Albums of the Year: Honorable Mention Edition

First of all, let me make it clear that these are not necessarily the best or most popular or most significant albums of 2015. These are my favorite albums that I have listened to more than once or twice. It's my list.

I'll link to the album spotlights and interviews from this blog. There won't be any commentary in this post.

The list would be shorter if I were genre specific or only listened to mainstream stuff. This is about good music that I like. And I don't listen to much of anything mainstream. I listed my favorite albums of 2015 and came up with 24. This honorable mention list will include the 14 that didn't make the top ten.

The artist's name will link to my posts, the album name will link to the artist's web site.

In no particular order:

Plastic Rhino - Recondition

Jonathan Tyler - Holy Smokes

Lindi Ortega - Faded Gloryville

Frankie Bourne - Californicana

Samantha Fish - Wild Heart

Koritni - Night Goes On For Days

Europe - War of Kings

Striking Matches - Nothing But The Silence

Allison Moorer - Down To Believing

Gretchen Peters - Blackbirds

Butch Walker - Afraid of Ghosts

Brandi Carlile - The Firewatcher's Daughter

honeyhoney - 3

Ray Wylie Hubbard - The Ruffian's Misfortune

Look for my top 10 coming out later this month.

Q and A With California Singer/Songwriter Frankie Bourne

I'm a few months behind on finding Frankie Bourne's debut album Californicana. That means I'm a few months behind in getting to listen to it. Better late than never.

I had the opportunity to conduct a Q and A with Frankie recently. His answers to my questions were so thoughtful and thorough, I don't know how much I can add. But I'll try.

Frankie is California through and through, so you'll find out below, but it's not the glamour and glitz Hollywood and L.A. California. It's the 70's laid back California rock. It's the Bakersfield sound influences. It's the 60's and 70's Bay Area scene. But then there is so much more.

There is a strong blues influence. And not that it's an influence, but the music of Frankie Bourne would be appreciated by anyone who is a fan of Texas/Red Dirt music. I guess that's where I felt most connected. It's real music, played by a real singer/songwriter with real instruments for real people.

We delved into genres a bit in the interview. Regular readers know how I feel about that. There are so many different influences represented in the songs, Frankie Bourne cannot be contained by one genre. And that, to me, is a good thing.

I've already written too much. Frankie says it much better than I can. He's lived it.

Here are the results of the Q and A: