Singer-Songwriter Gillian Welch was the most-played artist and had the top album (Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs, Vol. 1) on folk radio in November 2020, while singer-songwriter Tim Grimm’s “ Gone” was the most-played song for a second consecutive month. So say charts compiled by Folk Alliance International based on radio playlists submitted to FOLKDJ-L, an electronic discussion group for DJs and others interested in folk-based music on the radio.

Gillian Welch Boots No. 2 The Lost SongsWelch performs and records with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Nashville-based acoustic roots artists, their music fuses elements of Appalachian, old time, classic country, bluegrass and Americana. Three of Welch’s previous albums have received Grammy nominations for Best Contemporary Folk Album, while she was an associate producer and performed on two songs featured on the soundtrack for the Coen Brothers film O Brother Where Art Thou? that won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2002. Welch also made a cameo appearance in the film. She and Rawlings are recipients of the Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting (2015), while she was named Artist of the Year (2012) in its Americana Music Honors & Awards. The duo’s recording, All The Good Times, is among the nominees for Best Folk Album in the 63rd annual Grammy Awards.

Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs, Vol. 1 is part of a three-volume set containing 48 songs culled from an archival cache of home demos and reel-to-reel recordings that the two made in 2002 — between the recording of the albums Time (The Revelator) and Soul Journey.

[Here’s a link to listen to some music from Gillian Welch’s Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs, Vol. 1: http://smarturl.it/GWBoots2Vol1 via her website].

Tim Grimm is a southern Indiana-based folk-Americana singer-songwriter who has recorded a number of albums and songs that have reached the top of the Folk DJ (now FAI Folk Radio) and EuroAmericana charts. He had both the most-played album (A Stranger In This Time) and song (“Gonna Be Great”) on folk radio during 2017, while his 2019 release, Heart Land Again, was the top alum on the Folk DJ Chart that summer. “Woody’s Landlord,” Grimm’s song about Donald Trump’s father, was the most-played song on folk radio in 2016, while “King Of the Folksingers,” a tribute to his friend and musical icon Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, was the #1 song on the Folk DJ songs chart in 2014. Besides having released a dozen albums over the past 20 years, Grimm has worked as an actor in film, theater and television.

[Here’s a link to view a video for the month’s top song, the digital single “Gone” by Tim Grimm:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPLKgCwBvug].

The November 2020 Top Albums, Songs and Artists charts are based on 14,627 airplays reported on 483 playlists submitted by 121 different folk DJs. The number of reported spins is shown below in parentheses.

Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org) is a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen, and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion.

Top Albums of November 2020

1. Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs, Vol. 1 by Gillian Welch (78)
2. Woman in Color by Raye Zaragoza (74)
3. Back to the Earth by Adam Hurt (73)
4. Songs Doc Didn’t Sing by Doc and Merle Watson (72)
5. Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967) by Joni
Mitchell (56)
6. Mipso by Mipso (52)
6. Flyover Country by Susan Werner (52)
8. I Can Still Hear You by Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche (50)
9. Old Friends by Gathering Time (49)
10. Just a Little Rain by Ray Cardwell (48)
11. Soul River by Matthew Alexander (46)
11. Jaroso by Darrell Scott (46)
13. Ghost Tattoo by Kristen Grainger and True North (44)
13. Chasing Echoes by Phil Henry (44)
15. Long Time Passing: Kronos Quartet and Friends Celebrate Pete Seeger by Kronos Quartet (39)
16. Shadow of the Cyclone by Aaron Nathans and Michael G. Ronstadt (38)
17. Friend of the Sky by Cej (37)
17. Pretty Free by Justin Farren (37)
19. Mould’s Undertaking by Mike Craver (35)
20. The Coronavirus Sessions by George Mann (34)
21. “Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes by Leyla McCalla (33)
21. Brave the Storm by Last Year’s Man (33)
23. Tangle of Souls by Scott Cook (32)
23. Commonplaces by Partington and Sweeney (32)
23. Bet on Love by Pharis and Jason Romero (32)
26. Willie Nile Uncovered by Various Artists (31)
26. More From the Levee by Chris Smither (31)
28. Over That Road I’m Bound by Joachim Cooder (30)
29. 100 Summers by James Lee Baker (29)
29. Diary of a Snowflake by Donal Hinely (29)
31. On My Way to Hooterville by Christine Lavin (28)
31. The Prettiest Bird by Susan Pepper (28)
33. Imagine We Have Wings by Jane Godfrey (27)
33. The Third Gleam by The Avett Brothers (27)
35. The Balladeer by Lori McKenna (26)
35. 2020 by Eliza Gilkyson (26)
35. Cabin Fever: Songs From the Quarantine by John McCutcheon (26)
35. The Onlies by The Onlies (26)
39. Begin Again by Lyn Koonce (25)
39. Tribulation by Appalachian Road Show (25)
41. World on the Ground by Sarah Jarosz (24)
41. The Dirt and the Stars by Mary Chapin Carpenter (24)
41. The Storyteller’s Suitcase by Ellis Paul (24)
41. Just Like Leaving by Bella White (24)
45. Another Sky by Kelly’s Lot (23)
45. When I Wait for You by Dirk Powell (23)
47. Pushing Forward by Wes Weddell and Ailisa Newhall (22)
47. Uncivil War by Shemekia Copeland (22)
47. Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 1 (Butcher Shoppe Sessions) by Sturgill Simpson
(22)
47. Distance and Time by Becky Buller (22)
51. Where the Heart Wants to Go by Buffalo Gals Band (21)
51. Brave New View by Kristi Flagg (21)
53. Ordinary Love by Ellis Delaney (20)
53. One Sky by Philip Scott Poli (20)
53. Alternative Facts and Other White Lies by Mike Glick (20)
53. Roots and Honey by Old-Time Pharmaceuticals (20)
53. The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs of Mickey Newbury by
Gretchen Peters (20)
53. Kitchen Days by Braden Gates (20)
59. Mondegreens by Rachel Garlin (19)
59. Lift Me Up by Rob Kneisler (19)
59. This Road by Andy and Judy (19)
59. Hands and Knees by Two Bird Stone (19)
59. Red, White and I Love You Too by The Mastersons (19)
64. Blonde on the Tracks by Emma Swift (18)
64. Forbundet by Garmarna (18)
64. Johnny Cash and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra by Johnny Cash (18)
67. Bravado by Rose Cousins (17)
67. Letter to You by Bruce Springsteen (17)
67. Good Words Good Thoughts Good Deeds by Bob Sima (17)
70. Lucid Stories, Tentative Lies by Jessica Smucker (16)
70. John the Revelator by John Fusco and the X-Road Riders (16)
70. But I’d Rather Be With You by Molly Tuttle (16)
70. Motivational Speakeasy by Jordan Tice (16)

