Sister Sadie Are
At Their Strongest, Together

The last time BGS spoke at length with Sister Sadie, in December 2020, they were two-time IBMA winners, GRAMMY nominees, and clearly on their trailblazing way with two albums to their credit. Fast-forward five years and the group, now in its thirteenth year, is back as BGS Artist of the Month with their new and fourth album, All Will Be Well, following last year’s No Fear.

Sister Sadie 2025 includes founding members Gena Britt (banjo, vocals) and Deanie Richardson (fiddle) with Jaelee Roberts (guitar, lead vocals), Dani Flowers (guitar, vocals), Rainy Miatke (mandolin, vocals), and Katie Blomarz-Kimball (bass, vocals). Along the way to solidifying this lineup, the band notched a few more personal and professional milestones. Since becoming the first all-female band to win IBMA Entertainer of the Year in 2020 they’ve won three Vocal Group of the Year awards from the trade organization as well; performed at The Grand Ole Opry numerous times, fulfilled what they describe as “our ongoing bucket list” of goal festivals and other dates they hoped to play; charted several Number One singles; and were among the artists requested to perform at Patty Loveless’s Country Music Hall of Fame induction.

All Will Be Well is the band’s second project for the Mountain Home Music Company label. It was tracked at Crossroads Recording Studios in Arden, North Carolina, with Clay Miller engineering and Richardson producing. While the band did not set out to write a concept album, All Will Be Well is in many ways just that in its explorations of life lessons, experiences gained, and finding closure – the latter powerfully represented in “Let The Circle Be Broken,” a revealing take on ending the cycle of generational trauma.

Sister Sadie gathered together from various points to speak with BGS. Their six-member Artist of the Month interview, following, has been edited for space and clarity.

How have your many accomplishments to date brought the band to this point?

Deanie Richardson: We never intended to be a full-time band. We were friends who played a one-off at the Station Inn. That went so well that we decided to do another one. Gena started getting phone calls from promoters and we thought, “That might be fun. Let’s do it.” From there, we got a call from a record label and it grew organically, doing everything ourselves, because we weren’t looking to do it a hundred percent.

With every person that’s come into Sister Sadie, the whole band has shifted. The energy changes every time you bring in a new vocalist, a new player. You have to just let this thing guide itself. With each personnel change comes a new sound and you have to rebuild and regroup. I feel like that has happened since the last time we spoke with you guys. With Katie and Rainy here now, the energy feels perfect.

We finally have this team around us – booking agents, management, publicists – helping now and we get to focus more on the music and the amazing women in this band. So, for me, it feels like every step led to where we are right now, and it feels so right.

Gena Britt: With these personnel changes we’ve gained some wonderful songwriters, and they bring this creativity to the band. Like Deanie said, we’ve evolved into what we are today and that has a lot to do with being together, being creative together, growing as a band, and Deanie and I growing as businesswomen. It’s incredible to think of where we were when we first started and had no intention of doing this. And here we are. We have an incredible team behind us and it’s working. All the ingredients are here.

Let’s talk about the theme of All Will Be Well and sequencing the songs to tell that story.

Dani Flowers: When we went in to make the record, we definitely did not go, “This is [the title], this is the theme, and this is what it’s going to be about.” But it almost feels like we did.

We all write songs and send them to each other in Dropbox, an Apple Music playlist, and listen to them over and over. We put our opinions in as to what we might want to sing, what we hear other people singing, what songs we think are a good fit for the band, and it comes together into this thing that we almost never could have planned.

I do feel there is an overarching production style, even a theme, throughout the sequencing. But it wasn’t planned, which is the crazy thing. Deanie did the sequencing, and even outside of the band we’ve had so many folks comment on how it’s such a journey. I think the sequencing on this record is really something.

DR: The title No Fear was about Gena and I facing fears of losing some powerful personnel and deciding, “Do we want to quit? Do we want to keep going?” We decided we wanted to be all in, no fear, let’s get a team around us and do this thing. When Dani brought “All Will Be Well,” the Gabe Dixon song, I thought instantly that would be a great title, coming from No Fear: “We’re going all in on this thing, and whatever happens, all will be well.”

Once we finished the record, I started listening to the tunes. I would go on walks around the neighborhood, listen to the record over and over, and it felt like a journey. It felt like you’re taking a trip or a drive, starting with “Winnebago.” Jaelee’s singing is so powerful – that had to be the first song. You step in this Winnebago, you’re going through your drive, and then “I Wish It Would Rain” just felt like the next thing.

