The Best Roots Music of 2022
In 2022, artists working within the orbit of the unstable category "roots music" got personal even as they explored complex cultural lineages and continued to challenge the rules of established scenes and forms. Before any tradition is solidified, it travels from hand to hand, heart to heart. Whether pushing the boundaries of mainstream country, demanding an expanded vision of traditional styles like bluegrass or folk, or adding their voices to the lineage of Laurel Canyon-esque singer-songwriters, the brightest lights in these realms often started with their own predilections and personal histories first.
Below, you'll find 20 albums and 20 songs that stood out for us, unranked and presented in rough order of release. They are united by their makers' fearlessness as they follow their own routes. —Ann Powers
Albums
Hailey Whitters, Raised
Whitters' unfussy third album comes across as designed to be comfortingly familiar, pitched at the exact tone of a long afternoon in a backyard or on a back road. Unlike, say, the next album on this list, there are no rough edges or sharp limbs — Raised is built from premium milled mainstream country lumber, filled with matter-of-fact tales of big families and small hometowns. It could all amount to a shrug if not for Whitters' windows-perpetually-rolled-down voice, which can make even the lyrics that seem cribbed from a second-hand t-shirt go down easy. At its best, Raised feels like a familiar arm around your shoulder. —Jacob Ganz
Molly Tuttle, Crooked Tree
"A crooked tree won't fall into the mill machine," sings on an album that offers hot licks and strong songs. In the patriarchal world of American roots music, women aren't supposed to be guitar virtuosos, and they're not supposed to be bald. Tuttle is proudly both. She's twice been named Guitar Player of the Year from the International Bluegrass Music Association and she's been open about her alopecia, a hair loss condition. Tuttle is her own , a female flat picker extraordinaire with agility, speed and elegance who
