2020 Graham Awards | Album Review Main Page | The 2020 Musical Obituaries | George Graham's Home Page | What's New On This Site

George Graham's Best of 2020 Albums List

These albums were selected by Mixed host George Graham from the over 500 albums and EPs featured during the year on the New Releases segments presented daily on Mixed Bag. The Mixed Bag musical styles include rock, folk, blues, reggae, world music, Celtic, electronic, and other varieties presented on the program. The emphasis is on records that received little or no attention in the commercial media. Selection criteria include originality, uniqueness of sound, and quality of musicianship.

The list is arranged chronologically.

* designates Homegrown Music Artists.
Recordings featured on the Mixed Bag Weekly Album Review (Wednesdays at 9:00 PM) are linked to the review on this website.


Artist Name

Album Title

Label

Add Date

Betty Fox Band

Peace in Pieces

independent

01/06/20

Grip Weeds

Giant on the Beach

Ground Up

01/09/20

Bossacucanova & Roberto Menescal

Bossa Got the Blue

Six Degrees

01/15/20

Lea

Promise

independent

01/17/20

Kingsley Durant

Point of Reference

independent

01/20/20

Tinsley Ellis

Ice Cream in Hell

Alligator

01/21/20

Dave Soldier

Zajal

independent

01/23/20

Innocence Mission

See You Tomorrow

independent

01/24/20

Amber DeLaurentis

Innocent Road

independent

01/28/20

Hollow Coves

Moments

Nettwerk

01/31/20

Antibalas

Fu Chronicles

Daptone

01/31/20

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong

Presto

independent

02/04/20

Alan Barnoskt

Lonesome Road

independent EP

02/05/20

Sonny Landreth

Blacktop Run

Provogue

02/10/20

Pi Jacobs *

Two Truths and a Lie

Travianna

02/12/20

Cindy Cashdollar

Waltz for Abilene

independent

02/13/20

Drive-By Truckers

The Unraveling

ATO

02/14/20

Jocelyn and Chris Arndt *

One Night in November

independent

02/21/20

Nathaniel Rateliff

And It’s Still Alright

Stax

02/21/20

Lisa Loeb

A Simple Trick to Happiness

independent

02/24/20

Jake Shimabukuro Trio

Jake Shimabukuro Trio

Music Theories

02/27/20

Sergio Mendes

In the Key of Joy

Concord

02/28/20

Patty Larkin

Bird in a Cage

independent

03/06/20

Roomful of Blues

In a Roomful of Blues

Alligator

03/09/20

Laila Biali

Out of Dust

independent

03/09/20

Brooks Williams

Work My Claim

independent

03/10/20

Deborah Holland

Fine, Thank You!

independent EP

03/10/20

Jacob Cole *

Hope

independent

03/11/20

Rachelle Garniez

Gone to Glory

Storysound

03/12/20

Mark Erelli

Blindsided

independent

03/12/20

Sultans of String *

Refugee

independent

03/16/20

Jud Caswell

Live at the Seagull

independent

03/18/20

Scott Fab

Someday Soon Somehow

independent

03/18/20

Ken and Brad Kolodner

Stony Run

independent

03/24/20

James Hunter Six

Nick of Time

Daptone

03/30/20

Anoushka Shankar

Love Letter

Mercury EP

03/30/20

Hello Forever

Whatever It Is

independent

04/07/20

Crystal Shawanda

Church House Blues

True North

04/08/20

Celtic Women

various artists

Putumayo

04/09/20

Laurie Lewis

And Laurie Lewis

independent

04/10/20

Tobias the Owl

Visalia

independent

04/13/20

Aoife O'Donovan

Bull Frogs Croon

Signature Sounds

04/13/20

Carla Ulbrich

The Loud Album

independent

04/14/20

John Doyle

The Path of Stones

Compass

04/16/20

Katy Moffatt

Chrysalis

Sunset Blvd.

