The Top 100 Americana Albums Played on Radio in 2014
Though 2014 still has another month to go, the end of November traditionally marks the end of the radio calendar in music, allowing us to look back and see who had the greatest impact on the format throughout the year. The Americana Music Association has just unveiled their list for the most played albums in 2014, and there’s quite a few surprises, and quite a few names traditionally considered country filling out the ranks.
Rosanne Cash leads all participants with her album The River & The Thread, followed by the much-anticipated comeback album from progressive bluegrass group Nickel Creek called A Dotted Line. Up-and-comers Nikki Lane, Lake Street Dive, and Shovels & Rope also made the Top 10, while Sturgill Simpson’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music came in at #10 on the list.
Along with many of the well-recognized Americana names, country greats like Willie Nelson came in at #14, Johnny Cash at #32, Billy Joe Shaver at #42, Ray Benson at #67, Marty Stuart at #79, and Dolly Parton at #92. Americana stalwart Jim Lauderdale was the only name with multiple entries, with albums coming in at both #58 and #98.
The Americana airplay numbers are aggregated from 70 terrestrial radio stations, nationally syndicated radio shows, Sirius/XM satellite radio, and internet radio stations to come up with the final tallies.
Top 100 Most-Played Albums in Americana
- Rosanne Cash – The River & The Thread
- Nickel Creek – A Dotted Line
- Rodney Crowell – Tarpaper Sky
- Hard Working Americans – Hard Working Americans
- Old Crow Medicine Show – Remedy
- Nikki Lane – All Or Nothin’
- Lake Street Dive – Bad Self Portraits
- Shovels And Rope – Swimmin’ Time
- John Hiatt – Terms Of My Surrender
- Sturgill Simpson – Metamodern Sounds In Country Music
- Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin – Common Ground
- St. Paul & The Broken Bones – Half The City
- Parker Millsap – Parker Millsap
- Willie Nelson – Band Of Brothers
- Paul Thorn – Too Blessed To Be Stressed
- Lucinda Williams – Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone
- Trampled By Turtles – Wild Animals
- Various – A Tribute To Jackson Browne – Looking Into You
- Keb Mo – BLUESAmericana
- Secret Sisters – Put Your Needle Down
- John Fullbright – Songs
- Amos Lee – Mountains Of Sorrow, Rivers Of Song
- Jamestown Revival – Utah
- Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison – Our Year
- Jason Eady – Daylight & Dark
- Infamous Stringdusters – Let It Go
- Chuck Mead – Free State Serenade
- Sarah Jarosz – Build Me Up From Bones
- Billie Joe & Norah Jones – Foreverly
- Justin Townes Earle – Single Mothers
- Ryan Adams – Ryan Adams
- Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars
- First Aid Kit – Stay Gold
- Carlene Carter- Carter Girl
- Devil Makes Three – I’m A Stranger Here
- Red Molly – The Red Album
- Duhks – Beyond The Blue
- Mastersons – Good Luck Charm
- Will Hoge – Never Give In
- Blackie and the Rodeo Kings – South
- Puss N Boots – No Fools, No Fun
- Billy Joe Shaver – Long In The Tooth
- Brandy Clark – 12 Stories
- Drive-By Truckers – English Oceans
- Carolina Story – Chapter Two
- Lee Ann Womack – The Way I’m Livin’
- Will Kimbrough – Sideshow Love
- Irene Kelley – Pennsylvania Coal
- Trigger Hippy – Trigger Hippy
- Shakey Graves – And The War Came
- Carolina Story – Chapter One
- Hurray For The Riff Raff – Small Town Heroes
- Chuck Prophet – Night Surfer
- Girls Guns & Glory – Good Luck
- Howlin’ Brothers – Trouble
- Blue Highway – The Game
- Amy LaVere – Runaway’s Diary
- Jim Lauderdale – I’m A Song
- Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – Give The People What They Want
- Black Prairie – Fortune
- Ruthie Foster – Promise Of A Brand New Day
- Whiskey Myers – Early Morning Shakes
- Robert Ellis – The Lights From The Chemical Plant
- Suzy Bogguss – Lucky
- Seth Walker – Sky Still Blue
- Felice Brothers – Favorite Waitress
- Ray Benson – A Little Piece
- Scott Miller – Big Big World
- String Cheese Incident – Song In My Head
- Lydia Loveless – Somewhere Else
- Mingo Fishtrap – On Time
- Haden Triplets – Haden Triplets
- Robert Cray Band – In My Soul
- Mike Farris – Shine For All The People
- Tommy Malone – Poor Boy
- Zoe Muth – World Of Strangers
- Greg Trooper – Incident on Willow Street
- Charlie Robison – High Life
- Marty Stuart – Saturday Night/Sunday Morning
- Various – Inside Llewyn Davis – Inside Llewyn Davis
- Old 97s – Most Messed Up
- Chris Smither – Still On The Levee
- Various – A Tribute To Born in the USA – Dead Man’s Town
- Deep Dark Woods – Jubilee
- Rod Picott – Hang Your Hopes On A Crooked Nail
- Steve Martin And The Steep Canyon Rangers – LIVE featuring Edie Brickell
- Janiva Magness – Original
- Otis Gibbs – Souvenirs Of A Misspent Youth
- Avett Brothers – Magpie And The Dandelion
- Candi Staton – Life Happens
- Blue Rodeo – In Our Nature
- Dolly Parton – Blue Smoke
- Head And The Heart – Let’s Be Still
- Peter Mulvey – Silver Ladder
- John Mellencamp – Plain Spoken
- Laura Cantrell – No Way There From Here
- Band Of Heathens – Sunday Morning Record
- Jim Lauderdale – Black Roses
- Mary Gauthier – Trouble & Love
- Hannah Aldridge – Razor Wire Â
December 3, 2014 @ 2:30 pm
Lots of good stuff there! I have at least 10 or 11 of those on CD, including Suzy Bogguss and Kelly & Bruce. 🙂
December 3, 2014 @ 4:07 pm
Another great year in Americana music — IMHO this is where most all the real talent is people! Even though I live a long way from Texas or Nashville, I was lucky enough to see several of these top artists in concert this year. (I also discovered and saw the amazing Turnpike Troubadours this year.)