I imagined this person going through … call it a trip or just life in general and that being the case with this sequencing. It’s telling a big story. There’s a lot of personal connections in the writing and the song choices, from “Let The Circle Be Broken” to “First Time Liar” to all of it. This record is a representation of the deepest parts of all of us.

DF: Sister Sadie members had a hand in nine out of these thirteen songs. So there’s a lot of originals here, there’s a lot of our personal stories, our personal feelings and experiences, and it’s not perfect. I love that the record is called All Will Be Well. It’s not “all is well at this very moment.” It’s that even when we make mistakes, when we are in good moods, in bad moods, we have this overall feeling that we are going to get where we want to go. It might not be butterflies and daisies right now, but we know we’re going to get there.

Jaelee Roberts: The sequencing really is quite something, because these songs means so much to all of us individually. Even though I didn’t have a hand in writing them, at the time that I was in my life, some of these songs meant so much to me. The fact that I got to sing some of them, that they trust me to sing their songs, is so cool. I was excited when Deanie sent the sequencing to listen to our final mixes in that order, because it really is like going on a journey. The sequencing is absolutely perfect.

Can you select one track and walk us through the recording process?

DR: We all play acoustic instruments, so from sitting in my kitchen with our instruments, working out arrangements, that’s how we walk into the sessions. We recorded at Crossroads and we trust Clay Miller a lot. He’s great. He sets up the mics, we walk in and record. There’s not a lot of discussion as far as gear and mics.

The song lets you know what it needs. It will arrange itself and produce itself. “Winnebago,” for instance, has dissonant chords. I heard right away a B-3 organ accenting that. So on that song there’s electric guitar, steel guitar, the B-3, some piano. We brought things in that add an incredible amount of texture to our bluegrass instrumentation, our acoustic instruments.

GB: When we got to the studio, I had just acquired a baritone banjo that I hadn’t had an opportunity to play very much. It really lent itself to the sound of “Winnebago” and “Do What You Want.” I don’t know how to explain the feel of that song, but it just fit so well. So I played baritone banjo on a couple of tunes, which was great.

How do your playing styles and backgrounds come together to create the band’s sound?

DF: We are all such music fans, and through our upbringings and our own exploration of music, we’ve all been exposed to the best songs. We have pretty high standards when it comes to writing our lyrics and what we want to sing. We love a good lyric. We love creative harmonies. We have great instrumentalists in this band, so we especially love a melody with a really cool hook.
You can find that in any genre. Onstage we quite often cover rock and roll songs, pop songs, old and new country songs. Katie comes from a jazz background. Rainy comes more from West Coast bluegrass. Gena and Jaelee and Deanie all come from traditional bluegrass. I come strictly from a country background. You can find a good song, good lyrics, good melodies, in any genre.

Katie Blomarz-Kimball: My background is in jazz. I didn’t really grow up with country or bluegrass music. Since I’ve lived in Nashville for about ten years now, I’ve definitely dipped my toe into the genres, but it’s hard when you’re playing with some of the best bluegrass musicians on the scene to come in and not be like, “Am I good enough for this? Can I do this?”

One of the very first things Deanie said to me at the rehearsal two hours before the first show I ever played with them was, “I want you to play like you would play it.” That was important to me, because there is a really interesting perspective that can happen when people from different backgrounds come together in one group. And I think it can change, depending on what naturally migrates as a group. Adding some of my quirky bass playing can influence one way or another for things to have a different feel or vibrancy behind it that maybe shifts the music slightly. It’s definitely a fun part of this experience for me.

DR: We all come from different genres of music that we love, but we have country and bluegrass as a deep-rooted passion. That’s basically why we’re here. Because we are so creatively different, I think that’s a plus. Each of us brings something to the situation that changes it, adds to it, and you have to figure out ways to highlight or bring to the table everyone’s strengths. Once you do that, the sound starts coming together.

Deanie, you produced All Will Be Well. What does the term “producer” mean to you? Is it a democratic process?

DR: It is democratic up to pushing the red button. Everybody has input, but there comes a time when you have to call it, when you have to say, “That’s brilliant. I’m sure you think you could do it better, but I don’t need better. I need feel; I need it to feel a certain way.” This is a killer band, and they don’t need me to tell them how to play or sing. But there has to be some person that says, “You just wrecked me, you just turned me into a puddle on the floor, and I’m not going let you do it again because of that.” That’s what a producer is for me.

We all arrange these songs, pick these songs, write these songs, and at the end of the day, we’re making great records that I am so proud of. That’s not because of something I did. That’s because of something this band did. It’s a group effort. It is six very talented, capable women who I respect and value tremendously. It’s just that there has to be someone calling the shots, if you will.

