The closing months of 2022 brought enough unwelcome drama into my affairs that distraction came to define my entire interaction with the world. I mention this because after I produced my most recent Best Of list (posted here last week) I regretted passing over some exceptional recordings that had pleased me over the past dozen months; they ought to have been on the original list.

I compile these lists in good part to promote the work of artists whose talent takes them out of the pop mainstream and into a realm defined by love and commitment as opposed to celebrity and profit. Still, though they're not in it to get rich, I know they would appreciate your support so that they can keep doing it. We need them more than ever. Please keep them in mind next time you contemplate the purchase of new music.

In the last edition of this magazine I cited 14 albums, in retrospect not enough to do honor to the performers who directed light into the world's darkness. The rest follow. Asterisks indicate those reviewed on this site, and you can access them with a simple click. Meantime, happy holidays and a happier 2023 to all those who have put up with my musical pontifications over the months and years of my association with Rambles.NET.

* Apple & Setser, Apple & Setser (Bell Buckle)
Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard, Pioneering Women of Bluegrass (Smithsonian Folkways)
* Tim Gartland, Truth (Taste Good Music)
* Steve Howell & the Mighty Men, Been Here & Gone (Out of the Past Music)
* The Hungry Williams, Let's Go! (Rochelle)
* Dennis Johnson, Revelation (independent)

Po' Ramblin' Boys, Never Slow Down (Smithsonian Folkways)
* *Derrick Procell, Hello Mojo! (Catfood)
* The Duke Robillard Band, They Called It Rhythm & Blues (Stony Plain)
* Pharis & Jason Romero, Tell 'Em You Were Gold (Smithsonian Folkways)
Town Mountain, Lines in the Levee (New West)
various artists, Americana Railroad (BMG)

Read the previous list of 14 albums from 2022 here.