Zoe Mulford, a transatlantic singer-songwriter, had the most-played album (Small Brown Birds) and three of the top five songs on folk radio during February 2017, while influential veteran folksinger-songwriter Tom Paxton had the most-played song (“Boat in the Water”). The month’s most-played artist was John McCutcheon, one of America’s most revered folksinger-songwriters, who also held that distinction and had both the most played album (Trolling For Dreams) and song on folk radio in January. So say 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 February 2017 FOLKDJ-L charts are based on 13, 857 airplays from 139 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 February 2017

zoemulford61: Small Brown Birds, Zoe Mulford [Azalea City, 1/17] (119)
2: Trolling For Dreams, John McCutcheon [Appalsongs, 1/17] (102)
3: Boat In The Water, Tom Paxton [Pax, 2/17] (78)
4: Get Up And Do Right, Cathy Fink And Marcy Marxer [Community, 2/17] (74)
5: Chasing The Ghost, Lydia Sylvia Martin [Dryad, 2014] (72)
6: The April Verch Anthology, April Verch [Slab Town, 2/17] (65)
7: Before I Go, Ordinary Elephant [Berkalin, 1/17] (64)
8: Workin’s Too Hard, Rayna Gellert [StorySound, 1/17] (54)
9: Far Away, Long Ago, Jack Williams [Wind River, 12/16] (53)
10: The Swift House, Ken And Brad Kolodner [Fenchurch, 1/17] (52)
11: Brooks’ Blues, Brooks Williams [Red Guitar Blue, 2016] (49)
12: For Better, Or Worse, John Prine [Oh Boy, 9/16] (48)
13: Waves, Jennifer Cutting’s Ocean Orchestra [Sunsign, 1/17] (47)
13: Windy City, Alison Krauss [Capitol, new] (47)
15: Reach For The Stars, Elaine Mahon [Gatorbone, 2/17] (43)
16: Mount Royal, Julian Lage And Chris Eldridge [Free Dirt, 2/17] (42)
16: No Rain, No Rose, John Craigie [johncraigiemusic.com, 1/17] (42)
18: Laws Of Gravity, The Infamous Stringdusters [Compass, 1/17] (41)
19: Loving Light, Lee Murdock [Depot, 11/16] (40)
20: Passing Trains, Annie Moscow [11 Blocks, 1/17] (37)
21: Boots No. 1: The Official Revival Bootleg, Gillian Welch [Acony, 11/16] (36)
22: Little Movies, Ron Sowell [Mountain Soul, 8/16] (34)
22: Natural Conclusion, Rose Cousins [Old Farm Pony, 2/17] (34)
24: Solidarity, Bill And Joel Plaskett [Pheromone, new] (33)
24: Stitch Of The World, Tift Merritt [Yep Roc, 1/17] (33)
26: Land Of Broken Angels, Micah And Mark Atkinson [micahandmark.com, 1/17] (32)
26: Passing It On, All-She-Wrote [all-she-wrote.com, new] (32)
28: Blink, Rebecca Loebe [Black Wolf, 2/17] (31)
29: Just Another Song And Dance Man, D.C. Bloom [Sunnysky Days, 1/17] (30)
30: Sixty, Julie Gold [juliegold.com, 11/16] (29)
31: Big Things And Little Things, Truckstop Honeymoon [Squirrel, 1/17] (28)
31: The Love Still Shows, Donna Lynn Caskey [Cordulia, new] (28)
33: Freedom Highway, Rhiannon Giddens [Nonesuch, new] (26)
33: In The Ground, The Gibson Brothers [Rounder, 2/17] (26)
33: Down In The West, Volume 2, Kyle Alden [Self, 2/17] (26)
33: While We’re Here, Catie Curtis [Magenta, 2/17] (26)
37: Dream With Me, Moore And McGregor [Self, 12/16] (24)
37: Some Part Of The Truth, Brother Sun [brothersunmusic.com, 2013] (24)
39: Rabbit Hole, Billy Crockett [Blue Rock, 10/16] (23)
39: Universal Favorite, Noam Pikelny [Rounder, new] (23)
41: Kings And Kings, Blackie And The Rodeo Kings [Self, 10/16] (22)
41: Notes Of Blue, Son Volt [30 Tigers, new] (22)
43: The Beautiful Not Yet, Carrie Newcomer [Available Light, 9/16] (21)
43: Undercurrent, Sarah Jarosz [Sugar Hill, 6/16] (21)
45: Playing It Forward, The Savage Hearts [thesavagehearts.com, 9/16] (20)
45: Time To Turn The Tide, Millpond Moon [Tikopia, 2015] (20)
45: The Ultimate Guide To English Folk, Various Artists [Arc, 10/16] (20)
48: Coming Home, O’Connor Band with Mark O’Connor [Rounder, 8/16] (19)
48: Highway Queen, Nikki Lane [New West, 2/17] (19)
48: Made To Move, Chris Jones And The Night Drivers [Mountain Home, 2/17] (19)
51: Awake Again, Isabel Taylor [isabeltaylorsings.com, 3/16] (17)
51: Duende, The Band Of Heathens [Boh, 1/17] (17)
51: The Janus Game, Steve Tilston And Jez Lowe [Tantobie, 12/16] (17)
51: Nightbird, The Bankesters [Compass, 1/17] (17)
51: Penny’s Farm, Jim Kweskin And Geoff Muldaur [Kingswood, 9/16] (17)
51: Seed-Maid: Sentimental Songs, The Princes Of Serendip [Jaiya, 1/17] (17)
51: Turn Styles, Naming The Twins [Duet Right, 11/16] (17)
51: The Willow Collection, Cassie And Maggie [cassieandmaggie.com, 11/16] (17)
59: Kid Sister, The Time Jumpers [Rounder, 9/16] (16)
59: Mockingbird Soul, Brigitte Demeyer And Will Kimbrough [BDM, 1/17] (16)
61: Frailing To Succeed, Daniel Koulack [Little Giant, 5/16] (15)
61: Lover’s Leap, Darrell Webb [Mountain Fever, new] (15)
61: Night Sky, Dick Weissman [Longest Bridge, 5/16] (15)
61: Recitative, Robt Sarazin Blake [Self, 1/17] (15)
61: Wonderful World Outside, The Piedmont Melody Makers [Vigortone, 11/16] (15)
66: Weights And Wings, Brother Sun [brothersun.com, 4/16] (14)
66: Afterlight, Imar [Big Mann, 1/17] (14)
66: Deep Waters, The Lonely Heartstring Band [Rounder, 6/16] (14)
66: I Confess, Steven Blane [Self, 12/16] (14)
66: Latitude, Rant Maggie Rant [Self, 11/16] (14)
66: Nothing Left To Lose, Dave Morrison [Trough, new] (14)
66: Peel Back Another Layer, Laura Oden [lauraoden.com, 1/17] (14)
66: The Producer’s Choice, Battlefield Band [Temple, new] (14)
66: Upland Stories, Robbie Fulks [Bloodshot, 4/16] (14)

