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Folk Alley Faves of 2022 (So Far)

We are halfway into another year and some truly great music has released in these past six months. In fact, there so much good and new, coming so quick, we thought we’d round up ten of our favorite releases to remind you that good things have indeed come out of this year so far.

The best folk music this year ranges from trad-infused stringbands to a musical exploration of Haitian history, to innovative singer-songwriter tracks and giants like Mavis, Levon, and Bonnie.

Granted, there is plenty of excellent folk music that didn’t land in the top 10, which we highly recommend—groundbreaking work from Lily Henley, a long-awaited stunner from Anais Mitchell, an old-time romp from Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves, and so much more.

The following list was compiled after polling Folk Alley staff and landing on ten releases that capture the spirit of what we’ve all been spinning so far this year.

For more of the best music of 2022 so far, tune into the Fresh Cuts stream on the Folk Alley app or here on the website.


Mama’s Broke – “How it Ends” 


Pharis and Jason Romero – “Souvenirs”


Mavis Staples & Levon Helm – “When I Go Away” 


Leyla McCalla – “Vini We”


Punch Brothers – “Church Street Blues”


Joan Shelley – “The Spur”


Tré Burt – “Know Your Demons” 


William Prince and Serena Ryder – “Sing Me a Song”


Jake Blount – “The Man Was Burning”


Bonnie Raitt – “Just Like That”


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