It is time once again for Iamweez.com to present my top 112 albums of the year. Why 112? Because that is how many I got to. Simple enough?

If you have not followed along in the past, let me explain. I rate songs individually in a spreadsheet. A value of 1-10 is assigned to each song. Then, each album is sorted by average song rating. In years past, I had more time. Back then, I worked one job and didn’t gamble heavily. I would go through that sorted list. I moved albums around if I felt like I needed to. Finally, I put out an official album ranking. These days, I show the list as is, sorted by average song rating. So, let’s get to it.

How I Rate A Song

Stars:
1–Worst of the worst. Black Eyed Peas’ I’ve Gotta Feeling and Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline.
2–Instant skip for me. And I will judge you if you don’t.
3–Probably skipping.
4–Not skipping, but don’t need to hear again.
5–Very definition of Meh, shoulder shrug.
6–Like it, but not enough I want to hear it on shuffle play that often.
7–The start of songs that go into my Best Of yearly list. These are the songs I can just hit shuffle play on and be good.
8–Best of the year. Only a few given out each year. 17 songs this year.
9–I don’t give many 9s or 10s out in the year they were released. These are generally retroactive and some of my all-time favorites. Only 49 songs all-time.
10–My mythical “stuck on an island” songs where I am only allowed so many songs. My 10-star playlist only has 22 songs all-time.

So, here we go. The top 15, plus the full list at the bottom.

15. Kai Crowe-Getty – The Wreckage (6.20)

One of my most reliable tools for discovering new music isn’t an algorithm so much as controlled chaos. I keep a Spotify folder called Discovery, filled with playlists curated by people and outlets I trust: Americana lists, No Depression, Billboard, Spotify charts, and a handful of independent curators who seem to hear things before I do. Every now and then I just hit shuffle and let the music find me.

That’s exactly how Kai Crowe-Getty entered my orbit.

One song caught my ear, so I added the album to my “To Listen To” list. Over time, The Wreckage quietly worked its way up the rankings. This is Appalachian country in the purest sense. Story songs about a life lived hard, sometimes poorly, and honestly. These aren’t redemption arcs or victory laps. They’re reflections. Check-ins. Damage reports.

Songs like “A Southeast State” and “American Radio” pull you in with familiarity, but the album deepens as it goes. The title track and “Brass Angels” feel heavy without being dramatic, introspective without asking for sympathy. There’s a sense throughout that the narrator knows exactly where he stands in relation to the wreckage, and isn’t pretending otherwise.

This album didn’t explode onto the list. It earned its place through repetition, and that’s often the most honest compliment I can give.
7⭐: A Southeast State, American Radio, The Wreckage, Brass Angel

14. Cameron Whitcomb – The Hard Way (6.29)

What stands out most about The Hard Way isn’t one massive peak, but how rarely it stumbles. This album wins on depth. There’s a long run of songs that consistently land in that 7-star range, and that matters more to me than a record that peaks once and coasts the rest of the way.

This album also speaks to going into an experience with no context. If you had told me to listen to an album from an American Idol alum who is traveling stadium tours opening for Nashville machine artists, I probably would not have given this a chance. But I knew none of that background info before already investing in several of these songs.

Whitcomb writes with vulnerability, but he pairs it with structure and momentum. There’s pain here, sure, but it isn’t indulgent. Songs like “Quitter,” “Pretty Little,” and “King for a Day” hit with enough melodic strength to keep the album moving, while “Hundred Mile High” and “Digging Holes” reinforce the grind-it-out theme implied by the title.

This feels like an album made by someone who understands that growth doesn’t come in clean lines. It’s uneven, frustrating, repetitive, and occasionally exhausting. The weaker tracks don’t sink the album, they just remind you that this is a process record, not a highlights reel.

It’s not flashy. It’s durable. And durability counts. This is an album about a man who does not love who he use to be but is also not the man he wants to be. He is a man in the middle. This also is the album that had me the most introspective this year. I am that man in the middle.

