I was talking with Blues Bytes' founder Bill Mitchell about our end-of-year favorites and he told me that he was having a hard time getting his list down to a reasonable number due to the overwhelming amount of great releases this year. That was before I started working on my list, which I did on Tuesday night. After a couple of hours of reviewing reviews, I finally "whittled" my list down to a solid 30. I don't think Bill's decided on a Top Ten or Top Twenty list as of yet for the January issue, but I thought I would just list my Top 30 here for kicks, in no particular order, for those who care about such things.
Mark “Muleman” Massey - Been A Long, Long Time (Muletone Records):
Bob Corritore & Friends - Doin' The Shout (SWMAP/VizzTone Records):
Daddy Mack Blues Band - Doctor's Orders (Inside Sounds Records)
Ian Siegal Meets Johnny Maestro - Easy Tiger (Continental Blue Heaven)
Southern Avenue - Family (Alligator Records)
Andrew Duncanson - California Trap (Run It Back Records)
Johnny Rawls - Make Them Dance (Catfood Records)
John Primer - Grown In Mississippi (Blues House Productions)
Ra'Shad The Blues Kid - Live In Clarksdale
Tad Robinson - Soul In Blues (Delmark Records)
D.K. Harrell - Talkin' Heavy (Alligator Records)
Larry McCray - Heartbreak City (Keeping The Blues Alive)
Emma Wilson - A Spoonful of Willie Dixon (Emma Wilson Music)
Alan Arena - Deceived
Buddy Guy - Done With The Blues (Silvertone/RCA)
Garry Burnside - It's My Time Now (Strolling Bones)
Kent Burnside - Hill Country Blood (Strolling Bones)
Yates McKendree - Need To Know (Qualified Records)
The Christopher Dean Band - Steppin' Out Tonight (Lost World Music)
Candice Ivory - New Southern Vintage (Nola Blue Records)
Various Artists - The Last Real Texas Blues Album (Antone's Records)
Jimi “Prime Time” Smith - It's My Time (New Folk Records)
Kirk Fletcher - Keep On Pushing (VizzTone)
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram - Hard Road (Red Zero Records)
Jimmy Burns and Soul Message Band - Full Circle (Delmark Records)
Sean McDonald - Have Mercy! (Little Village)
Galactic and Irma Thomas - Audience With The Queen (Tchoup-zilla Records)
Duwayne Burnside - Red Rooster (Lucky 13 Records)
Corey Ledet Zydeco - Live in Alaska
North Mississippi Allstars - Still Shakin' (New West Records)
Hopefully, more to come soon, so stay tuned.