Annual FAI Folk Radio Charts for 2021

Tim Grimm, a southern Indiana-based folk-Americana singer-songwriter, had the top album (Gone) on folk radio during 2021, edging out upstate New York-based singer-songwriter Reggie Harris’ Solid Ground. The Accidentals, a Michigan-based band, had the year’s most-played song (“Wildfire”), while the late Nanci Griffith was 2021’s most-played artist. 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.

Inspired by the times in which we are living, Gone is an eight-track album that reflects on dreams past and present, and on personal and community loss. As on past recordings, Tim Grimm is joined by members of his family on Gone – including wife Jan on harmony vocals and harmonica, son Connor on bass, and son Jackson on banjo, guitar and mandolin. The album’s title track was released as a digital single in the fall of 2020 and was that year’s most-played song and took the #2 spot in 2021.

Gone is just one of a number of albums and songs by Grimm 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 more than 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 lyric video for “Gone”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPLKgCwBvug

Launched in Traverse City, Michigan by singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists (including violin, cello, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, and mandolin) Sav Buist and Katie Larson, The Accidentals also include Michael Dause on percussion. Prior to the pandemic, the trio had been playing upwards of 200 shows a year. Its repertoire features an eclectic blend of indie folk, pop, bluegrass, rock, and classical music. The Accidentals also host and lead workshops across the country as part of their effort to inspire other young musicians. Buist and Larson have also provided strings accompaniment for other artists’ albums. “”Wildfire” is the first single off The Accidentals’ Time Out EP, which was released in May 2021.

Here’s a link to listen to “Wildfire”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oKT1yoBTrk

Nanci Griffith, a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter whose music straddled the line between folk and country, died on August 13, 2021 at age 68. She was best known for her colorful, narrative tales of small town life that she sang in her warm, crystalline pure voice with a Texas twang – many of which were covered and recorded by other artists, just as she covered other artists on her 1993 Elektra release Other Voices, Other Rooms – which won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

An early winner in the prestigious Kerrville New Folk Competition, Griffith later put together the Blue Moon Orchestra — with whom she recorded and toured for more than a decade. Honored by the Americana Music Association with its Lifetime Americana Trailblazer Award in 2008, Griffith released her 18th and last studio album, Intersection, in 2012.

Here’s a link to an article about Griffith that was posted on AcousticMusicScene.com shortly after she died: https://acousticmusicscene.com/2021/08/16/remembering-nanci-griffith-1953-2021/
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The 2021 Top Albums, Songs and Artists charts are based on 164, 278 airplays reported on 5564 playlists submitted by 152 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 2021

1. Gone by Tim Grimm (372)
2. On Solid Ground by Reggie Harris (371)
3. Bucket List by John McCutcheon (367)
4. Changemakers by Crys Matthews (361)
5. Downhill From Everywhere by Jackson Browne (337)
6. Song to a Refugee by Diana Jones (329)
7. Distance and Time by Becky Buller (309)
8. First Farewell by Peggy Seeger (300)
9. Grit and Polish by Mark Schatz & Bryan McDowell (298)
10. Just Over the Ridge by Lizzy Plotkin and Natalie Spears (276)
11. A Better Day A-Coming by Robin and Linda Williams (274)
11. Normal Isn’t Normal Anymore by Rod Abernethy (274)
13. Time Out – Session 1 by The Accidentals (251)
14. Stone by Stone by Tret Fure (247)
15. Be Ready When I Call You by Guy Davis (245)
16. Ballad of a Bad Girl by Kate McDonnell (244)
17. Red Maple Tree by Sloan Wainwright (242)
18. There Used to Be Horses Here by Amy Speace and the Orphan Brigade
(237)
19. Until Now by Carrie Newcomer (222)
20. Come Around by Rob Lutes (214)
21. All This Time Running by Craig Cardiff (213)
22. I’ll Meet You Here by Dar Williams (212)
23. Renaissance by Valerie Smith (207)
24. Long Time Coming by Sierra Ferrell (206)
24. They’re Calling Me Home by Rhiannon Giddens (206)
26. He Walked On by Tim O’Brien (203)
26. Outside Child by Allison Russell (203)
28. Hourglass by Murray McLauchlan (201)
29. Knew Things by Cliff Eberhardt (197)
30. Been a Long Time by Si Kahn (193)
30. Joyful Banner Blazing by Maria Dunn (193)
30. Sober Again by Jackson Grimm (193)
33. Ellis Paul’s Traveling Medicine Show, Vol. 1 by Ellis Paul (192)
34. Cold Rain and Snow by Jared Rabin (190)
35. Borrowed Time by Joe Troop (186)
36. We Shall Stay Here by Paul Kaplan (183)
37. Light and Dark by Chris Ronald (180)
38. Calla Lily by The Brother Brothers (178)
39. Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno by Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno (176)
40. Renewal by Billy Strings (175)
41. Still Woman Enough by Loretta Lynn (173)
41. Just Causes by Noel Paul Stookey (173)
43. Tapered Point of Stone by Eli West (172)
44. Why Wait! by Kate Taylor (171)
45. Chinook Waltz by Over the Moon (168)
45. Don’t You Marry No Railroad Man by JP Harris’ Dreadful Wind and Rain
(168)
47. Uppity by Laura Love (167)
48. Solace in the Wild by Erin Ivey (166)
49. Bet on Love by Pharis and Jason Romero (165)
50. Hold the Line by Hardened and Tempered (164)
50. Woman in Color by Raye Zaragoza (164)
52. A Beautiful Sound by Cosy Sheridan (162)
53. The Fray by John Smith (161)
54. Streamliner by Jesse Brock (160)
55. Annamania by Anna Elizabeth Laube (158)
56. Other Voices, Other Rooms by Nanci Griffith (157)
57. We Can Hear Each Other by Erin Ash Sullivan (156)
58. We Go On: Si Kahn’s Songs of Hope in Hard Times by Katie Oates (154)
58. Watchhouse by Watchhouse (154)
58. Jellyfish on the Moon by Lisa Jeanette (154)
58. Right Where I Am by Jonathan Edwards (154)
62. Poets by Liz Simmons (146)
63. World on the Ground by Sarah Jarosz (145)
64. The Canvas Before Us by Joy Zimmerman (144)
65. Desert Ghosts by Jaspar Lepak (142)
65. Echo Land by Bumarang (142)
67. When We Wander by Jesse Terry (140)
67. + 1 by Mike Barnett (140)
69. Songs Doc Didn’t Sing by Doc and Merle Watson (139)
70. Undertaker’s Songbook by Sons of the Never Wrong (137)

