2002 was one of those years when we all seemed to be waiting for something to happen, in the wake of the momentous and tragic events of last year. The ripples of September 11 are ever widening, and will be felt all the more acutely in these isles in the none too distant future. Some music reflected this in a direct way. Pop music, as it is now defined, ignored it completely. It was good to see bands with loud guitars back in favour, but their efforts will doubtless be covered elsewhere. Here I have selected some albums, mostly hardcore country and Americana – country music that has very little to do with the increasingly corporate stylings of mainstream Nashville.

Albums of the Year: Roger Wallace – The Lowdown; DB Harris – Can I Return These Flowers; Jason Ringenberg – All Over Creation; Heather Myles – Sweet Talk And Good Lies, Stan Martin – Cigarettes And Cheap Whiskey; Chris Scruggs – Honky Tonkin’ Lifestyle; Chris Roberts – Jam The Breeze; Chris Isaac – Always Got Tonight; Hank Williams 111 – Lovesick, Broke And Driftin; Bill Chambers – Sleeping With The Blues, Elizabeth Cook – Hey Y’all; Ray Price – Time; Jim Lauderdale and Ralph Stanley – Lost In The Lonesome Pines; Buddy Miller – Midnight And Lonesome and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Will The Circle Be Unbroken Volume 3; both tributes to Johnny Cash – Dressed In Black and Kindred Spirits; the Cajun music tribute Evangeline Music and finally the reissues of the Who classic My Generation and Love’s Da Capo.

Top live experiences included Jim Lauderdale and The Derailers in Interlacken, Jason Ringenberg and Troy Campbell at Whelan’s, Greg Trooper and Gail Davies at The Cobblestones and The Things live at Death Disco in Eamon Doran’s.