Vickie Vaughn keeps stepping up her game across the board. She’s been a charming and sincere member of the Nashville bluegrass community for years, lending her bass playing and harmony vocals to a range of artists as a side player and some premium bands as well, including High Fidelity and Della Mae. In 2023, she was named IBMA Bass Player of the Year and then she repeated a year later. This year she’s been rolling out new music as a featured artist, on her way to releasing an album on Mountain Home Music this November. We’ve spun her twist on Bruce Robison’s “Leavin’” and now she shines on the emotional ballad “Mama Took Her Ring Off Yesterday.” We knew she could really sing; now we really get to hear it. Also this week, a square dance number from Lonesome River Band, a new one from Jaelee Roberts, and a swinging instrumental from Andy Leftwich.

Guitarist, singer and songwriter Eli West works with a quiet designer's mind in the Pacific northwest, and everything we hear from him has a rare depth and gravity. He's an avid collaborator who attracts greatness, having worked with Bill Frisell, John Reischman, Dori Freeman and others. I was taken with his album Tapered Point Of Stone in 2021, where West's musicianship blended organically with great east coast musicians Christian Sedelmyer (fiddle) and Andrew Marlin (mandolin). So it was exciting to see West release his new Shape Of A Sway album arrive in July. We've selected the gracefully swinging "Ever Lovin' Need To Know" for this week's roundup of new music. But we open by celebrating the first single in ages from our beloved old-time quartet The Onlies, followed by a sentimental new song from Hall of Famer Larry Sparks. The novelties continue with Kentucky's Carla Gover, fiddle wizard Darol Anger, and trad torchbearer Junior Sisk.

Amy Alvey is a fiddle instigator. She tours and performs of course, but she also teaches in person and on-line, and she organizes old-time jams, including our annual Old Fashioned String Band Throwdown pre-party, pictured here. (We'll be back at Dee's by the way on Tues., Sept. 9 by the way so make plans to join us from 4:30 on.) Anyway, Amy extends her mission to share American fiddling with the people this week in a special episode. She made a list of the tunes that she teaches as core old-time repertoire and then found great examples of those tunes spanning present day recordings and old archival tracks. From "Fire On The Mountain" to "Lonesome Road Blues" to "Reuben's Train," this show will build your own experience with this great body of work, as well as the many regional and individual fiddle styles there are out there.

Singer-songwriter, fiddler and rambling man Joey Berglund has been performing under the moniker Bar Jay Bar for several years, and he's bringing something fresh to the western side of traditional country. Amy Alvey has brought a few songs of his to the mix, and this week, it's his bluesy "Breakdown Mama." I've seen his home base identified as Los Angeles and Sheridan, WY, and it's clear he gets around. Also on stage, where his reputation for acrobatics precedes him. Also this week, an unprecedented 9-minute single, as AJ Lee & Blue Summit take on "The Glendale Train" with imagination and epic solos. Tray Wellington has at last realesed his "Man On The Moon" title single. And we feature a unique track from the overlap of jazz and folk, as Bill Frisell and Tim O'Brien team up with their former teacher Dale Bruning in a session from Boulder a few years back.

The great American folk music tradition continues to flourish in New York City, decades after the hootenanny heyday of Greenwich Village in the 1950s and 60s. We were excited to learn that one of the leading voices in today's scene is none other than Woody Guthrie's grandson Cole Quest. And how cool a name is that? He writes and collects songs and plays resophonic guitar and pedal steel. He and his City Pickers, a bluegrass leaning string band, have won praise from No Depression, Glide magazine and the overseas press. On their new album Homegrown, the group adds new life to great songs like John Hartford's "In Tall Buildings," Peter Rowan's "Dust Bowl Children," and Woody's own "Pastures of Plenty." We feature the great "Philadelphia Lawyer," but it comes last, so you have to listen to the whole show (no skipping!). On the way, you'll hear new songs from Rick Faris, Chris Jones, Jessie Smathers, and the hot fiddling duo of Kimber Ludiker and Deannie Richardson. Amy was still on the road but sent in a block of song picks inspired by her hang at the Canadian folk fest and workshop Nimblefingers.

