Best of 2014: The Ballot

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1. You guys have been busy. My favorite album of 2014 is “That Girl” from Jennifer Nettles followed by Gary Burr’s “Juggler’s Logic”. I have Hal Ketchum’s “I’m the Troubadour”, Suzy B’s “Lucky” and David Nail’s “I’m a Fire”. There are a few others I just haven’t gotten around to checking out, e.g., Wade Bowen. Although I’m a big fan of ZBB, I was very disappointed in the Grohl Sessions.

   My favorite 2014 singles include:
   Eric Paslay – “She Don’t Love You”
   Jennifer Nettles – “Me Without You”
   Jamie O’Neal – “Wide Awake”
   Brandy Clark – “Get High”
   Wendy Colonna – “Dirty Things”

   The vocals matter a lot to me. I don’t care how country a song is or how great the lyrics are, if the singer’s voice makes me wince I’m not buying the song. I can always read the lyrics and wait til some vocalist I like covers it.

   The year end media base top 40 (Kix Brooks, American Country Countdown) is out and it could be the worst top 40 ever.

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2. Calm After The Storm by The Common Linnets wasn’t considered for single? It was a solid hit across Europe.

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3. “One Hell of an Amen” is by far my favorite of the year.

   Other favorites: “Say You Do”, “Cop Car”, “Lonely Eyes”, “Dirt”, “Dust”, “A Guy Walks Into a Bar”, “Cold One”, “Talladega”, “Turtles All the Way Down”, “Somewhere In My Car”, “Keep It to Yourself”, “She Don’t Love You”, “Drunk on a Plane” and “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s”.

   Special mention to Tim Hicks’ “She Don’t Drink Whiskey Anymore”, which isn’t included on the list but is outstanding.

   Favorite albums (very mainstream, as I haven’t heard much underground stuff this year, though I did recently purchase Sturgill’s album and will listen
   to it soon):

   Dierks’ ‘Riser’ tops my list by a mile, followed by Chrurch’s ‘The Outsiders’ and Brantley Gilbert’s ‘Just As I Am’.

   Honorable mentions to:

   Tim McGraw’s ‘Sundown Heaven Town’, Miranda Lambert’s ‘Platinum’, and David Nail’s ‘I’m A Fire’.

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4. Looking at the singles list and I can’t seem to find Rodney Crowell’s “Frankie Please.” Wasn’t that the single from Tarpaper Sky?

   I love this new ballot feature. It’s interesting to see what albums and singles are in contention for the final list. You really do consider everything!

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5. Sturgill for album and it’s not even close. The Promise , walk back in your arms, The devil is all around for singles.

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6. Since I find it very hard to keep track of anything that doesn’t place in the top 40/50, my top singles of the year would be:

   1. “She Don’t Love You” Eric Paslay
   2. “What We Ain’t Got” Jake Owen
   3. “Girl In A Country Song” Maddie & Tae
   4. “Talladega” Eric Church
   5. “Cop Car” Keith Urban

   In terms of albums, I have to admit that there was nothing released this year that really floored me, even among the independent releases. Eric Paslay’s debut was pretty good though, and despite the messiness of Sturgill Simpson’s record, it was decent, too.

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7. Daylight & the Dark by Jason Eady is for sure my favorite album of 2014, even beyond Metamodern by Sturgill. I played the title track on-a-loop for about a week straight when I first heard that song. A powerful, true country album by a criminally underrated singer and songwriter. This album, in my opinion, was even better than A.M. Country Heaven that came out last year.

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8. It doesn’t deserve a spot on the top albums list, but where is Garth’s “Man Against Machine” on the ballot? Also, was “I Wish I Still Smoked Cigarettes” released this year? It would be near the top of my singles list.

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9. Just realized what you titled FGL’s ‘Anything Goes’….. LOL.

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10. Top 5 Singles in no particular order:

    Sunshine and Whiskey – Frankie Ballard
    Dust – Eli Young Band
    Leave the Night On – Sam Hunt
    Automatic – Miranda Lambert
    Get Me Some of That – Thomas Rhett

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11. My top charted songs are:
    Carrie Underwood – Something in the Water
    Tim McGraw – Meanwhile Back at Mama’s
    Dierks Bentley – Drunk on a Plane
    Tracy Lawrence – Lie
    Eric Church – Give Me Back My Hometown
    My top un-charted songs are:
    David Nail – The Secret
    Brandy Clark – Just Like Him
    Jamie Lynn Spears – Big Bad World
    Kip Moore – Faith When I Fall
    Kenny Chesney – Wild Child (w Grace Potter)
    And a special nod to Miranda Lambert for “All That’s Left” with The Time Jumpers for the most FUN song of 2014.

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12. By the way, can we add Karen Jonas’ debut Oklahoma Lottery to this list? That album was all kinds of good!

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