The Roots Music Report's
Top Contemporary Folk Album Chart
for the Year of 2021
| Album Title | Band/Artist Name | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Few Stars Apart | Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real | Fantasy |
| 2 | Seeker | Brigitte DeMeyer | Self-Release |
| 3 | Calla Lily | The Brother Brothers | Compass |
| 4 | They're Calling Me Home | Rhiannon Giddens | Nonesuch |
| 5 | Have Purpose Live Long | Josie Bello | Self-Release |
| 6 | The River Flows | John Hurlbut & Jorma Kaukonen | Culture Factory |
| 7 | Just Beyond the Shine | Peach & Quiet | Self-Release |
| 8 | Outside Child | Allison Russell | Fantasy |
| 9 | In These Silent Days | Brandi Carlile | Low Country Sound |
| 10 | Woman in Color | Raye Zaragoza | Art Menius |
| 11 | Come Around | Rob Lutes | Lucky Bear |
| 12 | Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno | Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno | Free Dirt |
| 13 | Calico Jim | Pony Bradshaw | Black Mountain |
| 14 | Hearts Town | The War and Treaty | Rounder |
| 15 | Watchhouse | Watchhouse | Thirty Tigers |
| 16 | Song to a Refugee | Diana Jones | Self-Release |
| 17 | Ghost Tattoo | Kristen Grainger & True North | Self-Release |
| 18 | Over That Road I'm Bound | Joachim Cooder | Nonesuch |
| 19 | A Field Guide to Loneliness | Jamestown Revival | Thirty Tigers |
| 20 | The Remains of Sunday | Alec Lytle & Them Rounders | Four Acre |
| 21 | Desert Ghosts | Jaspar Lepak | Self-Release |
| 22 | All This Time Running | Craig Cardiff | True North |
| 23 | Flyover Country | Chicago Farmer | Self-Release |
| 24 | Last of the Better Days Ahead | Charlie Parr | Smithsonian Folkways |
| 25 | Another Sky | Kelly's Lot | Self-Release |
| 26 | Shame and Sedition | Lula Wiles | Smithsonian Folkways |
| 27 | Annamania | Anna Elizabeth Laube | Ahh...Pockets! |
| 28 | The River Flows, Vol. 2 | John Hurlbut & Jorma Kaukonen | Fur Peace Ranch |
| 29 | Joyful Banner Blazing | Maria Dunn | Distant Whisper |
| 30 | Funeral for My Past | Liz Longley | Tone Tree |
| 31 | All About the Timing | Roland Roberts | Happy Life |
| 32 | Poets | Liz Simmons | Self-Release |
| 33 | Love & Rage | Carsie Blanton | So Ferocious |
| 34 | No Summer | Cinder Well | Free Dirt |
| 35 | There Used to Be Horses Here | Amy Speace | Windbone |
| 36 | Covers | Mo Kenney | turtlemusik |
| 37 | The Midnight Broadcast | Peter Case | Bandaloop |
| 38 | We'll Never Know Unless We Try | Darling West | Jansen |
| 39 | Between Here and There | Sarah Morris | AW |
| 40 | Maybe Key Lime Pie | ThorNton Creek | Self-Release |
| 41 | Nowhere Sounds Lovely | Cristina Vane | Red Parlor |
| 42 | Bravado | Rose Cousins | Outside Music |
| 43 | Queen of the in Between | K.C. Jones | Self-Release |
| 44 | The Martin Gilmore Trio | The Martin Gilmore Trio | Self-Release |
| 45 | Hands and Knees | Two Bird Stone | Wondermore |
| 46 | Hubble Space Parade | Giriffin Swank | Infirst |
| 47 | Only Human | Luke LeBlanc | 145 Entertainment LLC |
| 48 | I'm Still Here | Travis Linville | Black Mesa |
| 49 | This Storm | Tara MacLean & Catherine MacLellan | Self-Release |
| 50 | Where the Heart Wants to Go | Buffalo Gals Band | Self-Release |
| 51 | The Ridge | Julian Taylor | Howling Turtle |
| 52 | See the World Deluxe | Brett Dennen | Mick |
| 53 | Last Birds | Last Birds | Self-Release |
| 54 | Live at the Hotel Cafe | Kris Angelis | Self-Release |
| 55 | Is It You, is It Me | The Dustbowl Revival | Thirty Tigers |
| 56 | Ledgers and Stones | Thomas Hine | THM |
| 57 | Without People | Donovan Woods | Meant Well |
| 58 | Xo, 1945 | Ryland Moranz | Tonic |
| 59 | Mike O'Brien | Mike O'Brien | Chouchou |
| 60 | Chasing Echoes | Phil Henry | Board By Board |
| 61 | Kitchen Days | Braden Gates | Borealis |
| 62 | Voyageur in Song | David Leask | Self-Release |
| 63 | True to Life | Gracious Me | Self-Release |
| 64 | Autonomy | Stephanie Lambring | Tone Tree |
| 65 | The Balladeer | Lori McKenna | Thirty Tigers |
| 66 | Ashes in the Morning | Ken Dunn | Trespass Music |
| 67 | Blue on Blue | Sylvie Simmons | Compass |
| 68 | Gone | Tim Grimm | Self-Release |
