The 13th Annual Country Music Critics' Poll: The Results
Albums
1. Jamey Johnson, Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran (Mercury)
2. Dwight Yoakam, 3 Pears (Warner Bros.)
3. Iris DeMent, Sing the Delta (Floriella)
4. Kellie Pickler, 100 Proof (19/BNA)
5. Little Big Town, Tornado (Capitol)
6. Taylor Swift, Red (Big Machine)
7. Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives: Nashville, Volume 1: Tear the Woodpile Down (Sugar Hill)
8. Alan Jackson, Thirty Miles West (EMI)
9. Jason Aldean, Night Train (Broken Bow)
10. Rodney Crowell and Mary Karr, Kin: Songs by Mary Karr and Rodney Crowell (Vanguard)
11. Zac Brown, Uncaged (Atlantic/Southern Ground)
12. Kip Moore, Up All Night (MCA Nashville)
13. The Time Jumpers, The Time Jumpers (Rounder)
14. Carolina Chocolate Drops, Leaving Eden (Nonesuch)
15. Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson, Wreck & Ruin (Sugar Hill)
16. Dierks Bentley, Home (Capitol)
17. Justin Townes Earle, Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now (Bloodshot)
18. Don Williams, And So It Goes (Sugar Hill)
19. The Avett Brothers, The Carpenter (Universal Republic)
20. (tie) Corb Lund, Cabin Fever (New West)
20. (tie) Lionel Richie, Tuskegee (Mercury)
22. Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale, Buddy and Jim (New West)
23. Willie Nelson, Heroes (Legacy)
24. Shovels and Rope, O' Be Joyful (Shrimp)
25. Carrie Underwood, Blown Away (19/Arista)
26. Jerrod Niemann, Free the Music (Arista)
27. Kelly Hogan, I Like To Keep Myself in Pain (Anti-)
28. Jason Eady, AM Country Heaven (Underground)
29. Old Crow Medicine Show, Carry Me Back (ATO)
30. John Fullbright, From the Ground Up (Blue Dirt)
Singles
1. Eric Church, "Springsteen" (EMI Nashville)
2. Little Big Town, "Pontoon" (Capitol)
3. Kacey Musgraves, "Merry Go 'Round" (Mercury)
4. Alan Jackson, "So You Don't Have To Love Me Anymore" (EMI)
5. Miranda Lambert, "Over You" (RCA)
6. Eli Young Band, "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" (Republic Nashville)
7. Pistol Annies, "Takin' Pills" (Columbia)
8. Carrie Underwood, "Blown Away" (19/Arista)
9. Miranda Lambert, "Fastest Girl in Town" (RCA)
10. Don Williams, "I Just Come Here for the Music" (Sugar Hill)
11. Band Perry, "Better Dig Two" (Republic Nashville)
12. Chris Young, "Neon" (RCA)
13. Dierks Bentley, "Home" (Capitol)
14. Brad Paisley, "Southern Comfort Zone" (Arista Nashville)
15. Hunter Hayes, "Wanted" (Atlantic)
16. Taylor Swift, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (Big Machine)
17. Josh Turner, "Time Is Love" (MCA Nashville)
18. Taylor Swift featuring The Civil Wars, "Safe & Sound" (Big Machine)
19. Ashley Monroe, "Like a Rose" (Warner Bros.)
20. Jamey Johnson and Alison Krauss, "Make the World Go Away" (Mercury)
Reissues
1. Johnny Cash, The Complete Columbia Album Collection (Columbia/Legacy)
2. Various artists, Country Funk 1969-1975 (Light in the Attic)
3. Flatlanders, Odessa Tapes (New West)
4. Waylon Jennings, Goin' Down Rockin': The Last Recordings (Saguaro Road)
5. Jerry Reed, Unbelievable Guitar & Voice of Jerry Reed/Nashville Underground (Real Gone)
6. Hank Williams, The Lost Concerts (Time Life)
7. Woody Guthrie, Woody at 100 (Smithsonian Folkways)
8. Johnny Cash, Bootleg Vol. IV: The Soul of Truth (Columbia/Legacy)
9. Various artists, Work Hard, Play Hard, Pray Hard (Tompkins Square)
10. Mel McDaniel, Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On: His Original Capitol Hits (Real Gone)
Male Vocalists
1. Eric Church
2. Jamey Johnson
3. Dwight Yoakam
4. Alan Jackson
5. Jason Aldean
6. Blake Shelton
7. Luke Bryan
8. Don Williams
9. Tim McGraw
10. Corb Lund
Female Vocalists
1. Miranda Lambert
2. Iris DeMent
3. Carrie Underwood
4. Kellie Pickler
5. Taylor Swift
6. Kelly Hogan
7. Kasey Chambers
8. Brandi Carlile
9. (tie) Martina McBride
9. (tie) Kacey Musgraves
Live Acts
1. Jason Aldean
2. Zac Brown
3. Eric Church
4. Miranda Lambert
5. Brad Paisley
6. Taylor Swift
7. (tie) Kenny Chesney
7. (tie) Carolina Chocolate Drops
9. (tie) Lady Antebellum
10. (tie) Old Crow Medicine Show
Songwriters
1. Eric Church
2. Hank Cochran
3. Iris DeMent
4. Miranda Lambert
5. Dwight Yoakam
6. Rodney Crowell
7. Luke Laird
8. (tie) Kacey Musgraves
8. (tie) Taylor Swift
10. Darrell Scott
Duos and Groups
1. Little Big Town
2. Zac Brown Band
3. The Band Perry
4. Pistol Annies
5. Carolina Chocolate Drops
6. Lady Antebellum
7. Shovels and Rope
8. The Time Jumpers
9. Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale
10. Old Crow Medicine Show
New Acts
1. Kacey Musgraves
2. Kip Moore
3. Hunter Hayes
4. Shovels and Rope
5. Jana Kramer
6. John Fullbright
7. The Lumineers
8. Florida Georgia Line
9. World Famous Headliners
10. Chelle Rose
Artists of the Year
1. Eric Church
2. Miranda Lambert
3, Taylor Swift
4. Jason Aldean
5. Jamey Johnson
6. Iris DeMent
7. The Carolina Chocolate Drops
8. Dwight Yoakam
9. Little Big Town
10. Blake Shelton
THIS YEAR'S VOTERS:
Jim Allen, Don Allred, Brian T. Atkinson, Michael Berick, Leslie Berman, Jim Bessman, Matt Bjorke, Jon Black, Blake Boldt, Jon Bream, Allison Brock, Greg Cahill, Jim Caligiuri, David Cantwell, Carol Cooper, Kandia Crazy Horse, Chuck Dauphin, Stephen M. Deusner, Kerry Dexter, Daniel Durchholz, Anthony Easton, Chuck Eddy, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Dan Ferguson, Ben Foster, Bill Frater, Chip Frazier, Sam Gazdziak, Holly George-Warren, Dave Gil, Holly Gleason, Gary Graff, Frank-John Hadley, Ronald Hart, Rob Harvilla, Dave Heaton, Will Hermes, Jewly Hight, Geoffrey Himes, Steve Horowitz, Edd Hurt, Jonathan Keefe, Hunter Kelly, Whitney Keyser, Robert Kinsler, Frank Kogan, Tom Lane, Andrew Leahey, Jeff Leven, Randy Lewis, Alan Light, Jim Macnie, Lynne Margolis, Karlie Justus Marlowe, Chris Mateer, Barry Mazor, Michael McCall, Kendra Meinert, Rick Mitchell, Ken Morton Jr., Stuart Munro, Nick Murray, Ralph Novak, Christopher Parton, Randy Patterson, George A. Paul, Bob Paxman, Tammy Ragusa, Sarah Rodman, Terry Roland, Lisa Rollins, Steve Rosen, Linda Ryan, Tara Seetharam, Ed Shane, Pam Shane, Brad Shoup, Sarah Skates, Phyllis Stark, Scott Stem, Rob Tannenbaum, Juli Thanki, Ken Tucker, Shannon Turner, Becca Walls, Ellis Widner, Chris Willman, C.M. Wilcox, Kurt Wolff, Kent Wolgamott, Mikael Wood, Lee Zimmerman, Sarah Zupko.
OUR VOTERS WROTE FOR THE FOLLOWING OUTLETS IN 2012:
ABC Radio, The Absolute Sound, AllMusic.com, AmericanaBoogie.com, AmericanRevolutions.com, American Songwriter, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Associated Press, The Atlantic, A Traveler's Library, Austin American-Statesman, Austin Chronicle, Austin Monthly, AwaitingTheFlood.com, Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore, Best in Texas, Billboard, BluegrassToday.com, Bluegrass Unlimited, Blurt, Boomerocity.com, Boston Globe, Broadside, Canadian Cowboy Country, CBS Radio, Cincinnati CityBeat, Cleveland Scene, CMA Close Up, CMT Edge, CMT.com, Complex, CountryCalifornia.com, CountryMusicHallofFame.com, CountryMusicPride.com, CountryMusicReview.net, Country Standard Time, CountryUniverse.net, CountryVibe.com, Country Weekly, CultureMap.com, Desert Star Weekly, Details, Dish, DownBeat, eMusic.com, Engine145.com, Entertainment Weekly, Erasingclouds.com, Examiner.com, Fiddler, The Freelance Mentalists, FreightTrainBoogie.com, Glide, Goldmine, Google Play, Grammy.com, Greater Media Interactive, Green Bay Press-Gazette, Guitar Aficionado, HearSay Now, Houston, Houston Press, Inland Living, The Iowa Source, Irish Fireside, The Jambalaya News, JamBands.com, JazzTimes.com, Journal-Register Newspapers, Journey to Scotland, Kansas City Star, LA Weekly, Last Word Features, Lincoln Journal Star, Lone Star Music, Long Island Press, Los Angeles Times, Memphis Flyer, Minneapolis Star Tribune, M: Music and Musicians, Mojo, MORE, MSN.com, MTV Hive, Music Connection, Music Road, Music Row, MusicWorthBuying.com, Nashville Arts and Entertainment, Nashville Public Radio, Nashville Scene, New Times, The New York Times, 9513.com, NoDepression.com, North County Times, NPR Music, OffBeat, One Week One Band, Orange County Register, Other Music, Oxford American, Pacific Sun, Paste, Patch, People, Perceptive Travel, Pitchfork, Playboy, PopMatters.com, Recreation News, Redlands, Relix, Revolver, Rhapsody.com, Riverside, RocksBackPages.com, Rolling Stone, RoughStock.com, Rural Intelligence, St. Lewis Jewish Light, St. Louis Magazine, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Salon, San Diego Troubadour, San Francisco Weekly, Shane Media Services, Singles Jukebox, Sing Out!, 614 Magazine, Slant, Southern Rhode Island Newspapers, Spin, Stereogum, Strings, Texas Music, Texas Music Matters, ThatNashvilleSound.com, Turnstyled Junkpiled, Twangville.com, University of Texas Press, Uprooted Music Revue, Village Voice, Vevo, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, WhenYouAwake.com, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Writers Collective.
The Comments
Selected factoids from the 2012 Country Music Critics' Poll
The Passion of Miss DeMent
From Eric Church to Jamey Johnson, 2012 found country music in a holding pattern and searching for role models
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