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A visual history · Grammys

The winners who defined Contemp. Folk Album.

25 ceremonies, 1987–2011. 19 different winners.

Who won most recently?
Ray LaMontagne in 2011 for God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise.
Who has won the most?
Bob Dylan and Steve Earle, tied on 3 wins each.
  1. God Willin' and the Creek Don't RiseRay LaMontagne
  2. TownesSteve Earle
  3. Raising SandRobert Plant and Alison Krauss
  4. Washington Square SerenadeSteve Earle
  5. Modern TimesBob Dylan
  6. Fair & SquareJohn Prine
Years explored
1987–2011
Different winners
19
Category leader
Bob Dylan · 3
About this record

Best Contemporary Folk Album was first awarded in 1987, so it does not run the full 1959–2025 window.

It was awarded for the last time in 2011.

It was called Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album from 2007 to 2009, before Best Americana Album was split off.

From 2012 the Grammys awarded Best Folk Album instead.

2000–2011

12 ceremonies

19872011

01 / The reigns

9 winners shaped this category.

The timeline turns the 2000–2011 record into a sequence of reigns. Longer bands reveal sustained runs; color shows the credited label.

  1. 01
    Steve Earle3 wins
  2. 02
    Bob Dylan2 wins
One band per year, because no winner has gone back-to-back in the years on record. Colored by label; scroll sideways for the full run.
Tom Waits'00
Emmylou Harris'01
Bob Dylan'02
Nickel Creek'03
Warren Zevon'04
Steve Earle'05
John Prine'06
Bob Dylan'07
Steve Earle'08
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss'09
Steve Earle'10
Ray LaMontagne'11

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

Sony leads the recorded label credits with 3 wins, 2000–2011. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

Sony3 wins
New West2 wins
Anti-1 win
Artemis1 win
E-Squared1 win
Independent1 win
Wins by label
  1. Sony325%
  2. New West217%
  3. Anti-18%
  4. Artemis18%
  5. E-Squared18%
  6. Independent18%
  7. Other325%

03 / The near misses

The names that kept coming back without the ending they wanted.

Counting nominations in this category only, 2000–2011. Excludes 1 nominations credited to Various Artists, which names a compilation rather than an act.

Most nominated, never won this award

  1. 01
    Patty Griffin
    3 noms
  2. 02
    Ry Cooder
    3 noms
  3. 03
    Guy Clark
    2 noms
  4. 04
    Johnny Cash
    2 noms
  5. 05
    Lucinda Williams
    2 noms
  6. 06
    Mary Chapin Carpenter
    2 noms

Most losses in this category

  1. 01
    Patty Griffin
    3L · 0W
  2. 02
    Ry Cooder
    3L · 0W
  3. 03
    Emmylou Harris
    2L · 1W
  4. 04
    Guy Clark
    2L · 0W
  5. 05
    Johnny Cash
    2L · 0W
  6. 06
    Lucinda Williams
    2L · 0W

04 / The archive

Every year.
Every winner.

The complete reference behind the story, showing 2000–2011. Open any year to see the rest of the field when nominee records are available.

YearWinnerLabel
2011Ray LaMontagne (God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise)
beat 4 others
  • Jackson Browne & David Lindley (Love Is Strange: En Vivo Con Tino)
  • Mary Chapin Carpenter (The Age of Miracles)
  • Guy Clark (Somedays the Song Writes You)
  • Richard Thompson (Dream Attic)
RCA/Stone Dwarf/RED
2010Steve Earle (Townes)
beat 4 others
  • Neko Case (Middle Cyclone)
  • Tracy Chapman (Our Bright Future)
  • Shawn Colvin (Live)
  • Elvis Costello (Secret, Profane & Sugarcane)
New West
2009Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (Raising Sand)
beat 4 others
  • Joan Baez (Day After Tomorrow)
  • Ry Cooder (I, Flathead)
  • Rodney Crowell (Sex & Gasoline)
  • Emmylou Harris (All I Intended to Be)
Rounder/Zoë
2008Steve Earle (Washington Square Serenade)
beat 4 others
  • Mary Chapin Carpenter (The Calling)
  • Ry Cooder (My Name Is Buddy)
  • Patty Griffin (Children Running Through)
  • Tom Waits (Orphans)
New West
2007Bob Dylan (Modern Times)
beat 4 others
  • Jackson Browne (Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1)
  • Rosanne Cash (Black Cadillac)
  • Guy Clark (Workbench Songs)
  • Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris (All the Roadrunning)
Columbia
2006John Prine (Fair & Square)
beat 4 others
  • Ry Cooder (Chávez Ravine)
  • Rodney Crowell (The Outsider)
  • Nickel Creek (Why Should the Fire Die?)
  • Bruce Springsteen (Devils & Dust)
Oh Boy
2005Steve Earle (The Revolution Starts... Now)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Ani DiFranco (Educated Guess)
  • Eliza Gilkyson (Land of Milk and Honey)
  • Patty Griffin (Impossible Dream)
  • John Carter Cash, Various Artists (The Unbroken Circle - The Musical Heritage of the Carter Family)
E-Squared
2004Warren Zevon (The Wind)
beat 4 others
  • Rosanne Cash (Rules of Travel)
  • Emmylou Harris (Stumble into Grace)
  • Tom Paxton (Looking for the Moon)
  • Lucinda Williams (World Without Tears)
Artemis
2003Nickel Creek (This Side)
beat 4 others
  • Johnny Cash (American IV: The Man Comes Around)
  • The Chieftains (Down the Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions)
  • Steve Earle (Jerusalem)
  • Patty Griffin (1000 Kisses)
Sugar Hill
2002Bob Dylan (Love and Theft)
beat 4 others
  • Buddy Miller & Julie Miller (Buddy & Julie Miller)
  • Various Artists (Poet: A Tribute to Townes van Zandt)
  • Gillian Welch (Time (The Revelator))
  • Lucinda Williams (Essence)
Columbia
2001Emmylou Harris (Red Dirt Girl)
beat 4 others
  • Billy Bragg & Wilco (Mermaid Avenue Vol. II)
  • Johnny Cash (American III: Solitary Man)
  • Steve Earle (Transcendental Blues)
  • John Hiatt (Crossing Muddy Waters)
Nonesuch
2000Tom Waits (Mule Variations)
beat 4 others
  • BeauSoleil (Cajunization)
  • Ani DiFranco & Utah Phillips (Fellow Workers)
  • John Prine (In Spite of Ourselves)
  • Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris (Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions)
Anti-