Features

Award-Winning Bassist Vickie Vaughn Is Ready to Travel On

After three consecutive IBMA Bass Player of the Year wins, Vaughn has released a powerhouse debut full-length solo album.

Features

Artist of the Month:
Doc in December

Join us in devoting the month of December to American guitar hero Doc Watson.

Features

Lilith Fair Was Its Own Kind of Revolution

We spoke to Paula Cole and film producer Cassidy Hartmann about the iconic women’s festival and a new documentary, Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery.

5+5

BGS 5+5: Jess Jocoy

Get to know singer-songwriter Jess Jocoy with five songs and five questions.

1994 AIDS Benefit Album Red Hot + Country Was Ahead of Its Time

In honor of World AIDS Day, we take a deep dive into this star-studded country compilation and how the unlikely project came to be.

311’s Nick Hexum Trades Hard Rock for Bluegrass and Country

Along with LA punkgrass band Water Tower, lately Hexum has been on an existential and nostalgic string band journey.

BGS 5+5: The Unfaithful Servants

Get to know genre-bending British Columbia string band the Unfaithful Servants with five songs and five questions.

Brennen Leigh’s Modern Retro Country

Her new album, Don’t You Ever Give Up On Love, is a delicious sampling of sounds and styles from country’s golden eras.

100 Years of Grand Ole Opry
Makes a Mighty Book

We spoke to author Craig Shelburne about distilling a century of the world’s longest running radio show into a brand new volume.

BGS 5+5: Frank Evans

Get to know Canadian bluegrass and old-time banjo player Frank Evans with five questions and five songs.

How Courtney Hartman
Made With You

The songwriter-guitarist’s excellent new album is defined by groundedness, parenthood, and community.

Joshua Ray Walker Has Got the Stuff

A cancer diagnosis changed how the country singer-songwriter viewed his earthly belongings – and a new album was born.

BGS Class of 2025: Books

Our picks from the many excellent roots music books released over the past year.

Among Bluegrass Diehards, Red Camel Collective Stands Out

They started as Junior Sisk’s backing band. Now they’re IBMA’s New Artist of the Year.

BGS 5+5: Ocie Elliott

Spend some time with Canadian indie-folk duo Ocie Elliott with a 5+5 interview – five songs and five questions.

Modern Old-Time Sounds From Canada

The Lonesome Ace Stringband spotlights old-time artists, songs, and sounds from the Great White North with their playlist.

Shooter Jennings’ Heartfelt Tribute to His Legendary Father

Songbird is just the first of three posthumous Waylon Jennings albums to be crafted by his prolific son.

Chris Thile Infuses Himself Into Bach’s Partitas and Sonatas

12 years on, Vol. 2 of Thile’s renditions of Bach’s iconic violin compositions contain even more of his own personality and perspective.

How-dee! And Happy 100 to the Grand Ole Opry

What began as a barn dance promoting insurance has become a musical and cultural powerhouse across multiple generations.

Jake Owen Started Bro Country. His New Album is Anything But

Dreams to Dream, produced by Shooter Jennings, is a sonic left turn for an artist who epitomizes 2000s mainstream country.

BGS 5+5: Bryan McDowell

Bluegrass fiddler, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter Bryan McDowell shares songs and stories in a BGS 5+5 interview.

Laurel Premo’s Songs of Grief and Opening

The songs of this playlist all have the power to help bring a glimpse or a full serving of transformation. This is music to guide us to enter ourselves.

Technology and Tradition Combine on Sierra Hull’s Signature Gibson Mandolins

Just like her music, the two brand new signature model instruments combine bluegrass roots with cutting edge innovation.

Briscoe Hit The Road and Wrote a Country Album

“We are very proud to be part of the greater Texas subgenre of Americana, folk, and country music… that’s where we’re always going to want to be.”