In many ways 2020 was a horrible year for music. Tours canceled, releases postponed, entire yearly incomes vanished. My heart goes out to all musicians and others working in music affected by this. We see you, appreciate you and your work and can’t wait to see you perform live again in the future. Luckily, there was a surprisingly vast amount of stunning new releases as well. I’ve listed a bunch of the music I liked below. It’s likely I’ll forget some, just let me know on Twitter or Instagram if you feel like I messed up.
The releases below are all beautiful, and I don’t feel any need to rank them. So they’re in a random order. Enjoy, and please buy the music you like – if you have the means.
I have also created a Spotify playlist where I’ve included single releases, covers and other releases that weren’t part of an album or EP. Check it out here.
Christopher Paul Stelling – Best Of Luck
Watch his first The Influences session.
Watch his second The Influences session.
Courtney Marie Andrews – Old Flowers
Watch her first The Influences session.
Watch her second The Influences session.
Robin Kester – ‘This Is Not A Democracy’
Watch her session for The Influences.
Damien Jurado – What’s New, Tomboy?
Watch his The Influences session.
Emma Swift – Blonde On The Tracks
Margo Price – That’s How Rumors Get Started
Cut Worms – Nobody Lives Here Anymore
Nana Adjoa – ‘Big Dreaming Ants’
Watch her The Influences session.
Josh Ritter – See Here, I Have Built You A Mansion
Watch his The Influences session.
Son Little – aloha
Watch his The Influences session.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Reunions
Coco Reilly – ‘Coco Reilly’
Lianne La Havas – ‘Lianne La Havas’
Dekker – ‘Slow Reveal: Chapter One’
Watch the live session by Rue Royale – Dekker’s other band for The Influences.
Dana Gavanski – ‘Yesterday Is Gone’
Arborist – ‘A Northern View’
Watch Arborist’s The Influences session.
Liza Anne – ‘Bad Vacation’
Watch Liza Anne’s The Influences session.
Lilly Hiatt – ‘Walking Proof’
Watch Lilly Hiatt’s The Influences session.
Sadler Vaden – ‘Anybody Out There?’
Phoebe Bridgers – ‘Punisher’
Siv Jakobsen – ‘A Temporary Soothing’
Watch her session for The Influences.
American Aquarium – ‘Lamentations’
Watch his session for The Influences.
Becca Mancari – ‘The Greatest Part’
Watch her session for The Influences.
Someone – ‘Orbit II’
Watch her session for The Influences.
Chatham County Line – ‘Strange Fascination’
Watch their session for The Influences.
Ron Sexsmith – ‘Hermitage’
Bob Dylan – ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways’
Malin Pettersen – ‘Wildhorse’
Chop Wood – ‘The Golden Lining’
Watch his The Influences session.
Molly Tuttle – ‘…but i’d rather be with you’
Watch her The Influences session.
Spinvis – ‘7.6.9.6.’
Davey Horne – ‘Davey Horne’
Watch his The Influences session.
Daniel Romano – ‘How Ill Thy World Is Ordered’
Watch his The Influences session.
Jeremy Ivey – ‘Waiting Out The Storm’
H.C. McEntire – ‘Eno Axis’
Lera Lynn – ‘On My Own’
Bruce Springsteen – ‘Letter To You’
Gitta de Ridder – ‘To Our Children’
Paul McCartney – ‘III’
Adrianne Lenker – ‘songs’ & ‘instrumentals’
Blitzen Trapper – ‘Holy Smokes Future Jokes’
Jeff Tweedy – ‘Love Is The King’
Tyler Childers – ‘Long Violent History’
Sam Brookes – ‘Black Feathers’
Clean Pete – ‘Er Is Mij Verteld’
Watch their The Influences session.
Kacy & Clayton and Marlon Williams – ‘Plastic Bouquet’
Watch Kacy & Clayton’s The Influences session.
My Morning Jacket – ‘The Waterfall II’
Nathaniel Rateliff – And It’s Still Alright
There is no better way to discover music than watching great musicians cover the songs they love. The Influences has been producing these videos ever since 2008.
Read more.