Johnny Cole’s List of 2019 Music Favorites

Beginning on January 1 of each year, I start a process of listening and reviewing new music. Here is my list of favorite albums, honorable mentions, enjoyed EPs, favorite singles (or album tracks), and additional favorites in 2019:

☆ Favorite Albums of 2019

● 1. Honey’s Fury – Molly Thomas & the Rare Birds (tied)
● 1. Western Stars – Bruce Springsteen (tied)

● 3. Western Stars: Songs From The Film – Bruce Springsteen
● 4. I Like it Down Here – Will Kimbrough
● 5. And Then the Rain – Tim Jackson & Lindsey Thompson
● 6. Safe Passage – John Calvin Abney
● 7. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? – Billie Eilish
● 8. Moving Forward – Steve Griggs
● 9. A Modern Man’s Way to Improve – Royal Horses
● 10. Denim & Diesel – Grace Askew
● 11. Summer Of Sorcery – Steven Van Zandt & the Disciples of Soul
● 12. Ghosteen – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
● 13. Blue With Lou – Nils Lofgren
● 14. Give Me What I Want – Sarah Burton
● 15. Renegade – Dylan LeBlanc
● 16. From Out of Nowhere – Jeff Lynne’s ELO
● 17. Texas – Rodney Crowell
● 18. Sound & Fury – Sturgill Simpson
● 19. Fool – Joe Jackson
● 20. Kill or Be Kind – Samantha Fish
● 21. Impossible Blue – Gurf Morlix
● 22. The Wizard & The Witch – Red & the Revelers
● 23. Heard It In A Past Life – Maggie Rogers
● 24. Under The Willow – Xaris Waltman
● 25. Joy – Jackie Venson
● 26. Live – Sugarcane Jane & The Bucket Fillers
● 27. Fresh Song Fridays “Multiple Volumes” – Eric Erdman
● 28. All Mirrors – Angel Olsen
● 29. Shed My Skin – Dan Navarro
● 30. Incinerator – Jimbo Mathus
● 31. A Glimmer on the Outskirts – Ben Dickey
● 32. Half Past Human – Mark Pfaff
● 33. Close to Home – Chuck Mead
● 34. Easy Way – Cactus Flowers
● 35. Jade Bird – Jade Bird
● 36. Begin Again – Norah Jones
● 37. Patty Griffin – Patty Griffin
● 38. Gold Past Life – Fruit Bats
● 39. Remind Me Tomorrow – Sharon Van Etten
● 40. Jaime – Brittany Howard
● 41. Girl – Maren Morris
● 42. Desperate Times & Blind Eyes – Midnight Revel
● 43. Shifting Sand – Anna Larson
● 44. Texas Piano Man – Robert Ellis
● 45. Chapters: An Acoustic Take on New and Old Songs – Sharon Kay Moore
● 46. Home to Alabama – Stephen Sylvester
● 47. Thicket Clearer – Dinwiddie Horwitz
● 48. World Shakers – GypsySpark
● 49. Are You Open? – Seth Walker
● 50. Kind of Blues – Adam Holt
● 51. The Bottom Line – Jeff Plankenhorn
● 52. American Love Song – Ryan Bingham
● 53. Union – Son Volt
● 54. Who – The Who
● 55. Fever Breaks – Josh Ritter
● 56. The Highwomen – The Highwomen
● 57. Country Squire – Tyler Childers
● 58. The Hurting Kind – John Paul White
● 59. What It Is – Hayes Carll
