Items12The creator’s order
  1. 1Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (1998)Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (1998)Released 1 Jan 1998Lucinda Williams spent six obsessive years honing this masterpiece, and every second shows in its exquisite sense of place. Here, Americana means an earthy confluence of Delta blues, country twang and juke-joint rock, anchored by Williams's drawled, vulnerable vocals. Songs such as 'Drunken Angel'…0
  2. 2John Prine (1971)John Prine (1971)Released 1 Jan 1971Before Americana even had an official marketing tag, John Prine wrote its foundational hymnbook on his Chicago mail route. Armed with just an acoustic guitar and an unassuming Midwestern cadence, Prine sketched portraits of ordinary folk that cut straight to the bone. From the devastating…0
  3. 3Time (The Revelator) (2001)Time (The Revelator) (2001)Released 1 Jan 2001Recorded at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium with only two acoustic guitars and two voices, this album strips roots music back to its barest architectural bones. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings weave ancient mountain folklore into modern dread, linking the wreck of the Titanic, Abraham…0
  4. 4Southeastern (2013)Southeastern (2013)Released 1 Jan 2013Written in the clarifying aftermath of getting sober, Southeastern presents a clinic in unsparing character-driven songwriting. Isbell uses country and southern rock traditions not for bluster, but to illuminate fragile rooms, hospital wards and strained reunions. The heartbreaking ballad…0
  5. 5Old No. 1 (1975)Old No. 1 (1975)Released 1 Jan 1975Guy Clark approached songwriting with the discipline of a master carpenter: measure twice, cut once, and let the natural grain speak. His debut record introduced timeless standards such as 'Desperados Waiting for a Train', 'L.A. Freeway' and 'She Ain't Goin' Nowhere'. Americana on this record is…0
  6. 6Townes Van Zandt (1969)Townes Van Zandt (1969)Released 1 Jan 1969Townes Van Zandt's self-titled third album contains the purest distillation of his haunting, solitary lyrical vision. Featuring definitive acoustic takes of 'Pancho and Lefty', 'Waiting Around to Die' and 'For the Sake of the Song', the record sits at the mystical crossroad between traditional folk…0
  7. 7Guitar Town (1986)Guitar Town (1986)Released 1 Jan 1986Steve Earle crashed into Nashville with a Fender Telecaster, a chip on his shoulder and a briefcase of razor-sharp working-class vignettes. Guitar Town bridged the gap between Bakersfield twang, Bruce Springsteen's heartland rock and the outlaw movement. Songs such as 'Goodbye's All We've Got Left'…0
  8. 8Living With Ghosts (1996)Living With Ghosts (1996)Released 1 Jan 1996Originally intended as acoustic demo recordings, Living With Ghosts was deemed so powerful by the label that it was released completely untouched. Accompanied solely by her driving acoustic guitar and an extraordinary, soaring voice, Griffin inhabits characters caught between domestic routine and…0
  9. 9The Houston Kid (2001)The Houston Kid (2001)Released 1 Jan 2001After decades of scoring number-one mainstream country hits, Rodney Crowell stepped back to deliver this unvarnished autobiographical masterpiece. The Houston Kid confronts Crowell's rough childhood in depression-era east Houston, addressing domestic violence, brotherly love and the AIDS epidemic…0
  10. 10Infamous Angel (1992)Infamous Angel (1992)Released 1 Jan 1992With a voice that rings like an antique church bell, Iris DeMent delivered one of the most honest roots debuts of the 1990s. Infamous Angel draws on Ozark gospel, traditional country and front-parlour piano, but its spirit is thoroughly independent. Whether examining spiritual doubt in the…0