Top 45 Arctic Cactus Hour Discs of 2008

The Arctic Cactus Hour continues to be a great excuse to preview new music and then share the best with you.  Much of what we play comes directly from bands or from independent and regional labels - the best music is often the least known.  2008 saw some great releases and you can’t go wrong buying any of the artists listed in our Top 45 below. 

Based on airplay, here are the top Arctic Cactus Hour discs of 2008….all 45 of them.

Top 10 Arctic Cactus Hour Discs for 2008

#1 Hayes Carll – Trouble In Mind (Lost Highway)

#2 Kathleen Edwards – Asking For Flowers (Zoe)

#3 Tift Merritt – Another Country (Fantasy)

#4 Amanda Shaw – Pretty Runs Out (Rounder)

#5 Owen Temple – Two Thousand Miles (El Paisano)

#6 Blue Rodeo – Small Miracles (TeleSoul)

#7 BoDeans – Still (self-released)

#8 Chatham County Line – IV (Yep Roc)

#9 The Waybacks – Loaded (Compass)

#10 Dave Insley – West Texas Wine (self-released)

The Next 12

The Whipsaws – 60 Watt Avenue (Shut Eye)

Sunny Sweeney – Heartbreaker’s Hall Of Fame (Big Machine)

The Steeldrivers – Steeldrivers (Rounder)

The Bellville Outfit – Wanderin’ (self-released)

Eleven Hundred Springs – Country Jam (Palo Duro)

Lyle Lovett & His Large Band – It’s Not Big, It’s Large (Lost Highway)

Reckless Kelly – Bulletproof (Yep Roc)

Wrinkle Neck Mules – The Wicks Have Met (Lower 40)

Cross Canadian Ragweed – Mission California (Universal South)

Brooke Miller – You Can See Everything (Hickory)

Jessi Dayton & Danni Leigh – Holdin’ Our Own (Stag)

23 More

The Youngers – Heritage (Buck Records)

I See Hawks In L.A. – Hallowed Ground (Western Seeds)

The Starlings – Marveling The While (self-released)

The Wrights – The Wrights (Alamo Country)

Drive-By Truckers – Brighter Than Creation’s Dark (New West)

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss – Raising Sand (Rounder)

Kathy Mattea – Coal (30 Tigers)

Jason Isbell – Sirens Of The Ditch (New West)

Various – Wounded Heart: Songs Of Tom Russell (Hightone)

The Gougers – A Long Day For The Weathervane (self-released)

Corrine West – Second Sight (Make Records)

Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson – Rattlin’ Bones (Sugar Hill)

Marcia Ball – Peace, Love & BBQ (Alligator)

Hacienda Brothers – Arizona Motel (Proper)

Donna The Buffalo – Silverlined (Sugar Hill)

The Bart Crow Band – Desperate Hearts (Smith Entertainment)

Mudcrutch – Mudcrutch (Reprise)

Kelly Willis – Translated From Love (Rykodisc)

Demolition String Band – Different Kinds Of Love (Breaking Records)

Red Dirt Rangers – Ranger Motel (Ranger Records)

Tom Gillam – Never Look Back (Treehouse)

Lori McKenna – Unglamorous (Unglamorous/Warner)

The Spikedrivers – The Spikedrivers (self-released)

Malcolm Holcombe – Gamblin’ House (Echo Mountain)