A year in review: The best albums of 2024

Editor’s Note: Since August 2012, Garret K. Woodward has held the position of arts and entertainment editor for The Smoky Mountain News. In December 2018, he also became a contributing writer for Rolling Stone.

Below are a handful of excerpts from my Rolling Stone travels this year covering some of the best albums of 2024, excursions that took me from Maine to Montana, Florida to New York, Utah to Kentucky and then some — always in search of all things beautiful and true, especially when it comes to the sacred act of live performance. 

Carry this together: Zoe and Cloyd

With their latest album, “Songs of Our Grandfathers,” rising Asheville Americana/folk duo Zoe & Cloyd decided to take a different approach to this most recent musical endeavor. 

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