Uproxx's Best Country Albums of 2016

It\'s tempting to view *The Weight of These Wings* as Lambert\'s \"divorce album\" following her split from Blake Shelton, and songs like the acoustic, regret-laden \"Pushin\' Time\" certainly lend credence to that notion. But this ambitious, double-length LP illustrates the full range of her talents. A roadhouse-rockin\' cover of Danny O\'Keefe\'s 1971 tune \"Covered Wagon,\" the throbbing indie-pop beat of \"Six Degrees of Separation,\" and the funky slow-burn of \"Pink Sunglasses\" only hint at the wide terrain traversed here.

Charming, savvy, and a little bit rugged, Brothers Osborne’s debut boasts a perfect blend of country roots and pop appeal. Co-produced by Eric Church’s right-hand man, Jay Joyce, *Pawn Shop* is a wide swing through low times (“Pawn Shop,” “Dirt Rich”) and high times (“Down Home”), the comforts of home and the freedom of the open road (“Greener Pastures”). It’s topped by the GRAMMY®-nominated highlight “Stay a Little Longer,” co-written by Sam Hunt and Kacey Musgraves collaborator Shane McAnally.

Dori Freeman's album is the kind of country-folk record that hits you like a train: stunningly gorgeous, lyrically rich and so thoughtfully executed it seems it must be the work of an artist with years of releases under her belt. Yet the 10-track, self-titled album is Freeman's label debut. Produced by Teddy Thompson, son of folk legends Richard & Linda Thompson, Dori Freeman features an all-star cast of backing musicians (including producer Thompson himself). Freeman's lilting vocals shine front and center, at times reminiscent of Emmylou Harris, and are delivered with such an aching, melancholic sincerity that her reflections on love, loss and heartbreak find themselves buried deep under the skin. The album dances between country and western, old-time and folk, some instrumentations swelling with pedal steel and country fiddle, others reducing to simply Freeman's voice and sparse percussion. Born and raised by a musical family in the Blue Ridge town of Galax, Virginia, Freeman grew up performing in her grandfather's shop on the historic Crooked Road - a hugely important place in American musical history that remains a bastion of roots traditions today. Freeman herself plays an integral role in the new generation of roots music celebrants in the region, and her music is certainly influenced by the rich musical history of the area - although it extends well beyond the revivalist realm. Pure, striking, and at times utterly heartbreaking, Dori Freeman is a record of profound catharsis from an artist with a deep sense of purpose, and a visceral approach that cuts to the bone.

Clark applies her writerly touch to songs that are bold, relatable, and rich in detail. *Big Day in a Small Town* finds the GRAMMY®-nominated singer/songwriter following up her acclaimed solo debut—2012’s *12 Stories*—with a set of big, beautifully realized country narratives that includes shimmering, hair salon melodrama (“Soap Opera”), brash but subversive rock (“Broke,” “Girl Next Door”), Patsy Cline-like honky-tonky (“Drinkin’, Smokin’, Cheatin’”), and haunting ballads (“Since You’ve Gone to Heaven,” inspired by her father’s death in a logging accident.)

Female singers duet with a grizzled songwriting great on this winning set from the 70-year-old Prine. His voice is scarred, but that only makes the bruised tenderness in each country and bluegrass tune more real. Nothing beats the sublime simplicity of “My Happiness,” sung with Fiona Whelan, Prine’s Irish-born wife of 20 years.

After 50 years of marriage, she’s more than ready to tell the truth about love. She recently renewed vows with Carl Dean—her husband since 1966—and now Dolly\'s celebrating with a set of songs that examine the subject of love in all its colors and complications. The understated acoustic arrangements only strengthen the Smoky Mountain Songbird’s underlying authenticity. With nothing left to prove, she’s one of the last country stars who handles a well-traveled theme with nothing but hard-earned wisdom and unburdened honesty.

Rowdy, throwback country tunes with a little edge and a lot of fiddle, Jon Pardi’s sophomore album is a bid to bring the genre back to its tough and twangy roots. After hitting a string of wild Texas dance halls, the California native was determined to capture the boisterous energy of a live show without resigning to EDM trends. So he recorded with a seven-piece band that included a fiddle, hand claps, a tambourine, and a steel guitar to give each song extra punch. “Dirt on My Boots,” a howling ode to letting loose, was designed to lure listeners off their stools and onto the floor. “Might have a little dirt on my boots,\" he sings, \"but we’re gonna dance the dust right off them tonight.”

Kenny Chesney’s wanderlust is no secret to anyone who’s heard his music—his laidback songs have paid tribute to beers in Mexico, lost loves in Los Angeles, and women looking for escape from Boston. On his 17th album, he shows how he’s a musical vagabond as well; he finds inspiration in power balladry, frantic riffing, and honky-tonks, all the while ruminating on the modern condition in a way that adds heft to his mellow country-pop. Chesney\'s turn to the serious is not all-out. “Trip Around the Sun” kicks off the record with bright strumming and a que será, será attitude about the world’s seeming implosion, with Chesney drawling that “there ain’t nothin’ we can do about the whole thing anyway,” while “Rich and Miserable” pokes fun at 21st-century materialism over a musical bed that recalls Imagine Dragons and other bastions of 2010s stomp-rock. “Noise” has musical and lyrical gravitas about it, with Chesney chronicling the increased paranoia of the always-on era over a chaotic arrangement. In the 2000s, hooky country songs became a variation of American stadium rock, and Chesney was one of the standard-bearers of that shift. *Cosmic Hallelujah* nods to that not only with muscular tracks like “All the Pretty Girls” and the chugging P!nk duet “Setting the World on Fire,” but also by flipping the script on Foreigner’s 1985 hit “I Want to Know What Love Is,” transforming it into a banjo-led rave-up. Chesney is country’s premier traveler, and *Cosmic Hallelujah* shows why: His anything-goes attitude and musical curiosity can make anywhere feel like home.

Ronnie Dunn’s sly cover of Ariana Grande’s “Tattooed Heart” turns a teenage flirtation into an expression of yearning and regret—just one of the ways that this album bridges classic country with Nashville\'s current youth-oriented pop. “That’s Why They Make Jack Daniels” has swagger equal to anything by Florida Georgia Line, but none of Dunn’s juniors could match the plaintive country craftwork of “She Don’t Honky Tonk No More.”