I'd rather think about this than politics so.........
2001 was the year I jumped back into music with both feet, started going to clubs, bars, wherever to see road acts.............
Really listened to hours and hours of music at home nearly every evening, and a LOT of the (at that time) new Americana scene....... the list reflect that!
2001 Top whatever list.
1. Shaver --- "The Earth Rolls On" (This is as good as it gets! Beyond country or Texas, just otherwordly! Do a google search about this LP)
2. Whiskeytown --- "Pneumonia" (The band was finished but the label releases a swan song filled with hooks.......what could have been!)
3. Jimmy Eat World ---- "Bleed American" (suffered due to a title change post 9-11, but a rock gem!)
4. Rodney Crowell ---- "The Houston Kid" (Rodney takes on the globe....... with empathy galore! A spiritual quest put to folk/country songs)
5. Bob Dylan --- "Love & Theft" (I won't go so far as Wylie......... but it IS real good!)
6. Scott Miller & The Commonwealth --- "Thus Always To Tyrants" (Former V-Roy gets his groove on, in spades!! Great effort!)
7. Gillian Welch ---- "Time (The Revelator)" (Dark, moody, this isn't Country, is it? She soars on this one!)
8. Chris Knight --- "A Pretty Good Guy" (Tales from the backroads and beyond..... GREAT dirt road songs!)
9. Ryan Adams ---- "Gold" (A solid 1st effort, but not as good as his ex band's release of the same year---- rocks more, though)
10. Townes Van Zandt --- "A Far Cry From Dead" (By far the best Townes release, for just the song performances and choice of songs!! Excellent!)
11. Peter Case ---- "Flying Saucer Blues" (This may have come out in late 2000 but it can't be left off of my list for this year. Peter teams up with the Williams Brothers and goes a tad pop. Scores a minor hit with " Coulda Shoulda Woulda")
Honorable mentions to:
Lucinda Williams "Essence" --- (I listened to this a lot for a good while)
Tim McGraw "Set This Circus Down" (Slick but well done. Good songs. The other side of the country scene as opposed to Shaver or Rodney Crowell)
Glen Phillips "Abulum" (Toad The Wet Sprocket frontman goes solo. Quirky and decent.... a harbinger of what he'll deliver later)
John Hiatt "Tiki Bar" (I liked it better than the last couple of Hiatt's)
There you go. An odd list that I hope inspires you all to do some listening.