| 69 | Let Love Be Your Guide | Dan + Claudia Zanes | Smithsonian Folkways |
| 70 | Local Valley | Jose Gonzalez | Mute |
| 71 | The Skies We Look to | Kris Angelis | Self-Release |
| 72 | Calm in the Eye of the Storm | Ken Whiteley | Borealis |
| 73 | Awake | Mala Oreen | Self-Release |
| 74 | An Honest Effort | Matt Patershuk | Black Hen |
| 75 | Becalmyounglovers | Bowerbirds | Psychic Hotline |
| 76 | When We Wander | Jesse Terry | Self-Release |
| 77 | Elisabeth | Zach Bryan | Warner |
| 78 | I Can Still Hear You | Suzzy Roche & Lucy Wainwright Roche | StorySound |
| 79 | Look Long | Indigo Girls | Rounder |
| 80 | No Time for Love Songs | The Mastersons | Compass |
| 81 | The More I Give | Paula Standing | Self-Release |
| 82 | Ghost Town | Suzi Ragsdale | Self-Release |
| 83 | Last Summer | John Batdorf | Self-Release |
| 84 | Light & Dark | Chris Ronald | Borealis |
| 85 | Blue Heron Suite | Sarah Jarosz | Rounder |
| 86 | Golden Loam | Laurel Premo | Self-Release |
| 87 | Red, White & I Love You Too | The Mastersons | Red House |
| 88 | 2020 | Eliza Gilkyson | Red House |
| 89 | Sober Again | Jackson Grimm | Vault |
| 90 | At the Edge of the World | Mike McKenna Jr. | Self-Release |
| 91 | Wolf Jett | Wolf Jett | Self-Release |
| 92 | Birdtalker | Birdtalker | AntiFragile |
| 93 | Slower | Jules Shear | Funzalo |
| 94 | Two Saviors | Buck Meek | Keeled Scales |
| 95 | Scatter & Gather | Shay Martin Lovette | Self-Release |
| 96 | Why Wait! | Kate Taylor | Red House |
| 97 | Ballad of a Bad Girl | Kate McDonnell | Self-Release |
| 98 | One Sky | Philip Scott Poli | Trespass Music |
| 99 | Quiet Talkers | Ken Yates | Tone Tree |
| 100 | The Ghost and the Wall | Joshua Radin | Nettwerk |
| 101 | Long Haul | John Wort Hannam | Black Hen |
| 102 | Chinook Waltz | Over the Moon | Borealis |
| 103 | Happy Again | Bill and the Belles | Ditty Boom |
| 104 | Timber | Bryan Rahija | Thirty Tigers |
| 105 | All Mine | Sarah Morris | AW |
| 106 | Strange Flight | The Wanted | Self-Release |
| 107 | Soaking Wet | River Kittens | Create |
| 108 | Motivational Speaking | Old Sea Brigade | Nettwerk |
| 109 | Afraid of Love | Beta Radio | Nettwerk |
| 110 | Impossible World | Front Country | AntiFragile |
| 111 | Under the Pepper Tree | Sara Watkins | New West |
| 112 | After the Great Storm | Ane Brun | Balloon Ranger |
| 113 | The Romantic | Taylor Ashton | Signature Sounds |
| 114 | Technicolour Blue | Arrica Rose & the ...'s | Self-Release |
| 115 | Through the Smoke | Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs | Self-Release |
| 116 | Uppity | Laura Love | Octoroon Biography |
| 117 | Somewhere | McKain Lakey | Self-Release |
| 118 | Pass It on Down | Linda Sussman | Self-Release |
| 119 | Everything at the Same Time | Caroline Marie Brooks | Outside Music |
| 120 | Character | Rachael Sage | MPress |
| 121 | Into the Ground | Beth Whitney | Tone Tree |
| 122 | Some See the Flowers | Suzie Brown | Mule Kick |
| 123 | Blue World | Anna Tivel | Fluff & Gravy |
| 124 | Paws of a Bear | Sofia Talvik | Makaki |
| 125 | Spell Songs II: Let the Light in | The Lost Words: Spell Songs | Quercus/Thirty Tigers |
| 126 | Vignettes | Wesley Schultz | Dualtone |
| 127 | Desires Shape | Stoll Vaughan | Commonwealth Artist |
| 128 | Love and Leave You | 100 Mile House | Fallen Tree |
| 129 | Open House | The Fretless | Birthday Cake |
| 130 | Barn | Neil Young | The Other Shoe |
| 131 | Homegrown | Neil Young | Silver Bow |
| 132 | This Too Shall Pass | Chris Wilhelm | Self-Release |
| 133 | Shadow Work | Rorie Kelly | Self-Release |
| 134 | The Desert Trilogy, Vol. 1: the Burning Heart | Dean Owens | Self-Release |
| 135 | Phoenix | JigJam | Self-Release |
| 136 | Long Time Passing: Kronos Quartet & Friends Celebrate Pete Seeger | Kronos Quartet | Smithsonian Folkways |
| 137 | Off off on | This Is the Kit | Rough Trade |
| 138 | Screaming into the Void | EllaHarp | Silver Harp |
| 139 | Motivational Speakeasy | Jordan Tice | Padiddle |
| 140 | Arrivals | Declan O'Rourke | Maiesta Musix |
| 141 | Settler | Malcolm MacWatt | Singular |
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