You hear a lot about the newcomers each year in country busic, but veteran performers had a strong artistic year in 2017, landing the lion’s share of Billboard’s listing of the best country albums this year.
That doesn’t mean we didn’t have love for a couple of newcomers in our rankings, though, with our top two LPs even being debut projects.
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Take a glance at our full look back at the year in albums below.
10. Sara Evans, Words
One of Country Music’s most-beloved artists of the past two decades rolled the dice, and established her own record company. Her initial release was a set that could easily stand with any of the best work of her RCA years.
Highlight: “Letting You Go.” If you can make it through this song about a child leaving home without a few tears in your eyes, you’re a bigger person than us.
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9. Lee Brice, Lee Brice
The singer-songwriter has enjoyed his share of success over the years, but at the same time, has never gotten his true measure of respect from the industry. This album deserves to be the one to take him to that next level — with a variety of tracks and moods that showcase his incredible range.
Highlight: “Story To Tell.” As you can imagine, having 