Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie was the most-played album on folk radio during September 2014 according to charts compiled by Richard Gillmann from radio playlists submitted to FOLKDJ-L, an electronic discussion group for DJs and others interested in all folk-based music on the radio. The 37-track, two-CD set released by Compass Records features various artists paying homage to the Kentucky-born singer-songwriter who influenced and inspired them and who many regard as “the mother of folk.” It also was the top album in August.

September’s #2 album Look Again To The Wind:Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears Revisited, also on Compass, reportedly featured the month’s most-played songs:”As Long As The Grass Shall Grow” (Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings), “Custer” (Steve Earle) and “Apache Tears” (Emmylou Harris).

The September 2014 FOLKDJ-L charts are based on 13,322 airplays from 142 different DJs. The number of reported spins (airplays) is shown in parentheses, while label and release dates appear in brackets. They are posted with permission on AcousticMusicScene.com.

Top Albums of September 2014
ritchie-j-tribute
1: “Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie,” Various Artists [Compass, 9/14] (105)
“Black Waters,” John McCutcheon And Ensemble
“One I Love,” Judy Collins
“Peace Round,” Jean Ritchie And Friends
2: “Look Again To The Wind: Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears Revisited,” Various Artists [Sony, new] (91)
“Custer,” Steve Earle
“Apache Tears,” Emmylou Harris
“As Long As The Grass Shall Grow,” Gillian Welch And Dave Rawlings
“Ballad Of Ira Hayes,” Kris Kristofferson
“Look Again To The Wind,” Bill Miller
3: “Milltowns,” Mark Erelli [Hillbilly Pilgrim, 9/14] (81)
“Long Gone”
“Milltowns”
“Handsome Molly”
“Birches”
“Morrissey Falls In Love At First Sight”
4: “The Longing Road,” Johnsmith [johnsmithmusic.com, 7/14] (80)
“The Longing Road”
“Borders Of The Moon”
“Honeyfest”
“Family Artifacts”
5: “A Reasonable Amount Of Trouble,” Jesse Winchester [Appleseed, new] (55)
“All That We Have Is Now”
“Little Louisiana”
“Rhythm Of The Rain”
6: “Laurie & Kathy Sing The Songs Of Vern And Ray,” Laurie Lewis And Kathy Kallick [Spruce And Maple, 8/14] (54)
“Montana Cowboy”
“My Old Kentucky Home”
“To Hell With The Land”
7: “North Star,” Kyle Carey [Americelta, 9/14] (53)
“Across The Great Divide”
“Wind Through Casper”
“Casey Jones Whistle Blow”
8: “Sake Of The Sound,” Front Country [frontcountryband.com, new] (45)
“One Kind Word”
“Gospel Train”
“Like A River”
9: “Second Nature,” Adler & Hearne [Spring Hollow, 9/14] (44)
“Second Nature”
“Piney Woods Breeze”
“Salty Town”
10: “Laughter Out Of Tears,” Moira Smiley And Voco [Whim, new] (39)
“Chilly Winds”
“North Country”
“Orphan Girl”
10: “Tracks,” Anne Hills [Hand And Heart, new] (39)
“City Of New Orleans”
“San Luis Valley Song”
“Like A Train”
12: “Crooked Fiddle,” Aaron Nathans & Michael G. Ronstadt [aaronnathans.com, new] (38)
“Old Joe’s Chair”
“I Stood Upon A Hill”
“All Along The Watchtower”
