Lindsay Lou’s Bluegrass Women arrived in August 2026 as a true gift to the genre.

Nascent for over a decade, this project took root back in 2015 when Lou started a list containing two titles — “I Only Exist” and “All I Ever Loved Was You.” Though primarily associated with the men who popularized them, both bluegrass standards were written or co-written by women. Thus marked the start of an impassioned cataloguing as Lou realized, “If these two songs have surfaced for me, then there have got to be so many more. I would keep this list somewhere I could see it in my office, wherever I lived,” she relayed recently in an interview with Live for Live Music.

Ten years later, ten traditional songs had made their way to the forefront of her list, all of which were written, co-written, or first performed by women. While forging her own career in this male-dominated sphere, she found encouragement in her continuous unearthing of women among the forebears.

Women have always been essential to the architecture of the bluegrass, however quieted their contributions may have been. With more women in the spotlight than ever before, Lindsay Lou felt inspired to weave a throughline between contemporary “bluegrass women” and their ancestors. In March 2025, she partnered with co-producer Shani Gandhi to round up an intergenerational cast of twenty women defining the genre today. A Tetris of tour schedules, this star-studded cast managed to complete the compilation in only four days of recording, with Lou masterminding ensembles and arrangements.

Together, this collection of women celebrates their musical predecessors, shedding new light upon many of the women woven throughout bluegrass history. Join us as we explore, in no particular order, the tremendous trove of talent responsible for the masterpiece that is Bluegrass Women.

Laurie Lewis

Truly a singular talent, Laurie Lewis remains an unwavering pillar of the bluegrass scene and beyond. A hero to every participant on Bluegrass Women, Lewis’s singing, songwriting, and fiddling continue to inspire across generations.

Among her inordinate accolades includes co-founding The Good Ol’ Persons in the ‘70s, one of the first prominent all-women bluegrass groups. Her musings traverse across genres, slinging folk, Americana, and country influences to boot. She is heralded in the music scene as an avid collaborator, producer, teacher, and mentor, in addition to actively tending to her own projects. Her most recent record, O California! arrived in January 2026, released by her band, Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands.

The inaugural notes of Bluegrass Women are played by Laurie Lewis and Tatiana Hargreaves in a glorious twin fiddle kick on the opening track “All I Ever Loved Was You” (though recorded and popularized Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley, its lyrics were penned by Skagg’s mother, Dorothy). Hargreaves has said of her fiddling counterpart, “I wouldn’t be playing the music I play if it weren’t for Laurie Lewis,” a sentiment that echoes the interconnectedness of musicianship at the project’s core.

Tatiana Hargreaves

Of her fiddling counterpart, Laurie Lewis boasts, “Tatiana Hargreaves is a versatile, powerful, and deep musician. Not just a damn good fiddler.” Having recorded her debut album at age 14 and winning first prize at the Clifftop Appalachian Fiddle Contest the same year, Tatiana Hargreaves has truly packed a punch in the decade and a half (and change) since. With a range of styles under her belt, Hargreaves’ fluency in both bluegrass and old-time grants her a dextrous dynamism. At present, she teaches improvisation and bluegrass fiddle at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and primarily records and performs in a duo with prolific banjo player Allison de Groot (also featured on Bluegrass Women), and with her four-piece old time band, Hard Drive.

On Bluegrass Women, Hargreaves lends her fearsome fiddling to three tracks — “All I Ever Loved Was You,” “Jubilee,” and “Won’t You Come and Sing for Me.”

Allison de Groot

A clawhammer banjo player from Winnipeg, Canada, Allison de Groot became familiar with the scene by way of The Duhks, a renowned Canadian folk-fusion band likewise out of Winnipeg. As she traced the lineage of the clawhammer banjo, she became enamored with its prominence in the American South and became a teacher and performer. Between lessons and many trips to the southeastern United States, a love affair with old-time took root. Her duo with Tatiana Hargreaves continues the centuries-long conversation between fiddle and banjo; their creative alchemy doulas the dialogue to new depths.

