Freight Train Boogie Best of 2008

The votes have finally been tallied and the winners are...

1. HAYES CARLL - Trouble In Mind (Lost Highway)
2. CHRIS KNIGHT - Heart of Stone (Drifter’s Church/Thirty Tigers)
3. KATHLEEN EDWARDS - Asking for Flowers (Zoe/Rounder)
4. KASEY CHAMBERS & SHANE NICHOLSON - Rattlin’ Bones (Sugar Hill)
5. THE DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS - Brighter Than Creation’s Dark (New West)
6. JAMES McMURTRY - Just Us Kids (Lightning Rod)
7. ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO - Real Animal (Back Porch)
8. LUCINDA WILLIAMS - Little Honey (Lost Highway)
9. FRED EAGLESMITH - Tinderbox ... (A Major Label)
10. ELIZA GILKYSON - Beautiful World (Red House)

Honorable Mentions...
MUDCRUNCH, EMMYLOU HARRIS, THE STEELDRIVERS, THE BAND OF HEATHENS, HANK WILLIAMS III, JOHN HIATT, PATTY LOVELESS, PHIL LEE, GARY LOURIS, OLD 97'S, GREG COPELAND, RECKLESS KELLY, JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE, HOLLY GOLIGHTLY AND THE BROKEOFFS, HAL KETCHUM, , SHANE NICHOLSON, BRUCE ROBISON, TODD SNIDER...

Thank you all for voting!!

Freight Train Boogie lead reviewer Don Grant checks in with this end of year assessment..

CAROLINE HERRING - Lantana (Signature Sounds)
DONAL HINELY - Blue State Boy (Scuffletown Records)
ROBIN DEAN SALMON - Come On Home (self released)
RANDY THOMPSON - Further On (Jackpot Records)
PO’ GIRL - Unreleased (Self-released)
ALABAMA3 - Hits and Exit Wounds (One Little Indian Records)
ARLAN FEILES - Come Sunday Morning (Not pop Records)
PATTY LOVELESS - Sleepless Nights (Saguaro Road/Time Life)
ABI TAPIA - The Beauty in the Ruin (Moon House Records)
LYNNE HANSON - Eleven Months (MAPL)

Best Live Show: This one’s a toss-up between the Boss and Po’ Girl. Considering that Bruce has a three decade or better head start, this one goes to the kids.

Best of the Christmas Season: MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER - Come Darkness, Come Light (Zoe/Rounder)
Releases in this genre normally send me reaching for the insulin but Chapin Carpenter, with her trademark classy style, saved me a shot with this one. Other artists please take note.

Best Collaboration: STEVE EARLE and ROSANNE CASH - Crossroads (CMT)

Ten For 2008

Larry Jon Wilson : Larry Jon Wilson
Rosalie Sorrels : Strangers In Another Country
Ferron : Boulder
Shelby Lynne : Just A Little Lovin’
Linda McRae : Carve It To The Heart
Otis Taylor : Recapturing The Banjo
Fred Eaglesmith : Tinderbox
The Steeldrivers : The Steeldrivers
Otis Gibbs : Grandpa Walked A Picket Line
James Talley : Heartsong

Here's Freight Train Boogie editor Bill Frater's top ten CD releases...

1. HAYES CARLL - Trouble In Mind (Lost Highway)
2. KASEY CHAMBERS & SHANE NICHOLSON - Rattlin’ Bones (Sugar Hill)
3. HAL KETCHUM - Father Time (Curb)
4. THE BAND OF HEATHENS - The Band Of Heathens (BOH)
5. JAMES McMURTRY - Just Us Kids (Lightning Rod)
6. ELIZA GILKYSON - Beautiful World (Red House)
7. CHARLIE HADEN FAMILY & FRIENDS - Ocean Of Diamonds (Decca)
8. BRUCE ROBISON - The New World (Premium Records)
9. EMMYLOU HARRIS - All I Intended To Be (Nonesuch)
10. BEN SOLLEE - Learning To Bend... (sonaBlast!/Thirty Tigers)

Plus Ten More Great Americana CD's from '08 from Frater...

BLUE MOUNTAIN - Midnight in Mississippi (Broadmoor)
CARLENE CARTER - Stronger (Yep Roc)
CHATHAM COUNTY LINE - IV (Yep Roc)
PETER COOPER - Mission Door (Red Beet)
RODNEY CROWELL -  Sex & Gasoline (Yep Roc)
THE DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS - Brighter Than Creation’s Dark (New West)
ARTY HILL AND THE LONG GONE DADDYS - Bar of Gold (Cow Island)
DARRELL SCOTT - Modern Hymns (Appleseed)
THE WILDERS - Someone's Got To Pay (Free Dirt)
THE WOOD BROTHERS- Loaded (Blue Note)