12: “Still On The Levee,” Chris Smither [Signature, 7/14] (38)
“Leave The Light On”
“Train Home”
14: “The Earls Of Leicester,” The Earls Of Leicester [Rounder, new] (35)
“Big Black Train”
“Dig A Hole In The Meadow”
“Dim Lights, Thick Smoke”
15: “The Flower Of Muscle Shoals,” Cahalen Morrison And Country Hammer [Free Dirt, 8/14] (34)
“The Flower Of Muscle Shoals”
“Sorrow Lines The Highway Of Regret”
“Daisy In Tennessee”
16: “Chasing Beauty,” Ellis Paul [Black Wolf, 7/14] (32)
“Kick Out The Lights”
“Chasing Beauty”
“Empire State”
16: “Halls Of My Heart,” Jim Photoglo [Grifftone, 7/14] (32)
“Shadow And Light”
“What Do I Tell My Son”
“Hours”
18: “Come Clean,” Teresa Storch [teresastorch.com, new] (30)
“Come Clean”
“Make You Mine”
18: “Make It Better,” Jeremy Lyons [deltabilly.com, 8/14] (30)
“I Don’t Mind The Rain”
“When I’m Feeling Better”
20: “Three Bells,” Mike Auldridge, Jerry Douglas And Rob Ickes [Rounder, new] (29)
“Panhandle Rag”
“Dobro Heaven”
“Till There Was You”
20: “Remedy,” Old Crow Medicine Show [ATO, 7/14] (29)
“Sweet Amarillo”
“Dearly Departed Friend”
20: “Standing In The Breach,” Jackson Browne [Inside, new] (29)
“Leaving Winslow”
“Birds Of St. Marks”
“Long Way Around”
23: “Carousel,” Robert Bruey [robertbruey.com, 4/14] (28)
“Comin’ Round”
“Nightingale”
“Piece Of You”
23: “River Of Sand,” Lynne Hanson [Continental, 9/14] (28)
“River Of Sand”
“Trading In My Lonesome”
25: “Paradise Outlaw,” Pieta Brown [Red House, 9/14] (26)
“Flowers Of Love”
“Before Gas And Tv”
26: “Georgia I’m Here,” Joe Crookston [Milagrito, 4/14] (25)
“Out On The Run”
“Tuesday Morning”
26: “The Red Album,” Red Molly [redmolly.com, 4/14] (25)
“1952 Vincent Black Lightning”
“Homeward Bound”
“With A Memory Like Mine”
28: “No Passengers,” Davey O [Self, new] (24)
“Long Black Veil”
“Man In Motion”
28: “When I’m Free,” Hot Rize [Ten In Hand, new] (24)
“Western Skies”
“Blue Is Fallin”
30: “Current Affairs,” Runa [runamusic.com, 6/14] (23)
“Banks Are Made Of Marble”
“Ain’t No Grave”
“Last Trip Home”
30: “One-Take Jake,” Jacob Johnson [Self, new] (23)
“Big River”
“She’s Got A Way”
32: “Everything’s Beautiful Now,” Christine Albert [Moon House, 9/14] (22)
“Old New Mexico”
“Lean My Way”
32: “While This Planet Spins Beneath Our Feet,” Heather Styka [Kite Stripe, new] (22)
“Like It’s 1945”
“Careful With My Heart”
34: “Abigail Washburn And The Sparrow Quartet,” Abigail Washburn And The Sparrow Quartet [Nettwerk, 2008] (21)
“Railroad”
“New South Africa”
34: “Bright Side Of Down,” John Gorka [Red House, 3/14] (21)
“She’s That Kind Of Mystery”
“Bright Side Of Down”
34: “Goodbye Nashville,” Eliza Lynn [Civility, new] (21)
“Cry Honey Cry”
“You Sing Loud”
“Goodbye Nashville”
34: “Letting Go,” Cheryl Branz [Self, new] (21)
“Brevity”
“Over The Rainbow”
34: “Never Let Me Cross Your Mind,” Locust Honey String Band [Hearth, 7/14] (21)
“Columbus Stockade Blues”
“Horse Drawn Buggy”
39: “Beyond the Blue,” The Duhks [Compass, 5/14] (20)
“Lazy John”
“Banjo Roustabout”
39: “The Nocturne Diaries,” Eliza Gilkyson [Red House, 3/14] (20)
“Eliza Jane”
“Red Rose And The Thorn”
39: “Old Silo,” James Hill [Borealis, new] (20)
