Rhiannon Giddens can sing and arrange anything from contemporary country to global groove to opera, but man we love it when she sings unadorned folk music. On her most recent album What Did The Blackbird Say To The Crow? she played old-time banjo with fiddler Justin Robinson (they were founding members together of the Carolina Chocolate Drops). But on her upcoming album Hope Is The Thing With Feathers (due Sept. 18 from Nonesuch) she lets her voice twine round the old lyrics of “High On A Mountain” and the new single “Freight Train,” the classic by Elizabeth Cotten. She made the album with her recent touring companion Dirk Powell and we are excited about it. Also this week, Jake Blount releases one of his most exciting and hard-driving sides, with a unique interpretation of “Shady Grove.” Thomas Cassell picks with Frank Rische from his new mando/guitar duos album. And Austin roots cats Tony Kamel and Kym Warner really hit one with the original “That Guy.”

Lindsay Lou came to Nashville from Michigan about a decade ago leading her band The Flatbellys, and they were, I would say, bluegrass-plus or bluegrass-adjacent. With a voice as supple as hers, she feels free to go in a lot of folk and Americana directions. But there’s nothing fuzzy about the point of her new album Lindsay Lou Presents Bluegrass Women. This, folks, is one of the year’s biggest releases, because of the caliber of repertoire (all women writers) and musicianship (all women), with LL’s gorgeous pipes leading the way. It’s a snapshot of where bluegrass music is today, with a rich array of guests. On its release weekend we featured the Hazel Dickens classic “Won’t You Come And Sing For Me” with Tatiana Hargreaves, Phoebe Hunt, Maddie Witler, Alison Brown, and Hasee Ciaccio. We look ahead with songs from upcoming albums by JP Harris and Mountain Grass Unit. I love the new instrumental from Colorado flatpicker Alex Graff. And we have a set of music curated by Amy Alvey, inspired by her recent sojourn in Milwaukee, WI. So naturally we’ve got Jimmy Martin singing “Milwaukee Here I Come.”

Kenny Feinstein is a character, and you’d better be when your business is making bluegrass and trad music in Los Angeles. For twenty years now, he’s led the band Water Tower, building a scene, playing live, and kicking out albums and bootlegs. He brings street energy and DIY ethos to roots. We mark here the release of his latest, an album under his own name called Lonesome LA Cowboy. The title track is a Peter Rowan country-rock cover, but other tracks, including the week’s “Richmond Prison” merge the old vine mountain sound with his unique cityscape. The personnel is top-tier, including Carter and Jason Eddy, Ron Stewart and the killer singer Michael Daves. This one scratches a lot of itches. Also this week, a new album from Louisiana master Dirk Powell, Colorado hippie grassers Slay And Stinson, an advance single from Matt Combs, and a new song from Asheville’s The Wilder Flower.

I was recently thinking how what this show needed was a fiddle player who could jam while skiing black diamond slopes in Colorado, and how about that? Amy Alvey introduced me to the music of just such a guy, Andy Reiner, who makes his show debut this week. “I’ll tell you what. Andy is a big reason I got into old-time music,” Amy says in this hour. “He was a senior when I was a freshman at Berklee, and he was just so welcoming to somebody like me who had never played fiddle tunes.” Reiner plays in several bands and teaches extensively. The tune Amy selected is from his album of originals called Tunes For Time Travel. Also this hour, new music from two different sisters bands – Burnett and Sullivan, as well as a hot new single from Michigan’s Full Cord, where they’re joined in their jam by a certain Billy Strings. Historic tracks come from Hot Rize and the Lynn Morris Band.

Years ago, one of my most trusted music hound recommendation friends urged me to check out a Canadian folk duo called the Small Glories, and when I did, I was blown away, especially in live performance and especially by the bold charm of singer Cara Luft. Alas the Glories have gone on to glory as a band, but Cara, a veteran of the great and legendary Wailin’ Jennys, is out with My Heart Will Always Be, her first solo album in 13 years. Some of it’s more rhythmic and Americana feeling, but we’re happy to share the clawhammer-driven title track. The album’s been available in physical formats and download sale only, but it will soon be streaming. Also this week, the exciting first single from Linday Lou’s upcoming all-star album Bluegrass Women, a new instrumental from Alan Bibey inspired by his late mentor Herschel Sizemore, a new album from Ashby Frank, and a naturalistic new single by Michael Prewitt.

