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The Top 10 Folk Songs Of 2009, From Folk Alley

Ideastream Public Media | By Jim Blum
Published December 10, 2009 at 12:45 PM EST

Compiling a Top 10 list of the year's best songs for Folk Alley is difficult, because the stream offers listeners the chance to wear so many different hats. Overall, the choices were made based on quality of composition, originality, arrangement, performance, use of poetic device and production. But each hour of our stream is built around more than just the typical folksinger. We also include Americana, bluegrass, Celtic, Cajun, blues and world music, as well as pure instrumentalists. So, while care was taken to create an all-encompassing list, only so much can fit into a mere 10 songs. With that in mind, songwriters still prevailed -- probably because there are so many of them.

Click here for more entries in our Best Music of 2009 series.

1 of 10  — River of Time
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2 of 10  — The Loving Kind
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3 of 10  — Song Up In Her Head
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4 of 10  — Church Street Blues
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5 of 10  — I Wish I Knew How It Felt To Be Free
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6 of 10  — Ignorance and Privilege
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7 of 10  — Horses
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8 of 10  — Complicated Shadows
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9 of 10  — The Mountain's Gonna Sing
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10 of 10  — Nonc' Yorick (La Bataille De 1916)
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Copyright 2009 WKSU

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Jim Blum
Jim Blum has been sharing his love of folk music as a radio host on WKSU-FM for more than 25 years and, since 2003, also on FolkAlley.com. Blum graduated with a B.A. from Kent State University, played bass in a bluegrass and swing band and used to be a landscaper. As host and music programmer for Folk Alley and WKSU's weekend folk music, Blum has nearly three decades of experience broadcasting to a folk community that is now, thanks to the Internet, global in scope. His broadcasts include his own mix of musical influences featuring classic folk heroes, acoustic instrumentals, world rhythms, contemporary singer/songwriters, Americana, bluegrass and other roots-based sounds. He also acts as a valuable resource for area venue owners and concert coordinators as well as holding the position of artistic director for the Kent State Folk Festival, the nation's second oldest folk fest held on a college campus.