Rattlin’ Bones marks Bronwyn Keith-Hynes’ first foray into songwriting. For those unfamiliar with her name, here’s a brief résumé of the story so far. Raised near Charlottesville, Virginia, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Keith-Hynes was barely done with toddling when she started fiddling, cutting her teeth on Irish traditional music and getting into bluegrass as a teenager. After honing her skills at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, she was one of the founders of the progressive string band Mile Twelve, three of whose five members were alumni of that highly revered institution; they won the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) New Artist of the Year Award in 2020. Next on the Keith-Hynes CV came her debut solo album,…
Category: bluegrass
On the face of it, 2025 was a landmark year for Billy Strings. His fifth album, Highway Prayers, won him his third Grammy. The first bluegrass album in more than 22 years to debut at the top of the US album sales chart, it confirmed him as the genre’s biggest crossover star in decades. He was feted by everyone from Bob Dylan to Post Malone to Willie Nelson, the latter describing him as “the John Coltrane of bluegrass”, a pretty impressive soubriquet in anyone’s book. As the New York Times noted, he was now capable of filling the arena-sized venues that his idols – Doc Watson, Clarence White, Tony Rice, Béla Fleck – could never have dreamed of performing in, packing them out with an audience that look less like traditional bluegrass aficionados than…
…The deluxe edition introduces 2 previously unreleased studio tracks rescued from the original sessions, newly mixed by Stephen Mougin.
On their second effort for Ricky Skaggs’ Ceili label, Del McCoury and his band, the reigning kings of bluegrass (even if Ralph Stanley is the Pope) turn in a another solid, haunting, and even completely astonishing set that features everything from tunes about haunted train rides, biker outlaws who remain focused on their quest unto death, a Richard Thompson tune (“1952 Vincent Black Lightning”), and a blues tune supposedly gleaned from listening to Frank Sinatra, as well as more traditional bluegrass stompers about being high and lonesome, grief, lost love, and hanging out at the barnyard. Right, that sentence was…
What an extraordinary band are the Punch Brothers, a bunch of conspicuously talented musicians whose six albums never fail to delight and stimulate as they push the boundaries of acoustic music to what you think would be beyond breaking point. It’s been said that they’ve taken “bluegrass to its next evolutionary stage, drawing equal inspiration from the brain and the heart”.
Virtuosos all, The Unsung Adventures of Punch Brothers marks the debut of fiddler Brittany Haas with the band which, in addition to Chris Thiele, includes Chris Eldridge on guitar, Paul Kowert on bass, and Noam Pikelny on banjo. A sought-after session and touring musician whose credits include US TV host Steve Martin’s bluegrass band, Haas managed to pursue her youthful…
…Remastered from the original tapes, this album includes four outtakes rescued from damaged session tapes.
By 1977, Bluegrass was arriving at a crossroads. Questions about whether to stay in a strict acoustic framework or to push the boundaries and include non-traditional instruments like drums, pedal steel, and electric instruments. This is where the short-lived group Boone Creek took up the mantle of experimentation and laid the foundation for what would become “Newgrass.”
Featuring future giants Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, Wes Golding, and Terry Baucom, Boone Creek was willing to push further than many of their contemporaries. Listening to it today, it is easy to hear the seeds of ideas that would…
The Susto Stringband was born in 2022 when Susto frontman Justin Osborne relocated to Asheville, NC and met some of the key players of the Asheville bluegrass scene at an open mic night. The solidified lineup includes Clint Roberts and Jackson Grimm of Holler Choir, Nat Copeland, Helena Rose and Joey Brown, and on this volume, they’ve added the help of friends like Morgan Wade, Joshua Hedley and Madeline Dierauf.
Starting with an acapella version of Ralph Stanley’s ‘Gloryland’ leads you to expect something out of the ordinary. So, when ‘Diamond’s Icaro’ turns out to be paint-by-number bluegrass, it’s all a bit of a disappointment. The album is sold as a set of “Susto favourites” reworked in a bluegrass style, but listening back to the original of…
Heretics & Heritage is the fourth album from Leeds-based Lewis Pugh, combining both bluegrass and traditional folk/roots influences. Pugh himself plays banjo, guitar, snare drum and double bass, in addition to lead vocals, and all but two songs are self-penned.
The album lineup includes two members of north-east bluegrass band The Often Herd, in Evan Davies on mandolin, and Niles Krieger on fiddle. The opening track, ‘Big Stone Lifter’, is an up-tempo bluegrass number, with pedal steel courtesy of Stephen Hicken Jr., an addition to the usual bluegrass lineup including the aforesaid mandolin, fiddle and banjo. Indeed, the pedal steel is a very effective addition to the sonic mix, providing a unifying thread through much of the album.
By 1977, Tony Rice had already established a distinct voice within bluegrass. His guitar playing-precise, fluid, and rhythmically grounded-drew from the tradition while introducing a broader musical vocabulary. His self-titled third album arrived at a moment when that approach was beginning to take clearer shape.
Originally released in 1977, Tony Rice brought together a group of musicians working at a similar edge of the genre. Featuring collaborators including David Grisman, J.D. Crowe, and Jerry Douglas, the album moves between traditional material and contemporary compositions, balancing established forms with a more open, ensemble-driven sound. The album returns June 5, 2026, newly remastered from the original tapes.