7⭐: The Hard Way, Options, Quitter, Pretty Little, King for a Day, Hundred Mile High, The Worst By Far, Digging Holes, End of the Morning

13. Jonathan & Abigail Peyton – How We’ve Come So Far (6.36)

At its core, this album is built on the simplest possible foundation: a guitar and voices. Plural. That distinction matters. Jonathan and Abigail Peyton’s husband-and-wife harmonies are the star here, and right now they might be my favorite harmonies in music.

This is raw roots music stripped of pretense. No unnecessary production. No reaching for volume when intimacy does the work better. These songs feel wholesome without being saccharine, earnest without being naïve. They make space for warmth, which isn’t always easy in this genre.

I’ve been all-in on the Peytons ever since the now-famous Red Rocks parking lot video, and How We’ve Come So Far feels like a natural extension of what made that moment resonate. “Counted the Stars” has been a personal favorite for years, and the revisited version here remains definitive. It’s one of those rare cases where a new take doesn’t replace the old one, it completes it.

Newer tracks like “I Want That For You” and “Now That You’re Sober” hold their own, reinforcing the album’s themes of partnership, patience, and shared history. This record doesn’t demand attention. It earns it quietly.

8⭐: Counted the Stars (Revisited)
7⭐: No Time, Glad That You’re Home, I Want That For You, Simple Things, Now That You’re Sober

12. Cole Chaney – In the Shadow of the Mountain (6.38)

Cole Chaney’s previous album, Mercy, was my Album of the Year when it came out, so expectations here were high. This record takes a noticeable step sonically, adding a full band and leaning into what I half-jokingly call Appalachian grunge.

One of my long-held musical theories is that Nirvana Unplugged is the most owned album among today’s red dirt and Appalachian country artists. If you want to hear that lineage clearly, listen to “Grind” and “Alone?” on this record. There’s that same tension between restraint and release, that same sense of heaviness carried quietly.

This album sacrifices a bit of the stark intimacy that made Mercy so devastating, but it replaces it with texture and weight. For comparison, Mercy received a 6.67 rating from me in 2021.

It doesn’t surpass Mercy for me, but it earns its place as a strong evolution rather than a retread.

7⭐: The Shadow of the Mountain, Grind, The Unsatisfied, Let the Love Die, Alone?

11. Tyler Childers – Snipe Hunt (6.38)

Snipe Hunt feels like a collection of archetypes done right. There’s a holler anthem in “Eatin’ Big Time,” a road song in “Cuttin’ Teeth,” and the long-awaited studio version of “Oneida,” which longtime fans will be thrilled to finally have.

Then there’s “Bitin’ List,” which might be the song I added to the most playlists this year. It was also a personal favorite of my wife, which never hurts. How can you not like a song about getting rabies and disliking people? Tyler’s humor remains one of his sharpest tools.

“Nose on the Grindstone” stands apart as a rare 9-star song. Some tracks age into greatness immediately, and this one continues to hold that weight no matter how many times I hear it. I still prefer the original live version. It had more emotion in the vocals, but this is a worthy studio cut nonetheless.

This isn’t my favorite Childers album, but even a mid-tier Tyler record still outpaces most releases. The highs are real, the dips are noticeable, and the personality remains unmistakable.

	Tyler Childers
1	Purgatory	2017	7.9
2	Rustin’ in the Rain	2023	7
3	Country Squire	2019	6.89
4	Bottles and Bibles	2011	6.31
5	Snipe Hunt	2025	6.31
6	Can I Take My Hounds To Heaven?	2022	4.71

9⭐: Nose on the Grindstone
7⭐: Eatin’ Big Time, Oneida, Bitin’ List, Snipe Hunt, Dirty Ought Trill

10. Kenny Feidler – The Western Tragedy (6.38)

This album sounds like driving through a desert. Or a post-nuclear landscape. Basically west Kansas or eastern Colorado. Wide open, empty, and unforgiving.

“K.O.W.” was my introduction to Kenny Feidler, and it sets the tone perfectly. If you want to understand this album, start there, then move through “Choking on the Wire” and “The Bronc Fighter.” These songs feel like dust, distance, and survival.

What keeps The Western Tragedy from becoming oppressive is the humanity underneath it. Even in the bleakest moments, there’s a sense of affection for the characters and places being described. “Idaho Hippies” carries both irony and hope, and that balance matters. I sure do hope they keep hanging around.

