Il Grammy Award al miglior album folk contemporaneo (Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album) venne assegnato dal 1987 al 2011.
Fino al 1993 il premio era denominato Miglior registrazione folk contemporanea (Best Contemporary Folk Recording). Nel 2007 fu ribattezzato Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album.
A partire dal 2012, questa categoria si rifonderà con la miglior album folk tradizionale per formare la nuova categoria miglior album folk.
Vincitori e candidati Anni 1980
1987 Tribute to Steve Goodman - AA.VV.; Al Bunetta, Dan Einstein e Hank Neuberger (produttori) German Afternoons - John Prine I'm Alright - Loudon Wainwright III Last of the True Believers - Nanci Griffith No Easy Walk to Freedom - Peter, Paul and Mary 1988 Unfinished Business - Steve Goodman Asimbonanga - Joan Baez Annual Waltz - John Hartford More Love Songs - Loudon Wainwright III The Washington Squares - Washington Squares 1989 Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman John Prine Live - John Prine Short Sharp Shocked - Michelle Shocked Emergency - Sweet Honey in the Rock
Anni 1990
1990 Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls Bamboleo - Gipsy Kings Bayou Cadillac - BeauSoleil Crossroads - Tracy Chapman Old Friends - Guy Clark 1991 Steady On - Shawn Colvin Days of Open Hand - Suzanne Vega Hammer and a Nail - Indigo Girls Helpless Heart - Maura O'Connell 1992 The Missing Years - John Prine Live - Back On the Bus Y'all - Indigo Girls Cajun Conja - BeauSoleil Interiors - Rosanne Cash Jerry Garcia & David Grisman - Jerry Garcia e David Grisman 1993 Another Country - The Chieftains Play Me Backwards - Joan Baez The Criminal Under My Own Hat - T-Bone Burnett Rites of Passage - Indigo Girls Arkansas Traveler - Michelle Shocked 1994 Other Voices, Other Rooms - Nanci Griffith La Danse de la Vie - BeauSoleil Fat City - Shawn Colvin Good as I Been to You - Bob Dylan Spinning Around the Sun - Jimmie Dale Gilmore Breaking Silence - Janis Ian 1995 American Recordings - Johnny Cash Cover Girl - Shawn Colvin My Life - Iris DeMent Flyer - Nanci Griffith Swamp Ophelia - Indigo Girls 1996 Wrecking Ball - Emmylou Harris The Long Black Veil - The Chieftains MTV Unplugged - Bob Dylan Train a Comin' - Steve Earle Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings - John Prine 1997 The Ghost of Tom Joad - Bruce Springsteen Yonder - Jerry Douglas e Peter Rowan Braver New World - Jimmie Dale Gilmore You? Me? Us? - Richard Thompson Revival - Gillian Welch
1998 Time Out of Mind - Bob Dylan Keepers - A Live Recording - Guy Clark The Way I Should - Iris DeMent Shaming of the Sun - Indigo Girls Live On Tour - John Prine 1999 Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - Lucinda Williams Mermaid Avenue - Billy Bragg e Wilco El Corazon - Steve Earle Spyboy - Emmylou Harris Step Inside This House - Lyle Lovett
Anni 2000 2000 Mule Variations - Tom Waits Cajunization - BeauSoleil Fellow Workers - Ani DiFranco ed Utah Phillips In Spite of Ourselves - John Prine Western Wall - The Tucson Sessions - Linda Ronstadt ed Emmylou Harris 2001 Red Dirt Girl - Emmylou Harris Mermaid Avenue Vol. II - Billy Bragg e Wilco American III: Solitary Man - Johnny Cash Transcendental Blues - Steve Earle Crossing Muddy Waters - John Hiatt
2002 Love and Theft - Bob Dylan Buddy & Julie Miller - Buddy and Julie Miller Poet: A Tribute to Townes van Zandt - AA.VV. Time (The Revelator) - Gillian Welch Essence - Lucinda Williams
2003 This Side - Nickel Creek American IV: The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash Down the Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions - The Chieftains Jerusalem - Steve Earle 1000 Kisses - Patty Griffin
2004 The Wind - Warren Zevon Rules of Travel - Rosanne Cash Stumble into Grace - Emmylou Harris Looking for the Moon - Tom Paxton World Without Tears - Lucinda Williams
2005 The Revolution Starts Now - Steve Earle Educated Guess - Ani DiFranco Land of Milk and Honey - Eliza Gilkyson Impossible Dream - Patty Griffin The Unbroken Circle - The Musical Heritage of the Carter Family - John Carter Cash, AA.VV. 2006 Fair & Square - John Prine Chávez Ravine - Ry Cooder The Outsider - Rodney Crowell Why Should the Fire Die? - Nickel Creek Devils & Dust - Bruce Springsteen 2007 Modern Times - Bob Dylan Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1 - Jackson Browne Black Cadillac - Rosanne Cash Workbench Songs - Guy Clark All the Roadrunning - Mark Knopfler ed Emmylou Harris 2008 Washington Square Serenade - Steve Earle The Calling - Mary Chapin Carpenter My Name Is Buddy - Ry Cooder Children Running Through - Patty Griffin Orphans - Tom Waits 2009 Raising Sand - Robert Plant ed Alison Krauss Day After Tomorrow - Joan Baez I, Flathead - Ry Cooder Sex & Gasoline - Rodney Crowell All I Intended to Be - Emmylou Harris Anni 2010
2010 Townes - Steve Earle Middle Cyclone - Neko Case Our Bright Future - Tracy Chapman Live - Shawn Colvin Secret, Profane & Sugarcane - Elvis Costello 2011 God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise - Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs Love Is Strange: En Vivo Con Tino - Jackson Browne e David Lindley The Age of Miracles - Mary Chapin Carpenter Somedays the Song Writes You - Guy Clark Dream Attic - Richard Thompson
Statistiche e record Bob Dylan e Steve Earle sono i maggiori vincitori della categoria con tre vittorie a testa.
Note
Album folk contemporaneo