The Roots Music Report's
Top Alternative Folk Album Chart
for the Year of 2025
| Album Title | Band/Artist Name | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Witness Trees | David G Smith | Hey Dave |
| 2 | Heart So Rare | Dave Murphy | Self-Release |
| 3 | Wild and Clear and Blue | I'm With Her | Rounder |
| 4 | Sing to Me About Tomorrow | Winterlark | Squink |
| 5 | Wide Open Light | Ben Harper | Chrysalis |
| 6 | Who Wants to Talk About Love? | Jade Bird | Glassnote |
| 7 | Starting to Sync in | Eric Selby | Self-Release |
| 8 | Arsonist Daughter | Aspen Jacobsen | Self-Release |
| 9 | Songs from My Kitchen, Vol. 1 | Curtis Stigers | Pandemic Poodle |
| 10 | The Silence of the Stars | Linda Marks | Self-Release |
| 11 | A Taste of Ashes | Gurf Morlix | Rootball |
| 12 | Northern Moon | John Donovan | Self-Release |
| 13 | Occulations | Jim Lampos | Self-Release |
| 14 | Win or Lose | Linda Sussman | Sing Out Proud |
| 15 | Heal the Heart | The Deer's Cry | Self-Release |
| 16 | Man with the Muse | Bryce Ernest Taylor | Self-Release |
| 17 | Dang Fool | Eric Selby | Self-Release |
| 18 | Two Birds to Kill a Stone | Son Stone | Kaimana |
| 19 | Dear Meadowlark | The Wildwoods | Self-Release |
| 20 | Earl Jam | Tony Trischka | Down The Road |
| 21 | Walking on the Wire | Gordon Thomas Ward | Self-Release |
| 22 | Ghosts in the Garden | Kris Delmhorst | Self-Release |
| 23 | My Home is Not in This World | Natalie Bergman | Third Man |
| 24 | Common Sense | Gary Nicholson | Qualified |
| 25 | The Purple Bird | Bonnie "Prince" Billy | No Quarter |
| 26 | Seed of a Seed | Haley Heynderickx | Mama Bird |
| 27 | Basia's Palace | Basia Bulat | Secret City |
| 28 | EP One | Slainte Baby | Self-Release |
| 29 | JVC | Jack Van Cleaf | Dualtone |
| 30 | I Was Born of Water | Revere Rivers | Regional |
| 31 | Gumshoe | Samantha Crain | Real Kind |
| 32 | Seek the Love You're Yearning | Brian Gore Guitar Poet | Self-Release |
| 33 | Within | Michelle Qureshi | myndstream |
| 34 | EP Two | Slainte Baby | Self-Release |
| 35 | Cruel Joke | Ken Pomeroy | Rounder |
| 36 | Psychedelic Surf Country | Joel Timmons | Self-Release |
| 37 | The in Between | Kevin Gordon | Self-Release |
| 38 | The Coward Brothers | The Coward Brothers | New West |
| 39 | Double Takes | Gordie Tentrees | Self-Release |
| 40 | Map of a Blue City | Marc Ribot | New West |
| 41 | Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free | Bonny Light Horseman | Jagjaguwar |
| 42 | Dime Store Mannequin | Son Stone | Self-Release |
| 43 | Pagan Church | John Craigie | Leslie/Songlines |
| 44 | Revelation | Leif Vollebekk | Secret City |
| 45 | Let It Hiss | The Barr Brothers | Secret City |
| 46 | A Recipe for Hope | Linda Marks | Self-Release |
| 47 | Yev | Yev | Self-Release |
| 48 | Me Daza | Reid Jamieson | Self-Release |
| 49 | No Fun in the Chrysalis | Them Coulee Boys | Self-Release |
| 50 | Voices | Jack Barksdale | Self-Release |
| 51 | Bones of Trees | Tim Grimm | Vault |
| 52 | Reverse the Flow | Alice DiMicele | Self-Release |
| 53 | Bare Bones, Vol. 1: the Duo Recordings (Master Takes) | Jerry Garcia & David Grisman | Acoustic Disc |
| 54 | A Very Lonely Solstice | Fleet Foxes | Anti |
| 55 | This Ol' Way | Benjamin Dakota Rogers | Good People |
| 56 | Where You Used to Be | Alison Tucker | Self-Release |
| 57 | Safe to Run | Esther Rose | New West |
| 58 | The Past is Still Alive | Hurray for the Riff Raff | Nonesuch |
