| Band | Song | Next area appearance | Why them | |
| 01. | A.J. Roach | Chemicals | My favorite new discovery at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (FRFF) this year, it starts off slow but I love the chorus: “They say that love is just a chemical reaction, I say that makes this all too hard to explain.” | |
| 02. | K.C. Clifford | Raise Your Voice | 4/10/10 Panzer House Concert | My second favorite new discovery at FRFF. |
| 03. | Tinted Windows | Kind Of A Girl | 2009 was a good year for supergroups. Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne writes great pop songs, and Taylor Hanson is a good singer. | |
| 04. | Mates Of State | The Re-arranger | Our favorite discovery at the Virgin Festival, a great poppy duo. | |
| 05. | Mika | Blame It On the Girls | I really enjoyed his last album, and the new one is more of the same. | |
| 06. | Adrianne | You Make It Look So Easy | I don’t know how I was unaware of her before, her new album was cowritten with Nate Borofsky of Girlyman. | |
| 07. | Drivin’ N Cryin’ | (Whatever Happened To The) Great American Bubble Factory | Wow, first album in 12 years and it’s just a barn burner for these Southern rockers. | |
| 08. | The Droge & Summers Blend | Sad Clown | I’ve liked Pete Droge since his first album. He’s been working with Elaine Summers for a long time, and they got married this year, releasing an EP to celebrate. | |
| 09. | Yonder Mountain String Band | Complicated | While the band is bluegrass based, this song is not very bluegrass at all – but I like it. | |
| 10. | Girlyman | Storms Were Mine | 3/13/10 Jammin’ Java | I almost went with “Everything’s Easy” for the clashing harmonies, but this is the strongest song on the CD. |
| 11. | Jake Armerding | Harry/Sally | 1/16/10 Birchmere | I knew Jake was a fiddler extraordinaire, but until this year I wasn’t familiar with his original songs. |
| 12. | Winterpills | You Don’t Love Me Yet | Dark chamber pop with a gorgeous chourus. | |
| 13. | Mark Olson & Gary Louris | Bloody Hands | The Jayhawks singers return with a album of duets including this tasty murder ballad. | |
| 14. | Bob Schneider | 40 Dogs (Like Romeo And Juliet) | A lot of good songs on his new album, but the single is the best of the lot. | |
| 15. | Liz Longley | Rush | 4/24/10 Birchmere | A FRFF find, a truly impressive voice. |
| 16. | Anthony da Costa | I Am Way Too Much | 4/17/10 Birchmere | Another FRFF find, this tune’s off his fourth album, pretty impressive since he just graduated high school. |
| 17. | Todd Wright | Giving Up | 12/22/09 Jammin’ Java | 40×40, 40 songs in 40 weeks by his 40th birthday. Impressive goal, and all proceeds go to The American Diabetes Association. |
| 18. | Greencards | The Avenue | I’ve been following them for a while, and we finally got a chance to see them at the Austin City Limits Music Festival this year. | |
| 19. | Los Paperboys | Rain On Me | A great Paul Simon-esque tune from these guys. Eddie from Ohio fans know lead singer Tom Landa as “Tommy the Canexican”. | |
| 20. | Chickenfoot | My Kinda Girl | My favorite Van Halen singer is Sammy Hagar, so when you take him and Michael Anthony on bass and backing vox and add a world class guitarist (Joe Satriani and drummer (Chad Smith of RHCP), I’m sold. | |
| 21. | Them Crooked Vultures | Dead End Friends | Last, but only because they’re so heavy it’s a little out of place in the other tracks. Best new live supergroup, Josh Homme on vox and guitars is good, but Dave Grohl on drums (and backing vox) with John Paul Jones on bass are just unbelievable. |
Leftovers (in no particular order):
Anne Heaton – Crystallize
Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers – A (With Love)
Carbon Leaf – Miss Hollywood
Matthew Sweet – Byrdgirl
One EskimO – Hometime
Beth Patterson – Red Giant
Dream Theater – Wither
Ellis Paul – Annalee
thenewno2 – Yomp
Assembly Of Dust – All That I Am Now
emmet swimming – Waving At Cars
Lentic – Burn
Lucero – What Are You Willing To Lose
Rusted Root – Suspicious Minds
The Bittersweets – Goodnight, San Francisco
Kelleigh McKenzie – O Mother
Miranda Lambert – I Just Really Miss You
Alice In Chains – Lesson Learned
Rachael Yamagata – Sidedish Friend
Matt and Kim – Lessons Learned
Benjy Ferree – Fear
Porcupine Tree – Remember Me Lover
Slaid Cleaves – Cry
Antje Duvekot – Vertigo
Alberta Cross – Taking Control
Alternate Routes – All That I See
Meg Hutchinson – Ready
Sister Hazel – Take A Bow
Collective Soul – You
Caroline Herring – Tales of the Islander