Could we talk about writing “Let The Circle Be Broken” and presenting it to the band?

DR: We spend a lot of time in the car together, riding up and down the road, so we talk about everything. We know each other’s deepest, darkest secrets. We know the pain we’ve been through, the love we’ve been through, the relationships we’ve been in. We know everything about each other. I love being with a group of people you’re that connected to and that close with, and getting to be creative with them and make music together. That’s the ultimate thing for me. That’s honestly why I stay in tears all the time – because I love these women so much.

Dani, Erin Enderlin, and I got together right after my dad died. We were talking about all the shit I went through as a child growing up with him and all that Dani went through having an abusive mother. Each of the women in this band has experienced some form of generational trauma or abuse from someone in our lives. When we brought the song to the band, everyone knew my story and Dani’s, so it wasn’t a surprise.

Everyone was very supportive about telling the story and getting the song out, and it felt like the right time to do it. Once he passed away, I was ready to finally talk about it. It’s a very personal story, but it doesn’t say anything specific about what I went through. The song hopefully relates to anyone who’s experienced any sort of abuse.

We didn’t write it to make a statement. We wrote it because that’s where we all were, having that conversation that day. The more we talked, the more the song came to life. It was a beautiful thing and very therapeutic to write. I am extremely proud of how it came out, what each girl brought to this tune, and how they supported and loved me through it.

How do you protect yourself, mentally and emotionally, when performing the song live?

DR: Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I cry, sometimes I get upset. I just want to feel the song as I feel it every night. Some nights it’s just a song for me, some nights I just want to get through it, some nights I feel so much peace with it, and some nights I feel like he’s there. We played in Ogden, Utah, recently, and I could feel his presence and I got very upset.

One night in a theater I looked over at the girls while we were playing the song and I thought about each of them individually and how I know all these things about them. I know the struggles they’ve been through, the people who’ve hurt them, all the things they’ve felt, and struggled with, and beat, and have experienced in their lives.

At that moment, the song was theirs too. It was their experience as well. That night, walking across the stage as I’m playing that play-out at the end, I looked at each of them and told them I loved them as I walked by them. I’ve been doing that every night since, because I don’t feel like it’s just my song. I feel like it represents each of us. These are strong, amazing, talented women, and I’m so grateful to be in their presence every day.

DF: For me, this song is about the fact that we are in control now. We have the ability to stop the cycle that’s happened through our families and could very well carry on to our own children, if we didn’t take accountability, stand up, and say, “This goes no further.” So, for me, there’s not really a need for protection. It’s more letting it all out. Watching the crowd’s reaction every time we perform it is so therapeutic because you can tell there’s always somebody that really needed to hear what we had to say.

You both used the word “therapeutic.” What part does music play in your healing, in your mental health?

DR: It’s the only reason I’m still alive.

DF: To put it in perspective, imagine going through one of the worst things a person could go through, then to live your life and get to a place where … like, for Deanie, her dad passing away … to be able to sit down with two other women that are going, “I know almost exactly what you’re talking about. I have been through this as well. We are going to get it all out through the thing we all love the most.” And then to take that song you wrote that’s so honest and so vulnerable, play it for the people you’re in a band with, and have them all react with such compassion, saying, “Yeah, we have to do this.” And not only record the song, but there also was a conversation about how much we’re going to say about what the song is about, because some of us are really ready to talk about the things that happened to us, and we know that affects the entire band.

To have everybody embrace that, and then to get onstage and perform that with those people every night, to look at these women and tell them you love them — I can’t think of anything more therapeutic than to be able to say, “This happened to me,” and have so many people — the people that you wrote the song with, the people in the band with you, the people who made the record with you, and the people in the crowd listening and buying the record and all the comments we get on this song … I cannot think of anything more therapeutic for a person who has gone through something so traumatic. Other than actual therapy — I’m an advocate for actual therapy!

Rainy Miatke: Music plays such a huge role in my mental health and my healing journey. At times in my life when I’m not playing as much music, I can really feel the difference. Since I was a little kid, I’ve used music, writing melodies, writing songs, playing, and singing as a way to process the emotions I was going through. Now, being part of a band that is on a similar journey and path as I am, in my life and musically, and playing these powerful songs that the band has written about very personal subjects, it feels like we’re all in this together and here for each other, and it feels so healing.

