Folk Music Radio Airplay Chart
2026 (so far)

Compiled by Richard Gillmann
From Playlists Submitted to FOLKDJ-L

TOP ALBUMS of 2026
Compiled by Richard Gillmann from FOLKDJ-L playlists
Based on 2823 plays from 100 playlists from 70 Folk DJs

  1: "Together Again," Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon [Appalseed, 1/2026] (22)
        "The Future" (8)
  2: "From Here to the Sea," Meredith Moon [Compass, 10/2025] (13)
        "East City Blues" (3)
        "Sapphire Blue" (2)
  2: "Maggie's Journal," Valerie Smith [Bell Buckle] (13)
        "When You Ain't Got Nothin'" (2)
        "That Was a Long Time Ago" (2)
        "Started Wrong In This Life" (2)
  4: "The Blue Rock Session," Amy Speace [Windbone, 12/2025] (12)
        "Kindness" (3)
        "The Sea & The Shore" (2)
        "I Found a Halo" (2)
  5: "Hardscrabble Hope," Maria Dunn [Distant Whisper, 12/2025] (10)
        "Another Year" (5)
        "Walking the Miles" (3)
  5: "Safe, Sensible & Sane," Alison Brown & Steve Martin [Compass, 10/2025] (10)
        "Michael" (2)
        "Dear Time" (2)
        "Bluegrass Radio" (2)
  5: "Voisinages," Le Vent Du Nord [La Compagnie du Nord, 10/2025] (10)
        "Bienvenue" (3)
        "Du Nord Au Sud" (2)
  5: "Wild & Clear & Blue," I'm With Her [Rounder, 4/2025] (10)
        "Ancient Light" (4)
        "Wild and Clear and Blue" (2)
        "Year After Year" (2)
        "Different Rocks Different Hills" (2)
  9: "Together on a Rock," The Pairs [Self, 4/2025] (9)
        "Little Light" (2)
        "Everything Ends" (2)
        "Honey I" (2)
 10: "Bones of Trees," Tim Grimm [Vault, 4/2025] (8)
        "Broken Truth" (2)
        "Barbed Wire Boys" (2)
        "Woody's Landlord Revisited" (2)
 10: "unentitled," John Gorka [Red House, 10/2025] (8)
        "Particle & Wave" (2)
        "Particle and Wave" (2)
 12: "The Breathing Room," Cosy Sheridan [Self, 10/2025] (7)
        "The Breathing Room" (3)
 12: "Circle and Square," Eric Brace & Thomm Jutz [Red Beet] (7)
        "Fontana Dam" (2)
        "10 To 4" (2)
 12: "Dark Ages," Eliza Gilkyson [Realiza Records, 5/2025] (7)
        "Times Like These" (3)
        "Dark Night of the Soul" (2)
 12: "Field of Stars," John McCutcheon [Appalseed, 1/2025] (7)
        "Field of Stars" (5)
 12: "Gold & Coal," Cassie & Maggie [Self, 5/2025] (7)
        "Bow Down" (2)
 12: "Long Journey Home," Various Artists [Appalsongs, 9/2025] (7)
        "I've Always Been a Rambler," Molly Tuttle (3)
 12: "So Long Little Miss Sunshine," Molly Tuttle [Nonesuch, 8/2025] (7)
        "No Regrets" (2)
        "That's Gonna Leave a Mark" (2)
 12: "You Climb the Mountain," The Onlies [Self, 8/2025] (7)
        "Waves on the Sea" (3)
 20: "Arcadia," Alison Krauss & Union Station [Down The Road, 3/2025] (6)
        "Looks Like The End Of The Road" (2)
        "Richmond On The James" (2)
 20: "Hummingbird Highway," Dar Williams [Righteous Babe, 8/2025] (6)
        "Put the Coins on His Eyes" (2)
 20: "It Matters," C Daniel Boling [Berkalin] (6)
        "It Matters" (3)
 20: "Look to the Moon," Patty & Craig [Larrea, 9/2025] (6)
        "There's a Shadow on the Snow Tonight" (2)
 20: "Saving Grace," Robert Plant [Nonesuch, 10/2025] (6)
        "It's A Beautiful Day Today" (1)
 20: "So Much I Still Don't See," Sam Robbins [Nine Athens, 3/2025] (6)
        "Piles of Sand" (2)
        "So Much I Still Don't See" (2)
 20: "Tip of the Spear," Doug Mishkin [Midoaks, 6/2025] (6)
        "Pour Me Another Year" (3)
 20: "Where We Go," Jesse Appelman [Self, 12/2025] (6)
        "Glacier Song" (2)
 20: "The Woods Have Shown Us," Ponyfolk [Hestehus, 7/2025] (6)
        "Sommer" (2)
 29: "The Thanksgiving Album," Vi Wickam [Wickam, 11/2025] (5/10)
        "Each New Day" (2)
 29: "All I Got & Gone," Chris Walz [Self, 3/2025] (5)
        "Hard Times Come Again No More" (2)
 29: "Hill Country Folk Music," Terry Klein [Self, 11/2025] (5)
        "Try" (2)
 29: "Kindred Spirits," John Flynn [Self, 11/2025] (5)
        "The Victim Tree" (5)
 29: "Life's Cruelest Joke," Puppets Of Castro [Self] (5)
        "Open Book" (2)
        "More Than Anything" (2)
 29: "Personal History," Mary Chapin Carpenter [Thirty Tigers, 6/2025] (5)
        "Home Is A Song" (3)
 29: "Returning to Myself," Brandi Carlile [Interscope, 11/2025] (5)
        "Returning To Myself" (3)
 29: "Sad & Beautiful World," Mavis Staples [anti, 11/2025] (5)
        "Beautiful Strangers" (3)
 29: "A Tip Toe High Wire," Sierra Hull [Self, 3/2025] (5)
        "E Tune" (1)
 29: "Wide Open Spaces," Connie Kaldor [Coyote, 9/2025] (5)
        "This Car" (2)
 29: "The Wind Will Change Again," The Twangtown Paramours [Inside Edge, 1/2025] (5)
        "The Wind Will Change Again" (2)

