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North Carolina songwriter Tift Merritt became an instant star of Americana music when she emerged in the early 2000s with Bramble Rose (2002) and Tambourine (2004), but only with time have we learned that her relationship with her prestige record label - Lost Highway Records - was tumultuous and dispiriting. After a period of relative quiet on the music front, she’s re-issued Tambourine on vinyl for the first time and put out a collection of demo/kitchen tapes that contextualize that classic. From her home in Raleigh, Tift catches us up on her diversified creative life.

Three great artists are lined up lighten your load and leaven your lunch hour. You'll hear and see the "unique muse" of Canadian artist Callie McCullough, versatile musician and producer Michael Dinallo (pictured), and acclaimed picker and country singer Pete Denahy.

One day after Amy Alvey and I taped this edition of the show from a Chattanooga, TN hotel room at World of Bluegrass, Trey Hensley won his second IBMA Award as Guitar Player of the Year. And that just hints at the many talents he’s likely to win awards for in the years to come. The East Tennessee native was spotted early as a magnificent musician and singer, and he was playing on the Grand Ole Opry before his teens. A stint with Blue Highway brought him to my attention and kicked off an incredible run in a duo with Rob Ickes that produced three amazing albums and hundreds of enthralling shows. So Trey is more than ready for his closeup, and this week’s opener “Can’t Outrun The Blues” is his first single for Pinecastle Records, where, in 2026, he’ll issue a solo debut and launch as a leader. We are ready. Our backlog of new singles includes Darren Nicholson, Marty Falle, the Lonesome Ace String Band and the Grascals with a certain legend named Dolly Parton. Buzz Buzby brings the historic bluegrass buzz.

Steve Martin and Alison Brown first met when the star comic actor and writer invited Brown, the leading banjo player and owner of Compass Records, to be on his board for the Steve Martin Banjo Prize. That was almost 15 years ago, and as they got to know each other, they broke out their banjos to see what that felt like. Their blend of clawhammer style (Steve) and Scruggs-style (Alison) sounded special, so they co-wrote the instrumental “Foggy Morning Breaking.” That went Number 1 on bluegrass radio, prompting Martin to write the song “Bluegrass Radio” in gleeful celebration. They kept writing, and before you knew it, they had an album’s worth of material, which they’re about to release as Safe, Sensible and Sane on Oct. 10. On the way, they co-hosted the 36th annual IBMA Awards in Chattanooga, and this show features music that was nominated for prizes, along with the loveliest song from their album, “Dear Time,” sung by Jackson Browne. It’s last in the hour, so on the way there, enjoy music from nominees for New Artist of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, Song of the Year and more.

It’s not presented a bluegrass album per se, but Shawn Camp’s newest, The Ghost of Sis Draper, is rustic, acoustic, and soulful, and it’s full of fiddle tune Easter Eggs. The title track weaves its melody around “Arkansas Traveler.” One of the most famous American songs is reworked as “Soldier’s Joy 1864.” And the pickers, well they’re some of the best in bluegrass: Tim Crouch (fiddle), Mike Bub (bass), Chris Henry (mandolin), Jimmy Stewart (dobro), and Cory Walker (banjo). So okay, it’s bluegrass, but with all the praise it’s getting, let’s hope it gets nominated for Americana Album of the Year. We open with the title track. Also this week, new singles from the Foreign Laners, the Wilder Flower, and Ralph Stanley II. Amy was taken by Foggy Mountain Spaceship at World of Bluegrass (me too), and she picked their version of “Linus & Lucy” as our oddball track of the week. Far out.

I was browsing around the World of Bluegrass exhibit hall in Chattanooga in September and who should I see but Jesse Cobb, master mandolin player. I’d made friends with him way back when I was chasing the then-new Infamous Stringdusters around with a video camera. Then he moved on a couple years later to raise a family in Vancouver, so he wasn’t circulating as much. But he was at World of Bluegrass to showcase his band The Unfaithful Servants, who are looking to make a national splash with their new album Fallen Angel, which officially dropped Oct. 17. Besides Jesse, the band includes singer-songwriter Dylan Stone, fiddler Quin Etheridge-Pedden, and bassist Mark Johnson. We spin their title cut at the end of block two. Also this week, a new single from the Asheville Mountain Boys marking the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene with a song about an even older flood in Appalachia. Plus Larry Sparks, Meredith Moon, and an introduction to East Tennessee songwriter Beth Snapp.

Mike Compton is a favorite of any fan of classic bluegrass and bluesy mandolin. His years with the Nashville Bluegrass Band are just one of his many claims to fame. He also has a way with duos, including projects with Norman Blake and banjo man Joe Newberry. Mike’s newest collaborator is North Carolina’s wonderful Laura Boosinger, a revered picker, singer, and educator whom I love catching up with at Earl Scruggs Fest every Labor Day. Not content with just pairing their names, they went for it and call themselves the Knackered Ramblers, and we launch this week’s show with an LB original about the NC floods from their debut album We B Ramblin’. This comes as a nice surprise. Also this week, the married team that is Benson takes on the good old “Bully Of The Town,” while Bryan McDowell shows off his bluegrass side with the iconic “Toy Heart.” And we give a belated spin to the title cut from Graham Sharp’s solo album How Did We Do It.

South Carolina guitar wizard and powerhouse singer Marcus King has come through the valley of shadows, breaking self-destructive habits and arriving at a place of contentment and love on his latest album Darling Blue. In a career-spanning conversation, King talks about his unique path to finding his voice on the guitar, his collaborations with a series of very different world-class producers, and his place in the shifting ecosystems of jam band and Americana music.

Since co-founding the history-making, history-preserving North Mississippi Allstars almost 30 years ago, Luther Dickinson has taken his guitar, his deep blues repertoire, and his Memphis soul around the world and into all kinds of collaborations. In his latest return to The String, we talk about the nature of improvising and some of his recent experimental and instrumental projects, plus the 2025 Allstars album Still Rollin’, marking the 25th anniversary of the band’s debut album.

We feature rocker Brandy ZDAN, torch country meets surf artist Stacy Antonel, and songwriting heir Jubal Lee Young (pictured).