a payload of killer songs. She is an artist with depth, genre understanding and flare and it showed on ToF. Shit like that will save country music instantly. I think I will spin it again today.
January 2, 2025 @ 11:36 am
Good choice.
January 2, 2025 @ 11:57 am
Excellent.
Have loved Sierra’s style since, The Sea.
Major vibes of Cher’s, Dark Lady.
Both, are fun songs, with a little extra something.
Not that it matters, but, i think your choice for SCM 2024 Album of The Year is a very good one.
Personal 2nd choice would go to Jamey Johnson.
https://youtu.be/JXUH7Wk8-WI?si=CMFNywvkqZZeJ18U
January 2, 2025 @ 12:02 pm
Excellent choice. One of my most played albums of the year. I’m traveling to Red Rocks in August to see her perform. Huge fan.
January 2, 2025 @ 12:08 pm
Great choice among a really stellar list of options this year.
January 2, 2025 @ 12:12 pm
just relieved it isn’t sturgill. he really didn’t deserve it.
January 3, 2025 @ 8:57 am
I’m just glad this project gave him a second wind and that he’s back on the road. It seemed like his career might have been over.
January 2, 2025 @ 12:35 pm
Excellent choice. It’s easily my most-played album this year that fits on SCM.
January 2, 2025 @ 1:10 pm
I’ve been fortunate to see a lot of folks play the Ryman. Heavy talents. I was there for her first night back in the spring and she absolutely floored me and the missus. Every ghost lingering around that place came out to hear her rattle the pews. She’s very special.
January 2, 2025 @ 1:33 pm
A very worthy choice. It’s an impossible task to pick one album as better than all others. I was just such a great year for the music covered here. My favorites are a tie between By and By by Jordan Lee King and Louisiana Lonely by Paige Plaisance
January 2, 2025 @ 1:41 pm
Echoing many others – thanks for another great year Trigger! This functionally dysfunctional community of misfit toys led by its benevolent dictator is a special place. Congrats to Ms. Ferrell! Well deserved. Of all the awards given this year it appears so far the peanut gallery is in violent agreement which never happens. Hope I didn’t just jinx it.
January 2, 2025 @ 2:07 pm
I keep going back to SF thinking I must be missing something and maybe I am but it just seems so pedestrian and boring. Puts me to sleep. Hell of a list though and 24 was a great year for music.
January 2, 2025 @ 2:11 pm
We truly had an embarrassment of riches in 2024.
Looking forward to what 2025 has in store.
January 2, 2025 @ 3:26 pm
I’ve been a defender of Sierra Ferrell for awhile. The album is a good one. I don’t disagree that it’s Country music. She’s somewhere between old- timey, mountain music, Honky- Tonk and the occasional jazz influence. Realistically, though she’s miles away from radio accessibility in terms of a sound that regular people are gonna bop their heads to while commuting from work.
It’s gonna be viewed as too old timey for prime- time. So to say it’s Album of The Year over JJs new one, or Zach Top or Josh Turner, for example, I dunno, seems a stretch. But I know that Kyle tends to favor the female Americana gals quite a bit, so I think it’s a reflection of his personal taste. ( yes i did see it prominently on a lot of rival site best- of lists.) And as the SCM Czar, that’s his right.
For a female country artist who i believe has a sound that could be more mainstream, I personally liked Sarah Gayle Meechs new album Easin On. But I am literally probably the only one in SCM land to see it that way. Probably helps that I’ve seen Sarah Gayle live numerous times.
Sierra Ferrell will be just fine, she’s carved a niche fanbase to support herself. Is she gonna be a modern day industry dominating Dolly type? Honestly I don’t see it. Lainey Wilson appears to be the industry gal of the moment.
January 2, 2025 @ 4:06 pm
I wouldn’t disagree with much of what you said. But what I would strongly disagree with is that radio play in any way would factor into this decision. I would argue that in 2025, mainstream radio play shouldn’t factor into ANY decision because it’s so niche at this point, it’s veering toward complete irrelevancy. And even though hypothetically, Jamey Johnson or Josh Turner might be more likely to get mainstream radio play, they probably have just as much of a chance as Sierra Ferrell does. In fact, my guess is her collaboration with Zach Bryan got played more on radio than all the singles from the Jamey Johnson and Josh Turner albums combined.