● 60. Three Chords And The Truth – Van Morrison
● 61. The Bookends – Eric Gales
● 62. Valve Bone Woe – Chrissie Hynde
● 63. Almost Daylight – Chris Knight
● 64. Wildcard – Miranda Lambert
● 65. Help Us Stranger – The Raconteurs
● 66. There Is No Other – Rhiannon Giddens (with Francesco Turrisi)
● 67. Turn Off the News (Build a Garden) – Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real
● 68. All Blues – Peter Frampton Band
● 69. The Whole Shebang – Charlie Faye and the Fayettes
● 70. i,i – Bon Iver
● 71. Norman F**king Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey
● 72. When You’re Ready – Molly Tuttle
● 73. ANIMA – Thom Yorke
● 74. Love Starvation / Trombone – Nick Lowe
● 75. No Saint – Lauren Jenkins
● 76. Absolute Zero – Bruce Hornsby
● 77. The Saint of Lost Causes – Justin Townes Earle
● 78. Okie – Vince Gill
● 79. The Big Freeze – Laura Stevenson
● 80. The Invisible Light: Acoustic Space – T-Bone Burnett
● 81. Solstice – Luther Dickinson
● 82. Daylight – Grace Potter
● 83. Madame X – Madonna
● 84. The Walk – Bonnie Bishop
● 85. This Land – Gary Clark, Jr.
● 86. On the Line – Jenny Lewis
● 87. Terms of Surrender – Hiss Golden Messenger
● 88. Walk Through Fire – Yola
● 89. Threads – Sheryl Crow
● 90. Exposition – Tim Easton
● 91. Cypress Grove – Jimmy “Duck” Holmes
● 92. Ode to Joy – Wilco
● 93. Good Luck, Kid – Joseph
● 94. Dragons – Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors
● 95. Ride Me Back Home – Willie Nelson
● 96. Father of the Bride – Vampire Weekend
● 97. Cash Cabin Sessions Vol. 3 – Todd Snider
● 98. Still on My Mind – Dido
● 99. Hyperspace – Beck
● 100. Everyday Life – Coldplay
● 101. Amyl and The Sniffers – Amyl and The Sniffers
● 102. Beautiful Lie – Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis
● 103. Mint Condition – Caroline Spence
● 104. I Am Easy to Find – The National
● 105. Here Comes the Cowboy – Mac DeMarco
● 106. The Center Won’t Hold – Sleater-Kinney
● 107. No Home Record – Kim Gordon
● 108. Up And Rolling – North Mississippi Allstars
● 109. Blood – Allison Moorer
● 110. It Won’t Be Like This All the Time – The Twilight Sad
● 111. Tides of a Teardrop – Mandolin Orange
● 112. Kiwanuka – Michael Kiwanuka
● 113. Warmer – Jeff Tweedy
● 114. Sucker Punch – Sigrid
● 115. Years to Burn – Calexico & Iron and Wine
● 116. For the Morning – Tyler Ramsey
● 117. What You See Is What You Get – Luke Combs
● 118. Simple Case of the Blues – Rosie Flores
● 119. Colorado – Neil Young & Crazy Horse
● 120. Kingfish – Christone Kingfish Ingram
● 121. Baby, Please Come Home – Jimmie Vaughan
● 122. While I’m Livin’ – Tanya Tucker
● 123. Other Girls – Lillie Mae
● 124. Designer – Aldous Harding
● 125. We Get By – Mavis Staples