Top Songs of November 2020

1. “Gone” by Tim Grimm (29)
2. “America the Beautiful” by Jesse Palidofsky, Claire Lynch, and Lea
Gilmore (18)
2. “Let Me Tell You What I Think” by Ordinary Elephant (18)
4. “Ghosts of Houston Street” by Raye Zaragoza (17)
4. “Election Day” by Ellis Paul (17)
6. “Windy & Warm” by Doc and Merle Watson (16)
6. “I Think I Am a Soul” by Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche (16)
8. “Thanksgiving Song” by Mary Chapin Carpenter (15)
8. “Mind of a Soldier” by Abbie Gardner (15)
8. “There Be Monsters Here” by Phil Henry (15)
11. “Waiting for the Boatsman” by Adam Hurt (14)
11. “Say Can You See” by Scott Cook (14)
11. “Urge for Going” by Joni Mitchell (14)
14. “Kentucky Winder” by Adam Hurt (13)
15. “They Say” by Raye Zaragoza (12)
15. “Hometown” by Sarah Jarosz (12)
17. “Mr. Bojangles” by Jerry Jeff Walker (11)
17. “Diddle Aye Dee” by Cej (11)
17. “He Calls Me River” by Raye Zaragoza (11)
17. “Hold Each Other Up” by Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer (11)
17. “Pushing Forward” by Wes Weddell and Ailisa Newhall (11)
17. “Who I Am Today” by Gillian Tuite (11)
17. “I Can Still Hear You” by Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche (11)
17. “I Hear Them All” by Scott Wolfson and Other Heroes (11)
17. “Thanksgiving” by Si Kahn (11)
17. “Keep the River on Your Right” by Kristen Grainger and True North (11)
17. “A Satisfied Mind” by Darrell Scott (11)

Top Artists of November 2020

1. Gillian Welch (100)
2. Joni Mitchell (95)
3. Doc and Merle Watson (76)
4. Adam Hurt (75)
5. Raye Zaragoza (74)
6. John McCutcheon (65)
6. Bob Dylan (65)
8. Susan Werner (64)
9. Jerry Jeff Walker (60)
10. Darrell Scott (57)
11. Gathering Time (54)
11. Mipso (54)
13. Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche (52)
14. Tom Paxton (50)
14. Ray Cardwell (50)
16. Arlo Guthrie (47)
17. Matthew Alexander (46)
18. Chris Smither (45)
18. Mary Chapin Carpenter (45)
18. Phil Henry (45)
21. Kristen Grainger and True North (44)
22. Eliza Gilkyson (43)
23. Billy Joe Shaver (39)
23. Kronos Quartet (39)
23. Tim Grimm (39)
23. Aaron Nathans and Michael G. Ronstadt (39)
23. Gordon Lightfoot (39)
23. Johnny Cash (39)
23. The Avett Brothers (39)
30. Cej (38)
30. Christine Lavin (38)
32. Justin Farren (37)
33. Scott Cook (36)
34. Leyla McCalla (35)
34. Mike Craver (35)
36. Pharis and Jason Romero (34)
36. George Mann (34)
36. John Prine (34)
39. Sarah Jarosz (33)
39. Last Year’s Man (33)