“Brightest Lights”
“If Wishes Were Horses”
39: “Terms Of My Surrender,” John Hiatt [New West, 7/14] (20)
“Long Time Comin”
“Wind Don’t Have To Hurry”
43: “New Lady On The Prairie,” Lizzy Hoyt [Blue Crown, new] (19)
“V’la L’bon Vent”
“New Lady On The Prairie”
43: “Til The Morning: Lullabies and Songs of Comfort,” Edie Carey + Sarah Sample [Groundloop, 6/14] (19)
“I’m On Your Side”
“Slumber My Darling”
45: “Later That Night,” Rod MacDonald [Blue Flute, 5/14] (18)
“Last American Worker”
“Hole In The Bible”
45: “Sixty,” John Cowan [Compass, 8/14] (18)
“Things I Haven’t Done”
“Devil Woman”
45: “Songs From My Mother’s Hand,” Mac Wiseman [Wrinkled, new] (18)
“Blue Ridge Mountain Blues”
“Eastbound Train”
48: “World Of Strangers,” Zoe Muth [Signature, 5/14] (17)
“Mama Needs A Margarita”
49: “Echolocation,” Carolyn Currie [North C, 6/14] (16)
“Old Song”
“Heart Like A Rose”
49: “Long Time… Seldom Scene,” Seldom Scene [Smithsonian/Folkways, 4/14] (16)
“California Cottonfields”
49: “Nameless Heart,” Donna Lynn Caskey [Cordulia, 4/14] (16)
“Lost Before Found”
49: “A Permeable Life,” Carrie Newcomer [Available Light, 4/14] (16)
“Every Little Bit Of It”
“Work Of Our Hands”
49: “Return To Trion,” Chris Coole And Ivan Rosenberg [Self, new] (16)
“Stage Fright”
“Fool Such As I”
49: “Standing Tall And Tough,” Crowe, Lawson & Williams [Crossroads, 8/14] (16)
“My Walking Shoes”
“Hills Of Roane County”
49: “Trouble,” The Howlin’ Brothers [Readymade, 5/14] (16)
“Louisiana”
49: “Turn This Heart Around,” Missy Werner [missywerner.com, 7/14] (16)
“Travelin’ Light”
49: “Under My Hat,” Lenny Solomon [Not Life Threatening, 7/14] (16)
“Fracking Song”
58: “Elsebound,” True North [truenorthbluegrass.com, 4/14] (15)
“Northbound 35”
“One Voice”
58: “For Keeps,” Carrie Elkin And Danny Schmidt [Red House, 5/14] (15)
“2 White Clouds”
“Echo In The Hills”
58: “Lonesome And Then Some,” Larry Sparks [Rebel, 8/14] (15)
“In The Pines”
“Loving You Too Well”
58: “Trouble & Love,” Mary Gauthier [Proper, 6/14] (15)
“When A Woman Goes Cold”
58: “Warmer Season,” Britt Connors & Bourbon Renewal [Y’all-Ternative, 7/14] (15)
“Fine”
63: “Five,” Balsam Range [Mountain Home, 6/14] (14)
“Moon Over Memphis”
63: “Another Day From Life,” Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers [Rebel, new] (14)
“Now The Summer’s Gone”
63: “Follow The Music,” Alice Gerrard [Tompkins Square, new] (14)
“Bear Me Away”
63: “Going To Boston,” Goodbye Girls [Self, new] (14)
“Devil On My Mind”
“Graveyard”
63: “Loving a Fool,” Tumbling Bones [tumblingbones.com, 3/14] (14)
“Bound To Ride”
“Broken Things”
63: “Picnic In The Sky,” Jeni And Billy [Waystation, 8/14] (14)
“Robin And The Banjo”
“Good”
63: “Still Fighting The War,” Slaid Cleaves [Music Road, 6/13] (14)
“Still Fighting The War”
63: “Swimmin’ Time,” Shovels And Rope [Dualtone, 8/14] (14)
“Save The World”
“After The Storm”
63: “You Got This,” Haas Kowert Tice [haaskowerttice.com, 7/14] (14)
“Down The Hatch”
“El Camino”

Top Songs of September 2014
Bitter-Tears
1. “As Long As The Grass Shall Grow” (21)
by Gillian Welch And Dave Rawlings
