AMERICANA ROCK MIX

I was going to wait until the next episode came out to release this, but here it is anyway.

It’s no small statement that I make when I say that 2012 was a truly impeccable year for music. The independent spirit is making a large stretch into the mainstream media. The DIY bands are demonstrating long strides and making headway into the cultural congregation of the “hip”. Just as the fray and fringe, just outside the peripheral of that same cultural eye, becomes new territory to conquer and exploit. And that’s not a bad thing.

With that being said, in this years list I did away with the big names. The Bruce Springsteen’s and the Jack White’s of the music industry don’t belong on this list. They have their names in the proper spotlights of Rolling Stone and Spin magazines.

This list is The Americana Rock Mix’s representation of the aforementioned fringe and fray. The bands that caught my ear and kept tugging on my earlobes throughout 2012.

I had set a few guidelines for myself:

1. No “Greatest Hits” or “Collections”.
2. No “Live Albums” (as they typically become one of the above).
3. Must be a minimum of 7 songs OR 30 Minutes long. Just to keep it fair with the full length albums (typically 10 songs or 45+ minutes).

#3 put me in a hard position that I tried to tackle in Episode 168. If you enjoy the episodes where I drive myself crazy, give it a listen.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to it. Listed in alphabetical order.

- ARTIST – “ALBUM NAME“
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- Alabama Shakes – “Boys And Girls“
- American Aquarium – “Burn.Flicker.Die“
- Arliss Nancy – “Simple Machines”
- Big Kettle Drum – “Big Kettle Drum“
- The Bohannons – “Unaka Rising“
- Branden Barnett – “Verse Chorus Curse“
- Cobalt & The Hired Guns – “Everybody Wins“
- Cory Branan – “Mutt“
- The Creak – “Here, Hold This“
- The Damn Choir – “You’re My Secret Called Fire“
- Deathbarrel – “Merciless Winds“
- The District Attorneys – “Slowburner“
- Doc Dailey & The Magnolia Devil – “Catch The Presidents“
- Eastbound Jesus – “Holy Smokes“
- Fistful Of Beard – “Until We Know Better“
- The Harmed Brothers – “Come Morning“
- Justin Townes Earle – “Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now“
- Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires – “There Is A Bomb In Gilead“
- Lincoln Durham – “The Shovel VS. The Howling Bones“
- Micheal Dean Damron – “Nah Mr. Death… I’ma Comin’ For You“
- The Pollies – “Where The Lies Begin“
- The Porter Draw – “California Widow“
- Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band – “Between The Ditches“
- Rosie Flores – “Working Girl’s Guitar“
- Some Dark Holler – “Hollow Chest“
- Sunday Valley – “To The Wind and On to Heaven“
- Tin Horn Prayer – “Grapple The Rails“
- Truckstop Darlin’ – “Hope and the Heart It Breaks“