See all our 16th Annual Country Music Critics' Poll coverage: the full list of results, select factoids from the results, our interview with Chris Stapleton, our feature about how Stapleton and Jason Isbell triumphed without country radio and our critics' comments.
For the Scene's 16th Annual Country Music Critics' Poll, we surveyed more than 80 music writers across the country to determine 2015's top country albums, singles, performers and more. See the results of our poll below.
Albums:
1. Chris Stapleton, Traveller (Mercury Nashville)
2. Jason Isbell, Something More Than Free (Southeastern/Thirty Tigers)
3. Ashley Monroe, The Blade (Warner Nashville)
4. Kacey Musgraves, Pageant Material (Mercury Nashville)
5. Eric Church, Mr. Misunderstood (EMI Nashville)
6. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, Django and Jimmie (Legacy)
7. Rhiannon Giddens, Tomorrow Is My Turn (Nonesuch)
8. James McMurtry, Complicated Game (Complicated Game)
9. The Mavericks, Mono (Valory)
10. Maddie & Tae, Start Here (Dot)
11. Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, The Traveling Kind (Nonesuch)
12. Dwight Yoakam, Second Hand Heart (Warner Bros.)
13. Cam, Untamed (Arista Nashville)
14. Don Henley, Cass County (Capitol)
15. Turnpike Troubadours, The Turnpike Troubadours (Bossier City)
16. John Moreland, High on Tulsa Heat (Old Omens)
17. Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen, Hold My Beer Vol. 1 (Lil' Buddy Toons)
18. Corb Lund, Things That Can't Be Undone (New West)
19. Alan Jackson, Angels and Alcohol (Alan's Country/EMI Nashville)
20. Joe Ely, Panhandle Rambler (Rack 'Em)
21. Asleep at the Wheel, Still the King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys (Proper)
22. Dave Rawlings Machine, Nashville Obsolete (Acony)
23. Sam Outlaw, Angeleno (Six Shooter/Thirty Tigers)
24. Andrew Combs, All These Dreams (Coin)
25. Allison Moorer, Down to Believing (eOne Nashville)
26. George Strait, Cold Beer Conversation (MCA Nashville)
27. Lindi Ortega, Faded Gloryville (Grand Tour)
28. Steve Earle, Terraplane (New West)
29. The Bottle Rockets, South Broadway Athletic Club (Bloodshot)
30. Brandi Carlile, The Firewatcher's Daughter (ATO)
Singles:
1. Little Big Town, "Girl Crush" (Capitol Nashville)
2. Jason Isbell, "24 Frames" (Southeastern/Thirty Tigers)
3. Cam, "Burning House" (Arista Nashville)
4. Ashley Monroe, "The Blade" (Warner Nashville)
5. Chris Stapleton, "Tennessee Whiskey" (Mercury Nashville)
6. Eric Church, "Mr. Misunderstood" (EMI Nashville)
7. Miranda Lambert, "Little Red Wagon" (RCA)
8. Chris Stapleton, "Traveller" (Mercury Nashville)
9. Thomas Rhett, "Crash and Burn" (Valory)
10. Eric Church, "Like a Wrecking Ball" (EMI Nashville)
11. Dierks Bentley, "Riser" (Capitol Nashville)
12. Keith Urban, "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16" (Capitol Nashville)
13. Kacey Musgraves, "Dime Store Cowgirl" (Mercury Nashville)
14. Carrie Underwood, "Smoke Break" (Arista Nashville)
15. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard with Jamey Johnson, "It's All Going to Pot" (Legacy)
16. Maddie & Tae, "Shut Up and Fish" (Dot)
17. Brothers Osborne, "Stay a Little Longer" (EMI Nashville)
18. Lee Ann Womack, "Send It On Down" (Sugar Hill)
19. Lee Ann Womack, "Chances Are" (Sugar Hill)