When Deanie’s up there playing that part at the end of “Circle,” I sometimes find myself feeling really emotional and having to almost compartmentalize it, but also sometimes just letting it happen and processing some of the things that I’ve been through, too. I’ve found these people that I can do that with, and that I can process that stuff with through music, so it feels really special.


Read more on our Artist of the Month, Sister Sadie, here.

Photos courtesy of the artist.

Artist of the Month: Sister Sadie

Sister Sadie, one of the most electrifying, interesting, and resonant bands in bluegrass today, have just released their latest album, All Will Be Well, via Mountain Home Music Company. The award-amassing collective of impeccably talented women have once again raised the bar for themselves, offering an LP with limitless star power, heart, and unapologetic grit – musically and otherwise.

Over the years since their origin – a one-off supergroup-style show in 2012 at the World Famous Station Inn in Nashville – Sister Sadie have undergone quite a few metamorphoses. As is the case for many bluegrass groups, where band names may be retained as lineups constantly change, members leaving, returning, and swapping out, the ensemble has seen many a superlative woman picker join or leave their ranks over the last decade plus. Somehow, over these many transitions, the group has emerged with a cogent, cohesive sound – and a brand and sense of identity that remain indelible, whomever they may boast among their members at any given time.

It’s remarkable that this musical identity and their mission statement can be so clear, but is no surprise with stalwarts fiddler Deanie Richardson and banjoist Gena Britt as the sole remaining original members of the group. It’s even more remarkable that this new project, All Will Be Well, truly feels like the most true and one-for-one representation of the band recorded and released to date. No matter what changes may come for this assemblage of women, their perspective – as a band, as songwriters, as collaborators and peers, as first-rate bluegrass pickers – comes more and more into focus. As a result, All Will Be Well shines, tackling generational and familial trauma, highlighting class and social stratifications, uplifting women, femme folks, and the narratives that touch on their lives, all while welcoming and engaging all of their fans, no matter who they are or how they came to love this music.

Most of all, though, this album is pure fun. Redemptive and forward-looking? Yes. Intricate, detail-oriented, and technically on point? For sure. Cerebral, heartfelt, and emotive? That, too. But is it also down-to-earth, danceable, and rowdy? Oh, of course!

Sister Sadie are a bluegrass band, but they’re so much more. The mantle they take up with their music, recordings, and live performances was perhaps lifted in portions from the shoulders of the Chicks, and Alison Krauss, and Lynn Morris, and Ashley McBryde. These songs would feel equally at home on mainstream country radio or your local, once-a-week bluegrass radio show. As driving and barn-burning as they can be, there are as many moments of tenderness, embodied love, tearful compassion, and boundless empathy – for ourselves and for each other. For every sort of “Goodbye Earl” winking moment there are equal touches of “When You Say Nothing At All” and “I Never Wanted To Be That Girl” and “Wrong Road Again.” Whether soaring, blazing, or slowly smoldering, this band moves in and out of each texture with ease.

As for any/all of the all-women groups that have been born of bluegrass, Sister Sadie could have at any point across their lifespan rested on the perceived “novelty” of being a band comprised of all women pickers, singers, and songwriters. Instead, they know firsthand that the reality for women in roots music is one that requires superlative skills, ardent commitment, and a polish and care often not mandatory for the cis, straight, male bands occupying similar niches. Sister Sadie are diamonds forged by such pressure, though, not just rising up to industry expectations, but exceeding them – while finding self expression, originality, and insight in their work. A novelty group this is not. A “mere” supergroup? Not that, either. This is a band, not just a collection of last names and ampersands.

It’s an obvious, forest-for-the-trees sort of statement, but these women are certainly greater than the sum of their parts. With mandolinist Rainy Miatke, guitarists and singer-songwriters Dani Flowers and Jaelee Roberts, who often split frontwoman and lead singer duties, and bassist Katie Blomarz-Kimball currently filling out the band, Richardson and Britt demonstrate time and time again that there are always more women to call who are qualified and interesting and engaging enough to join the ranks of Sister Sadie. And they clearly haven’t even begun to exhaust those resources.

The central messages of All Will Be Well are incredibly apt and well-timed for this particular social and political moment, as well. It’s striking to find these women, as on “Let the Circle Be Broken,” offering and accepting redemption from themselves and each other, instead of any external force or power. Perhaps, in that truth is where they also find their greatest strengths within the music industry, too.

From their GRAMMY nominations to their many (individual and collective) IBMA Awards, this jaw-dropping band truly does not need any external factor to validate their music, their mission, or their existence. It’s how they started, too, a simple pick-up gig at the Station isn’t a particularly ambitious origin story, it’s even passé. Usual. But, from the outset then, the foundation of Sister Sadie hasn’t been one of ladder climbing, belt notching, or industry achievement. It’s been about expressing themselves, making great music, and having a whole hell of a lot of fun.

