We had no idea deeply how Gleaves’ music would plant itself in our heads. And he's part of another community that doesn't get a lot of attention in that area of the world: Sam is openly gay.” Well, we figured, we at least need to listen to that record. Hauntingly talented songwriter, deeply traditional picker and singer, historian of Appalachian lore. Back in September, an email from a publicist arrived and said: “Sam Gleaves is a rare bird. Sam Gleaves is a young Virginian you’ve never heard of. Wythe County, Virginia / now Berea, Kentucky Sam Gleaves: “ Ain’t We Brothers” Release Date: November 13, 2015 So herewith, The Bitter Southerner Crew offers you its opinions - as well-considered as we could possibly make them - about the best 25 Southern albums of 2015. Through the listening, we become proud all over again to live in this region, where musical threads from everywhere tie themselves, as they have for centuries, into the prettiest knots you ever saw. To hear the angry punk rock, the songwriter’s gentle guitar and the fantabulous wordflips of Southern hip-hop - coupled with incisive lyrics that address everything from the state of our nation to the state of a single human heart - is to be excited. But to see it in the moment, in the now, is to be encouraged. And we agree with that argument completely. Yes, we know the argument that all good music finds its threads weaving through the South in one form or another. It is also rewarding, because it reminds us anew how incredibly diverse is our beloved South’s music. Y’all seem to count on us for this every December, and when The Bitter Southerner Family is counting on us, we do our best to deliver. You try to put a star rating by every single song on that list. You spend the final quarter of the year on sort of a forced march of music listening.
You dump every Southern album you can find into a playlist that will grow to massive proportions by the end of the year.Ībout three months before the end of the year, while you’re still adding to the playlist, you notice how many records on it you haven’t yet listened to. Here’s what serious looks like:Īt the beginning of the year, you try to discipline yourself to reading ’s weekly new-releases newsletter, trying to ferret out the records made in the South or by Southerners working elsewhere. Last year, having noticed how much attention the previous year’s list drew, we got serious. We did The Bitter Southerner’s first list of our favorite Southern albums of the year back in 2013 more or less on a lark. Warning to would-be listmakers: Doing this kind of thing can eat you alive.