20. Cam, "My Mistake" (Arista Nashville)
21. Chris Janson, "Buy Me a Boat" (Warner Nashville)
22. Charles Kelley, Dierks Bentley and Eric Paslay, "The Driver" (Capitol Nashville)
23. Kacey Musgraves, "Biscuits" (Mercury Nashville)
24. Ashley Monroe, "On to Something Good" (Warner Music Nashville)
25. The Mavericks, "All Night Long" (Valory)
Reissues:
1. Various Artists, Dylan, Cash, and The Nashville Cats: A New Music City (Columbia/Legacy)
2. Bob Dylan, The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12 (Columbia/Legacy)
3. Tennessee Ernie Ford, Portrait of an American Singer 1949-1960 (Bear Family)
4. Buck Owens, Buck 'Em! Volume Two: The Music Of Buck Owens (1967-1975) (Omnivore)
5. Ray Price, The Original Outlaw — The Early Albums Collection (Jasmine)
6. Jerry Lee Lewis, At Sun Records: The Collected Works (Bear Family)
7. Roy Orbison, The MGM Years 1965-1973 (Orbison)
8. Various Artists, Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll (Yep Roc)
9. Roger Miller, Singer/Writer — The Early Years 1957-1962 (Jasmine)
10. Various Artists, Legends of Old-Time Music: Fifty Years of County Records (County)
Male Vocalists:
1. Chris Stapleton
2. Jason Isbell
3. Eric Church
4. Raul Malo
5. George Strait
6. Alan Jackson
7. Dierks Bentley
8. Dwight Yoakam
9. Brett Eldredge
10. Thomas Rhett
Female Vocalists:
1. Ashley Monroe
2. Kacey Musgraves
3. Rhiannon Giddens
4. Carrie Underwood
5. Cam
6. Lee Ann Womack
7. Miranda Lambert
8. Emmylou Harris
9. Alison Moorer
10. Reba McEntire
Live Acts:
1. The Mavericks
2. Jason Isbell
3. Chris Stapleton
4. Eric Church
5. Sturgill Simpson
6. Zac Brown
7. Turnpike Troubadours
8. Garth Brooks
9. Kenny Chesney
10. Kacey Musgraves
Songwriters:
1. Chris Stapleton
2. Jason Isbell
3. James McMurtry
4. Kacey Musgraves
5. Ashley Monroe
6. Shane McAnally
7. Brandy Clark
8. Eric Church
9. Gretchen Peters
10. Jim Lauderdale
Duos and Groups:
1. Little Big Town
2. Maddie & Tae
3. The Mavericks
4. Turnpike Troubadours
5. Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell
6. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard
7. Brothers Osborne
8. Dave Rawlings Machine
9. Punch Brothers
10. The Deslondes
New Acts:
1. Cam
2. Chris Stapleton
3. Maddie & Tae
4. Kelsea Ballerini
5. Sam Outlaw
6. Andrew Combs
7. Brothers Osborne
8. A Thousand Horses
9. Maren Morris
10. Old Dominion
Artists of the Year:
1. Chris Stapleton
2. Jason Isbell
3. Kacey Musgraves
4. Ashley Monroe
5. Eric Church
6. The Mavericks
7. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard
8. Cam
9. Little Big Town
10. Turnpike Troubadours
This year's voters:
Jim Allen, Don Allred, Brian T. Atkinson, Jedd Beaudouin, Michael Berick, Jonathan Bernstein, Jim Bessman, Jon Black, Peter Blackstock, Bliss Bowen, Jon Bream, Grant Britt, Allison Brock, David Cantwell, Henry Carrigan, Carol Cooper, Kyle Coroneos, Kevin John Coyne, Steve Crawford, Mayer Danzig, Dan Deluca, Stephen M. Deusner, Kerry Dexter, Nancy Dunham, Daniel Durchholz, Chuck Eddy, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Dan Ferguson, Maeri Ferguson, Bill Frater, David Fricke, Sam Gazdziak, Holly George-Warren, Dev Ghosh, Holly Gleason, Gary Graff, Ron Hart, Dave Heaton, Will Hermes, Chris Herrington, Jewly Hight, Geoffrey Himes, Lorie Hollabaugh, Steve Horowitz, Charles L. Hughes, Thomas