This is music for the desolate, but it isn’t nihilistic. It acknowledges emptiness without surrendering to it.

7⭐: Choking on the Wire, K.O.W., Idaho Hippies, The Bronc Fighter

9. Hayden Redwine – Spade (6.40)

If you listen to anything adjacent to what I listen to, Hayden Redwine is going to sound familiar. Only, he isn’t.

Here’s the test: put Ryan Bingham and Hayden Redwine in a playlist, hit shuffle, and try to tell them apart. Not because Hayden is copying anyone, but because he shares the same DNA. West Texas ranch and rodeo turned country music. Those bona fides matter.

The fact these songs hold up to a personal favorite of mine is a compliment, not a criticism. Some artists try too hard to sound like someone else. Hayden manages to sound exactly like someone else without trying. That difference is everything.

He also delivered one of my favorite lines of the year: “How many times do you have to be someone else before you learn to be yourself?” That lyric doesn’t just fit the album. It explains it.

7⭐: Spade, Down and Back, The Wind, Pipe Dream, Loser’s Limousine (Live)

8. The Dirty Guv’nahs – Promises (6.44)

I’m always higher on the Dirty Guv’nahs than most, and they’re near the top of my “how have I not seen them live yet?” list.

“Morning Light” lives on my rare 10-star playlist, so I was thrilled to see the band back together and giving it another run. Promises feels like a continuation rather than a comeback, which is exactly what you want.

“Little Miss Bittersweet” is the emotional centerpiece for me. And while most of my Top 15 lives firmly in Sad Sack Country territory, “I’m Coming Up” earned a spot on my workout playlist. That’s not an accident. It moves.

7⭐ songs: Little Miss Bittersweet, Paying By The Hour, Promises, I’m Coming Up

7. Jason Isbell – Foxes in the Snow (6.45)

Isbell pretty much lives in my Top 10 whenever he releases a new album. Honestly, if you are reading this far into my blog, you don’t need me explaining Isbell to you.

This one leans heavily into songwriter-first territory. Quiet, thoughtful, exploring the space where the mind and soul meet and occasionally argue.

“Don’t Be Tough” made it onto my Advices playlist, a short list of songs I consider guides for how to live.

8⭐ songs: Don’t Be Tough
7⭐ songs: Bury Me, Open and Close, Foxes in the Snow, Good While It Lasted

All my Jason Isbell ratings for context:

	Jason Isbell
1	Southeastern	2013	7.5
2	The Nashville Sound	2017	6.8
3	Something More Than Free	2015	6.73
4	Here We Rest	2011	6.7
5	Weathervanes	2023	6.46
6	Foxes in the Snow	2025	6.36
7	Reunions	2020	6.3
8	Sirens of the Ditch	2007	6.18
9	Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit	2009	6.08

6. Joe Stamm Band–Little Crosses (6.50)

Little Crosses is the kind of album that sneaks up on you because it doesn’t announce itself loudly. It doesn’t posture. It just starts telling the truth and assumes you’re paying attention.

This was a late-year discovery for me, the kind that always carries extra weight because it has less time to prove itself. The album showed up on a Best Albums list I trust, and within the first few tracks I knew it wasn’t just end-of-year filler. Then I learned Joe Stamm Band is from central Illinois, which earned immediate bonus points for this southern Illinois kid. Geography matters in this music. Place shapes voice.

The opener, “Territory Town,” does exactly what a first track should do: it grabs you by the collar and says, listen up. From there, “Forward” and “Hopefully” carry a Shane Smith & The Saints energy that makes them perfect entry points for anyone coming from that world. The title track, “Little Crosses,” sits right in the album’s emotional center, heavy without being melodramatic.

But the heartbeat of the record is “How To Quit.” It’s an 8-star song and one of my favorites of the year, period. It’s the kind of song that works best first thing in the morning, reflective without being depressing, honest without wallowing. It landed on my morning routine playlist almost immediately, which is my highest form of endorsement.

This album feels regional, lived-in, and sincere. And living just a few hours apart, this one went straight onto my “must see live soon” list.