☆ Honorable Mentions:

▪︎ About The Light – Steve Mason
▪︎ Africa Speaks – Santana
▪︎ Beneath the Eyrie – Pixies
▪︎ Beware of the Dogs – Stella Donnelly
▪︎ Black Star Dancing – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
▪︎ Blood Red Shoes – Get Tragic
▪︎ By Blood – Shovels & Rope
▪︎ Circles ‘Round the Sun – Christie Lenee
▪︎ Closer Than Together – The Avett Brothers
▪︎ Crushing – Julia Jacklin
▪︎ Desert Dove – Michaela Anne
▪︎ Deserted – The Mekons
▪︎ Down to the River – The Allman Betts Band
▪︎ Fear Inoculum – Tool
▪︎ Four of Arrows – Great Grandpa
▪︎ Free – Iggy Pop
▪︎ Front Porch – Joy Williams
▪︎ Head Above Water – Avril Lavigne
▪︎ Home – Billy Strings
▪︎ Hotel Last Resort – Violent Femmes
▪︎ I Need a New War – Craig Finn
▪︎ I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This – Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra
▪︎ Immunity – Clairo
▪︎ In the End – The Cranberries
▪︎ Like The River Loves The Sea – Joan Shelley
▪︎ Magnolia – Randy Houser
▪︎ Mean Dog, Trampoline – The Suitcase Junket
▪︎ My Finest Work Yet – Andrew Bird
▪︎ No Geography – The Chemical Brothers
▪︎ No Words Left – Lucy Rose
▪︎ Oklahoma – Keb’ Mo’
▪︎ Over the Rainbow – Herb Alpert
▪︎ Pony – Orville Peck
▪︎ Purple Mountains – Purple Mountains
▪︎ Revolute – Katey Brooks
▪︎ Rise Sun – The Infamous Stringdusters
▪︎ San Isabel – Jamestown Revival
▪︎ Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest – Bill Callahan
▪︎ Signs – Tedeschi Trucks Band
▪︎ Social Cues – Cage the Elephant
▪︎ Songs of Our Native Daughters – Our Native Daughters
▪︎ Spectacular Class – Jontavious Willis
▪︎ Sunshine Rock – Bob Mould
▪︎ Thanks for the Dance- Leonard Cohen
▪︎ This Is Not the End – Spielbergs
▪︎ This Wild Willing – Glen Hansard
▪︎ III – The Lumineers
▪︎ Titanic Rising – Weyes Blood
▪︎ Transform – Howard Jones
▪︎ Tuscaloosa – Neil Young & Stray Gators
▪︎ Two Hands – Big Thief
▪︎ U.F.O.F. – Big Thief
▪︎ Undress – The Felice Brothers
▪︎ The Unseen In Between – Steve Gunn
▪︎ The Valley – Charley Crockett
▪︎ Weezer (Black Album) – Weezer
▪︎ Weezer (Teal Album) – Weezer
▪︎ Weird – Juliana Hatfield
▪︎ Why Me? Why Not – Liam Gallagher
▪︎ You Made It This Far – Esther Rose
▪︎ ?

☆ As usual I also listened to many EP’s and released singles or non-album tracks. Here are a few standouts in 2019:

▪︎ That Girl (EP) – Brittany Grimes
▪︎ Take One (EP)- KneeOn Sisters
▪︎ With Love (EP) Chaislyn Jane (it was actually released in 2018)

☆ Favorite Singles (or Album Tracks) of 2019:

1. “Carole” – Chaislyn Jane
1. “There Goes My Miracle” – Bruce Springsteen

3. “Hello Sunshine” – Bruce Springsteen
4. “Thank You” – Molly Thomas & the Rare Birds
5. “Rhinestone Cowboy” (a cover from the film “Western Stars”) – Bruce Springsteen
6. “Western Stars” – Bruce Springsteen
7. “I’m Not Running Away” – Will Kimbrough
8. “My Daddy Wore a John B. Stetson Hat” – Steve Griggs
9. “Somethin’ for Louise” – Mark Pfaff
10. “Moonlight Motel” – Bruce Springsteen
11. “Summer Girl” – Haim
12. “All Mirrors” – Angel Olsen
13. “Lark” – Angel Olsen
14. “Wasted Youth” – Jenny Lewis
15. “Bad Guy” – Billie Eilish
16. “The Greatest” – Lana Del Rey
17. “Dawn Chorus” – Thom Yorke
18. “Harmony Hall” – Vampire Weekend
19. “Bags” – Clairo
20. “Highwomen” – Highwomen
21. “Tucson Train” – Bruce Springsteen
22. “Bury A Friend” – Billie Eilish
23. “Stay Stay” – Molly Thomas & the Rare Birds
24. “Tear it Down” – Molly Thomas & the Rare Birds
25. “Take The Journey” – Molly Tuttle

☆ Favorite Music Artist who released new music in 2019:

▪︎ Bruce Springsteen

☆ Favorite New Music Artist(s) in 2019 * became aware of them in 2019 (in alphabetical order):

▪︎ Chaislyn Jane
▪︎ KneeOn Sisters
▪︎ Red & the Revelers
▪︎ Royal Horses

Click Here for Johnny Cole’s Complete List of Shows.
Click Here for Johnny Cole’s Favorite Shows of 2019.
Click Here for Music Venues enjoyed in 2019 by Johnny Cole.
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