De Groot lends her banjo playing to the tracks “I’ve Endured” and “High on a Mountain” on Bluegrass Women.

Maddie Witler

While primarily known for her virtuosic mandolin playing, Maddie Witler began her musical journey at age 9 on the fiddle. If those skills weren’t enough, in the time since, Witler has made her acquaintance with most stringed instruments, adeptly fluent in each language. After growing up in the greater LA area and moving to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music, she became a founding member of the illustrious Lonely Heartstring Band. In 2019, Witler joined Della Mae, one of the most prominent all-women groups of the contemporary bluegrass landscape, parting ways with them in 2022. In 2021, Witler released her first solo album, Astronaut, debuting her skills as a songwriter, singer, and arranger.

On Bluegrass Women, Witler edifies the tracks “All I Ever Loved Was You,” “Jubilee,” and “Won’t You Come and Sing for Me” with her apt mandolin contributions.

Alison Brown

Alison Brown, too, is a widely influential instrumentalist whose work has permeated across generations. She reunited with her love of bluegrass banjo playing when, after receiving an MBA from UCLA, she quit her job on Wall Street to tour with Alison Krauss & Union Station. She also toured with Michelle Shocked before forming her own group in 1993, The Alison Brown Quartet. With 12 solo albums, a Grammy, and multiple Grammy nominations under her belt, Brown is largely regarded as one of the most accomplished banjo players of our time.

Of recording with Alison Brown and Laurie Lewis for Bluegrass Women, Lindsay Lou speaks to the experience’s profoundness in her four-part YouTube series documenting the album’s recording.

She reflects, “We’ve seen mentorship and cross-generational connection and collaboration happen on stage with men plenty, but you haven’t seen it as much with women historically. To be a part of a session with Laurie and Alison, who have been doing this for so many more years than anybody else on the session, you instantly have this reverence.”

Alison Brown lends her banjo playing to the tracks “All I Ever Loved Was You,” “Jubilee,” and “Won’t You Come and Sing for Me.”

Hasee Ciaccio

Hasee Ciaccio is a musician and educator residing in North Carolina. Her upright bass playing has earned high praise in the bluegrass circuit, with Ciaccio having recorded and toured among the likes of Laurie Lewis, Alice Gerrard, and bluegrass powerhouse group Sister Sadie. Ciaccio is also on the board of Bluegrass Pride, an organization working to uplift LGBTQ+ bluegrass musicians of all levels.

Ciaccio’s bass playing lays the foundation for much of Bluegrass Women. She’s featured on seven of the ten tracks — “All I Ever Loved Was You,” “Like a River,” “I Only Exist,” “Jubilee,” ”Won’t You Come and Sing for Me,” “Freight Train,” “Your Lone Journey,” and “CC Rider.”

Courtney Hartman

A champion flat-picker, Courtney Hartman grew up in Colorado with nine siblings, four of whom she played music with. Because they needed one to play guitar, and inspired by her mother taking lessons, Hartman gravitated to the instrument following stints with piano, fiddle, and violin.

After attending Berklee College of Music, Hartman spent seven years recording and touring with Della Mae. Her newest solo album, With You, began during an isolated, heavy moment. Shortly after discovering that she was pregnant, a string of tumultuous events (her husband falling off a ladder and rendered immobile for months, a totaled car, being dropped from her booking agency) ravaged her life in quick succession. Following the birth of her daughter, Hartman forged her own list of women to draw inspiration from — ones who had continued their creative practice in the midst of becoming mothers. Their navigation of caregiving and musicianship imbued faith that she, too, could straddle both. With You features many of the mothers that inspired Hartman, both as co-writers and musical guests.

In a full-circle moment, Hartman joined Lindsay Lou’s project, the entirety of which was recorded while Lou was pregnant with her first child. Hartman is credited on the tracks “I Only Exist,” “Like a River,” and “Freight Train.”