It’s no wonder, then, that with an album like All Will Be Well, they continue following in the exact trail they’ve blazed for themselves, being, becoming, or striving to arrive at the best version of Sister Sadie possible in each and every present moment, with whomever they find among their ranks. And, above all else, doing it for their own edification and joy before any other purpose. That’s what makes this band a true supergroup. Sister Sadie knows that All Will Be Well, because they are determined to make that reality so.

We are so proud to have Sister Sadie return for their second stint as Artist of the Month. Enjoy our Essential Sister Sadie Playlist below and read an all-skate interview feature with the entire band here. Plus, we’ll be dipping back into the BGS archives for all of the many times we’ve covered and collaborated with this incredible group. So follow along right here on BGS and on social media as we celebrate Sister Sadie for the entire month of July.


Photo courtesy of the artist.

50 Years of 0044: JD Crowe & The New South’s Landmark Album

Writer Marty Godby called it “The convergence of 1975.”

The elements: a band that would only be together for 10 months, a benevolent venture capitalist who loved bluegrass, and an upstart record label from Boston. The resulting product was unprecedented and unforgettable: The New South, Rounder Records 0044. Bluegrass fans know it simply as “0044.”

The New South of this recording was J.D. Crowe on banjo; Tony Rice on guitar; Ricky Skaggs on mandolin; Bobby Slone on bass; and Jerry Douglas on Dobro. The impact of that configuration and the album were stunning. Yet, within a year of the recording, Rice would leave to become a founding member of the David Grisman Quintet. Skaggs and Douglas formed Boone Creek. Crowe and Slone continued performing together for years.

Rounder 0044 was influential enough to be preserved in the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2024 and was awarded induction into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame this year. This month, Real Gone Music will re-release the album on vinyl, as will Craft Recordings later this year on compact disc.

Both the origin story and legacy of 0044 have inspired great narratives, probably more than any other bluegrass album. Bill Nowlin, one of the three founders of Rounder Records, wrote three articles for BGS on the album’s 40th anniversary. They offer a step-by-step look at what happened in 1974 and 75, plus hilarious and poignant anecdotes and quotes.

David Menconi dedicated a chapter of his excellent book, Oh, Didn’t They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music, to 0044. In 2016, radio host Daniel Mullins focused his college history capstone project on the album. Of course, it was 44 pages.

THE SHORT VERSION

 

J.D. Crowe, already revered for his banjo playing and baritone singing, led a band called The Kentucky Mountain Boys. From 1968, they had a six-nights-a-week gig at the Red Slipper Lounge in a Lexington, Kentucky Holiday Inn. Crowe added non-traditional bluegrass instruments and songs to the Holiday Inn repertoire. This was as much to please a diverse audience as it was to keep the musicians from getting bored. In 1971, Crowe changed the band’s name to The New South.

Of the name change, Rounder’s Marian Leighton Levy said, “It was obvious that this was a new kind of bluegrass.” From a broader view, “It was an era when the South was, in a way, trying to self-consciously reinvent itself as a new, modern place. And they [The New South] were kind of the musical representation of that wider political context.”

It was the ’70s, and change was brewing – even in the tightly controlled world of country music, Levy noted. Around the same time, Willie Nelson and his Outlaw Country compatriots were reaching out to new songwriters and moving away, physically and musically, from “the factory system of Nashville publishing companies.”

In 1974, lead singer Larry Rice left the New South and brother Tony took over singing lead. Ricky Skaggs’ pure tenor mixed with Rice’s unmistakable mid-range voice, creating a new, dynamic tension for their duets and trios. In the summer of that year, Crowe and the band toured without any product to sell. At the annual Gettysburg Blue Grass Festival, Crowe, his friend and manager, venture capitalist Hugh Sturgill, and the young founders of Rounder Records initiated “The Great Convergence” – an agreement for a studio recording. An innovative contract led to the first New South album.

THE BLUEGRASS WORLD EXPLODED

 

As soon as they heard the test pressing, the Rounder founders knew they had something remarkable on their hands. “Jack Tottle [who, along with John Hartford, wrote liner notes for the album] was stunned, and he kept saying, ‘This is one of the most amazing records ever made.’ And he was not given to exaggerating,” Levy said.

“It was clear. It was crisp … and the more you played it, the more you wanted to hear it.”