TOP SONGS of 2026
Compiled by Richard Gillmann from FOLKDJ-L playlists
Based on 2823 plays from 100 playlists from 70 Folk DJs

1. "The Future" (8)
     from "Together Again" (Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon)
2. "Another Year" (5)
     from "Hardscrabble Hope" (Maria Dunn)
2. "Field of Stars" (5)
     from "Field of Stars" (John McCutcheon)
2. "The Victim Tree" (5)
     from "Kindred Spirits" (John Flynn)
5. "Ancient Light" (4)
     from "Wild & Clear & Blue" (I'm With Her)
5. "Kindness" (4)
     from "The Blue Rock Session" (Amy Speace)
5. "Particle & Wave" (4)
     from "unentitled" (John Gorka)
5. "The Walking Song" (4)
     from "Made to Wonder" (The Foreign Landers)
9. "Another New Year" (3)
     from "Hands" (Pat Humphries)
9. "Barricades" (3)
     from "Barricades - single" (Mark Rubin)
9. "Beautiful Strangers" (3)
     from "Sad & Beautiful World" (Mavis Staples)
9. "Bienvenue" (3)
     from "Voisinages" (Le Vent Du Nord)
9. "Bluegrass Radio" (3)
     from "Safe, Sensible & Sane" (Alison Brown & Steve Martin)
9. "The Breathing Room" (3)
     from "The Breathing Room" (Cosy Sheridan)
9. "East City Blues" (3)
     from "From Here to the Sea" (Meredith Moon)

TOP ARTISTS of 2026
Compiled by Richard Gillmann from FOLKDJ-L playlists
Based on 2823 plays from 100 playlists from 70 Folk DJs

1. Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon (20)
        "Together Again" (19)
2. Amy Speace (15)
        "The Blue Rock Session" (12)
3. John McCutcheon (13)
        "Field of Stars" (7)
3. Meredith Moon (13)
        "From Here to the Sea" (13)
3. Valerie Smith (13)
        "Maggie's Journal" (13)
6. Alison Brown & Steve Martin (12)
        "Safe, Sensible & Sane" (10)
6. Molly Tuttle (12)
        "So Long Little Miss Sunshine" (7)
        "Long Journey Home: A Century After the 1925 Mountain City Fiddlers Convention" (3)
8. Dar Williams (11)
        "Hummingbird Highway" (6)
8. Maria Dunn (11)
        "Hardscrabble Hope" (9)
10. Cassie & Maggie (10)
        "Gold & Coal" (7)
10. Eliza Gilkyson (10)
        "Dark Ages" (7)
10. Gordon Lightfoot (10)
        "Lightfoot!" (5)
        "The Original Lightfoot - The United Artists Years: Lightfoot!" (3)
10. I'm With Her (10)
        "Wild & Clear & Blue" (10)
10. Le Vent Du Nord (10)
        "Voisinages" (10)
15. Cosy Sheridan (9)
        "The Breathing Room" (7)
15. John Gorka (9)
        "unentitled" (8)
15. The Pairs (9)
        "Together on a Rock" (9)
18. Joni Mitchell (8)
        "Archives, Vol. 1" (1)
18. Tim Grimm (8)
        "Bones of Trees" (8)
18. Tom Russell (8)
        "Mount Olive" (2)
21. Eric Brace & Thomm Jutz (7)
        "Circle and Square" (7)
21. Mary Chapin Carpenter (7)
        "Personal History" (5)
21. The Onlies (7)
        "You Climb the Mountain" (7)
21. Pete Seeger (7)
        "At 89" (2)
21. The Twangtown Paramours (7)
        "The Wind Will Change Again" (5)
21. Willie Nelson (7)
        "Workin' Man: Willie Sings Merle" (4)