Look who's still at it, at 84 years into his journey. Jim Kweskin was a staple of the 1960s folk and and pre-war music revival. His famous Jug Band included bluegrass standouts Richard Greene (fiddle) and Bill Keith (banjo), plus future folk stars Geoff and Maria Muldaur. His top-flight ragtime fingerstyle guitar was much more refined than the "jug band" moniker implied. And the group was a key influence on the formation of the Grateful Dead and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Kweskin's never dropped out of the scene, and this spring he came with his newest album Doing Things Right, featuring American standards and obscurities done with flair. We spin the novelty tune "Show Me The Way To Go Home." As No Depression noted, "Jim Kweskin plays old stuff. And it never gets old." Also this hour, a show premiere for Meredith Moon, a lovely folk singer and stylist who is set to play our Old Fashioned String Band Throwdown on Sept. 9. New singles come from Ashby Frank, Lori King, and Nick Chandler and Delivered.

Almost three years ago I profiled the young guitarist Luke Black as part of a package about the up and coming flatpickers in bluegrass. He was a student at Berklee College of Music and he'd recently started a progressive band called Mountain Grass Unit based in Birmingham, AL. They were still getting their act and sound together, but the idea - Tony Rice in Colorado was how I took it - felt strong. Well they've been crushing it since then, honing their thing and getting ready for their moment. At least two of them arrived this year - when they played the Ryman Bluegrass series - and when they played the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in June and left fans and journalists raving about what they'd seen. We play a cut from their 2024 EP Runnin' From Trouble. We're excited to hear more. Amy and I also spin a few artists who played Telluride this year, including Chris Thile, Alison Krauss & Union Station, and band contest winners Rachel Sumner and Traveling Light. Also this week, new songs from Rick Faris, Sister Sadie, and Darren Nicholson.

This week brought a bounty of banjos - even more than usual. Brad Kolodner, a friend of the show and fellow bluegrass broadcaster, has a new solo album out called Old Growth featuring gourd banjo. We have our first cut from Joseph DeCosimo's upcoming album Fiery Gizard, a unique take on the western swing tune "Ida Red." But let's shine the spotlight on an artist who's keeping the banjo cool in New York City, Hilary Hawke. She's a songwriter, arranger, teacher and collaborator who treats the banjo like a versatile instrument, not a one-way ticket to bluegrass-ville. We've played selections from her solo instrumental debut Lillygild. Now we dip into her upcoming album Lift Up This World with the song "All I've Ever Known," with support from guitarist Ross Martin and fiddler Camille Howes. Also this week, two generations of Ralph Stanleys sing two versions of the ancient "Pretty Polly." Sister Sadie and the Po' Ramblin' Boys team up to celebrate World of Bluegrass moving to Chattanooga. And we've got new songs from East Nash Grass and AJ Lee & Blue Summit, who are set to play The Ryman together on July 15.

I might have featured The SteelDrivers this week, who just released their latest album Outrun on the revived Sun Records label, and we do kick things off with thier new song "The River Knows." However, I published a whole episode of The String with Tammy Rogers and Mike Fleming going over their whole history, so find that here. Instead, let's shine the bluegrass spotlight on Tim O'Brien and his wife Jan Fabricius, who've released their first jointly named album together after recording and touring as a harmonizing couple for about a decade. Tim, who turned 71 this spring, is of course a main driver in the rise of Colorado as a bluegrass hub. His band Hot Rize was the most exciting act of the 1980s, and Tim's solo career has been standout for his wonderful singing, his smart collaborations, and his songwriting. Tim and Jan present Paper Flowers, and we have the title cut. More new album action comes from Missy Raines & Allegheny, mandolinist Ashleigh Graham, and Corrina Rose Logston Stephens of the band High Fidelity in a new project she calls Rrinaco. Our throwback cuts this week come from the New Kentucky Colonels, Rhonda Vincent, and the Del McCoury Band.

When Shelby Means played WMOT's Finally Friday show a few weeks ago, our team was just beside themselves. They raved about it like no other set I can recall. I made sure to catch the official album release show to see her band for myself, and it was indeed fantastic, with vivacious songs and guest musicians like Michael Cleveland that showed off Shelby's top tier network of friends and supporters. We in the biz have known about Shelby's musicianship for years, and the world got wind of her touring with Molly Tuttle's Golden Highway band. Tuttle's put that ensemble on the back burner, so now the members are free agents, and Shelby's timed her solo debut album just right, landing May 30. We play the clever "5 String Wake Up Call" to wake up this week's show. Also, an exclusive early track from Longtime Friend, the upcoming New West Records release by Virginia string band The Wildmans. Amy introduces us to the band Big Chimney Barn Dance. And we revel in old standards by Jimmy Martin and Pete Seeger.