By now dear listeners, you know how much fun it is to learn about traditional acoustic artists on the Old Fashioned from Amy Alvey. Her radar is sensitive. She knows what’s good. I have a long list of music I heard through her first, and perhaps at the top of the list is the Canadian folk duo and folk family Pharis and Jason Romero, first (for me) through their 2022 album Tell Em You Were Gold. Up there in Horsefly, BC, they write and record, make banjos, and win Juno Awards and Canadian Folk Music Awards. They’re beloved across their country and in ours as well. This week we tease their next disc, a song-forward collection called These Are The Days That Turn Into Years. It arrives on June 11. Meanwhile one of old-time’s newest outfits, The Big Cricket Stringband, makes its debut on our show. We’ve got a bold new collaboration from Béla Fleck and opera great Renée Fleming (with Dolly). Natalie and Brittnay Haas have some new chamber grass as well.

The 2023 concerts where Billy Strings celebrated Doc Watson at 100 were historic for many reasons, but one tangible outcome was a young guy named Asher Brinson coming away determined to take his music to the next level. He’s a 16-year-old, left-handed guitar picker, as well as a singer and songwriter, and he shines on his debut album Midnight Hurricane. He’s earned the admiration of the bluegrass community, drawing on the talents of Cory Walker, Jason Carter, Sam Bush, Sierra Hull, and David Grier. Lindsay Lou joins in on the title cut “Midnight Hurricane.” And Brinson, a native of the North Carolina coast, knows hurricanes. He’s one to watch and we’re proud to welcome him to the Old Fashioned. Also this week, Jaelee Roberts has a clever new single, Ed Snodderly debuts a new album, and Concord teases a very welcome vinyl re-issue of the legendary Boone Creek debut from 1977.

Stepping away from a successful band and into a solo career is a tried-and-true pathway for many bluegrass stars, and few in recent years have said farewell to such a good gig but garnered so much acclaim and stature in return as mandolinist, singer and songwriter Darren Nicholson. The North Carolinian did 15 years as a founding member of Balsam Range, where he shared in a bunch of IBMA Awards, including two for Entertainers of the Year and two for Album of the Year. Then at the end of 2022, he made his departure official and launched with the album Wanderer in 2023. We’ve played a bunch of singles on the way to his newest release as a leader, Lonesome Trails And Tall Tales. On release week, we open with its luxurious waltzing lament, “I’ve Got No Tears Left To Cry.” Also this week, the first single from the upcoming album by another Carolinian, Laurelyn Dossett, the rising west-coast trio Sweet Sally, and a block of songs inspired by Amy Alvey’s long journey to the Shetland Islands Folk Festival.

My first “bluegrass” album wasn’t really bluegrass but a duet of acoustic guitars and voices on old folk and mountain songs by Tony Rice and Norman Blake. That intimate combo blew me away and kind of changed my life. The format isn’t common but a new duo is embracing it, and they are Geary Allen (of the Burnett Sisters) and John Gooding (of the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys) performing as Geary and John. We’re pleased to present their debut single, “Just Too Lazy,” from an upcoming album on Mountain Fever Records. The Steep Canyon Rangers launch our hour with a new single from what they’re calling a back-to-our-roots album that will be called Next Act, coming May 22. From working man folk territory, check out The Brudi Brothers and their fisherman song called “Silver Wave.” And we’ve got new stuff from Claire Lunch and Jim Lauderdale with the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys as well.

Most virtuoso mandolin players don’t get to make friends with new audiences by the tens of thousands, but Jarrod Walker has done so touring for years with Billy Strings, from sold out arenas and the occasional broken ankle. Now Jarrod is rolling out a debut album. Called Nighthawk, it’s due May 8, and we’ve got the title track in this hour. Walker plays guitar and mandocello too, and he’s joined by Christian Ward (fiddle), Jake Stargel (guitar), Royal Masat (vocals, bass), Cory Walker (banjo), and Mr. Strings as well. We’re excited to hear this full project. Walker says: “I find that with trad bluegrass it’s best to keep things close to home or else you risk losing the essence of the song. I say that now, but ask me how I feel next year.” Also this hour, Sierra Hull goes neo-classical, Nashville banjo man Frank Evans drops a single from his upcoming solo LP, and Darin and Brooke Aldridge deliver upbeat new gospel.

