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John Cowan didn’t plan, even remotely, on being in a bluegrass band. But when he was a 22-year-old in Bowling Green, KY, he tried out for New Grass Revival, hoping maybe to play bass for a weird hybrid band that was making national noise. Sam Bush heard him sing one and declared him the lead singer AND bass player, and off they went for decades together and a career that landed them in the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. Cowan made a run of excellent solo albums, finding his personal balance of string band and soul music. His voice is magisterial. And he collaborates brilliantly. Thus, we have Fiction, his first new solo album in a decade, out now. This week we have a couple of artists we don’t tend to think of in the grassy universe, but indie folk artist Bonnie Prince Billy and Americana stalwart Lukas Nelson are both here with creative singles. We offer our first ever taste of Big Country Bluegrass, a high and lonesome band from Virginia. And Carolyn Kenrick returns with a beguiling take on the old song “Leela.”

Traditional acoustic blues has seen one of its periodic revivals, with more younger African American artists involved than any time I can remember. No survey of the scene would be legit without sizing up the career of 35-year-old Jerron Paxton, sometimes known as “Blind Boy” for a severe myopia that’s affected his life since his teens. We should be grateful he’s committed to music - as a revivalist of the old and a writer of the new in a range of styles from Delta to ragtime to stride to spiritual. His variety and vivacity bursts forward on Things Done Changed, his first album for Smithsonian Folkways Records. In a zoom from his base in New York City, we talk about his upbringing in Los Angeles and his approach to developing his advanced understanding of foundational American music.

Colin O’Brien is a steadfast friend to the East Nashville acoustic roots and bluegrass scene, known for his banjo and fiddle playing, his flatfoot dancing, and his John Hartford-inspired bowler hat. So it came as a surprise, to me anyway, when he broke cover on his history as a fingerstyle guitar player and his compositional command with a new album. Thirteen, released on Nov. 7, is a mesmerizing solo acoustic journey on 6 and 12-string guitars that evokes the virtuosity and fluid ambience of John Fahey and Leo Kottke, and it was a joy to learn a whole new side of our pal. We share his tune “Shipwreck” this week. Also in the hour, new singles from the Chatham Rabbits of North Carolina and Evie Ladin of California. Historic tracks from the Lilly Brothers and Nashville’s late, great Dreadful Snakes.

Like the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, East Tennessee bluegrass band Seth Mulder and Midnight Run got their start as a house band at Ole Smokey Moonshine in Gatlinburg. Since then the quintet has built an outstanding reputation in the business, and they’re poised to be one of the next major acts. 2023 saw them win their first SPBGMA award for their Song of the Year “My My My,” which we’ve played here. This week we open with their new single “Looking Past The Pain (The Cowboy Song)”. Then we pair that with a classic western number from Don Edwards and Peter Rowan, because that’s how we roll. Also new this week, Alison Brown, Steve Martin and Vince Gill teamed up to make a song about a guitar that hangs on the wall. Andy Leftwich offers a fiddle version of the gospel standard “Talk About Suffering.” And Amy slipped me her duo’s new one, so the second set begins with Golden Shoals playing the fiddle tune “And The Cat Came Back.”

I think we’re going to be hearing the name Max Wareham a lot more in 2025. I first heard of the Boston-based musician playing banjo in the Peter Rowan Band, and Amy Alvey told me he’s related to Peter through his dad, Peter’s cousin. Max is also an author, having released Rudy Lyle: The Unsung Hero of the Five String Banjo to much acclaim in 2022. It’s a deep dive into a musician who worked with Bill Monroe and who was an important influence on the players who knew him. In February, Max will release his debut album Daggomit! featuring Chris Eldridge and David Grier on guitar, Laura Orshaw on fiddle, Chris Henry on mandolin, Mike Bub on bass and Larry Atamanuik on snare drum, Peter Rowan producer. Here we lead off with his single “Hard Times Are Far Behind” whether that’s true or not. Also in the hour, show debuts from western folk singer Bar Jay Bar and South Carolina’s Retro 78. Historic tracks from North Carolina’s Blue Sky Boys and Bill Keith, who gets jazzy on his banjo.

