Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

January 4, 2007 issue

WNCW’s Top Albums of 2006

Story by David Brewer

Taking part in WNCW’s top 100 countdown can be an agonizing and time-consuming venture if you’re an opinionated listener who wants to make every pick count. With so many fine albums to choose from, narrowing the list down to just 10 top albums always means leaving out some favorites.

More than 2,000 listeners logged onto www.wncw.org during December to cast their votes for an incredibly diverse selection of artists, both living and deceased, spanning genres too numerous (and, as yet unnamed) to list.

Perhaps the only thing that links the top ten discs of 2006 is their inclusion in WNCW’s countdown. However, others may view the list as a logical grouping of musical offerings by essential artists—a cross-section representative of where popular music has been and a possible glimpse as to where it might be headed.

 

WNCW’s Top 10 of 2006

1. Bob Dylan—Modern Times

2. Old Crow Medicine Show—Big Iron World

3. Beck—The Information

4. Bruce Springsteen—We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

5. Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris—All the Roadrunning

6. Ben Harper—Both Sides of the Gun

7. Johnny Cash—American V

8. Neko Case—Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

9. J.J. Cale & Eric Clapton—The Road to Escondido

10. Bela Fleck & the Flecktones—The Hidden Land

 

Blues Top 10

1. Buddy Guy—Can't Quit the Blues

2. Charlie Musselwhite—Delta Hardware

3. Tab Benoit—Brother to the Blues

4. Rory Block—The Lady and Mr. Johnson

5. Nighthawks—Blue Moon in Your Eye

6. Guy Davis—Skunkmello

7. Cephas and Wiggins—Shoulder to Shoulder

8. Billy C Wirtz—Sermon from Bethlehem

9. Burnside Exploration—The Record

10. Watermelon Slim and the Workers—Watermelon Slim and the Workers

 

Bluegrass Top 10

1. Del McCoury Band—The Promised Land

2. David Grisman Bluegrass Experience—self-titled

3. Jim Lauderdale—Bluegrass

4. Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder—Instrumentals

5. Rhonda Vincent—All American Bluegrass Girl

6. The Grascals—Long List of Heartaches

7. J.D. Crowe & the New South—Lefty's Old Guitar

8. Ralph Stanley—A Distant Land to Roam

9. Buncombe Turnpike—Picker's Paradise

10. Bryan Sutton—Not Too Far From the Tree

 

Reggae Top 10

1. Michael Franti & Spearhead—Yell Fire!

2. Ras Alan—Folklife

3. Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars—Living Like a Refugee

4. Dubconscious—Realization

5. Lee Scratch Perry—Panic in Babylon

6. Easy Star All-Stars—Radiodread

7. Buju Banton—Too Bad

8. Dub Is A Weapon—Armed & Dangerous

9. Thievery Corporation—Versions

10. Mystic Vision—Being

 

Regional Top 10

1. David Childers and the Modern Don Juans—Jailhouse Religion

2. Mad Tea Party—Big Top Soda Pop

3. Malcolm Holcombe—Not Forgotten

4. Michael Reno Harrell—Drive

5. Chuck Brodsky—Tulips For Lunch

6. Steel String Theory—The North Buncombe Years

7. Jen and the Juice—Meet The Hooligans of Bohemia

8. Eliza Lynn—Frisky or Fair

9. Ras Alan—Folklife

10. The Avett Brothers—Four Thieves Gone

 

Celtic Top 10

1. Chieftains—The Essential Chieftains

2. The Duhks—Migrations

3. Natalie MacMaster—Yours Truly

4. Enter the Haggis—Soapbox Heroes

5. Solas—Reunion

6. Dougie MacLean—Inside the Thunder

7. The Battlefield Band—The Road of Tears

8. Great Big Sea—In Concert: Courage & Patience & Grit

9. Border Collies—Sticks and Stones

10. Whistlebinkies—Albannach

 

Being a faithful WNCW listener, I submitted my ballot for the top 10 Albums of 2006. As you might imagine, my personal favorites were not completely in line with the thousands of other listeners that weighed in on the subject. However, just for argument’s sake, here are my picks, for better or for worse.

Brewer’s Top 10 of 2006

1. Southern Culture on the Skids—Doublewide and Live

2. The Gourds—Heavy Ornamentals

3. James Hunter—People Gonna Talk

4. Josh Rouse—Subtitulo

5. Van Morrison—Pay The Devil

6. Derek Trucks Band—Songlines

7. Amos Lee—Supply and Demand

8. Old Crow Medicine Show—Big Iron World

9. Robert Earl Keen—Live at the Ryman

10. Malcolm Holcombe—Not Forgotten