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It’s been a breakout year for Chris Stapleton, whose album “Traveller” lit up Nashville and the world.

Episode #61 Best of 2015

So maybe we’re just partial to dudes with beards, but the folks here at That Much Further West Podcast agree that Chris Stapleton’s breakthrough album “Traveller” is an across-the-board favorite from 2015.

On this episode, our hosts Eric Kotila, Mike Lee and Phil Favorite each share four or five songs from some of their favorite releases of this year. Eric’s been spinning “Traveller” on the turntable in our home — The Helm — constantly since picking up the record at Stapleton’s recent show in our hometown of Portland, OR, USA.

If you’re a regular listener to the podcast, none of these picks will surprise you. Most of the bands and artists received major play over the 20 podcast episodes produced this past year and have been longtime favorites of the hosts.

But a few — such as Stapleton, Murder By Death, Banditos, and others — were new to the ears of one or more of our hosts this year. And therein lies the spice of the podcast, finding new stuff that’s sure to become must-hear music in the coming years.

Timber County in action (l to r): Anne Marie, Kip and Marilee

In light of that, we couldn’t have had a better live act appear in The Helm for this episode than Timber County, our local pals who debuted earlier this year and were our first guests of the year (see “Episode 40“). Led by the multi-talented Kip Lindig and supported by Marilee Hord on fiddle and Ms. Anne Marie Barrett on backing vocals, Timber County is poised for a breakout 2016. Kip takes a minute to tell of their plans for the coming year and also to lead the group through a song, “Lay Me Down.”

Folks local to the Oregon music scene should keep on the lookout for Timber County, who will be opening for Root Jack at Wildwood Hotel in Willamina on New Year’s Eve. And expect big things from the other artists featured on this episode and the many others who were featured on the podcast throughout the year.

Meanwhile, we’ll have our ears wide open waiting for the next big thing to hit the Americana and Alt-country scene. We hope you’ll join us for the ride when it resumes in January 2016!

One note regarding this playlist — none of the bands who were guests on the podcast this year are included because they’ll be featured in “Live From The Helm, Vol. 2,” our second-annual collection of live podcast performances. Suffice it to say that several of those artists released some of our favorite records this past year, and we’re stoked to be able to re-share some of those performances with you before the calendar turns.

In the meantime, give this episode a spin to hear some of the Best of 2015. Here’s the playlist:

Whiskey And You, Chris Stapleton
American Flags in Black & White, John Moreland
How To Forget, Jason Isbell
Nobody Knows My Trouble, Ryan Bingham
Big Dark Love, Murder By Death
Went Looking For Warren Zevon’s Los Angeles, Lucero
Am I The Only One Drinking Tonight, Michael Dean Damron
That’s How I Got To Memphis, Whitey Morgan and the 78s
Lay Me Down (Live In The Helm), Timber County
That Old Flame featuring Martina McBride, Don Henley
Me Oh My, The Honeycutters
American Woman (Take My Freedom Away), The Swearengens
Waitin’, Banditos
Madonna’s From Amerika, Aaron Lee Tasjan
S Lazy H, Corb Lund