0044 came out in the spring of 1975. Levy said by festival season, other bands were playing the tunes from the record “pretty much note for note.” One observer said that at one festival, almost every band on stage played “Old Home Place.”

So, what is it about that record? Let’s start with the musicians. Skip Heller, who initiated the 0044 Real Gone Music reissue, said everyone in that group of players “would talk about it like it was high school prom and their first love … they had all been in good bands before, but this was the first time they had been in a band that was as great as anything in bluegrass music had ever been.”

Levy said, “They absolutely knocked each other out. … And I think that long before anybody heard the record, they knew the band would stand the test of time – because of all of them, not just one person.”

The record’s title was The New South. Only after the first printing sold out, three band members had moved on, and it was time to redo the cover (read about the cover photo – a great story in itself), was it retitled J.D. Crowe & the New South. Crowe, born in 1937, was the venerated elder and a banjo icon. After entering Jimmy Martin’s boot-camp-of-a-band at age 18, he developed impeccable timing, his own take on Scruggs-style banjo, and excellence as a baritone singer. And he knew how to pick his band members.

The influences of Tony Rice (age 24 at the time) on bluegrass and related music are limitless – from cementing the role of guitar as a lead bluegrass instrument, to modeling impeccable rhythm playing and singing, to excelling in so many genres outside the bluegrass boundaries. At 21, Skaggs had the instrumental chops, a stunning voice and the instincts to become successful in both country and bluegrass. Rounder’s Ken Irwin attributes much of 0044’s innovation to Skaggs, including bringing a teenaged Douglas into the mix.

Douglas is to Dobro what Rice is to lead guitar. Fifty years later, after 14 GRAMMY awards and countless other honors, he continues to inspire and encourage musicality and creativity in Dobro playing. Touring with Alison Krauss since 1998, it’s likely that he has been heard live by more people than any other resophonic guitar player. Of the veteran, Bobby Slone, Mullins said, “Everyone in the band wanted to make sure that Bobby got a lot of credit. … He was such a rock solid force on that band, not just on bass, but as far as camaraderie was concerned.”

By the time The New South entered the studio, Crowe, Slone, and Rice, later joined by Skaggs, had spent hundreds of hours performing together at the Holiday Inn. Individually, they were superb musicians. Together, they were as tight as a band could be.

THE SONGS

 

Long before 0044, Crowe had blasted out from under bluegrass constraints, incorporating songs like Fats Domino’s “I’m Walkin,” and at Larry Rice’s suggestion, The Flying Burrito Brothers’ “Sin City.” The songs on 0044 were just a small set of a huge repertoire. While the unconventional musical choices sparked controversy among traditionalists, they also sparked a flame of excitement that spread quickly and widely.

In 1975, Mullins said, Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys, Jimmy Martin, and Bill Monroe were still “killing it” at festivals with their first generation bluegrass sound. “On the other end of the spectrum, Seldom Scene recorded Live at the Cellar Door,” an immensely popular recording, that year. Like the Country Gentlemen, the Scene had been recording songs totally out of the bluegrass box, using bluegrass instrumentation, but with an emphasis on rich melodies and harmonies, rather than just the drive of traditional bluegrass.

Mullins said, “You go to Crowe, who’s got the street cred from all his records with Martin, but he’s also looking ahead, and so he’s able to get it all in there. A lot of bands were playing to one side or the other … but to have one that hit right in the middle, right at that time, was unreal.”

“When they saw J.D. Crowe’s name up front, and they knew that he had played banjo with Jimmy Martin on all those records they had loved for 20 years, it probably made some of those hard-edged fans pay more attention,” he said.

Whatever the dynamics of the time, The New South became synonymous with great bluegrass. And 0044 made Ian Tyson’s songs forever acceptable in bluegrass jams.

ON AND ON

 

Kristin Scott Benson, six-time IBMA Banjo Player of the Year, was born the year after 0044 came out. Benson said she was about nine the first time she saw J.D. Crowe. He was playing with the Bluegrass Album Band, “and that was a formative experience. That band was so explosive, and the crowd had an air of chaos, because everybody was so excited to hear the band. Every time Tony Rice ended a solo, you couldn’t hear any music.” (Because of the crowd noise.)

It would be four years until she picked up the banjo, and two more years until she learned about The New South album – and what it meant to a banjo player.

On 0044, she says, “If you just talk quintessential banjo solos, you’ve got ‘I’m Walkin’ and ‘You Are What I Am.’ His tone is aggressive. It’s just such confident, groovy, greasy, pristine banjo. It’s impossible to overstate how good it is and how influential it is.”

