Minkin's Music: The best of 2016

By Jay Minkin

Many of the usual suspects will notice a different annual “Best Of” for 2016.

At the top of the list is a pair of Buddy Miller reissues from Bear Family Records. Gorgeously packaged on 180-gram virgin vinyl, Your Love And No Other Lies and Cruel Moon are direct metal master cut records from one of Nashville’s most adored guitar players.  

It was quite a year for Alejandro Escovedo, with Record Store Day releases of Gravity and Thirteen Years, along with finding a copy of A Man Under The Influence—Deluxe Buurbonitis Edition. To cap it off, Escovedo released one of this year’s best albums, Burn Something Beautiful, which was cut to vinyl in Cleveland by Clint Holley at Well Made Music. 

Other gems include the rerelease of Wrecking Ball from Emmylou Harris, Son Volt Live At The Bottom Line, The Criteria Sessions from Buddy Guy and Junior Wells and Waylon Jennings’ iconic Dreaming My Dreams reissued by Fat Possum Records.

If you’re looking for new albums to stream, check out Chelle Rose Blue Ridge Blood, Sarah Jarosz Undercurrent, Bonnie Bishop Ain’t Who I Was, Aaron Lee Tasjan Silver Tears, Peter Wolf A Cure For Loneliness and John Prine For Better, Or Worse. 

Two albums on my wish list are The Bird & The Rifle from Lori McKenna and Sunset Motel by Reckless Kelly, featuring the hit single, “How Can You Love Him (You Don’t Even Like Him).”

If I were to highlight one particular album, it would be Midwest Farmer’s Daughter from Margo Price. The release caused the biggest stir in Americana and Country Western music circles and the record is hands down my pick for best album of the year.

Contact Jay at Blues4Bird@aol.com or post on his Minkin’s Music Facebook page.