| 59 | Epic Journey | Lucas Imbiriba | Self-Release |
| 60 | American Railroad | Silkroad Ensemble & Rhiannon Giddens | Nonesuch |
| 61 | Playing Solitaire | Phil Cooper | Self-Release |
| 62 | Restless Hearts | John Jenkins | Self-Release |
| 63 | Wildflower | Malin Pettersen | Die With Your Boots On |
| 64 | TREES | Laurie Lewis | Spruce And Maple Music |
| 65 | Old Trails | Forrest VanTuyl | Self-Release |
| 66 | Big Girl Pants | T Sisters | Burning House |
| 67 | Silver City | Amy Helm | Sun |
| 68 | Here and Nowhere | The Autumn Defense | Yep Roc |
| 69 | Beyond the Great Pause | Doug Cox & Linda McRae | Self-Release |
| 70 | Map the Dark | Quote the Raven | Self-Release |
| 71 | Simple Motion | Eric Brace & Thomm Jutz | Red Beet |
| 72 | Geist | Shannon Lay | Sub Pop |
| 73 | Sparrow | Jeff Talmadge | Berkalin |
| 74 | Tripping off to Mars | Brad Strang | Self-Release |
| 75 | Things Are Great | Band Of Horses | BMG |
| 76 | Yellow Peril | Nat Myers | Easy Eye Sound |
| 77 | 8th Wonder | The National Parks | Self-Release |
| 78 | Bristlecone | Gurf Morlix | Self-Release |
| 79 | Asterisk the Universe | John Craigie | Thirty Tigers |
| 80 | Let the Longing Run Wild & Free | Robert Sarazin Blake | Sameroom |
| 81 | Year of the Spider | Shannon & The Clams | Easy Eye Sound |
| 82 | Changemakers | Crys Matthews | Self-Release |
| 83 | Paint Horse | Benjamin Dakota Rogers | Good People |
| 84 | Shore | Fleet Foxes | Anti |
| 85 | Revolutionary Love | Ani DiFranco | Righteous Babe |
| 86 | Quietly Blowing It | Hiss Golden Messenger | Merge |
| 87 | You Send Me a Photograph | Winterlark | Squink |
| 88 | There is So Much Here | Glen Phillips | Compass |
| 89 | Whoa! | Strung Like a Horse | Transoceanic |
| 90 | Empathy and Comedy | Jay Brown | Self-Release |
| 91 | Ultraviolet Battle Hymns and True Confessions | The Dream Syndicate | Fire |
| 92 | Terms of Surrender | Hiss Golden Messenger | Merge |
| 93 | Moving on Skiffle | Van Morrison | Virgin Music |
| 94 | Brother Sister | Watkins Family Hour | Family Hour |
| 95 | SHEL | SHEL | Moraine |
| 96 | Halfsies | Lizzie No | Thirty Tigers |
| 97 | It's a Beautiful Day and I Love You | Jillette Johnson | Moss Rose |
| 98 | Chasing the Sun | Bobtown | Self-Release |
| 99 | Wintertide | Brittany Jean | Self-Release |
| 100 | Lay Your Darkness Down | Mark Erelli | Soundly |
| 101 | Emotional Contracts | Deer Tick | ATO |
| 102 | All Souls Hill | The Waterboys | Cooking Vinyl |
| 103 | Accentuate the Positive | Van Morrison | Exile |
| 104 | 12th of June | Lyle Lovett | Verve |
| 105 | Lucky Enough | Reed Foehl | Green Mountain |
| 106 | Winter is for Lovers | Ben Harper | Anti |
| 107 | I'd Rather Lead a Band | Loudon Wainwright III | Search Party |
| 108 | You, Yeah, You | Tre Burt | Oh Boy |
| 109 | Wherever You Aren't | Elizabeth Moen | Self-Release |
| 110 | Jump for Joy | Hiss Golden Messenger | Merge |
| 111 | Shall We Hope | Tony Trischka | Shefa |
| 112 | The Long Game | Johnathan Rice | Mano Walker |
| 113 | The Canvas Before Us | Joy Zimmerman | Self-Release |
| 114 | Dark Enough to See the Stars | Mary Gauthier | Self-Release |
| 115 | Watkins Family Hour Vol. II | Watkins Family Hour | Family Hour/Thirty Tigers |
| 116 | Snake Creek | Pixie and The Partygrass Boys | Self-Release |
| 117 | Whiplash | Jobi Riccio | Yep Roc |
| 118 | Joni Mitchell at Newport (Live) | Joni Mitchell | Rhino |
To start reporting your play-list to the Roots Music Report Apply Here .