“But I think you should listen to his contributions on the less banjo-friendly songs [‘Home Sweet Home Revisited,’ ’10 Degrees’], because Crowe was great at that. He was a magical backup player.”

Billy Failing, who currently plays banjo with Billy Strings, agrees. Failing started out his banjo life drawn to more progressive players like Béla Fleck. But, he said, “As time goes on, the more I circle back to J.D. Crowe. I think of how much of a gold standard he is for bluegrass banjo, and how interesting his playing is.”

“He’s considered a traditional player,” Failing continued, “but then I’m always hearing some lick that surprises me. It’s been a gradual thing, but it becomes more meaningful as time goes on. I was just listening to The New South album, and on ‘Cryin’ Holy’ – it’s just so slamming! He’s turned it up to 11 constantly on that one.” And, like Benson, he points out what he calls Crowe’s “intricate touch” on banjo.

“It’s such a cool kind of push and pull between whether he’s out front or whether he’s playing backup … it catches your attention in such a cool way.”

Benson said, “It’s easy just to be drawn to those obvious picks [like ‘Old Home Place’] but the album is so much deeper than that. This particular band presented a tightness and a level of execution that was new – I don’t think there had been a bluegrass record up until that point that was so well done.”

“The vocals, the arrangements are so well thought out. Everybody’s playing so well together. It was just a special moment and a special group of people, and I think it raised the bar for bluegrass albums,” she said, and made an imprint on so many contemporary musicians.

Benson poses the question, “Who’s the most influential modern bluegrass guy? It would have to be Tony Rice, because he affected the genre with his rhythm guitar playing, which is phenomenal. And that type of rhythm playing affects the entire groove of the band. It became the new standard, what most people go for.”

“Never discount the importance of his rhythm,” she continued, “and then obviously his lead playing, but also his singing and his material choice … so if someone pinned me down and I could only name one, he might be the guy.”

Failing, speaking of his bandmates, said, “Everybody’s inspired by The New South. I hear Billy [Strings] constantly talking about his inspiration by Tony Rice, and Jarrod [Walker] by Ricky Skaggs.” (Walker wrote liner notes for the Real Gone Music re-release.)

Mullins noted that the Rice/Skaggs blend – a lead singer with a baritone-range voice coupled with a high tenor – established a hair-tingling blend that continues to be emulated, from Ronnie Bowman and Don Rigsby in Lonesome River Band through Alison Krauss’ duets with Dan Tyminski and Russell Moore.

Benson said, “It’s an important record for the genre as a whole, and it’s also an important record to me, personally, and really, to any banjo player who is serious about learning. It’s one of those essential albums.”

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

 

First, how did it come to be widely known as 0044? Well, nobody’s sure. Irwin and Levy remember being in the very early stages of their operations at the time – with both a new label and a new distribution company. All three Rounders had been totally immersed in music, but they were learning the business as they went, developing it on their own terms.

Levy speculated, “It is possible that it went back to when we were just calling records by their numbers,” when there just weren’t that many products. “So, it may have been something we started when we were talking, and other people picked up on it, not intentionally. And we thought it was sort of humorous.”

And how did members of Emmylou Harris’ Angel Band get left off the credits, as well as the fact that J.D. played guitar on it? John Lawless goes into depth in his fascinating Bluegrass Today article.

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY

 

As the liner notes to the Real Gone Music re-release say, “Virtually no other album anywhere in history is known to its audience by its label number. Not Kind of Blue, nor Pet Sounds, Glenn Gould’s Goldberg Variations, none.”

That says quite a bit about the recording’s importance. So does the fact that two labels are issuing re-releases this year.

The Real Gone Music edition is pressed on gold-colored vinyl for its golden anniversary. Both re-releases contain two cuts not included on the original product: “Why Don’t You Tell Me So?” and a version of “Cryin Holy” with Emmylou’s voice in the mix.

Failing sums up what 0044, J.D. Crowe, and the musicians he surrounded himself with mean to him and to many of the pickers making the best music today.

“Every time I circle back to the Bluegrass Album Band, The New South, and J.D. Crowe, I’m reminded, ‘that’s how it’s done!’”


Photo Credit: Phil Zimmerman

Wear your love for 0044! Shop our exclusive RR 0044 tee on the BGS Mercantile here

The Many Journeys of I’m With Her’s Second Album, ‘Wild and Clear and Blue’

More than eight years since the February 2017 release of their acclaimed debut album See You Around, Aoife O’Donovan, Sarah Jarosz, and Sara Watkins have come back together with an abundance of history, both individual and shared, on which to reflect as they began to craft I’m With Her‘s second full length album, Wild and Clear and Blue.