Nobody’s “bopping their head” to Zach Bryan songs, and he’s one of the biggest artists in all of music. He’s also nowhere on the radio.
As I always say, it’s not that radio is completely irrelevant. But we have to stop acting like it is the arbiter of anything. Streaming, playlists, Tik-Tok, etc. are WAY more important in 2025 than country radio. As Eric Church said a few years ago now, there are dudes on country radio with then #1 singles who can’t sell out their high school gymnasium. Sierra Ferrell is a bigger artist than most major label’s 2nd tier performers supported by radio.
January 2, 2025 @ 5:59 pm
Zach Bryan was playing in a small club with Noeline Hoffman for NYE which to me is kinda wild considering he is one of the biggest names in Country now. Compare this with Nashville’s NYE show with Jelly Roll and Shaboozey (who was actually good) and eventually Keith Urban and the Bert Kreisher milling about onstage. Zach will be around a long time if he doesn’t burn himself up on bourbon and speed.
January 3, 2025 @ 9:31 am
Also, Sierra Ferrell’s “Trail of Flowers” was the #1 album played on Americana radio in 2025. Yes, Americana radio is much smaller than mainstream country radio. But it is a significant format that doesn’t receive enough attention. She was also nominated for FOUR Grammy Awards, so I do think her impact can be felt in “mainstream” circles.
January 3, 2025 @ 7:11 pm
My point of view is that I was raised on AM and FM country radio. The early 80s was where it started for me. I was the kid who saw The Oak Ridge Boys and Statler Bros and Barbara Mandrell at the fair. As time went on I heard all the music before 1980 , as you could request it and there were radio programs and shows that played the older stuff. Lots of Hee Haw and grandparents record collection filled in the gaps. I listened to mainstream country until it started to suck. I fell into that mid nineties rockabilly and honky- tonk revival as well. Along came the alt- country. Having all those eras of country music in my DNA, not to mention the bluegrass, gave me an education on Country music. So when you say Album of The Year to me, it means something that really encapsulates the very best of the genre. Look, I love the preservationists passionately, I do. Colter Wall is a preservationist, Marty Stuart ditto. Is Sierra Ferrell a radical preservationist? I’ve debated this in my mind. On the one hand, she can bring a Carter Family vibe easily, and she can play 60s honky- tonk as well as anyone. She nibbles a bit at grass, but ends up more primitive in style. She does get downright sophisticated at times with jazz arrangements and her voice is a stunner particularly when she goes down that road. But I don’t see her focused on one style in a preservationist manner. She’s also about as far away from a mainstream sound as you can get. As Corncaster notes below, shes also way into camp and performance art. Her busking days were in places like Portland and Seattle, playing for the art crowd.
Whereas JJ and your boy Zach Top and Turner and Jinks sing one stanza and they immediately have a crowd with the rural folks, the country people, the construction blue collar people. It’s uncontestably country music and it’s done well, with mass appeal to the folks like me that were raised on the stuff.
Sierra Ferrell has a more niche and often sophisticated and urban crowd. Different fanbase. Thats not a problem. I’ve defended her here vigorously on the merits of her creativity and talent. But when you say Country music in general to the masses, she isn’t gonna be a name that most Country folks are gonna name. They are gonna say Dolly, Cash, Nelson, Waylon, Stapleton , Garth. Strait etc etc.
Nonetheless I do think Sierra Ferrells album is very good. It’s better than her previous one. And having seen her live multiple times, I can attest that she does draw a crowd and entertains well.
That’s why I disagree on it as album of the year. I know the Americana folks are all in on it as album of the year, but for obvious reasons. A number of the commentors here are Americana junkies first and country as an afterthought second.
Apologies for rant. Wanted to clarify my obviously unpopular take here.