And not that anyone cares, but I predicted Rosanne Cash would take the #1 spot way back in January. If you haven’t heard The River & The Thread yet, what is wrong with you?
December 3, 2014 @ 10:26 pm
Nikki Lane?!!! I’ve been listening to the wrong radio… And Rosanne Cash #! Glad to hear a stellar album.
But again what exactly IS Americana now? Anything blues/bluegrass/country related that mainstream radio won’t play?
It seems like a catch all for a lot of stiff in the same way country music is now a catch for for a lot of crap.
December 3, 2014 @ 10:27 pm
Also… Janiva Magness!!!!! That album was dynamite! Saw her live and man… keepin’ the Etta James, Koko Taylor, Ruth Brown, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey flame brunin’ STRONG!
December 3, 2014 @ 11:12 pm
While I love seeing artists given the “Americana” tag because it generally means they have legitimate talent, I find it egregious for “Americana” to claim so many artists, especially artists who are firmly entrenched in other genres (Sturgill and Willie in Outlaw Country, Drive-By Truckers in Alt-Country).
We often discuss this fear we have of the monogenre, and I agree with those hesitations, but the term “Americana” should not be so loosely applied to anything that’s good in the far ranging subgenres of country and folk.
Admittedly, I’m too drunk to have read anything but the list, so maybe Trig covered this in the article portion, but I suppose I’ll find out tomorrow.
Anyway, it’s a point worth discussing. Either Americana exists or it doesn’t. Someone needs to decide, and needs to clearly define its parameters.
December 4, 2014 @ 12:03 am
This is the whole “Americana” debate and it’s been going on for the 15 years of its existence, and will be going on for years to come. With this list, I’m not sure if it is as much Americana claiming these artists as it is these are the artists that certain stations that work under the Americana model are playing.
December 4, 2014 @ 7:15 am
I have never thought of Americana as an actual music genre. Somebody somewhere described it as more of a format than a genre. I think it’s an umbrella term that can include various types of American roots music. I also think of it as the successor term for Alt.Country.
December 4, 2014 @ 8:05 am
Absolutely agree that Americana is an umbrella term not a genre. We book our band as an Americana band and when people ask us what that means we tell them we pull from all the American music genres of blues, bluegrass, country, folk, rock, and even jazz.
I’d say “We’re an American Band” but Grand Funk Railroad beat us to the punch.
December 3, 2014 @ 11:41 pm
Saw the Black Lillies about a year ago, opening for Chuck Mead, who at that time I had never heard of before. (And I didn’t really know much about BR549 back then either.) I was just about to leave the venue shortly after the Black Lillies finished, when the Chuck Mead band hit the stage. 15 seconds after they started playing, I turned right back around and stayed for their entire show. I can’t remember the last time I’d been that impressed by a band. If you ever get the chance to see Chuck Mead, you must cancel any other plans. And to think that if I didn’t stop to use the restroom on the way out, I would still be unaware!
December 4, 2014 @ 4:35 am
Looks like I’ve got A LOT of listening to do!
Whenever people tel me that there is no more good music being made I tell them they are absolutely wrong. You just need to know where to look. This is a good start I’m sure.
December 4, 2014 @ 7:19 pm
Call me a cynic (I’ve been called worse), but “Though 2014 still has another month to go, the end of November traditionally marks the end of the radio calendar in music, allowing us to look back and see who had the greatest impact on the format throughout the year…” as well as pad our Christmas wish list for December…
NOT that this list is a bad place to start asking Santa for some stocking stuffers….
Ho, Ho, Ho…
November 24, 2015 @ 3:28 pm
Americana is a wide umbrella, but any list that includes Greg Trooper, John Fullbright and Rod Picott is on the right track. Amazing songwriters there!