NEWS: BGS Announces New Brand, Good Country

BGS is proud to announce the launch of a new brand in 2024: GOOD COUNTRY. By this point, you may have seen or heard mentions of Good Country on our site, at our events, and on our socials feeds as we prepare this exciting new expansion for our readers and fans.

Launching in mid-January 2024, Good Country is a curated, bespoke email newsletter that will highlight all good country from across the roots music landscape. Every other week, GC will deliver high-end country music reporting, long reads, playlists, videos, and exclusive content from your favorite country artists direct to your email inbox. As you scroll, you’ll dive into the deep and broad world of Good Country, from gritty and raw Americana to glitzy and glamorous radio hits, from bluegrass supergroups to southern rock ensembles and swampy string bands. Sign up for Good Country now.

“Good Country is a brand new horizon for BGS,” says managing editor Justin Hiltner. “But, at the same time, it’s nothing more than a reinforcement of our values as a media company and roots music community. Country – like its family members bluegrass, folk, and Americana – is more than just music, it’s a lifestyle, an identity, a way of being. There’s so much good country being made out there right now and we know our audience agrees. Whatever ‘good country’ means, you’ll know it when you hear it. And you’ll hear plenty of it in this newsletter!”

Each issue of Good Country will center features, think pieces, and interviews penned by the best writers and thinkers in country music highlighting not just the biggest names in the genre, but new and upstart artists as well. Exclusive newsletter content will live alongside deep dive playlists, sonic explorations, and thoughtful examinations of what country is, who makes it, and to whom it can belong – everyone.

BGS co-founder, actor, activist, and musician Ed Helms, will be featured in each issue as well with “Ed’s Picks,” artists and bands selected by Helms himself, direct from his own listening.

“From the very beginning, BGS was forged on a foundation of celebrating the full spectrum of roots music fans and artists,” explains BGS co-founder Amy Reitnouer Jacobs. “This community has never been one thing, nor has it been static. It’s a diverse, expansive, and ever-changing art form. The same can and should be said for country music. And that’s why now is the perfect time to create a more representative media landscape. It’s time for Good Country.”

Good Country’s first issues will feature music, art, and content featuring Zach Bryan, Sierra Ferrell, Amanda Fields, Veronique Medrano, Shania Twain, Chris Stapleton, Vincent Neil Emerson, Brittney Spencer, and so many more. No matter your entry point to this music, with our new brand and newsletter you will find endless Good Country to enjoy. Interact with content in your email inbox, on our website, and on our social media – wherever you are, Good Country will meet you there.

Good Country isn’t about deciding what is or isn’t good country music. Good Country is a place. It’s a way of looking at the world, a way of enjoying music. If you think it’s good and you think it’s country, then you’ve found Good Country.

Sign up now to be one of the first readers to receive Good Country direct to your email inbox. And, begin your exploration of Good Country with our BGS Class of 2023: Good Country year-end list.


Photo Credit: Zach Bryan by Trevor Pavlik; Vincent Neil Emerson by Thomas Crabtree; Sierra Ferrell by Bobbi Rich.

ANNOUNCING: WinterWonderGrass California Schedule is Here

WinterWonderGrass 2020 is on the horizon and BGS is excited to share the official daily schedule for their California edition, taking place March 27-29th in Squaw Valley, California.

WinterWonderGrass California is excited to present not one, but two headlining sets from rising star Billy Strings, who was named International Bluegrass Music Association’s Guitar Player of the Year in 2019.

In conjunction with the daily schedule announcement, WWG plans to release a limited quantity of single-day tickets starting Thursday, January 23, and weekend General Admissin passes will move to tier 2 pricing the same day. Tickets and more info available here.

“WinterWonderGrass continues to honor the pillars of bluegrass while creating space for the evolution of the genre to flourish. I feel this lineup speaks to that ethos,” festival founder Scotty Stoughton remarks in a press release. “I’m super excited to see first time bands like The War and Treaty, Cris Jacobs Band and Twisted Pine as their jaws drop from the stunning Squaw Valley views surrounding their stage. It’s also an honor to watch Billy Strings continue to grow, and welcome back legends like Peter Rowan.”

Sentimentally, Peter Rowan himself adds, “When the music hits the crystal air at WinterWonderGrass and echoes off the mountains, we are home.”

Gates open at 1:45 PM each day during the 3-day music festival with Friday and Saturday nights’ programming will last until 10:00 PM, and Sunday ends slightly earlier around 9:30 PM. Performances across the Soapbox, Pickin’ Perch and Jamboree stages will see many artists perform two consecutive sets, and each night, performances on the Close Pick stage will close the festival.

Tickets for all three stops are now on sale and moving fast: Colorado | California | Vermont.

VIP tickets to Steamboat’s stop are already sold out, but fans are encouraged to check out the official fan-to-fan ticketing exchange powered by Lyte if they’re in search of tickets as more of the dates and tiers sell out.

See the daily schedules below:


Photo credit: Molly McCormick