Charlie Parr

Charlie Parr is an independent folk artist, but he's not an indie-folk artist. There's a difference. 1922 feels like a folk-revival album from the early 1960s. Parr's husky voice and country-blues fingerpicking recall Dave Van Ronk, as well as pre-Bringing It All Back Home Dylan. It's really quite astounding America can still produce an artist who sounds like this. Though "Migrant Boxcar Train" stands third in line, bump it to the front; it's one of the saddest folk ballads of the decade.