January 4, 2025 @ 12:01 am
I completely understand what you’re saying Kevin. I just think you’re bringing a 2005 analysis to a 2025 situation. Zach Bryan is extremely niche. Zach Bryan is more niche than Sierra Ferrell. Zach Bryan is also bigger than most all the other artists in the entirety of country music combined, save for Morgan Wallen. Niche is the mainstream now. None of the rules you’re bringing here apply anymore. Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Billy Strings, they all broke them, and then broke through barriers for niche artists where they’re all now selling out arenas and headlining massive festivals. I can’t see any reason to not believe that Sierra Ferrell could not also find that same success. She’s already on that trajectory. It would be a failure if she doesn’t get to that level. She’s nominated for four Grammy Awards. She about to go out opening for Post Malone on what will be one of the biggest tours of 2025.
Sierra Ferrell is not a straight country artist, but nobody is saying that she is. She’s Sierra Ferrell. Jamey Johnson, Josh Turner, and even Cody Jinks at this point, their careers are what they are. The upside potential has been realized. Sierra Ferrell is already multipliers bigger as a live act than Jamey Johnson or Josh Turner, and her upside potential is still to be reached, whatever that happens to be.
Also, this is Album of the Year, not Artist of the Year. We’re supposed to be judging an album on its artistic merit, not the prospects of her career moving forward. Sierra Ferrell was the Artist of the Year in 2023. Over the next year, she probably quadrupled her fan base. Zach Top is the 2024 Artist of the Year. I expect him to do the same, and he will be the guy to carry the traditionalist flag forward.
January 4, 2025 @ 3:22 pm
The unspoken premise of what you’re saying Kevin is that country music is what “the rural folks, the country people, the construction blue collar people” listen to. That’s what this argument is about: whether that premise is true or not (of course, the answer can be something more nuanced than either yes or no).
January 2, 2025 @ 4:12 pm
If reincarnation is a thing, she’s a reincarnated female Jimmie Rodgers. She reminds me so much of him, especially when she covers one of his songs.
January 2, 2025 @ 5:04 pm
Sarah Gayle Meech’s album was such a fantastic surprise. She was either an ameripolitan winner or nominee in the past for Outlaw Female, so it was really cool surprised to see how well she pulled off the Nashville Sound/countrypolitan influenced sound on this year’s album.
January 2, 2025 @ 3:50 pm
100% agree. Many albums worthy of consideration, as you point out in the article, but this is clearly the best of the best. The mere fact that everyone seems to have a different favorite track off the album speaks volumes about its depth. Sierra is a force and a generational talent.
I give Sturgill, Shane Smith and The Red Clay Strays my runners-up. While I love all three of these albums, and pretty much every song on each of them, none truly has the depth or diversity found provided with perfection on Trail of Flowers. Honorable mention to both 2024 Charley Crockett albums and both 2024 Cody Jinks albums, too. Has CC put his out as one double-album, it might have taken the prize.
January 2, 2025 @ 4:08 pm
I completely agree with the choice. It’s an album of the decade. Point.
I don’t have to like her confusing Insta stories to appreciate this great artist. A woman who opposes all categorizations.
In her completely independent approach to music she reminds me a lot of Lee Perry. He was also completely independent and crazy, creating his own wondrous cosmos that set him apart from the rest of the reggae community. But no one can claim that Scratch isn’t “real reggae”.
January 2, 2025 @ 4:09 pm
I need to go back and revisit this one. Feel like the Q1 releases always get buried in my memory if I’m not listening to them consistently. Recency bias is a real bitch. I remember a ton of people championing it in the nomination comments though.
Case in point, BJ Barham tweeted yesterday morning that Moreland’s Visitor was his favorite release of the year, and I spun it again that morning, having not touched it in 6 months. I was blown away at how deep I had let that album get buried in my memory. Like “was I f**king half asleep the first time I listened to this?” Maybe I did the same with Sierra.
Thanks again for all the work, Trig!
January 2, 2025 @ 6:05 pm
Great choice, such a solid album and I wore the hell out of it. I think it was you, who at one point said something to the effect that it’s like she manifests like a woodland spirit and performs just on another level and dissappears (paraphrasing poorly). I highly encourage anyone to see her live as she puts on a hell of a show and her bed has gotten better over the past 2 years (they were already good to begin with)
January 2, 2025 @ 6:06 pm
I saw her live this year. She and her backing band are unfathomably talented.
January 2, 2025 @ 6:11 pm
I don’t care for adults who dress like a five-year-old. Nevertheless, congratulations!
