I’m shamelessly jumping on the top music pics of 2008 bandwagon, but I’m doing it based on actual statistical data. Below you will find actual statistics from my Last.fm account. This is the music I listened to the most this year. This is the music I really liked this year. This is annoyingly self indulgent and I completely understand if you choose to read no further.

You may notice that much of this music was not released in 2008. I didn’t purchase very much new music this year.  I have never really been one to use a recent release date as a criteria for purchasing music. 2008 may have actually been the most active year of vintage music purchasing I've had since high school. Playing in multiple bands that lean towards the genres of early Americana tends tends to have an effect on your listening habits.

Please note that all the links in the list below will take you to Amazon.com. Any music you purchase via clicking these links will support thebigreason.com and help send my kids to college.

My Ten Favorite Artists of 2008

1. Clutch
2. They Might Be Giants
3. Jimmy Martin
4. Bottom Dwellers
5. Bill Monroe
6. The Avett Brothers
7. The Ditty Bops
8. Roger Miller
9. Buck Owens
10. Meshuggah

This year I realized that I have been a dedicated Clutch fan for over 13 years. Apparently this hasn’t changed. They Might Be Giants has them by three years, yet they take second place. I fell in absolute love with Jimmy Martin after seeing ”The King of Bluegrass” documentary about him. I'm not too sure the Bottom Dwellers qualify as a number four, but I went ahead and left them in there because I do dearly love those guys.

Please note that all the links in the list below will take you to the iTunes store. Any music you purchase via clicking these links will support thebigreason.com and help send my kids to college.

My Ten Favorite Albums of 2008

1. 20 Greatest Hits - Jimmy Martin
2. Venue Songs - They Might Be Giants
3. Emotionalism - The Avett Brothers
4. Blast Tyrant - Clutch
5. Bluegrass From The Old Country - The Vern Williams Band
6. Clutch - Clutch
7. Age of Winters - The Sword
8. From Beale Street To Oblivion - Clutch
9. Moon Over the Freeway - The Ditty Bops
10. Essential - Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys

Not a single one of these albums was released in 2008. I think this list best represents what I perceive as my current favorite music. I am more of an album focused listener, after all.

My Ten Favorite Songs of 2008

1. Adios, Farewell, Goodbye, Good Luck, So Long - Buck Owens
2. Goodbye - Bottom Dwellers
3. One Thing - Bottom Dwellers
4. Fishin’ on the Mississippi - Buck Owens
5. Die Die Die - The Avett Brothers
6. Shame - The Avett Brothers
7. Will You Return? - The Avett Brothers
8. The Weight of Lies - The Avett Brothers
9. King of the Road - Roger Miller
10. Blue Moon of Kentucky - Jimmy Martin

I have taken the liberty of disqualifying certain tracks from this list. Much of the data in this list from Last.fm contains Bottom Dwellers tracks. As part of my rehearsal regiment, I often play along to Bottom Dwellers in iTunes. These plays are scrobbled as well. I’m not going to lie to you and say that the Bottom Dwellers aren’t one of my all-time favorite bands. I wouldn’t play in a band this log if I didn’t absolutely love them.

Americana and stoner rock. I suppose that’s me in a nutshell.

If you’ve made it this far down my shameless list of musical self indulgence, I might as well go ahead and mention that most of this music has been added to The Big Reason aStore for your purchasing pleasure as well. Remember, if it’s in The Big Reason aStore, I own it and love it.