A nice WMOT confluence happened this month around the emerging band Upstream Rebellion. Just as we heard their debut album Headwaters and picked their song “Lonesome Wind” for this week, our program director Jessie Scott independently booked the band for our April 11 WMOT event 895Fest. Which meant I got to find out in real time if the show measured up to the record, and friends, it was at least as good. The guys came together at Western Carolina University in way-out-there Cullowhee, NC, and their mission is specific: “our goal is to carry this tradition forward with heart, honesty, and high energy — creating spaces where everyone feels like part of the family.” Nice. They write original music and they play together really well, knowing their strengths and limits. They will only grow from here. Special notice for their group harmonies; they can really sing. We’ll keep listening. We spin new music from the Lonesome River Band, Thomm Jutz, Unspoken Tradition, and Rick Faris. Also this week, we mark our 200th show, not with any special feature or theme but with a lot of pride and excitement about the years ahead.

Even with the draws of Nashville and Boston, some bluegrass and string band musicians choose to settle in New York City, where the folk boom of the 1950s never died. When I asked mandolinist Jacob Jolliff why he bases in the biggest city in the USA in a String interview this winter, he gave the same answer many artists do – New York has energy, variety and musicianship like nowhere else. That includes bluegrass standout Michael Daves, an astonishing old-school singer and guitar player. The two surprised us with the release of the new covers album We Like Jim And Jesse!, the most clearly articulated tribute concept ever. That’s how we kick off this week’s show, but we’ve also got a hot track from a new live album by Blue Highway celebrating 30 years of classic songs. And we feature several artists who made the Bluegrass Situation’s recent article “Ten Fiddlers We Know You’ll Love” by our pal Rachel Baiman. Amy Alvey is one of them!

The news that Ronnie Bowman was fighting for his life in an ICU after a motorcycle accident spread like wildfire on Sunday, March 22. Later that day, he was confirmed dead, and Nashville bluegrass will not be the same. Ronnie, just 64 years old, was a brilliant singer and songwriter, a lynchpin of the Lonesome River Band’s industry-dominating success and influence in the 1990s, and a favorite human being of everyone who knew him. We quickly re-made our episode to offer a proper tribute to his nearly 40-year career, which you’ll hear in the second half of the show. He will be sorely missed. In the first half, a great mountain-sounding single from The Sullivan Sisters and a bluegrass barnburner from Dailey & Vincent. Plus a bit of Stanley Brothers for y’all as we mark their induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. At LAST.

Earl Jam is back. Two years after releasing his first Grammy-nominated, multi-artist collaboration in the name of Earl Scruggs, banjo legend Tony Trischka has sent Earl Jam 2 into the world, and it continues the surprises, the old standards, the surprising songs in a match of artists and repertoire for our time. To remind you of the backstory. Tony received a gift of a thumb drive with audio recordings of John Hartford jamming with Earl in the 1980s and 90s. There were 200 songs, from classics to quirky takes on pop tunes. And Tony made a deep study of Earl’s solos, finding nuances and ideas that were novel in his life-long pursuit of all things Earl. Here we welcome the release with “Columbus Stockade Blues,” cut with Del and Ronnie McCoury. We’ll have other tracks in the coming weeks of course. Also this week, the newest collab between Jim Lauderdale and the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, Joe Troop’s new folk protest band and song, and the first recording we’ve seen from North Carolina supergroup TANASI.

Nashville’s Bob Minner has straddled the worlds of country music and bluegrass like few others in the modern era as a songwriter and guitar picker. More than 30 years ago, the Missouri native signed on with his lifelong friend Tim McGraw. More recently he’s written songs cut by The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, Jim Lauderdale, Blue Highway and others. Signed now to Billy Blue Records, Minner’s releasing new music of his own, the latest being “Kentucky Bluebird,” written by Don Cook and Wally Wilson back in the 80s and released as an enhanced, posthumous demo recording by Keith Whitley. Minner and McGraw both love Whitley and have used this song as a warm-up before going on stage. So here, McGraw lends his voice, as does Lori McKenna, on a lovely new take on the song. Also this week, Jesse Smathers reworks the old jug band number “Take A Drink On Me” with old-time flair, while Joe Newberry and April Verch welcome spring with the new album and title cut “Blessing On The Wing.”