Public Radio's 10 Breakout Artists Of 2014

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Public radio hosts spend much of their time sifting through overflowing mail bins and inboxes as they hunt for as-yet-unknown musicians worth sharing. Their stations frequently help vault new artists to national success.

With that in mind, we asked our partner stations to tell us about their favorite musical discoveries of the year. The results include everything from a metamodern country singer to a heartsick Toronto surf-pop band, not to mention a whole lot of love for impressively viral Irish singer-songwriter Hozier. Read on for 10 hosts' picks for the artists who broke out in 2014.