It’s hard to believe how quickly ten years can pass. Ten years ago some pretty special projects from artists, including Blake Shelton, Lady A, Tim McGraw, and more, were brand new. Blake was on fire back then (as he is now), winning his one and only CMA Entertainer of the Year award the previous year (2012). In 2013 he won CMA’s Male Vocalist and Album of the Year for his project Based On A True Story. It was the year we were just learning of a future Grammy darling named Kacey Musgraves.

Also, in 2013, Miranda Lambert won another Female Vocalist award from the CMA, and the CMA Musical Event was a song McGraw released with Taylor Swift and Keith Urban called “Highway Don’t Care.”

Sadly, it was also the year when country icon and Country Music Hall of Fame member George Jones passed away. Still, it was only the beginning for what was dubbed “Baby Antebellum” as Lady A’s Hillary Scott gave birth to her first child Eisele. Now the trio has six children between them.

As we look at 2013 in country music, here are some of our favorite albums to come out that year.

5 - "Annie Up" - Pistol Annies
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The second album from the Miranda Lambert-led trio Pistol Annies. One reviewer said at the time of its release, “A bluegrass-inspired collection that is nothing short of entertaining, even when the women complain non-stop about the men in their lives.”
4 - "Golden" – Lady A

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The fifth studio album won a Grammy For Best Country Album. The album’s standout single was “Downtown.”
3 - "Same Trailer Different Park" - Kacey Musgraves

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Kacey’s debut project, this album won the 2015 Best Country Album Grammy. It also took home Album of The Year at the 2014 ACM Awards.
2 - "Two Lanes Of Freedom" - Tim McGraw

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This album featured “Highway Don’t Care,” a duet with Taylor Swift which featured Keith Urban on guitar. Tim said of the project when it came out, “There’s something special about this record to me, in the optimism that it has. I’m looking forward to more stuff than I’ve ever had happen before; there’s more ahead of me than behind me. I feel like I’ve grabbed another gear.”
1 - "Based On A True Story" - Blake Shelton
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This project was the 2013 CMA Album of the Year winner. At the time of its release, it was a career-best for Shelton selling 200,000 copies in one week. It was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Album in 2013.