Some voices hit your radio and you forget them by the next red light. Then there are voices that scramble your attention and make it hyper focused on what you are experiencing. The unforgettable ones. Raul Malo always belonged to the second kind. A once in a lifetime gift that was equal parts Texas dancehall and Roy Orbison. With some Cuban spice tossed in for good measure. I still remember first seeing The Mavericks on Nashville Now when they were promoting From Hell to Paradise. Far...

A celebration of the artists, albums, songs, and moments that made this year memorable for us. And hopefully you as well.

There’s a certain kind of magic that happens when the stories behind the songs get captured on tape. Not the polished liner note version that a publicist polished… I mean the unfiltered yarns told in smoky rooms under suspect stage lights that flicker like they’re listening too. Those moments when a songwriter stops being a performer and starts being a friend you’re drinking with on your back patio somewhere between midnight and the rest of your life. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of those kind...