Steep Canyon Rangers arrive at a moment of renewal and reaffirmation with Next Act, their 15th studio album. The record represents a conscious tightening of focus: a return to the bluegrass foundations that first bound the band together, approached with the confidence and emotional range earned through years of collective evolution. It is an affirmation that bluegrass still contains endless expressive possibility. Next Act finds the Rangers sounding deeply at home in their own musical language, drawing strength from tradition while continuing to write new chapters within it.
Formed in North Carolina and shaped equally by the Appalachian Mountains and the Piedmont, Steep Canyon Rangers have long occupied a singular space in American roots music.
Good As True, the 12th studio album from Yonder Mountain String Band, leans into a warm, expressive sound – bluegrass shaped with an indie edge, rock undertones, and a hint of country. Recorded live in the studio, its eight original tracks trace romantic, personal, and societal relationships and the work it takes to stay connected.
The lead single “Brand New Heartache” pairs rock-driven verses with a bluegrass-lifted chorus as it follows the fallout of a breakup and the uneasy hope of starting again, while “Blind” opens with a striking instrumental riff that lingers long after the song ends, while its lyrics confront regret, mental health struggles, and the pull to become something better. “Long Ride” delivers a sharp, sarcastic look at life in a touring band…
On his own, Tony Trischka is considered one of the world’s foremost banjo players.
He is comfortable paying tribute to tradition of bluegrass pioneers while also stepping outside the box and innovating. To his own substantial body of work, Trischka adds two mammoth tribute projects: the 2023, Grammy-nominated Earl Jam, followed by Earl Jam 2.
…Both albums are built around a remarkable discovery: a cache of previously unheard recordings of Earl Scruggs and John Hartford informally jamming at Scruggs’ home between 1987 and 1998. Earl Jam 2 features 15 newly selected performances drawn from the same archive, spanning traditional standards, deep-cut fiddle tunes, and iconic American songs…
Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and guitarist Trey Hensley has officially released his solo studio album Can’t Outrun The Blues via Pinecastle Records. The 10-track collection marks a major milestone in Hensley’s solo career and features an impressive lineup of collaborators including Molly Tuttle, Vince Gill, Steve Wariner, and the legendary Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
Produced by renowned hitmaker Brent Maher, known for his work with artists such as The Judds, Kenny Rogers, and Merle Haggard, Can’t Outrun The Blues showcases Hensley’s signature blend of fiery guitar playing and powerful vocals. The album seamlessly fuses Bluegrass, Americana, and traditional Country influences into a cohesive and energetic project that highlights both his…
Up in the North Star State recently, America’s seams appeared to be unravelling, with Minnesotans having to weather the chill of ICE. Meanwhile, down in the Golden State, Rose’s Pawn Shop was applying the final stitches to a musical security blanket for these turbulent times. American Seams is their Californian quilt of sound, a ten-track patchwork of country, rock, folk, and bluegrass, with a golden ratio of banjo and fiddle.
Rose’s Pawn Shop’s fifth studio album comes hot on the heels of Marigold, frontman Paul Givant’s solo album of 2025. It was recorded live in the studio at Los Angeles’ Love Street Sound, owned by The Doors’ founder member and guitarist Robby Krieger. Production was in the hands of Eric Corne, whose recent CV also includes…
The Clay Street Unit may have formed in Colorado, but you can hear the influence of Appalachia throughout their debut, Sin & Squalor. Blending bluegrass with folk, country, and Americana, echoes of everyone from Doc Watson and Earl Scruggs to more modern musicians like Chris Stapleton and Sierra Ferrell can be heard throughout the 11-track collection.
Building on the foundation that was laid with their EP — 2022’s A Mighty Fine Evening — this full-length finds the band expanding both their sound and their themes, delving into some weightier topics here and there. The album starts off modestly with two of their mellower offerings. “Nothing Else Matters,” the song that introduces the record, is a relatable and sweet…
With two decades under their collective belts, The Infamous Stringdusters are suddenly finding themselves with plenty of reasons to celebrate. Twenty of them, to be exact.
20/20, the Nashville-based quintet’s tenth full-length LP, and third to be released on their own record label, Americana Vibes, perfectly encapsulates what the Dusters do best.
Clean harmonies, tight instrumentation, and uniquely accessible melodies that define the group’s sound. The twenty-track LP, the group’s first full-length studio effort since 2022’s Toward the Fray, consists of all entirely new and original songs, something of an anomaly for a band known for littering its live setlists with an array of cover material.
For lovers of bluegrass and americana roots music unable or unwilling to visit the USA at present, a short flight to Norway provides a very serious alternative as a source of inspiration. Surprising as it may seem, there is a thriving scene, the annual Strenger I Gress festival bringing together many of the bluegrass bands that have sprung up in recent years. Names like Strengeplukk, Oystein Sunde and the Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra have been around a while, developing their own form of what might be termed ‘Scandigrass’.
The North Carolina bluegrass quartet Chatham County Line have been frequent visitors to Norway for around twenty years and their impeccable harmonies and mastery of their instruments will no doubt have inspired many…