04/16/20

Michael Whalen

Sacred Spaces

Solace

04/21/20

Amrod Band with Fred Wesley

Everywhere Is Outta Town

independent

04/23/20

Brushfire Stankgrass

City of A Thousand Hills

independent

04/24/20

David Haerle

Death Valley

Edendale

05/01/20

Will Bernard

Freelance Subversives

Ropeadope

05/04/20

Joss Jaffe

Traveller

independent EP

05/04/20

Rachel Garlin

Mondegreens

independent

05/06/20

Al Di Meola

Across the Universe

EAR

05/07/20

Nell and Jim Band

Western Sun

Whippoorwill

05/08/20

Van Wagner *

You Can’t Force a Mule

independent

05/12/20

Timothy Zieger *

Now to Recall

independent

05/12/20

Sass Jordan

Rebel Moon Blues

independent

05/13/20

Revel Switch *

Anyway Hello

independent

05/13/20

Kyle Hollingsworth

2020

SCI Fidelity EP

05/19/20

VickiKristinaBarcelona

Pawn Shop Radio

independent

05/26/20

Owen Pallet

Island

Domino

05/26/20

John McCutcheon

Cabin Fever: Songs for the Quarantine

Appalsongs

06/02/20

Blake Mills

Mutable Set

Verve

06/03/20

Rogers and Butler

Poets and Sinners

Zip

06/03/20

Kennedy One

Metropolis

independent EP

06/10/20

Karavan Sarai

Torn in Love

independent EP

06/11/20

Pharis and Jason Romero

Bet on Love

independent

06/12/20

Danielia Cotton & the Church Boys

A Different War

independent EP

06/15/20

Don Bryant

You Make Me Feel

Fat Possom

06/16/20

Jefferson Berry & the UAC

Double Deadbolt Logic

independent

06/17/20

Willie Nelson

First Rose of Spring

Legacy

06/18/20

Norah Jones

Pick Me Up Off the Floor

Blue Note

06/22/20

The Sidleys

Breathless

independent

07/01/20

Eric Hilton

Infinite Everywhere

Montserrat House

07/07/20

Braids

Shadow Offering

Secret City

07/08/20

Victor Wainwright

Memphis Loud

Ruf

07/09/20

Captain Planet

No Visa

Bastard Jazz

07/09/20

Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile

Not Our First Goat Rodeo

Masterworks

07/14/20

Miller and the Other Sinners

Rise

independent

07/16/20

John Michael Hersey *

The Reincarnation of a Rock

independent

07/21/20

Maceo Parker

Soul Food – Cooking with Maceo

The Funk Garage

07/21/20

Heathcote Hill

The Stories We Are Told

independent

07/22/20

Tom Ciurszak

Call Me Ishmael

independent

07/23/20

Ladama

Oye Mujer

Six Degrees

07/27/20

The Furious Seasons

La Fonda

independent

07/29/20

The Wildmans

The Wildmans

Travianna

07/31/20

Alan Williams

Evidence Withheld

Blue Gentian

08/12/20

Carla Ulbrich *

Inside Jokes: Humorous Songs from Quarantine

independent

08/13/20

Mandoki Soulmates

Living in the Gap

Purple Pyramid

08/14/20

March to May

What I Was and More

independent

08/21/20

Liam Moore

Visions of a Perfect Life

independent

08/24/20

Carolina Story

Dandelion

Black River

08/26/20

Walter Trout

Ordinary Madness

Provogue

08/28/20

Jayme Stone

Awake

independent

08/31/20

The Coronas

True Love Waits

independent

08/31/20

Toots & the Maytals

Got to Be Tough

BMG

09/01/20

Mommyheads

New Kings of Pop

independent

09/03/20

The Last Bandoleros

Live from Texas

Warner Nashville

09/04/20

Wade Preston *

Lost in the Noise

independent

09/08/20

Cary Morin

Dockside Saints

independent

09/08/20

Paul Mark & the Van Dorens

Gravity

Radiation

09/10/20

Bronwyn Keith-Hynes

Fiddler’s Pastime

Sugar Petunia

09/11/20

The Mavericks

En Espanol

Thirty Tigers

09/11/20

Elvin Bishop & Charlie Musselwhite

100 Years of Blues

Alligator

09/17/20

Vanessa Collier

Heart on the Line

independent

09/17/20

Avett Brothers

The Third Gleam

American Recordings

09/18/20

Beemo

Bustin’ Out

independent

09/18/20

Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon

Noon

independent

09/21/20

Last Charge of the Light Horse *

The Sand Reckoner

independent

09/22/20

Spirit of 74

Spirit of 74

independent

09/23/20

Susan Werner

Flyover Country

independent

09/28/20

Bettye LaVette

Blackbirds

Verve

09/29/20

Chris Field

Beneath the Sun

independent

09/30/20

Fleet Foxes

Shore

Anti-

10/05/20

Shemekia Copeland

Uncivil War

Alligator

10/06/20

Vusi Mahlasela

Shebeen Queen

ATO

10/06/20

Loudon Wainwright III with Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks

I’d Rather Lead a Band

Search Party

10/13/20

Axiom

Starburst

independent

10/15/20

Suzanne Vega

An Evening of New York Songs and Stories

Cooking Vinyl

10/16/20

David Broza

En Casa Limon

Broza

10/21/20

Kronos Quartet & Friends

Long Time Passing Celebrating Pete Seeger

Smithsonian Folkways

10/27/20

Redtenbacher’s Funkestra

The Hang

RSR

10/28/20

400 Bears

400 Bears

independent

10/30/20

Parson Red Heads

Lifetime of Comedy

Fluff and Gravy

11/02/20

Nation Beat

The Royal Chase

independent

11/05/20

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings

Just Dropped in to See What Condition my Rendition Was In

Daptone

11/06/20

Darrell Scott

Jaroso

Full Light

11/12/20

various artists

Putumayo Presents New Orleans Mambo: From Cuba to NOLA

Putumayo

11/12/20

Ben Sidran

Who’s The Old Guy Now

Bonsai EP

11/16/20

Mountain Goats

Getting Into Knives

Merge

11/17/20

Emily Brown

Fish of Earth

Song Club

11/19/20

Jack Wargo

Back to Slocum Hollow

independent

11/23/20

Mipso

Mipso

Rounder

11/27/20

Eric Hilton

The Impossible Silence

Monserrat

11/30/20

Joni Mitchell

Archives Vol. 1: The Early Years 1963-1967

Rhino

12/03/20

Life in a Blender *

Satsuma

Fang

12/04/20

Keller Williams & Erothyme

Cell

Freeky Disc

12/07/20

Duncan Sheik

Live at the Cafe Carlyle

Sneaky/Missing Piece

12/08/20

Jordan Tice

Motivational Speakeasy

independent

12/08/20


(c) Copyright 2021 George D. Graham. All rights reserved.
This review may not be copied to another Web site without written permission.


Comments to George:

To Index of Album Reviews | To George Graham's Home Page. | What's New on This Site.
This page last updated January 01, 2021