There was plenty to feel blue about in 2018, and those sentiments were best expressed by the likes of Shawn Amos, Sue Foley, and Fantastic Negrito. Newcomers to the genre also received an exceptional welcome mat, Confessin' the Blues, curated by the Rolling Stones.
Ben Harper / Charlie Musselwhite
No Mercy in This Land
Five years after their Grammy-winning Get Up!, the songwriter/guitarist and blues harmonica giant re-team and deliver.
Billy Gibbons
The Big Bad Blues
A down and dirty blues album that's looser than the average ZZ Top platter.
Boz Scaggs
Out of the Blues
In closing out his roots trilogy, the West Coast singer reaches back to the roots of his inspiration with a killer set of iconic covers.
Charley Crockett
Lil G.L.'s Blue Bonanza
The country singer plays up his jazzy blues side on a swinging, kinetic collection of covers.
Dennis Gruenling / Nick Moss / Nick Moss Band
The High Cost of Low Living
Nick Moss teams with harpist Dennis Gruenling for a jumping collection of new blues in the Chicago style.
Fantastic Negrito
Please Don't Be Dead
Fantastic Negrito ramps up his ambition on the sequel to his Grammy Award-winning debut.
Janiva Magness
Love Is an Army
Like its predecessor, Love Is an Army is rooted in Southern soul-blues, but Magness adds new dimensions to this blueprint.
Joe Bonamassa / Beth Hart
Black Coffee
Hart & Bonamassa's third album together showcases their easy chemistry and classic soul roots.
Joe Bonamassa
Redemption
Joe Bonamassa takes some musical and emotional risks on this, his best album.
Luke Winslow-King
Blue Mesa
The virtuoso guitarist digs deeper into electric blues on his sixth album, sounding sharper and more satisfying than ever.
Nathaniel Rateliff / Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
Tearing at the Seams
The Night Sweats expand and refine their sound on their sophomore set.
Various Artists
Confessin' the Blues
A double-disc collection thoughtfully curated by the Rolling Stones designed to introduce neophytes to the wonder of the blues.
Various Artists
Strange Angels: In Flight with Elmore James
A fine, engaging collection of traditional blues that offers an introduction to one of the true greats of postwar blues
Walter "Wolfman" Washington
My Future Is My Past
Outstanding set of late-night meditations on love gone good and bad from the New Orleans blues legend.