Inskeep, Josh Jackson, Tara Joan, Jonathan Keefe, Tom Lane, Randy Lewis, Alan Light, John Lomax III, Sam C. Mac, Jim Macnie, Lynne Margolis, Karlie Justus Marlowe, Barry Mazor, Michael McCall, Kelly McCartney, Danny McCloskey, Mike Ethan Messick, Rick Mitchell, Jim Morrison, Ken Morton Jr., Stuart Munro, Randy Patterson, George A. Paul, Steve Rosen, Linda Ryan, Hilary Saunders, Chuck Schultz, Tara Seetharam, Mandy Slegers, Angela Stefano, Bruce Sylvester, Ken Tucker, Caitlin White, Ellis Widner, Chris Willman, L. Kent Wolgamott, Lee Zimmerman
Our voters wrote for the following outlets in 2015:
AllMusic/Rovi, Alternate Root, Americana Boogie, American Songwriter, Apple Music, The Argonaut, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Associated Press, Austin American-Statesman, Austin Life, Austin360.com, The A.V. Club, AwaitingTheFlood.com, Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore Magazine, Big Blog, Big Takeover, Billboard, Bluegrass Situation, Blues Music, Blurt, Boomerocity.com, The Boot, Boston Globe, Brooklyn Magazine, Canadian Cowboy, Chronogram, Cincinnati CityBeat, Cincinnati Enquirer, Classic Rock, CMA Close Up, CMT, Columbus Uweekly, The Commercial Appeal, ConsequenceofSound.net, The Contributor, Cosmopolitan, Country Aircheck, CountryMusicHallofFame.com, Country Music People, CountryMusicPride.com, Country Standard Time, CountryUniverse.net, Country Update, Country Weekly, Cuepoint — Medium, The Daily Country, Detroit Live, Digital First, DownBeat, The East Nashvillian, Elmore, Examiner.com, For Bass Players Only, The Freelance Mentalists, FreightTrainBoogie.com, Fresh Air With Terry Gross, Glide, The Globe & Mail, Goldmine, Greater Media Interactive, Guitar Aficionado, Hollywood Reporter, Horn, Houston Magazine, Houston Press, The Independent, Indy Week, InReview Online, The Iowa Source, Irish Fireside, Jambands.com, Jazz Times, Journey to Scotland, Lincoln Journal Star, Live Nation TV, LoneStarMusic.com, Los Angeles Times, Magazine of Country Music, Minneapolis Star Tribune, M Music & Musicians, Mojo, More Magazine, MTV News, Music Blog, Music News Nashville, Music Road, Music Row, MySpace, Nashville Arts, Nashville Scene, NewBlackMan (in Exile), New Orleans Times-Picayune, Newsweek, New Times, New York, The New Yorker, New York Observer, The New York Times, Next City, No Depression, NPR Music, O.Henry Magazine, Orange County Register, The Oregonian, Ottawa Life, Oxford American, Palm Beach Daily News, Pasadena Weekly, Paste, Penguin Eggs, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Pitchfork, Playbill, Playboy, Polished Steel, PopMatters, The Rap Yearbook, Redlands, Relix, Revolver, Rhapsody, Riverside, Rock NYC, Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone Country, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Salon, Saving Country Music, TheSinglesJukebox.com, 614 Magazine, Slant, Slate, Smithsonian, Southern Rhode Island Newspapers, Spin, Stereogum, Strings Magazine, StubHub, Texas Music Magazine, ThatNashvilleSound.com, Third Bridge, TV Guide, Twangville.com, Uncut, UnitedStations.com, Veer Magazine, Vevo, Vice/Noisey, Village Voice, The Vineyard Gazette, Vulture, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Wide Open Country, Woonsocket Call, Writer's Block, Yahoo, The Yummy List