from “Look Again To The Wind: Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears Revisited”
1. “Custer” (21)
by Steve Earle
from “Look Again To The Wind: Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears Revisited”
3. “Apache Tears” (20)
by Emmylou Harris
from “Look Again To The Wind: Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears Revisited”
4. “The Longing Road” (14)
by Johnsmith
from “The Longing Road”
5. “Black Waters” (13)
by John McCutcheon And Ensemble
from “Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie”
5. “One Kind Word” (13)
by Front Country
from “Sake Of The Sound”
7. “Ballad Of Ira Hayes” (12)
by Kris Kristofferson
from “Look Again To The Wind: Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears Revisited”
7. “Long Gone” (12)
by Mark Erelli
from “Milltowns”
7. “Milltowns” (12)
by Mark Erelli
from “Milltowns”
10. “All That We Have Is Now” (11)
by Jesse Winchester
from “A Reasonable Amount Of Trouble”
10. “Birches” (11)
by Mark Erelli
from “Milltowns”
10. “Chilly Winds” (11)
by Moira Smiley And Voco
from “Laughter Out Of Tears”
10. “Old Joe’s Chair” (11)
by Aaron Nathans & Michael G. Ronstadt
from “Crooked Fiddle”
14. “Across The Great Divide” (10)
by Kyle Carey
from “North Star”
14. “Borders Of The Moon” (10)
by Johnsmith
from “The Longing Road”
14. “Handsome Molly” (10)
by Mark Erelli
from “Milltowns”
14. “Second Nature” (10)
by Adler & Hearne
from “Second Nature”
18. “Blue Ridge Mountain Blues” (9)
by Mac Wiseman
from “Songs From My Mother’s Hand”
18. “Come Clean” (9)
by Teresa Storch
from “Come Clean”
18. “The Flower Of Muscle Shoals” (9)
by Cahalen Morrison And Country Hammer
from “The Flower Of Muscle Shoals”
18. “I Don’t Mind The Rain” (9)
by Jeremy Lyons
from “Make It Better”
18. “Look Again To The Wind” (9)
by Bill Miller
from “Look Again To The Wind: Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears Revisited”
18. “When Fall Comes To New England” (9)
by Cheryl Wheeler
from “Driving Home”
18. “When I’m Feeling Better” (9)
by Jeremy Lyons
from “Make It Better”
25. “Banks Are Made Of Marble” (8)
by Runa
from “Current Affairs”
25. “Honeyfest” (8)
by Johnsmith
from “The Longing Road”
25. “Little Louisiana” (8)
by Jesse Winchester
from “A Reasonable Amount Of Trouble”
25. “Middle Of A Moment” (8)
by Johnsmith
from “The Longing Road”
25. “Morrissey Falls In Love At First Sight” (8)
by Mark Erelli
from “Milltowns”
25. “Night Train” (8)
by Mark Erelli
from “Milltowns”
25. “North Country” (8)
by Moira Smiley And Voco
from “Laughter Out Of Tears”
25. “Northwest Passage” (8)
by Stan Rogers
from “Northwest Passage”
25. “Old New Mexico” (8)
by Christine Albert
from “Everything’s Beautiful Now”
25. “Rainbird” (8)
by Johnsmith
from “The Longing Road”
25. “Referendum” (8)
by Alasdair Fraser And Natalie Haas
from “Abundance”
25. “Rhythm Of The Rain” (8)
by Jesse Winchester
from “A Reasonable Amount Of Trouble”
25. “Vanishing Race” (8)
by Rhiannon Giddens
from “Look Again To The Wind: Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears Revisited”
25. “Western Skies” (8)
by Hot Rize
from “When I’m Free”