Hickory Wind Top 25 2002

01. Be Good Tanyas - Blue Horse (kinda this year!)
02. Tift Merritt - Bramble Rose (Triangle in NC)
03. Reeltime Travelers - Livin' Reeltime, Thinkin' Old-time (Johnson City, TN)
04. Uncle Tupelo - Anthology
05. Kenny Roby - Rather Not Know (Triangle in NC)

06. Dixie Chicks - Home
07. David Gray - New Day At Midnight
08. Ryan Adams - Demolition (Triangle in NC, kinda)
09. Beth Orton - Daybreaker
10. Weezer - Maladroit

11. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will The Circle Be Unbroken Vol I (re-issued)
12. Beck - Sea Changes
13. Caitlin Cary - While You Weren't Looking (Triangle in NC)
14. Josh Rouse - Under Cold Blue Stars
15. Nickel Creek - This Side

16. David Bowie - Heathen
17. Aimee Mann - Lost In Space
18. Two-Dollar Pistols - You Ruined Everything (Triangle in NC)
19. Rosie Thomas - When We Were Small
20. Hot Club of Cowtown - Ghost Train

21. Altan - Blue Idol
22. Porter Hall, TN - Welcome to Porter Hall, TN (Murfreesboro, TN)
23. Jay Farrar - ThirdShiftGrottoSlack
24. Jimmy Buffett - Far Side of the World
25. Elvis Presley - Elv1s 30 #1 Hits

Some thoughts:
About the Be Good Tanyas... okay, so that CD was officially released in Canada in 2000, and then Netwerk redistributed it in the US in late 2001... sue me. It's the top of my 2002 list because I don't think this CD got any real notice till then, and by God, when I look back on 2002, it was certainly the Year of the Tanyas for me.

I really thought long and hard about including the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's reissue of Will the Circle Be Unbroken (Vol I) in the list for 2002, since it was originally released over thirty years ago. However, since I didn't have a separate list for reissues (like Steve Gardner), and since this CD made such a stir this year, I decided to keep it in the 2002 list. This CD did make a stir, especially to us 20-somethings who weren't even born when it came out, but even to folks in my father's generation. They might have missed it as a teen, but now love it as an adult.

Also, I was very glad to see all the North Carolina and Tennessee locals that made it into my top 25! It was a great year for local music! (And for you out of town folks, "Triangle in NC" refers to the Research Triangle. It's a tri-city area consisting of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, and their surrounds. It's hard to break a band out as belonging to one of the three cities because there is so much cross-pollenation. It's easier to think of this area as one big city, I think.)

Lastly, I want to give an honorable mention to the the Waybacks' Burger After Church which just got edged out at #26. Guys, if you'd released Devolver last year, it would have been in the top 15, easy.