8⭐: How To Quit
7⭐: Territory Town, Forward, Little Crosses, Cold, The Wind Is Up and Walking, Wolf Man

5. Kolton Moore and the Clever Few–A Place That I Call Home (6.50)

Kolton Moore has become one of those artists whose voice I recognize instantly, especially when the arrangement is stripped down to its bones. Over the past few years, I’ve grown into a real appreciation for his work, particularly the bare-bones, man-and-a-guitar versions he released under that exact name. Some of my favorite recordings of his live there.

This album reinforces why.

Kolton’s songwriting leans less toward narrative storytelling and more toward lines that linger. He’s not always trying to walk you through a plot. Instead, he drops sentences that feel like personal truths you weren’t supposed to overhear. Regret. Introspection. Life assessment. Worthiness. That’s my lane.

“Self Destruct” is the emotional anchor here, carrying one of my favorite lyrics of the year:
“I’ve never been scared to hit the bottom because I have never been too far away.”

That line doesn’t just work as poetry. It works as biography for a certain kind of listener. This isn’t a song you throw on casually. It requires having been through some things and made it out the other side with your eyes open.

The album title is fitting. These songs feel like checkpoints. Places you return to, not destinations you escape to. It doesn’t rush you. It lets the silence do some of the work.

4. Kameron Marlowe—Sad Songs For The Soul (6.50)

Most of what I listen to lives firmly in the independent lane, so Kameron Marlowe surprised me. A former The Voice contestant signed to Sony isn’t usually where I start digging. But the songs spoke louder than the résumé.

This album earns its place by leaning fully into its title. These are sad songs, yes, but not empty ones. Lines like “Who knew rock bottom had a basement” and “90 proof whiskey do your thing” sit squarely in my wheelhouse. Songs for the downtrodden. Songs for people who know what it feels like to stare at the ceiling at 2 a.m.

“Hello Whiskey” was the hook. An 8-star song that pulled me into the album and made me stay. But this isn’t a one-track record. There’s depth here, with multiple songs landing comfortably in that 7-star rotation zone.

Stylistically, I’d place this album somewhere between Gary Allan, Jason Eady, and Chris Stapleton. Polished, yes, but not hollow. Add in the personal note that Marlowe is from Kannapolis, North Carolina, where my mom and sister live, and this one felt oddly familiar in more ways than one.

Sad Songs For The Soul indeed.

8⭐: Hello Whiskey
7⭐: Friend of Mine, Here Lies the Fool, Hungover You, Highway Song, How’s the Leaving Going

3. Turnpike Troubadours–The Price of Admission (6.55)

Turnpike Troubadours are a constant for me. In a year filled with new discoveries, they remain a known quantity, and that matters. In my circles, The Price of Admission came up more than any other album in Album of the Year conversations.

There’s a reason for that.

While the band had an uneven stretch live before the hiatus, their studio albums have never missed. If you average their catalog, their seven-album mean score would make them my highest-rated band overall. This album lands fifth within that catalog, which says more about Turnpike’s floor than this record’s ceiling.

“Heaven Passing Through” seemed to be most people’s favorite track. Mine was “Be Here.” The call-and-response cadence does something subtle but powerful. It feels communal, like a song meant to be sung with people, not just at them.

This album doesn’t reinvent Turnpike. It reinforces why they matter. And sometimes, that’s exactly what the year’s best records do.

8⭐: Be Here
7⭐: On the Red River, Searching for a Light, Heaven Passing Through, The Devil Plies His Trade, A Lie Agreed Upon

Turnpike’s discography and my ratings:

	Turnpike Troubadours
1	Diamonds and Gasoline	2010	7.42
2	Goodbye Normal Street	2012	7.27
3	The Turnpike Troubadours	2015	6.66
4	A Cat In The Rain	2023	6.6
5	The Price of Admission	2025	6.55
6	Bossier City	2007	6.44
7	A Long Way From Your Heart	2017	5.82

I know most people seem to have this one over A Cat in the Rain. I might need to go back and rate that one again. I may have just been ecstatic to have Turnpike back.