Top Songs of February 2017

1. “Boat In The Water” (21)
by Tom Paxton
from Boat In The Water
2. “February Thunder” (19)
by Zoe Mulford
from Small Brown Birds
3. “President Sang Amazing Grace” (18)
by Zoe Mulford
from Small Brown Birds
4. “Zillionaire” (17)
by Zoe Mulford
from Small Brown Birds
5. “Get Up And Do Right” (16)
by Cathy Fink And Marcy Marxer
from Get Up And Do Right
5. “Y’all Means All” (16)
by John McCutcheon
from Trolling For Dreams
7. “C And O Train” (14)
by Lydia Sylvia Martin
from Chasing The Ghost
7. “Gone” (14)
by John McCutcheon
from Trolling For Dreams
7. “Steel Rail Blues” (14)
by Ken And Brad Kolodner
from The Swift House
10. “Strike The Bells” (13)
by Rayna Gellert
from Workin’s Too Hard
10. “Trouble In Mind” (13)
by Brooks Williams
from Brook’s Blues
12. “Answer The Knock At The Door” (12)
by Zoe Mulford
from Small Brown Birds
12. “Broken” (12)
by John Craigie
from No Rain No Rose
12. “Chilly Winds” (12)
by Cathy Fink And Marcy Marxer
from Get Up And Do Right
12. “Last Hobo” (12)
by Tom Paxton
from Boat In The Water
16. “3 Chords And The Truth” (11)
by John McCutcheon
from Trolling For Dreams
16. “Best Of You” (11)
by Ordinary Elephant
from Before I Go
16. “Gentle On My Mind” (11)
by Alison Krauss
from Windy City
16. “Outward Bound” (11)
by Tom Paxton
from Boat In The Water
16. “The Warmth Of Other Suns” (11)
by Spuyten Duyvil
from The Warmth Of Other Suns
21. “America” (10)
by Julie Gold
from Sixty
21. “As I Walked Out” (10)
by Kyle Alden
from Down In The West, Volume 2
21. “Bible” (10)
by John McCutcheon
from Trolling For Dreams
21. “I’ve Endured” (10)
by Ken And Brad Kolodner
from The Swift House
21. “John Henry” (10)
by Jack Williams
from Far Away Long Ago
21. “Lean Into Love” (10)
by Elaine Mahon
from Reach For The Stars
21. “Virgin Guitar” (10)
by John Craigie
from No Rain, No Rose
21. “We’ll Be Gone” (10)
by Micah And Mark Atkinson
from Land Of Broken Angels
21. “Workin’s Too Hard” (10)
by Rayna Gellert
from Workin’s Too Hard