Canadian singer-songwriter Dave Gunning’s album Lift was #1 on folk radio during May 2016, while he and Illinois-based singer-songwriter Ben Bedford had the most-played songs and Guy Clark, the Texas troubadour who died last month, was the most-played artist. So say the airplay 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 May 2016 FOLKDJ-L charts are based on 14,497 airplays from 147 different DJs. Label and release date appear in brackets below, while the number of reported spins is shown in parentheses. The charts are posted on AcousticMusicScene.com, with permission.

Top Albums of May 2016

album-cover-1024x931 1: Lift, Dave Gunning [Wee House, 7/15] (108)
2: Mud And Apples, Lucy Wainwright Roche And Suzzy Roche [Bunny, 5/16] (102)
3: The Pilot And The Flying Machine, Ben Bedford [Waterbug, 4/16] (80)
4: Weights And Wings, Brother Sun [brothersun.com, 4/16] (77)
5: Nine Pin, Kaia Kater [Kingswood, 5/16] (75)
6: Jump The Fire, Evie Ladin Band [Evil Diane, 5/16] (71)
7: Trail Of Tales, The Bills [Borealis, 3/16] (63)
8: Square Peg, Marci Geller [marcigeller.com, 12/15] (56)
9: Sometimes I Feel Too Much, Cosy Sheridan [cosysheridan.com, 3/16] (51)
10: Blue Skies, Mountain Heart [Compass, 5/16] (44)
11: Excellent Day, Lizanne Knott [Proper, 4/16] (41)
12: American Landscape, Dave Murphy [davemurphy.net, new] (39)
12: Flight, Coty Hogue [Perpetual Hoedown, new] (39)
14: Keepsake, Gathering Time [Treble-G, 3/16] (38)
15: Restless Moon, Meg Braun [megbraun.com, 4/15] (37)
16: Still The Birds, Darryl Purpose [Blue Rock, 5/16] (35)
17: The Deep Hollow, The Deep Hollow [thedeephollow.com, 4/16] (34)
17: Del And Woody, Del McCoury Band [delmccouryband.com, 4/16] (34)
19: Calla’s Waltz, Jed Marum [Boston Road, 3/16] (32)
19: This One’s For Him: A Tribute To Guy Clark, Various Artists
[Icehouse, 2011] (32)
21: Grain By Grain, Mark Mandeville And Raianne Richards [Nobody’s
Favorite, 4/16] (31)
22: Sing Me Home, Yo-Yo Ma And The Silk Road Ensemble [Masterworks,
4/16] (30)
23: Keepers, Guy Clark [Sugar Hill, 1997] (29)
23: Old Songs For Modern Folk, Vincent Cross [Rescue Dog, 4/16] (29)
23: Rattle Your Bones, The Haunted Windchimes [Blank Tape, 5/16] (29)
26: All These Years, Solas [THL, 2/16] (28)
27: The Things That We Are Made Of, Mary Chapin Carpenter [Lambent
Light, new] (27)
28: Dark Horse Days, Donal Hinely [Atom, 2/16] (26)
28: Red Grass, Ilya Toshinskiy [Hadley, new] (26)
30: Ladies And Gentlemen, Infamous Stringdusters [Compass, 1/16] (25)
30: More Alive, Don White [donwhite.net, 11/15] (25)
30: My Favorite Picture Of You, Guy Clark [Dualtone, 2013] (25)
30: Songbirds And Fog, The Lark And The Loon [Self, 5/16] (25)
34: Empty Train, David Francey [Laker, 2/16] (24)
34: Family, Friends And Heroes, Frank Solivan [Compass, 3/16] (24)
34: Freedom Blues, Ken Whiteley [Borealis, 4/16] (24)
37: Charismo, Hackensaw Boys [Free Dirt, 4/16] (23)
37: For A Song, Mark Erelli [markerelli.com, 4/16] (23)
37: Pick It Up, Jim Stringer And The AM Band [Music Room, 4/16] (23)
37: Red Shoes, Roosevelt Dime [Self, new] (23)
37: Worth The Wait, Goodbye Blue [Wondermore, 3/16] (23)
42: The Hazel And Alice Sessions, Laurie Lewis And The Right Hands
[Spruce And Maple, 1/16] (22)
43: Cold Dog Soup, Guy Clark [Sugar Hill, 1999] (21)
43: Couchville Sessions, Darrell Scott [Full Light, new] (21)
43: Dublin Blues, Guy Clark [Elektra, 2012] (21)
46: Choreographic, Rachael Sage [Mpress, new] (20)
46: Echoes, Jason Wilber [Self, 4/16] (20)
46: Gathering, Maria Dunn [Distant Whisper, 4/16] (20)
46: I Was So Fond Of You, Matt Patershuk [Black Hen, 2/16] (20)
46: Songs About Lessons Learnt, Robin Bienemann [Self, 3/16] (20)
46: These Houses, C. Daniel Boling [Berkalin, new] (20)
52: The Both, Eli West [elidoes.bandcamp.com, 2/16] (19)
52: Detour, Cyndi Lauper [Sire, 5/16] (19)
52: I Love Hamburgers, Joe Giacoio [Romantic Devil, 10/15] (19)
52: Live At Maximal, Sonia Disappear Fear [Self, 4/16] (19)
52: Live From Blue Rock, Moors And McCumber
[moorsandmccumber.bandcamp.com, 2/16] (19)
52: My Lucky Stars, Arnie Naiman [Merriweather, new] (19)
52: Old No. 1, Guy Clark [Sugar Hill, 1975] (19)
52: Totally Average Woman, Carla Ulbrich [Romantic Devil, 8/15] (19)
52: Weight Of The World, Western Centuries [Free Dirt, new] (19)
61: Roses And Victory, Honor Finnegan [Frock, 2/16] (18)
61: Washashore Cowgirl, Monica Rizzio [monicarizzio.com, 2/16] (18)
63: Boats To Build, Guy Clark [Elektra, 1992] (17)
63: Paths That Wind, The Paul McKenna Band [paulmckennaband.com, 4/16] (17)
65: Didn’t We Waltz, Amy White with Al Petteway [Fairewood, 1/16] (16)
65: Foxhounds, Kathy Kallick Band [Live Oak, 11/15] (16)
65: Lovers And Leavers, Hayes Carll [Hwy 87, 4/16] (16)
65: These Are The Days, Burning Bridget Cleary
[burningbridgetcleary.com, 11/15] (16)
65: Wondrous Traveler, The Small Glories [Self, 2/16] (16)
70: The Dark, Guy Clark [Sugar Hill, 2002] (15)
70: Deep Waters, The Lonely Heartstring Band [Rounder, new] (15)
70: Electricity, Victor And Penny [Overtone, 3/16] (15)
70: The K.O.A. Tapes (Vol. 1), Kate Campbell [Large River, 1/16] (15)
70: On The Ropes, The Honeycutters [Organic, new] (15)
70: One Of These Days, The Regulators [Self, 3/16] (15)
70: Stitch An Ocean, Wren [wrenmusic.net, 2/16] (15)
70: Ziggy Marley, Ziggy Marley [Tuff Gong, 2/16] (15)