“Last Time I Saw Him” is an interesting song that demonstrates how close soul and country music have always been, and now there’s a bluegrass angle. White songwriters from the Motown orbit Michael Masser and Pam Sawyer composed it, and it became the title track of Dianna Ross’s fifth album in 1973. Soon after it reached the Hot Soul top 20, Dottie West reached the country top ten with her cover. So I was charmed and impressed to hear a great new version with banjo backing by Red Camel Collective, the side project of the band that plays on the road with Junior Sisk, including lead singer and IBMA Momentum Award winner Heather Berry Mabe. She is joined on this single by the legendary Sharon White and Suzanne Cox. Also in the hour, singles from the Stillhouse Junkies, Jordan Tice, Danny Paisley, Jaelee Roberts and the Songs From The Road Band.

We held 2024 over for one more week with this week’s broadcast, a catalog of the albums we thought had the most to say about bluegrass, old-time and traditional folk in the outgoing year. We enjoyed: Veteran Missy Raines trying a bold new sound with her band Allegheny; breakout years and records from rising stars Bronwyn Keith-Hynes and AJ Lee; a striking concept album from Tony Trischka and friends celebraring Earl Scruggs and John Hartford; neo-trad blues from Jerron Paxton and old-time from the Down Hill Strugglers, both from New York. Of course we’ve played music from these records all year but I realized there was one we had not, because it got play on WMOT at large, and that’s the collaboration of Aoife O’Donovan and Hawktail playing songs from Aoife’s All Of My Friends album. So we salute that impressive work of composing and execution and hope that they keep making music together; she’s the perfect voice for that instrumental band.

Friends, our holidays were lovely except for one thing. Our carefully hand-crafted Christmas/Happy Holidays edition of the Old Fashioned for 2024 was all cued up and ready to go, like a stocking hung by the fireplace. But we had a miscommunication, and the show, set for Dec. 21 and for Christmas Eve, didn’t air as scheduled. So we ran it on New Year’s Eve, and maybe you heard it! Anyway, this year’s music was all new and quite wonderful. The Rock Hearts delivered a new version of Willie Nelson’s “Pretty Paper.” The Osborne Brothers sang about University of Tennessee football in “Christmas Time On Rocky Top.” Our mandatory “Christmas Time’s A Comin’” came from none other than Dolly Parton. But I’d love to direct your attention to a song that would sound amazing any time of year, the new single “Don’t You Hear Jerusalem Moan” from Boston-based, Jewish-centric newgrass band Jacob’s Ladder. Their interpretive power and vocal harmonies on this one give me goosebumps every time I play it. There’s a magical video on YouTube. We’ll be watching for more from them.

Noah G. Fowler is a welcome addition to the Nashville roots music scene. He’s a Pennsylvanian who’s performed at Americanafest, FloydFest, our beloved Jalopy Theater in New York, and of course good old Dee’s Lounge in Madison. What I’d heard of him was squarely in country territory, but on his new single “Stranger,” he calls in the banjo brigade for a sweet bluegrass track. We’ll be watching for updates in case a string band album may be in the works. Elsewhere this episode, we feature the newest from Becky Buller, her take on New Grass Revival’s “Reach” for an upcoming covers album. Wyatt Ellis partners with Peter Rowan for a two-sided single, and we offer up the Bill Monroe ripper “Memories Of You.” More new stuff comes from Dale Ann Bradley and Joe Mullins. And the historic bells get rung by Jimmy Martin, the Highwoods String Band, and the Coon Creek Girls.

In one of the big surprise stories in roots music of the past six months, Georgia-based Russell Moore was named the newest member of Alison Krauss and Union Station, taking over the male vocal and guitar role held by Dan Tyminski for years. Moore is on the upcoming album Arcadia and set to go on extensive tours in 2025 and ‘26. It’s a big move for this fan favorite. Moore got his start with Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver in the 80s and then started his own band - IIIrd Tyme Out - in 1991. Since then he’s been perhaps the most awarded male voice in bluegrass. This is the story of how he launched and managed his impressive and influential career.