Top 10 Albums of 2018: Steam-Powered Radio

Steam-Powered Radio

Host Kelly Wells describes ‘Steam-Powered Radio’ as a show that brings ‘gritty old-time, hard-driving bluegrass, deep-south blues, heartbreak county and relevant folk’ to the St. Louis airwaves. This year’s Top 10 list encompasses all those ideas and more. Alongside legends like Hazel Dickens, Alice Gerard and The Del McCoury Band, there are brilliant musicologists like Dom Flemons and multilingual supergroups like Western Centuries. With this collection, Wells once again proves that Americana is more than a tradition – it is a living artform. 

Anna & Elizabeth / ‘The Invisible Come to Us’ / Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

The Del McCoury Band / ‘Del McCoury Still Sings Bluegrass’ / McCoury Music

Dom Flemons / ‘Black Cowboys’ / Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerard / ‘Sing Me Back Home: The CD Tapes, 1965-1969’ / Free Dirt Records

Kaia Kater / ‘Grenades’ / Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert / ‘The Edges’ / Dead Reckoning Records

Pharis & Jason Romero / ‘Sweet Religion’ / Lula Records

The Tillers / ‘The Tillers’ / Sofaburn Records

Western Centuries / ‘Songs from the Deluge’ / Free Dirt

Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers / ‘Don’t Think About Tomorrow Night’ / The Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers

Listen to Steam-Powered Radio on Wednesdays from 10 am - 12 pm.