Top Songs of May 2016

Here are links to an audio recording of Ben Bedford performing “Pilot and The Flying Machine, Part 1” and a video of Dave Gunning performing “Sing It Louder” — the month’s two most-played songs on folk radio:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJnBuHKk904

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqa7myWevac

1. “Pilot And The Flying Machine, Part 1” (19)
by Ben Bedford
from The Pilot And The Flying Machine
1. “Sing It Louder” (19)
by Dave Gunning
from Lift
3. “Landslide” (17)
by Lucy Wainwright Roche And Suzzy Roche
from Mud And Apples
4. “Homegrown Tomatoes” (16)
by Guy Clark
from Keepers
also Craftsman
4. “Letters From The Earth” (16)
by Ben Bedford
from The Pilot And The Flying Machine
4. “Save Me” (16)
by Marci Geller
from Square Peg
7. “Desperado” (15)
by Lucy Wainwright Roche And Suzzy Roche
from Mud And Apples
8. “Ease On Down” (14)
by Evie Ladin Band
from Jump The Fire
8. “L. A. Freeway” (14)
by Guy Clark
from Keepers
also Old No. 1
8. “Wonders I’ve Seen” (14)
by The Bills
from Trail Of Tales
11. “Desperados Waiting For A Train” (13)
by Guy Clark
from Old No. 1
also Keepers
11. “Randall Knife” (13)
by Guy Clark
from Dublin Blues
also Craftsman
11. “Saint Elizabeth” (13)
by Kaia Kater
from Nine Pin
11. “They Don’t Do That No More” (13)
by Dave Gunning
from Lift
15. “Mary Don’t You Weep And Moan” (12)
by Brother Sun
from Weights And Wings
15. “Rhythm Of The Rain” (12)
by Lucy Wainwright Roche And Suzzy Roche
from Mud And Apples
15. “This Changin’ Wind” (12)
by Dave Gunning
from Lift
18. “Bleecker Street” (11)
by Lucy Wainwright Roche And Suzzy Roche
from Mud And Apples
18. “Cold October Day” (11)
by Lucy Wainwright Roche And Suzzy Roche
from Mud And Apples
18. “Mud And Apples” (11)
by Lucy Wainwright Roche And Suzzy Roche
from Mud And Apples
18. “Paradise Fell” (11)
by Kaia Kater
from Nine Pin
18. “Trail Of Tales” (11)
by The Bills
from Trail Of Tales
18. “White” (11)
by Kaia Kater
from Nine Pin
24. “Long Blue Hills” (10)
by Ben Bedford
from The Pilot And The Flying Machine
24. “Tractor” (10)
by Dave Gunning
from Lift
24. “When I’m Gone” (10)
by Brother Sun
from Weights And Wings
24. “Where Are You Moses” (10)
by Brother Sun
from Weights And Wings
24. “Woody Guthrie Watch Over Me” (10)
by Cosy Sheridan
from Sometimes I Feel Too Much