TOP LABELS of 2026
Compiled by Richard Gillmann from FOLKDJ-L playlists
Based on 2823 plays from 100 playlists from 70 Folk DJs

1. Rounder (39)
2. Compass (38)
3. Nonesuch (33)
4. Appalseed (20)
4. Red House (20)
6. Legacy (19)
6. Signature Sounds (19)
8. Smithsonian/Folkways (18)
9. Appalsongs (16)
9. Thirty Tigers (16)
11. Windbone (15)
12. Warner (13)
13. Bell Buckle (12)
13. Capitol (12)
13. Sugar Hill (12)
16. Appleseed (11)
16. New West (11)
16. True North (11)
19. Columbia (10)
19. La Compagnie du Nord (10)
19. Reprise (10)

FOLK DJs - 2026
Compiled by Richard Gillmann from FOLKDJ-L playlists
Based on 2823 plays from 100 playlists from 70 Folk DJs

Allen Larman (KPFK-FM, CA)
Angela Page (WJFF-FM & folkmusicnotebook.com, NY)
Art Menius (WHUP-LP, NC)
Art Stevenson (WORT-FM, WI)
Artie Martello (folkmusicnotebook.com & mixcloud.com, NY)
Bill "Rusty" Crowell & Jan Alba (WPPM-FM & mixcloud.com, PA)
Bill Revill (WESU-FM, CT)
Bob McWilliams (Kansas Public Radio)
Bob Weiser (WOMR-FM & WFMR-FM, MA)
Bruce Cameron (2MCE-FM, Australia)
Bruce Swan (WSFM-LP, NC)
Bud Johnson (KNBA-FM & syndicated, AK)
Chris McGill (WSPN-FM, NY)
Dan Shramek (KBOO-FM, OR)
Dave Aton (WRFG-FM & mixcloud.com, GA)
David John (KAXE/KBXE-FM, MN)
David Sears (WBGU-FM & syndicated, OH)
Denis McGilvray (KWGS-FM, OK)
Diane Hunt (KBOO-FM, OR)
Dick Hermans (WKZE-FM, NY)
Don Jacobson (KBOO-FM, OR)
Doug Tucker (KWVA-FM, OR)
Ed Mellnick (KBOO-FM, OR)
Eureka Mike (thesonicplanet.com, FL)
Gerry Goodfriend (CKUT-FM, QC)
Gordon Nash (folkmusicnotebook.com, NY)
Graham Dean & Barbara Dean (WBCR-LP, MA)
Harlon Joye (WRFG-FM, GA)
Helen Leicht (folkmusicnotebook.com, PA)
Jack Dugan (WIOX-FM, NY)
Jan Vanderhorst (justusfolk.com, ON)
Jean Geiger (mixcloud.com, WA)
Jim Fisher (WGCS-FM, IN)
Jim Gilliland (WRUW-FM, OH)
Jim Marino (CFMU-FM, ON)
Joe Pszonek (folkmusicnotebook.com, SC)
John Weingart (WPRB-FM, NJ)
Johnny Bazzano (KRCB-FM, CA)
Jon Stein (WTBQ-FM, NY)
Karen Rakos (KEUL-FM, AK)
Katrina Knight (mixcloud.com)
Kevin Elliott (WEFT-FM, IL)
Kevin Vance (KPFA-FM & syndicated, CA)
Len Holton (KUAR-FM & mixcloud.com, AR)
Marc Albert (KMUZ-FM & mixcloud.com, OR)
Marilyn Rea Beyer (WFMT-FM, IL)
Mark Michaelis (WGDR/WGDH-FM, VT)
Mark Sahlgren and Darcy Wilkin (WRKF-FM, LA)
Mary Anne Moorman (KBCS-FM, WA)
Michael Alzo (WSLU-FM, NY)
Michael Benson (WESU-FM, CT)
Michael Park (mixcloud.com & PRX, NY)
Michael Stock (WLRN-FM, FL)
Mike Regenstreif (CKCU-FM, ON)
Mitch Park (Radio Hawke's Bay & Radio Kidnappers, New Zealand)
Nick Noble (WICN-FM, MA)
Norm Mast (WVPE-FM, IN)
Paul Hartman (WTMD-FM, MD)
Paul Hefti (KRCL-FM & live365.com, UT)
Pete Thomas (WAER-FM, NY)
Peter Kernast (WTSR-FM, NJ)
Richard Gillmann (KBCS-FM & mixcloud.com, WA)
Richard Howard (KZMU-FM, UT)
Ron Cooke (KTAL-LP, NM)
Steve Brockway (KRFC-FM, CO)
Steve Edge (CiTR-FM & syndicated, BC)
Terry B. Moses & Naomi Soule (KCLC-FM, MO)
Tom Coxworth (CKUA-FM, AB)
Tom Funk (KGLP-FM, NM)
Wanda Fischer (mixcloud.com, NY)