File photo/Tabitha Lee Turchio

When this decade began, the recently formed Athens band Alabama Shakes were still playing local bar gigs.

Former Drive-By Truckers guitarist Jason Isbell's solo career wasn't exactly setting the music business ablaze yet either.

Things have changed a bit since then.

Just a few years into the 2010s, Isbell and The Shakes each helped renew interest in contemporary musicians from Alabama.

Besides their expressive music, it didn't hurt Alabama Shakes' band name has the world "Alabama" in it, or that Isbell hastened to mention his Muscle Shoals music heroes in interviews.

Isbell, a former Shoals resident now in Nashville, and The Shakes are undoubtably the twin towers of 2010s Alabama music.

But there were many other gifted artists from or based in Alabama who made a lasting mark.

Narrowing down a list of 20 must-know albums from this decade by musicians with strong Alabama roots wasn't easy.

Started with around 50 and gradually pared it down over a few days.

I'd be surprised if many bands and solo acts who didn't quite make this 2010s albums list didn't make such a list next decade.

Don't see your top album by an Alabama musician below? Let us know the album and artist in the comments section and we'll consider them for future coverage.

In the meantime, Happy New Year. Here's hoping the 2020s bring some of your favorite music ever.

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"Southeastern" Jason Isbell (2013)

Former hell chaser emerges sharp, sober for breakthrough solo LP that set standard for 2010s songwriting and Americana.

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"Sound & Color" Alabama Shakes (2015)

On their sophomore effort, Athens band shifts from garage-soul to prismatic.

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"Dereconstructed" Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires (2014)

Smart, punk-boogie from a Birmingham native who deserves to be more famous.

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"English Oceans" Drive-By Truckers (2014)

Shoals natives Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley tangle twang and bang like vintage Crazy Horse.

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"Half the City" St. Paul and the Broken Bones (2014)

Birmingham combo brings heart, chops to retro R&B.

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"Ivy Tripp" Waxahatchee (2015)

This isn't former Birmingham native and indie darling's most critically acclaimed disc, just her best.

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"Jaime" Brittany Howard (2019)

Erstwhile Alabama Shakes supernova crafts cathartic solo debut.

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"Oh My Goodness" Donnie Fritts (2015)

Late, Muscle Shoals songwriting icon applies trusty Wurlitzer, lived-in vocals to a stellar track list.

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"Old Yellow Moon" Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell (2013)

The Magic City's greatest musical export made a better Robert Plant/Alison Krauss than Plant and Krauss did.

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"Knowledge, Rhythm and Understanding" Shaheed and DJ Supreme (2013)

Hip-shaking conscious-rap from Birmingham duo.

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"Tuscumbia" Belle Adair (2018)

Florence group brings folk-rock bliss.

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"Barton Hollow" The Civil Wars (2011)

Florence musician John Paul White teamed with Joy Williams for dramatic/romantic pop-folk that ate Grammys for breakfast.

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"Put Your Needle Down" Secret Sisters (2014)

Muscle Shoals siblings channel Everly Brothers jones into Americana gem.

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"50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong" Caroline Says (2017)

Huntsville native scripts her bedroom pop with auteur's eye and ear.

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"Down to Believing" Allison Moorer (2015)

Mobile-born tunesmith weaves spirited roots rock, stirring folk.

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"The Muscle Shoals Recordings" The SteelDrivers (2015)

A few years after replacing some dude named Chris Stapleton in SteelDrivers, Shoals native Gary Nichols took bluegrass band to Grammy win.

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"Pain Killer" Little Big Town (2014)

Karen Fairchild, a former student at Birmingham's Samford University, and her bandmates mint radio-country of the highest order.

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"Like an Arrow" Blackberry Smoke (2016)

Southern rock is in good hands, in the person of frontman Charlie Starr, a Lanett native.

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"Sunsphere" Dexateens (2013)

Tuscaloosa twang-punks leave legacy as one of Alabama's greatest underdog bands.

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"The Guitar Song" Jamey Johnson (2010)

Raised in Montgomery, acclaimed outlaw country singer doubled down after 2008 breakthrough, with this double album.

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