2. Tanner Usrey–These Days (6.60)

This album earned its ranking through consistency. Plain and simple.

One 5-star song. One 6. Everything else lands at 7. No filler. No wasted space. That kind of distribution matters to me more than a record with a single massive peak.

Just before writing this, I checked the producer credits and wasn’t surprised to see Dave Cobb. I can’t remember the last time one of these lists didn’t include at least one Cobb record near the top. There’s a through-line to his work, a sense of restraint paired with muscle.

The album closes with five straight 7-star songs, which is a hell of a way to finish. If you’re new to Tanner Usrey, start with “With You,” where he channels his inner Stapleton and shows off real vocal chops. Then move to “Gasoline and Adderall,” which feels like it could slide comfortably into an Isbell catalog.

This is an album that knows exactly what it is and executes without hesitation. That kind of confidence goes a long way.

7⭐: Do It To Myself, 4th of July, Bad Love, Don’t Let Go, These Days, With You, Gasoline and Adderall

1. Trenton Fletcher–Tornado Alley (6.61)

Trenton Fletcher was a new discovery for me this year, and it reinforced something I’ve said before: one of the best ways to find new music is to pay attention to who’s opening for your favorites. Fletcher opened for Josh Meloy at a show I was hoping to make but did not. I still gave the opening act a listen, and here we are with my Album of the Year thanks to that exploration.

His bio reads: Independent. Authentic. Red Dirt. Oklahoma. That pretty much covers it.

At different moments, this album carries Whiskey Myers energy and Cross Canadian Ragweed DNA. Early tracks rock like Myers. “OBS Motel” references Ragweed directly. “Still Here” riffs like Ragweed. The album even closes with a cover of “Belly of the Beast,” written by Ragweed mentor Mike McClure. The only reason this album didn’t score even higher is simple: I dock points for covers.

The true standouts are “Everybody Loves Her” and “Perfect Storm.” Songs about loving the right woman. Songs that hit a little different now that I found that right woman. Twelve years ago, this one may not have scored as high.

This album didn’t just score highest. It stayed with me the longest. That’s how Album of the Year happens.

8⭐: Everybody Loves Her, Perfect Storm
7⭐: Lay It On Me, Praying for the Rain, Ain’t Fair, Half the Cards, OBS Motel, Still Here, It Ain’t Me, It’s You