January 2, 2025 @ 7:13 pm
I have always enjoyed her Orlando Furioso style cover art.
Her music is OK. There were better albums this year.
2025 will be Turnpike’s.
January 2, 2025 @ 7:44 pm
Gypsy camp, and a very good singer.
She’s not for me, so what follows can be safely ignored. Her writing can often be awkward, tossed-off, and a mix of cliche, coyness, and off-handed boasting. Like all camp artists, she’s overwrought, reckless, and escapes into convention like she’s avoiding something.
Here’s an example. The refrain of “No Letter” ends with (just about the only) lines I really like on the album:
“Knowing as soon as I see your sweet face
I won’t be as mad at this wretched old place”
The melody could end a little sadder, but that’s not Sierra. Whenever sadness comes, she adjusts her bustier, hikes up her skirt, and puts on more mascara. Camp, people.
It’s a thing. It’s been a thing for a long time. Some people really like it.
January 2, 2025 @ 9:18 pm
I just havent to the whole album so i cant say. I know i had high expectations but the early releases just didnt really interest me that much. I know she can do better than what i heard. Far as albums go, it was luke combs album number one for me, followed by the charley crockett albums for me. After that im not really sure. I liked the tris munsick album a good deal. There was one with a guy n girl duo i believe that was really old timey i liked but cant think of the name now. But really it was only a couple of songs that really stood out. Overall all good though. Looking forward to more good stuff in the new year.
January 2, 2025 @ 9:22 pm
Very good choice. It’s about time she stepped out of the “featuring Sierra Ferrell” guest appearances and into her own spotlight (though I DO love her appearance on The Mavericks’ Moon and Stars). There’s not a bad song on her album–though “I’ll Come off the Mountain” feels redundant and inferior to “I could drive you crazy” and, therefore, sometimes a skipper. I look forward to a headlining tour from here–don’t think I can stomach the Post Malone/Jelly Roll show just to see her. She is transcendent. A voice both fresh and new and ancient at the same time, like it’s always been there.
January 3, 2025 @ 9:32 am
Yes, the Post Malone opening slot is going to be massive for the name recognition of Sierra Ferrell. I won’t be attending, but this might be her ticket to the very top.
January 6, 2025 @ 2:33 pm
We’ll see. I don’t think the country is moving toward her. I see it moving toward Zach Top, if his songs can develop the sincerity and resonance that Alan Jackson’s songs have.
I don’t see any evidence of that kind of sincerity and resonance in Sierra. She’s very good, and very entertaining, but it’s like Dolly Parton (Nose-Ringed Version) without the core of “Coat of Many Colors” that is what we REALLY love about Dolly.
Sierra still wants to keep the normies at arm’s length, which will limit her.
Not that she cares, or should care.
January 6, 2025 @ 5:26 pm
I’m seeing folks talking about Sierra Ferrell’s potential ascent as if it’s a hypothetical as opposed to playing out before our very eyes in real time. If you speak to anyone one in the independent music industry, they will all concur that Sierra Ferrell is absolutely surging at the moment. She’s a huge live draw. She was just nominated for four Grammy Awards. She virtually swept the Americana Awards. And Post Malone is taking her out on a massive tour. We don’t have to prognosticate here. It’s happening.
“Sierra still wants to keep the normies at arm’s length, which will limit her. “
I don’t see that coming from Sierra Ferrell. I see that coming from normies who are trying to discount her.
Zach Top can be surging in popularity, while Sierra Ferrell is too. My assessment would be Zach is surging faster, but that doesn’t mean Sierra isn’t at all.
January 3, 2025 @ 3:18 am
…the good news are, there were valid choices. the great news is, the correct one was made.
January 3, 2025 @ 4:19 am
Couldn’t agree more with this pick, I absolutely love this album. It has no skips, great writing and takes you on a journey. If you haven’t seen Sierra Ferrell and her band live do yourself a favor and get some tickets!
January 3, 2025 @ 7:29 am
Congrats to Sierra Ferrell on her SCM best album award. It doesn’t seem that long ago I ran into a post from Ferrell on Instagram and started following the girl who grabbed your attention with funny and quirky videos. Or looking up her music on Bandcamp. Ferrell had the charisma back then to draw you in to a future star, if maybe a troubled star. Today there is no doubting that she is a star.
