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Featuring Natalie Price, The Sea The Sea & Kelley Family Christmas

Featuring Looms, Charlie Mars & Al Backstrom

Featuring Christopher Wright, Emily Earle & Brother And The Hayes

The late John Prine’s team at Oh Boy Records in Nashville put the little-known west coast songwriter Tré Burt on the national Americana/folk radar by signing him to a deal and re-releasing his debut album Caught It From The Rye in 2019. He grew up between the Bay Area and Sacramento, where, after being exposed to the guitar by an older brother, music became a focal point. He grew as a songwriter through the open mic scene and self-booked tours and some adventurous travel around the world. His spare acoustic folk style gives way to more rhythmic neo-soul textures on his exciting third LP Traffic Fiction, giving his personal lyrics new ways to shine.

When Ben Wright, then 28 years old, saw a banjo for sale in the window at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music, he had no idea how far it would take him. Not just to gigs at the country’s best bluegrass festivals but to an improbable life of sharing American music with audiences young and old in more than 25 countries. Not only does Ben’s band, the Henhouse Prowlers, have a new record deal and a fine new album, the quartet has a track record of sharing bluegrass and good vibes with more non-Americans than probably any other band. And they’ve created a non-profit called Bluegrass Ambassadors to extend that mission into the future.

Featuring Vinnie Paolizzi, Cole Gallagher & Kyle Frederick.

Featuring Robin Eaton, Noel McKay & A Tale Of Two

The Pacific Northwest has a vibrant traditional music scene, but the artists and bands out there don’t cut through as easily to us in the southeast, if only because it’s super expensive to tour to all the places they deserve to be heard. Our newest discovery in this vein is Kristen Grainger and True North, a bluegrass and acoustic Americana band from Oregon led by Grainger and her husband Dan Wetzel. Grainger has earned media buzz from the likes of the Bluegrass Situation, and done well in songwriting contests across the country. But it’s time to put this band front and center now that their album Fear of Falling Stars comes out Nov. 10. We offer the single “Across The Mountains.” We also have new stuff from a renewed Seldom Scene and key veteran folk singer Alice Gerrard. A block with Cristina Vane, Brenna Mc Millan, Willi Carlisle and Hillary Klug touches on some younger artists who’ve become super skilled at reaching folks on social media. Historic tracks from Don Reno and the Johnson Mountain Boys.

A package arrived in my mailbox from a small re-issue label I’d never heard of called Liberation Hall in Massachusetts, and what a welcome surprise it was. They’ve released Clarence White: The Lost Masters (1963-1973) on CD, featuring what its well-done liner notes by John Delgatto call a “brief overview of Clarence’s acoustic and electric guitar playing.” There are tracks with Eric Weissberg and members of the Byrds and even The Everly Brothers on the 14-song collection. We’ve gone with “Alabama Jubilee” backed by Herb Peterson (bass), Alan Munde (banjo) and Byron Berline (fiddle) from 1973 to show what a master of flatpicking White was just before his tragic and untimely death. Also in the show, another reissue as Americana Vibes has released a 20th anniversary edition of Cabin In The Hills, the lone album from Broke Mountain Bluegrass Band, a collection of monster Colorado pickers who weren’t as famous then as they are now – Travis Book, Anders Beck, Andy Thorn and Jon Stickley. New singles come from Nefesh Mountain and Amanda Cook.

Asheville, NC is one of the most important hubs for bluegrass and mountain music in the country, and Songs From The Road Band are among the favorite bands hailing from the area. Seems like only yesterday they were fiddling with early lineups and a bold new sound. But now they’ve released eight albums! Where did the time go? The lifers in the band include mandolinist Mark Schimick and bass player Charles Humprhries III, who is a two-time IBMA songwriter of the year nominee. They released the album Pay Your Dues earlier this year, but we’ve got their new single “Where Lonely Lives.” Also new this week, Carly Arrowood’s lovely “Moondancer,” and a cool one from Wilson Banjo Co. called “Nightbird.” Our throwback tracks include music from Bill Harrell and the Virginians, plus a stone classic by Norman Blake and Tony Rice.