Gena Britt

Gena Britt, a connoisseur of both bluegrass banjo and bass, is no stranger to a project like Bluegrass Women. In 2001, Britt co-founded Daughters of Bluegrass, a collective of over 40 women in bluegrass who have recorded four albums to date. In addition to being a highly sought-after studio vocalist and instrumentalist, with solo projects also under her belt, Gena is currently a member of the dynamic Sister Sadie.

Gena is featured on six tracks on Bluegrass Women — “Your Lone Journey,” “Freight Train,” “Like a River,” “High on a Mountain,” “I Only Exist,” and “CC Rider.”

AJ Lee

A prominent presence in today’s bluegrass scene, AJ Lee is lauded for her acute mandolin skills, unparalleled vocals, and sharp songwriting. Hailing from the Bay Area, at age 7 she was asked to join The Tuttles, a family band consisting of bluegrass educator Jack Tuttle and his two children, (you guessed it) Molly and Sully. Around the time she graduated high school in 2015, AJ sewed the seeds culminating in her own band, AJ Lee and Blue Summit. The group just released their fourth full-length album, Cover to Cover, earlier this month.

On Bluegrass Women, AJ’s artistry can be found on the tracks “Freight Train,” “Like a River,” and “I Only Exist.”

Wila Frank

Wila Frank is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer based out of Nashville. One half of the emergent folk duo Paper Wings, and fiddler/electric guitarist for Lindsay Lou, Frank also champions her own stirring solo repertoire. Her debut album, Black Cloud (2023), received critical acclaim, and a 2026 single release, “Emergency Contact,” hints towards more in the works (we hope!).

Frank appears on half of Bluegrass Woman, credited on the tracks “Like a River,” “High on a Mountain,” “I Only Exist,” “CC Rider,” and “Your Lone Journey.”

Brittany Haas

Widely regarded as one of the most prolific fiddlers of her generation, Brittany Haas is an absolute flurry of talent. Her playing is sensitive, inspired, and expansive. Her current projects include her duo with her cellist sister (Natalie Haas), the innovative instrumental project, Hawktail, and as the newest member of the Grammy-winning Punch Brothers. A teacher and performer, Haas’s playing is infectiously inspiring to all who listen.

Haas joins Bluegrass Women on the tracks “High on a Mountain” and “I’ve Endured.”

Sally Van Meter

Another former member of the Good Ol’ Persons alongside Laurie Lewis, Sally Van Meter is a musical giant in her own right. Though primarily recognized for her dobro playing, Van Meter is dextrous on an assortment of string instruments. With a professional music career that began in 1976, Sally Van Meter’s past five decades have been an impressive spread of performance, teaching, touring, and recording.

Van Meter plays on “CC Rider,” a traditional 12-bar blues song first written and recorded by Ma Rainey, the “Mother of Blues.” The song was later covered by a vast assortment of artists, at one point becoming a mainstay opening number for Elvis Presely.

Sierra Hull

Legendary mandolinist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Sierra Hull could fill a dictionary with the accomplishments of her career, despite being just 34 years old. A six-time Grammy nominee and the first ever woman to receive the IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year honor (having now won seven times), Sierra Hull is a groundbreaking artist in the bluegrass scene. She released her fifth studio album, A Tip Toe High Wire, last year.

Hull’s talent enriches two tracks on Bluegrass Women — “High on a Mountain” and “I’ve Endured.” Of the songs, Sierra remarks, “These are songs that seep into your DNA. When you can step out of your own original lane for a minute and go back to what feels like the source, there’s something really powerful about that. It takes me back to who I am in a really grounding kind of way.”

Bronwyn

As anyone who’s heard a Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway record knows, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes is an astonishing fiddler, brilliance and fire emanating through her every performance. Recently, though, she’s exposed even more of her talents to the world — she’s begun a solo project as simply Bronywn, playing, singing, recording, and touring original material. Her third album, Rattlin’ Bones, was released on the same day as Bluegrass Women.

