Craig Havighurst

The rise of The Fretliners may cause confusion for some in Nashville, because around here, Taylor Shuck is a talented banjo player from Louisville, KY. Whereas in the Colorado scene, a different Taylor Shuck is a bass player who took the initiatives that led to the formation of his band in Fort Collins, CO just a few years ago. Converted to the fold by the Yonder Mountain String Band and the famous Pizza Tapes bootleg, The Fretliners’ Shuck gathered Dan Andee on fiddle, Tom Knowlton on guitar, and Sam Parks on mandolin, and the sound clicked fast. They won back-to-back band contests at Telluride and RockyGrass in 2023, a rarely achieve accomplishment. More recently they found a way to work with mega-producers T Bone Burnett and Daniel Tashian on their upcoming album When The Kettle Sings, which arrives on Oct. 23. We share their single “Silence Says It All.” Also this week, a selection from the very new covers album from AJ Lee & Blue Summit. I love Amy Alvey’s selection of “Little Sadie” as interpreted by Joanna Wacker. And speaking of covers, we hear a couple of crafty takes on country radio hits from The Churchmen and Jaelee Roberts.

Roots music tells its story to the world mostly through its leading festivals like this weekend’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Telluride, and Merlefest. But the music wouldn’t be around with a story to tell decade after decade without organic support at the literal grass roots, and in that realm, few were as effective and genuine as John Murray “Hippie Jack” Stoddart, Jr., who died on Sept. 25 at his home in Crawford, TN.

In the late 1990s, Bryan Sutton was a young phenom who dropped jaws across the country as the lead guitarist in Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. And he was more than a flash in the pan, becoming the most in-demand studio session acoustic guitar player in Nashville and a ten-time IBMA Guitar Player of the Year. The latest in his string of solo recordings is an anthology of guitar duos with friends, peers, and heroes that he’s recorded on his own over two decades.

Americanafest 2026 threw a lot at us over five days last week. Our rambling writer Craig sensed a new trend in country singing and it led to some gorgeous and dramatic sets with ties to history, he reports.

Jake Vaadeland (pronounce it like you would Vaudeville) isn’t hardly or strictly bluegrass, but his throwback sound, look, and show conjures the early 1950s, when bluegrass didn’t have its own name and was just all mixed in with what the radio charts were calling Country & Western. Amy Alvey caught this guy out on the road and suggested him for our Americanafest String Band Throwdown, and his set with his Sturgeon River Boys was masterful. He mixes original songs and classics, sings in a mellifluous big-sky croon, and leads a hot band that’s based around upright bass and banjo. We spin for you his own song “Be Good Stewards,” a narrative drawn from his family history, from his self-titled album of this year. Also in the show, a new Rhonda Vincent album has landed. Downriver Collective released a very bluegrassy single called “The Fool.” And we spotlight the rest of our Throwdown lineup: Sparrow Smith, Nora Jane Struthers, Frank Evans, and the Sentimental Gentlemen.

The 25th annual Americana Honors Awards opened with an authentically historic American rock and roll reunion of The Heartbreakers and ended with a first-time Artist of the Year award for progressive acoustic guitarist and songwriter Molly Tuttle. Dolly Parton and Robert Plant also received Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Last December, old-time indie duo Two Runner became One Runner. No, that’s me making a bad joke. But when fiddler Emilie Rose amicably stepped away from the project, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Paige Anderson carried on with her folk music vision and the band name she’s cultivated. She’s a lifer, having grown up in a family bluegrass band, and the experience shows on her new album Porchlight, a warm and deep album that’s becoming one of my favorites of the year. We offer Anderson’s rocking clawhammer banjo and lovely voice on “Roadrunner.” Also this week, we take our first (non-single) hit off of the emotional new Billy Strings album So Much For Goodbyes. The great duo Mama’s Broke (in the same sonic space as Two Runner) has the new album Reunion, and we’re excited to have it. And songwriter/band leader Jack Vero is new to Nashville, so we share the title track of his new project Midnight Train.

Buddy Miller is the most awarded musician in the history of the Americana Music Association, with two Artist of the Year trophies, three Albums of the Year, and the lifetime achievement Wagonmaster Award. That’s a lot of attention on one humble man. But he’s worn his ambassador status for the format with distinction as a singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer. On the eve of Americanafest 2026, Miller released his first solo album in fifteen years. The self-titled set made a perfect occasion to bring Buddy on The String for a lifetime-spanning chat.

The sudden passing of Dolly Parton, which I covered here in depth, crowded out attention on one of the most significant deaths in bluegrass in years. Pat Enright, the unassuming and humble singer and guitar player for the Nashville Bluegrass Band during its entire run, died on August 19, at the age of 81. The Indiana native’s commanding and bluesy voice brought the spirit of Jimmie Rodgers into modern bluegrass and made for some of the finest harmonies of the 1980s and 90s with banjo player Alan O’Bryant. He was also one of the three Soggy Bottom Boys (with Dan Tyminski and Harley Allen) on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. Sadly, Enright won’t be there when the NBB is inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in October. We play a couple of Pat’s best vocal tracks in a block with a couple of Dolly’s great bluegrass moments. Also this week, the premiere of Laurelyn Dossett’s gorgeous new album How Many Moons, a new single from Boston’s Ethan Setiawan, and a cut from Molly Tuttle’s new acoustic remake of her recent pop-leaning album.

There's no easy way to forge a path through the beautiful sprawl that is Americanafest. But here, our journalist Craig Havighurst scans the newcomers and the veterans alike to assemble a day-by-day guide to some of the most compelling acts among this year's offerings.