PopMatters' 20 Best Folk Albums of 2020

Folk music alone is not capable of dismantling the powerful or subverting the oppressive. Nor is it capable of healing the sick or mending the beaten

Source

# 1

Long Violent History by Tyler Childers

Album • Sep 18 / 2020 Appalachian Folk Music Old-Time

# 2

Spider Tales by Jake Blount

Album • May 29 / 2020 Bluegrass

# 3

songs by Adrianne Lenker

Album • Oct 23 / 2020 Singer-Songwriter Contemporary Folk

# 4

Saint Cloud by Waxahatchee

Album • Mar 27 / 2020 Singer-Songwriter Alt-Country

# 5

Microphones in 2020 by The Microphones

Album • Aug 07 / 2020 Singer-Songwriter Indie Folk Avant-Folk

# 6

Caught It from the Rye by Tré Burt

Album • Jan 31 / 2020 Contemporary Folk Singer-Songwriter

# 7

Die Midwestern by Arlo McKinley

Album • Aug 14 / 2020 Americana Singer-Songwriter Contemporary Country

# 8

Folk n' Roll Vol. 1: Tales of Isolation by Ondara

Album • May 29 / 2020 Contemporary Folk Singer-Songwriter

# 9

The Ridge by Julian Dean Taylor

Album • Jun 19 / 2020

# 10

World On The Ground by Sarah Jarosz

Album • Jun 05 / 2020 Singer-Songwriter Americana

# 11

Old Flowers by Courtney Marie Andrews

Album • Jul 24 / 2020 Singer-Songwriter

# 12

Thread by Sally Anne Morgan

Album • Sep 11 / 2020 Folk Rock Indie Folk

# 13

Bonny Light Horseman by Bonny Light Horseman

Album • Jan 24 / 2020 Contemporary Folk Americana

# 14

Head Above The Water by Brigid Mae Power

Album • Jun 05 / 2020 Contemporary Folk Singer-Songwriter

# 15

Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs, Vol. 1 by Gillian Welch

Album • Jul 31 / 2020 Americana Contemporary Folk

# 16

Heart's Ease by Shirley Collins

Album • Jul 24 / 2020 English Folk Music

# 17

Where the World Is Thin by Kris Drever

Album • Oct 02 / 2020 Singer-Songwriter Folk

# 18

Song For Our Daughter by Laura Marling

Album • Apr 10 / 2020 Contemporary Folk Singer-Songwriter

# 19

Bet on Love by Pharis & Jason Romero

Album • May 15 / 2020 Appalachian Folk Music Contemporary Folk

# 20

Fly on the Wall by The Sweater Set

Album • May 08 / 2020

# 21

Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs, Vol. 2 by Gillian Welch

Album • Sep 18 / 2020 Americana Contemporary Folk

# 22

Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs, Vol. 3 by Gillian Welch

Album • Nov 13 / 2020 Americana Contemporary Folk

# 23

instrumentals by Adrianne Lenker

Album • Oct 22 / 2020 Ambient Contemporary Folk