The amicable dissolution of Golden Highway allowed for Bronwyn to open up the floodgates of self discovery; in fact, she cites bandmates Molly Tuttle and Shelby Means as chief proponents of Bronwyn exploring her voice. She says, “There was a large part of my life where I didn’t sing and was only interested in playing the fiddle, but being on tour with Golden Highway and around Molly and Shelby, these great female bluegrass vocalists, it shifted everything.”

Bronwyn’s fiddling appears on the tracks “Freight Train,” “Like a River” and “I Only Exist” on Bluegrass Women.

Molly Tuttle

Molly Tuttle herself, too, joins the record — yet another nod to the interweavings present among this group of women. Tuttle’s reputation precedes her, as the first woman to win IBMA’s Guitar Player of the Year (an award she earned two years in a row). Likewise, her albums Crooked Tree (2022) and City of Gold (2023) with her band, Golden Highway, each took home the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album. For her new solo album, So Long Little Miss Sunshine (2025), Tuttle shifts into new stretches and shapes, tackling elements of pop, rock, flat-picking, and country in one fell swoop.

Tuttle joins for the song “Freight Train,” penned by the superlative Elizabeth Cotten, a self-taught, left-handed guitarist who wrote the song around the age of 11 in the early 20th century.

Emma Rose

Yet another multi-hyphenate talent, Emma Rose is a groundbreaking singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and sought-after upright bass player. She was a founding member of the juggernaut all-women outfit, Big Richard, and she currently tours with Lindsay Lou, while also nurturing a solo project, under the names Emma Rose or Sounds of Honey.

Emma Rose lends bass playing to Bluegrass Women on “I Only Exist,” “High on a Mountain” and “I’ve Endured.”

Sarah Jarosz

Sarah Jarosz’s sublime vocals, instrumental prowess, and narrative-driven songwriting render her an unsurpassed talent. With seven full-length solo albums to her name, three albums with supergroup I’m With Her (alongside Aoife O’Donovan and Sara Watkins), and a sprawling inventory of collaborations, Jarosz’s contributions to the roots scene have been nothing short of magnificent.

Jarosz is featured on the track “I’ve Endured,” written by the brilliant Appalachian singer, songwriter, and banjo player Ola Belle Read.

Phoebe Hunt

A fiddler of dynamic abundance, Phoebe Hunt has explored for decades the multiplicity of sound her instrument can produce. She’s spent years touring for various projects and for her own solo work, all the while founding a non-profit called Fuel Our Fire, garnering transformational songwriting experiences for at-risk communities. She’s also a gifted educator, and she began an initiative to help parents teach their children how to play the ukulele during the pandemic. Her most recent album, Nothing Else Matters (2023) features only the voice and fiddle, a peeled back honoring of her musicality in its most vulnerable form.

Hunt joins on Bluegrass Women for an awe-inspiring rendition of Hazel Dickens’s “Won’t You Come and Sing For Me.”

Jenni Lyn Gardner

Jenni Lyn Gardner is a robust singer, songwriter, producer, and mandolinist. She rose to prominence in the bluegrass scene when she joined Della Mae in 2010, and remained in the band for nearly a decade-long stretch. She’s also fronted her own solo project, and has served as a producer on countless albums and tracks across the roots music landscape.

Jenni Lyn Gardner joins Bluegrass Women for two tracks — “Your Lone Journey,” a song co-written by Doc Watson and his wife, Rosa Lee, and “CC Rider.”

Aoife O’Donovan

One of the most treasured voices in bluegrass, Aoife O’Donovan is a Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and guitar player. She’s widely known for her lead vocals as a founding member of the unparalleled Crooked Still (which fellow Bluegrass Women musician Brittany Haas later joined) and for her role as one-third of I’m With Her. O’Donovan has a penchant for evocative lyrics, textured storytelling, and hypnotic vocals. In addition to her many collaborations and features, O’Donovan has released four critically-acclaimed albums of solo work.

On Bluegrass Women, Aoife is featured on the track “Your Lone Journey.”

Find out more about Lindsay Lou’s project with an episode of her mini-doc on BGS.

Lead image: Tatiana Hargreaves, Laurie Lewis, and Lindsay Lou by Sawyer Gieseke