With the year at the halfway point and Amy Alvey on the road, I decided to devote an hour to bluegrass in 2026 - so far. Besides albums I think are bound for strong consideration in our year-end wrap, I wanted to spotlight projects that were innovative or newsworthy, hence Sierra Hull’s neo-classical string band Movements and the Bela Fleck/Renee Fleming collaboration next to The Asheville Mountain Boys, Appalachian Road Show and the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys with Jim Lauderale. The Infamous Stringdusters outdid themselves coming up with 20 songs to celebrate 20 years of bandhood on their 20/20 album. We lead with Big Richard, the Colorado power quartet that’s brought a new brand of feminism to newgrass. Veranda brings bluegrass en Français from Quebec. Instrumentalists Frank Evans and Jarrod Walker make strong debuts. All songs are tracks we have not yet played. What a feast. What’s next??

I became aware of Sophie Wellington as a fiddler first, but on her impressive and important new album Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still, the Boston-based artist mingles other musical elements: flatpick guitar, voice, and percussive dance. Sophie was raised around old-time Appalachian culture and music in Staunton, VA and then studied at Berklee’s Roots Music program. Here, on the instrumental “Scolding Wife,” she lays down a mystical guitar rendition, blended with the taps, scrapes and brushes of her shoes, and it’s wildly fresh and mesmerizing. The great percussive dancer Nic Gareiss says it well: “Sophie darts between genres and instruments with dexterity and heart. Here, on this guitar-focused offering, Sophie sings, dances, and paints flatpicked lines integrating gesture and sound with impeccable groove and poise.” Also this hour, Doyle Lawsom and Jerry Sally team up on a classic that teases an upcoming Delmore Brothers tribute album. Mason Via gets help from Lucinda Williams on a timely Woody Guthrie song. And AJ Lee sings a hit from the heyday of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

I love that the Sullivan Sisters chose this photo in front of the Chicago skyline as the cover of Carolina Bluebird, their debut EP of 2025, because it turns out we have a journey in common. We moved from North Carolina to Evanston, IL and got serious about bluegrass music there on the north shore of one of the greatest cities in the world. I moved for college at Northwestern. For their dad, it was to teach saxophone there. Nice. So, the sisters came up in a musical household and got tons of support as they skilled up on banjo (Luciya) and guitar (Soraya). They started winning contests and playing widely. Now they’ve now scaled their duo up to a five-piece band and found a label home at Dark Shadow in Nashville. We love the clawhammer feel and mountain modal mood of their first single “Devil’s Got A Hold On You,” and there’s more to come as they gear up for an album planned for early 2027. Also this week, new singles from Unspoken Tradition, Dale Ann Bradley, and Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen.

The Sentimental Gentlemen are like stray energy kicked off by Nashville’s historically rich contemporary bluegrass scene. You may recognize them if you follow the top tiers of Americana music, because mandolinist Josh Rilko, fiddler/guitarist Oliver Bates Craven and bass player Geoff Saunders are the acoustic touring band for country star Sierra Ferrell. When she’s off the road, these guys team up with a rotating cast of extra pickers such as Jacob Groopman, Kyle Tuttle, George Guthrie, and Tod Livingston to round out their sound. They’re touring more and now starting to release music of their own. As we saw last fall when they played a showcase at World of Bluegrass, they have a way with Sentimentalizing old folk and rock songs, and this week they offered up Neil Young’s “Love Is A Rose” and we’re excited to share it with you. Also, we lead off with an exciting first single from Bronwyn Keith-Hynes’s next album (“Sticks And Stones”), along with the news that she’s taken the step of shortening her performance name to Bronwyn alone. She can do that because she’s one of a kind.

I’m learning to hear the subtle variations in the way different clawhammer banjo players approach the age-old instrument, but there’s no mistaking the language of Benny Bleu. He’s a contemplative songwriter/composer from the Finger Lakes region of New York. And his bio puts it this way: “As a former geologist, his songwriting is Earth-focused and inspired by the natural world. Benny’s performances are soothing journeys through tunes from his homeland, old songs learned by growing up next to a jug-bandleader, and original modern folk contemplations.” His piece “March of the Mollusk” was released in 2023 as the title track of a solo banjo instrumental album. He reanimates it here with Huck and Gus Tritsch of the Wild Shoats (which got our attention). The result is an old-time groove unlike anything we’ve heard, yet deeply down to Earth. Also this week, some artists getting set to play the Telluride Bluegrass Festival (if they rename it Telluride Bleugrass, maybe Benny will play.) Also new music from Nashville, including newgrass trio Arcadian Wild, banjo picker Taylor Shuck, and charming, country-leaning songwriter Rylie Bourne.