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Story
January 19, 2006

Country Music Critics’ Poll 2006
The Winners

For the Scene’s annual country music poll, we asked more than 100 critics from all over North America, from big-city newspapers and glossy magazines, from alternative newsweeklies and self-published fanzines, to vote on the best country acts and records of 2005. This year, Lee Ann Womack, Brad Paisley and Miranda Lambert, among others, came out at or near the top—all singers who grappled with the classic honky-tonk themes of sin and salvation. To read more about the poll results, and what they say about where country music might be headed in 2006, read Geoffrey Himes’ essay.


Gary Allan
#1 Male Vocalist
#2 album
#5 single

Albums

1. Lee Ann Womack: There’s More Where That Came From (MCA)
2. Rodney Crowell: The Outsider (Columbia)
3. Robbie Fulks: Georgia Hard (Yep Roc)
4. Marty Stuart & the Fabulous Superlatives: Souls’ Chapel (Superlatone/Universal South)
5. Gary Allan: Tough All Over (MCA)
6. Brad Paisley: Time Well Wasted (Arista)
7. Dwight Yoakam: Blame the Vain (New West)
8. Mary Gauthier: Mercy Now (Lost Highway)
9. Patty Loveless: Dreamin’ My Dreams (Epic)
10. Miranda Lambert: Kerosene (Epic)
11. Bobby Bare: The Moon Was Blue (Dualtone)
12. Dierks Bentley: Modern Day Drifter (Capitol)
13. Martina McBride: Timeless (RCA)
14. Neil Young: Prairie Wind (Reprise)
15. Gretchen Wilson: All Jacked Up (Epic) 16. Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell: Begonias (Yep Roc)
17. James McMurtry: Childish Things (Compadre)
18. Merle Haggard: Chicago Wind (Capitol)
19. John Prine: Fair & Square (Oh Boy)
20. Deana Carter: The Story of My Life (Vanguard)
21. Trisha Yearwood: Jasper County (MCA)
22. Jimmie Dale Gilmore: Come on Back (Rounder)
23. Nickel Creek: Why Should the Fire Die (Sugar Hill)
24. Bobby Pinson: Man Like Me (RCA)
25. Shooter Jennings: Put the O Back in Country (Universal South)

Singles

1. Lee Ann Womack: "I May Hate Myself in the Morning"
2. Brad Paisley: "Alcohol"
3. Miranda Lambert: "Kerosene"
4. Dierks Bentley: "Lot of Leavin’ Left to Do"
5. Gary Allan: "Best I Ever Had"
6. Shooter Jennings: "4th of July"
7. Patty Loveless: "Keep Your Distance"
8. Toby Keith: "As Good as I Once Was"
9. Mary Gauthier: "Mercy Now"
10. Trisha Yearwood: "Georgia Rain"
11. James McMurtry: "We Can’t Make It Here"
12. Gretchen Wilson: "I Don’t Feel Like Loving You Today"
13. Dwight Yoakam: "Blame the Vain"
14. Rodney Crowell: "The Obscenity Prayer"
15. Gretchen Wilson: "All Jacked Up"
16. Robbie Fulks: "Georgia Hard"
17. Keith Urban: "Making Memories of Us"
18. Bobby Pinson: "Don’t Ask Me How I Know"
19. Merle Haggard: "Where’s All the Freedom"
20. Sara Evans: "A Real Fine Place to Start"

Reissues

1. Charlie Poole: You Ain’t Talkin’ to Me (Columbia/Legacy)
2. Johnny Cash: The Legend (Columbia/Legacy)
3. June Carter Cash: Keep on the Sunny Side (Columbia/Legacy)
4. David Allan Coe: Penitentiary Blues (Hacktone)
5. The Band: A Musical History (Capitol)
6. Emmylou Harris: Heartaches & Highways: The Very Best of Emmylou Harris (Warner Bros./Reprise/Rhino)
7. Doug Sahm & the Sir Douglas Quintet: The Complete Mercury Recordings (Hip-O Select)
8. Various Artists: Good for What Ails You: Music of the Medicine Shows, 1926-1937 (Old Hat)
9. Rosanne Cash: Seven Year Ache (Columbia/Legacy)
10. Shel Silverstein: The Best of Shel Silverstein: His Words, His Songs, His Friends (Columbia/Legacy)

Artists of the Year

1. Lee Ann Womack
2. Marty Stuart
3. Brad Paisley
4. Alison Krauss & Union Station
5. Rodney Crowell
6. Keith Urban
7. Gary Allan
8. Gretchen Wilson
9. Dierks Bentley
10. Patty Loveless

Male Vocalists

1. Gary Allan
2. Dwight Yoakam
3. Marty Stuart
4. Brad Paisley
5. Merle Haggard
6. Dierks Bentley
7. Alan Jackson
8. Robbie Fulks
9. George Strait
10. Rodney Crowell

Female Vocalists

1. Lee Ann Womack
2. Gretchen Wilson
3. Patty Loveless
4. Martina McBride
5. Trisha Yearwood
6. Alison Krauss
7. Miranda Lambert
8. Sara Evans
9. Mary Gauthier
10 tie) Shelby Lynne / Caitlin Cary

Live Acts

1. Keith Urban
2. Alison Krauss & Union Station
3. Marty Stuart
4. Brad Paisley
5. Big & Rich

Duos and Groups

1. Big & Rich
2. Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell
3. Alison Krauss & Union Station
4. Brooks & Dunn
5. Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives

Songwriters

1. Rodney Crowell
2. John Rich
3. Robbie Fulks
4. Mary Gauthier
5. James McMurtry

Instrumentalists

1. Jerry Douglas
2. Brad Paisley
3. Chris Thile
4. Kenny Vaughan
5. Keith Urban

New Acts

1. Miranda Lambert
2. Shooter Jennings
3. Sugarland
4. The Wrights
5. Hanna-McEuen