It’s hard not to love and root for Sierra Ferrell. She is the unlikely success story. She has walked her own path, overcame self doubt and the dangers of a young woman navigating the entertainment world alone, and come out the other side as a one of a kind talent. Hope her star continues to shine brighter.
January 3, 2025 @ 9:35 am
Very interesting reading the comments.
The consistent loudest voices on these comment threads are disappointed with your pick, where the majority agrees with you (voted for SF as you noted).
Great album!!!
Brent Cobb was right:
“Well, hot dog, your opinion is louder than mine
You might wear out my nerves, but you ain’t changing my mind.”
January 3, 2025 @ 10:12 am
This is a good choice and was my guess before reading the contents of this article. My top two faves were Sturgill and Kaitlin Butts, with this one and Emily Nenni’s after that. I figured no way Sturgill wins as it’s not overtly country enough and there were some very fine mostly country albums among the nominees. Other ones I was very happy were albums by Dwight, Jamey Johnson and “old friends” Gillian Welch & David Rawlings. Gillian and Dave’s The Day The Mississippi Died might be my favorite song this year and I think it’s one of their best. Seeing them live in December was my favorite concert experience of the year (Richard Thompson full band show being a close second).
I bought a copy of the new Karen Jonas album, but haven’t spent enough time with it. I double checked to be sure and you actually gave it a 9.7. Nice that you called out her album as having the highest review score of the year.
January 4, 2025 @ 5:06 am
Too many great albums to choose from. I don’t envy the task in picking the best, but I have never been able to argue against any of the picks over the years and this year is another good one.
I appreciate all the effort and time put into this site Trigger, you work is commendable and honestly more than appreciated.
Hands down for me my most replayed album of the year was Tony Martinez’s – Everywhere West, but there were just way too many great albums to count.
Over a year later and Brent Cobb’s – Southern Star is still an absolute treat to listen too. It might be my favorite album of this entire decade.
January 4, 2025 @ 9:29 am
Sierra Ferrell puts so much into a word or even a single syllable. Trigger knows good singing when he hears it. Whether you’re a gravel truck driver or hipster brewmaster you have ears 🙂 Have you heard Sierra Ferrell’s “Ain’t Had No Lovin;”? Cover of Connie Smith’s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_zDMnFTOWw
January 4, 2025 @ 6:04 pm
A win for Sierra is a win for all the sprites of field and forest. Trail of Flowers was one of my favorite albums last year, but my favorite of hers remains her rough and rowdy early diamond Washington by the Sea. I wish that album would become available on streaming platforms, along with the equally brilliant Pretty Magic Spell.
My favorite country and country-by-association albums of 2024:
01. Willie Watson – Willie Watson
02. Pat Reedy – Make It Back Home
03. John Moreland – Visitor
04. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings – Woodland
05. Hurray for the Riff Raff – The Past is Still Alive
06. Leslie Stevens – Leslie Stevens
07. Billy Strings – Highway Prayers
08. Amy Annelle – The Toll
09. Sierra Ferrell – Trail of Flowers
10. Jamey Johnson – Midnight Gasoline
11. JP Harris – JP Harris Is a Trash Fire
12. Lost Dog Street Band – Survived
13. Jonathan Peyton – Nothing Here’s the Same
14. The Droptines – The Droptines
15. Desiree Cannon – Radio Heat
16. Malerie Day – Heaven Knows
17. Abby Webster – Livin’ by the Water
18. David Quinn – Young Love
19. Shawn Hess – Wild Onion
20. The Secret Sisters – Mind, Man, Medicine
21. Mac Cornish – Never Made Much of a Lover
22. Old 97’s – American Primitive
23. Rainy Eyes – Lonesome Highway
24. Jesse Welles – Patchwork
25. Molly Brandt – American Saga
26. Sarah Shook & the Disarmers – Revelations
27. Miranda Lambert – Postcards from Texas
28. The Lostines – Meet the Lostines
29. Caleb Caudle – Sweet Critters
30. Hannah Juanita – Tennessee Songbird
January 8, 2025 @ 1:15 pm
My native West Virginia is currently well-represented in real country music.