Obviously, 2011 has been a phenomenal year for artists releasing stellar albums in St. Louis. Here's the local albums this year that caught our ears over and over again.

In Part 2 of this exchange of letters, Pokey LaFarge and I correspond about genres, St. Louis bricks, film scores and baseball.

Outside of Euclid Records in the summer of 2011, I was reading the liner notes to "Middle of Everywhere," a new album at the time by Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three.

"American music is alive and well. This is the new classical music," Pokey LaFarge emphasized partway through his first-ever concert with Ryan Spearman. Appropriate, since they were celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Folk School of St. Louis at the Sheldon on December 1 (an event welcomed by KDHX).

The Folk School 10th Anniversary show brought Ryan Spearman and Pokey LaFarge, two of the city's finest musicians, together for their first shared performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Lock up the liquor and hide the tinder. When Pokey LaFarge and Ryan Spearman get down to the old-time bootleg blues, the sparks fly and the melodies flow.

Imagine Off Broadway as a speakeasy across from the dormant Lemp Brewery in the late 1920s. Last night one needed only observe the line of people waiting to see Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three to know this was a joint with a rare brew.

Coming back home to play their favorite local venue after touring throughout the world, Pokey LaFarge and The South City Three packed the room at Off Broadway -- not once, but twice in one evening.

The legendary rock magazine, Creem, may be staging a comeback -- in print.

Seeing the Rum Drum Ramblers is always a good time -- no question, but an album release show in front of a packed house at Off Broadway...well, you don't get to see that very often. Just awesome.

I had the great pleasure to work with Courtney Sloger and Metro on the maiden voyage of the Holiday Magic Express, the holiday-themed Metrolink train that runs through this season of lights.

All photos by Kate McDaniel. See more at my Flickr stream.

Louisville, Kentucky native Pokey LaFarge offers a ragtime blues sound that's finger pickin' good. Attracted to old time music since boyhood, his acoustic songs feature a warm patina of yesteryear and a uniquely Pokey punch--both of which he brought to the Space Parlour for a live performance.