The Full List

Trenton Fletcher–Tornado Alley	6.61
Tanner Usrey–These Days	6.60
Turnpike Troubadours–The Price of Admission	6.55
Kameron Marlowe–Sad Songs For The Soul	6.50
Kolton Moore and the Clever Few–A Place That I Call Home	6.50
Joe Stamm Band–Little Crosses	6.50
Jason Isbell–Foxes in the Snow	6.45
The Dirty Guv’nahs–Promises	6.44
Hayden Redwine–Spade	6.40
Kenny Feidler–The Western Tragedy	6.38
Tyler Childers–Snipe Hunt	6.38
Cole Chaney–In The Shadow of the Mountain	6.38
Jonathan & Abigail Peyton–How We’ve Come So Far	6.36
Cameron Whitcomb–The Hard Way	6.29
Kai Crowe-Getty–The Wreckage	6.20
Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors–Memory Bank	6.15
Charles Wesley Godwin–Lonely Mountain Town	6.14
Muscadine Bloodline–…And What Was Left Behind	6.13
Sam Barber–Music For The Soul	6.13
MKO–MKO	6.13
The Wilder Blue–Still in the Runnin’	6.11
James McMurtry–The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy	6.10
Lance Roark–Bad Reputation	6.09
Charley Crockett–Lonesome Drifter	6.08
Kota The Friend & Statik Selektah–Once In A Blue Moon	6.00
Jesse Welles–Middle	6.00
Grayson Jenkins–Coutry Parables	6.00
Hayes Carll–We’re Only Human	6.00
Taj Mahal & Keb Mo–Room on the Porch	6.00
Nicholas Jamerson–The Narrow Way	6.00
Marcus King–Darling Blue	5.93
Lukas Nelson–American Romance	5.92
Jesse Daniel–Son of the San Lorenzo	5.91
Sean McConnell–Skin	5.91
Morgan Wade–The Party is Over (recovered)	5.91
Travis Roberts–Rebel Rose	5.90
Vandoliers–Life Behind Bars	5.80
Ice Cube–Man Up	5.79
Kelsey Waldon–Every Ghost	5.78
Paul Thorn–Live if Just A Vapor	5.73
Will Hoge–Sweet Misery	5.70
Micky and the Motorcars–Micky & The Motorcars	5.70
Waylon Jennings–Songbird	5.70
Colter Wall–Memories and Empties	5.70
Raekwon–The Emperor’s New Clothes	5.67
Taylor Swift–The Life of a Showgirl	5.67
Chuck Prophet–Wake The Dead	5.64
Jade Bird–Who Wants To Talk About Love?	5.64
Whiskey Myers–Whomp Whack Thunder	5.64
Margo Price–Hard Headed Woman	5.64
Redman–Muddy Waters Too	5.60
Anderson East—Worthy	5.60
The Rumjacks–Dead Anthems	5.58
Molly Tuttle–So Long Little Miss Sunshine	5.58
Brent Cobb–Ain’t Rocked In A While	5.56
The War and Treaty–Plus One	5.50
Joel Nowakowski–Rhythm of a Life	5.50
West Texas Exiles–8000 Days	5.50
Silverada–Texas 42	5.50
St. Paul and the Broken Bones–St. Paul and the Broken Bones	5.50
Evan Honer–Everything I Wanted	5.46
Mike Farris–The Sound of Muscle Shoals	5.45
Larkin Poe–Bloom	5.45
Jesse Welles–Devil’s Den	5.45
Ghostface Killa–Supreme Clientele 2	5.44
William Prince–Further From The Country	5.44
AVTT/PTTN–AVTT/PTNN	5.56
Busta Rhymes–Dragon Season…Equinox	5.43
The Shootouts–Switchback	5.42
Kota The Friend–No Rap On Sunday	5.42
North Mississippi All-Stars–Stil Shakin’	5.40
Mumford & Sons–Rushmere	5.40
Jason Boland & The Stragglers	5.40
Zac Brown Band–Love & Fear	5.38
Seth Walker–Why The Worry	5.36
Sons of the East–SONS	5.33
Charley Crockett–Dollar A Day	5.33
Bun B–Way Mo Trill	5.33
Sam Stone—Tales of the Dark West	5.33
The Devil Makes Three–Spirits	5.31
Jason Scott & The High Heat–American Grin	5.25
Cristina Vane–Hear My Call	5.23
Will Smith–Based On A True Story	5.20
Daniel Donato–Horizons	5.20
Muscadine Bloodline–Longleaf Lo-fi	5.18
Clipse/Pusha T/Malice–Let God Sort Em Out	5.15
Mobb Deep–Infinite	5.14
Sierra Hull–A Tim Toe High Wire	5.11
Ringo Starr–Look Up	5.09
Hudson Westbrook–Texas Forever	5.06
The Lumineers–Automatic	5.00
Olivia Wolf–Silver Rounds	5.00
Kelsey Waldon–Every Ghost	5.00
Grace Potter–Medicine	5.00
Ketch Secor–Story The Crow Told Me	5.00
The Wood Brothers–Puff of Smoke	5.00
Chance The Rapper–Star Line	5.00
Sunny War–Armageddon in a Summer Dress	4.91
Taylor Rae–The Void	4.90
Snoop Dogg–Iz It A Crime?	4.90
Valerie June–Owls, Omens and Oracles	4.89
Maren Morris–Dreamsicle	4.86
Ken Pomeroy–Cruel Joke	4.83
Armani White–There’s A Ghost In My House	4.82
Brandi Carlile–Returning To Myself	4.80
Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms–Gold In Your Pocket	4.77
Wiz Khalifa–Kush+Orange Juice 2	4.74
Tyler, The Creator–Don’t Tap The Glass	4.70
Will Carlisle–Winged Victory	4.70
Ashleigh Flynn & The Riveters–Good Morning, Sunshine	4.55
Blue Cactus–Believer	4.22
Metro Boomin–A Futuristic Summer	3.87