No Depression Readers’ 50 Favorite Roots Music Albums of 2022

After two years severely curtailed by COVID-19, the music industry got back to full speed in 2022, with busy touring schedules and a steady river of new roots music releases throughout the year.

As we do every year, we asked No Depression readers to share their favorite new roots music albums, and more than 4,000 of you obliged, providing the votes that created this list. If we’re doing things right, some of your favorites are on here, but there’s also plenty of room for discovery — and this quiet time around the change of the year is the perfect time to catch up on some stellar albums you may have missed (it happens to the best of us!).

One fun fact about this year’s list: It’s topped by a woman for the first time in a decade — Iris Dement’s Sing the Delta was the top pick of ND readers in 2012.

Tune in next week for the results of our Critic’s Poll, and don’t miss our playlist of songs from all of these albums at the end of this post.

For the Top 10, click on the album name to read ND’s full review or story from earlier this year. We reviewed most of the rest of the list too — use the search function at the top of the page to find those. 

1. Amanda Shires – Take It Like a Man

Shires’ brilliant songwriting takes us into the dark recesses of the human condition, finding points of light that brighten the heart but accepting the persistence of the shadows that haunt our being. Take It Like a Man showcases Shires’ towering vocal ability, which is too often overlooked, as well as her lyrical and musical gifts. — Henry Carrigan

2. Wilco – Cruel Country

Hard times and conflicts bubble up on nearly every song, whether it’s the self-inflicted crises of “Ambulance” or the interpersonal struggles of “Tired of Taking it Out on You.” These themes are familiar ones in the Wilco songbook and they’re also ideally suited to be filtered through the country music stylings that pop up across the album. — Jim Shahen

3. Billy Strings – Me and Dad

For his latest project, Me and Dad, Strings returns to his roots, teaming up with stepdad Terry Barber for an acoustic collection of grassy standards bolstered by some big-time pickers. — Grant Britt

4. Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway – Crooked Tree

Joined by her band Golden Highway and slew of guests like Margo Price, Gillian Welch, and Old Crow Medicine Show, Tuttle pays homage to her familial bluegrass history on Crooked Tree. The songs are vibrant and move as quickly as your heart does when you’re doing something you love, but the most compelling quality of the record is how fun it sounds. — Laura Stanley

5. Charley Crockett – The Man From Waco

These days, critical acclaim and commercial opportunities are coming Crockett’s way, but there’s an authenticity here that cannot be faked. Now that his band’s musical sensibilities are so finely tuned, it stands to reason that Crockett and company’s best is yet to come. — Matt Conner

6. Bonnie Raitt – Just Like That

Raitt once again proves she’s a soulful survivor, allowing those of us within the sound of her voice to live vicariously through her glorious proclamations. — Grant Britt

7. Drive-by Truckers — Welcome 2 Club XIII

With Welcome 2 Club XIII, The Drive-by Truckers shift their attentions from the explicit political zeitgeist (as on their last three records) and instead explore the politics of being human in America (more similarly to their earlier work). Throughout the album, they explore memory’s textures, its sharpest edges and fuzziest corners, and what it means to exist in this world we inhabit. — Matt Ruppert

8. Tyler Childers — Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?

As a thought experiment and creative exercise, Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven? is bold and fascinating, confirming Childers’ burgeoning reputation for thoughtful, provocative work and his willingness to pursue his own muse without catering to audience expectations. — Jim Shahen

9. American Aquarium – Chicamacomico

Chicamacomico is the name of a decommissioned life-saving station off North Carolina’s Outer Banks. It now also serves as the title of American Aquarium’s latest album, a serious and significant work from the band on which Barham’s lyrical turns are given more prominence than ever before. — Matt Conner

10. Steve Earle — Jerry Jeff

This record is the third and final release in Earle’s string of albums honoring his heroes: Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and Walker, who died in 2020. On each of these tribute albums, the whole package — from sonics to album design — shows Earle as an artist who desperately wants the universe to share in his love and fondness for these underground titans. — Michael Davis

11. Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You

12. Mavis Staples and Levon Helm – Carry Me Home

13. Ian Noe – River Fools & Mountain Saints

14. Mary Gauthier — Dark Enough to See the Stars

15. S.G. Goodman – Teeth Marks

16. Willie Nelson – A Beautiful Time

17. 49 Winchester – Fortune Favors the Bold

18. Elvis Costello & The Imposters – A Boy Named If

19. Lyle Lovett – 12th of June

20. Bruce Springsteen – Only the Strong Survive

21. Tedeschi Trucks Band – I Am The Moon

22./23. (tie) Nikki Lane – Denim & Diamonds

22./23. (tie)  Angel Olsen – Big Time

24.John Fullbright – The Liar

25. Bonny Light Horseman – Rolling Golden Holy

26. Arlo McKinley – This Mess We’re In

27. Aoife O’Donovan – Age of Apathy

28. Buddy Guy – The Blues Don’t Lie

29. Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder – Get on Board: The Songs of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee

30. Plains – I Walked With You a Ways

31. Spoon – Lucifer on the Sofa

32. First Aid Kit – Palomino

33. Ray Wylie Hubbard – Co-Starring Too

34. Janis Ian – The Light at the End of the Line

35. Todd Snider – Live: Return of the Storyteller

36. Calexico – El Mirador

37. Larkin Poe – Blood Harmony

38. Anaïs Mitchell – Anaïs Mitchell

39. Dolly Parton – Run, Rose, Run

40./41. (tie) Sam Bush – Radio John: Songs of John Hartford

40./41. (tie) Keb’ Mo’ – Good to Be

42. Various Artists – Live Forever: A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver

43. Sarah Shook & The Disarmers – Nightroamer

44. Marcus King – Young Blood

45. Amy Ray – If It All Goes South

46./47. (tie) Old Crow Medicine Show – Paint This Town

46./47. (tie) John Moreland – Birds in the Ceiling

48. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Dirt Does Dylan

49. Brennen Leigh – Obsessed With the West

50. Dropkick Murphys – This Machine Still Kills Fascists