Top Songs of 2021

1. “Wildfire” by The Accidentals (105)
2. “Gone” by Tim Grimm (78)
3. “A Better Day A-Coming” by Robin and Linda Williams (77)
4. “Seasons Change” by Lizzy Plotkin and Natalie Spears (76)
5. “We Believe You” by Diana Jones (75)
6. “All This Time Running” by Craig Cardiff (73)
7. “Call Them In” by Crys Matthews (68)
8. “Gentle Arms of Eden” by Darryl Purpose (67)
9. “It’s Who We Are” by Reggie Harris (66)
9. “Monuments” by Tret Fure (66)
9. “Exactly Where You Are” by Crys Matthews (66)
9. “Bucket List” by John McCutcheon (66)
13. “25 Trees” by Tim Grimm (64)
14. “Dreaming of King Lear” by Tim Grimm (63)
14. “My Cleveland Heart” by Jackson Browne (63)
14. “The Welcome Song” by Jan Aldridge Clark (63)
17. “Right Where I Am” by Jonathan Edwards (62)
17. “The Invisible Woman” by Peggy Seeger (62)
19. “Carry Me With You” by Lizzy Plotkin and Natalie Spears (61)
20. “Music for a Found Harmonium” by Patrick Street (60)
20. “Bryan 3rd Saturday Back Porch Harmony Kaxe” by Random Routes Keos
College Station (60)
22. “All Shall Be Well” by The Accidentals (59)
23. “This Land Is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie (58)
24. “How I Long for Peace” by Peggy Seeger (57)
24. “Jeremiah” by Sierra Ferrell (57)
24. “Heart of Nat Turner” by Laura Love (57)

Top Artists of 2021

1. Nanci Griffith (847)
2. John McCutcheon (828)
3. Bob Dylan (778)
4. Tim Grimm (517)
5. John Prine (493)
6. Reggie Harris (453)
7. Pete Seeger (449)
8. Jackson Browne (427)
9. Tim O’Brien (410)
10. Dar Williams (400)
11. Ellis Paul (390)
11. Crys Matthews (390)
13. Robin and Linda Williams (388)
14. Joni Mitchell (384)
15. Sloan Wainwright (383)
16. Diana Jones (381)
17. Bill Staines (375)
18. Cosy Sheridan (367)
19. Carrie Newcomer (360)
19. Si Kahn (360)
21. The Accidentals (354)
22. Rhiannon Giddens (353)
23. Peggy Seeger (352)
24. Becky Buller (335)
25. Tret Fure (319)
26. Guy Davis (312)
27. Mark Schatz & Bryan McDowell (302)
28. Eliza Gilkyson (290)
29. Lizzy Plotkin and Natalie Spears (287)
30. Sarah Jarosz (281)
31. Rod Abernethy (278)
32. Joan Baez (269)
33. Billy Strings (264)
34. Kate McDonnell (258)
35. Tony Rice (255)
35. Laura Love (255)
35. Gillian Welch (255)
38. John Smith (251)
39. The Chieftains (246)
39. Emmylou Harris (246)