The three multi-instrumentalists and songwriters are beloved in folk and bluegrass circles and known cumulatively for a treasure trove of work as solo artists, in ensembles, and as co-writers and producers. Internationally renowned live performers, they were most recently celebrated under their collaborative moniker as part of the 62nd GRAMMY Awards, when their original single, “Call My Name,” was awarded Best American Roots Song. This accolade alone showed just how creatively in sync these women continued to be, even as time marched forward and each turned their focuses toward individual projects and significant personal life changes – marriage, next generations, moving homes, passing on of family – all while discerning unique perspectives about the broader transformations of society around them.

Once they felt the spark to start a second album, finally reuniting in 2024 to write and record, the embers of Wild and Clear and Blue grew not only from Watkins, Jarosz and O’Donovan’s pool of collectively evolved musicianship and artistry, but from their sharing of experiences and emotions as they cheered each other on from afar. The candid nature of the trio fully reuniting opened new paths of empathy and resonance between them – paths which go beyond their stunning musical chemistry and into a deeper space of what Jarosz earnestly calls “chosen family.” The songs tell assorted stories, nodding to the familial bonds and identities the three women hold dear in their respective lives but as a unified album, Wild and Clear and Blue is also an eloquent expression of the profound appreciation O’Donovan, Jarosz, and Watkins have for each other, as well as for the support and understanding they have realized and embraced in their ever-evolving bond.

Continuing our Artist of the Month coverage, O’Donovan, Jarosz, and Watkins spoke with BGS about the organic spirit of creativity built into Wild and Clear and Blue, how the preciousness of different relationships in their lives is embodied in the music, the one-of-a-kind nuances that make the experience of listening to the album especially distinct, and more.

You mention the album providing a focus on “connecting with your past and figuring out what you want for your future.” How did each of you decide what parts of your past you felt most inclined to explore and what feels most important to you going into the future?

Sara Watkins: When we came together to write the album, there was a time of just reconnecting. We haven’t seen each other or really been with each other for a couple of years and we wanted to reconnect in a way, [asking ourselves] “Who are we now?” You know, now that we’ve all gone through so much since our last record. A lot of things that we were talking about and processing in our personal lives were overlapping with each other and so it felt clear to us. The things that came up in the songwriting process all felt like it was self evident that that’s what we wanted, or desired, to share and to mine [through] a little bit.

And so it’s less of an abstract strategy of, “I’m going to share this about myself. I’m going to open up this chapter of my life for this album,” and more like, “What’s coming to the surface right now that’s affecting me and that I’m sorting through?” We found that a lot of what we were sorting through overlapped or that we related to each other, and that was the stuff that we ended up writing about.

You express that there’s an “ease to letting go when something isn’t working.” What does it look like when things are “working,” versus when something doesn’t fit and you collectively decide to move on?

Aoife O’Donovan: I think when we’re in the writing room, it’s always such an exciting moment when something starts to click and we start jamming on it and we start figuring out the groove and figuring out the melody. Then we’ll maybe get into a vibe [where] we’ll all kind of put our heads down on our laptops and be typing out words and be like, “Okay, let me try something.” When you sort of bring a line or change your melody note here, or add a harmony part, or it says this – it’s an exciting sort of burst. It’s like the champagne bottle pops and you’re like, “Okay, yes! Let’s keep going, let’s keep going!” It really fuels the next thing. And I think that with this trio, one of my favorite things to do is write music with Sarah and Sara. It doesn’t feel like a chore in the way that sometimes writing [solo music] for me can feel like a chore. When we’re together writing, it’s almost like you get to the party and you see what’s going to happen at the party.

Sarah Jarosz: The songwriting process has always felt like an extension of the vocal arranging process in a way, because I feel like that’s how we started out before we ever tried to write together. We arranged songs together. We arranged “Crossing Muddy Waters” together and that was a really cool precursor to know how we communicate with each other with a pre-existing song. Then that sort of carried over into the songwriting process to be this amazing, like Aoife said, light bulb movement. When it’s flowing, it’s just flowing so well and things that don’t work are just sort of easily falling aside. It’s really special. We’ve all worked with a lot of other people, so I think we all know how rare that is when it does just flow.

The way you all talk about the dynamic of working with each other has this very uplifting, very, “it’ll all work itself out in the end,” kind of mentality, which I think speaks a lot to your collective experience with each other.

SJ: Just to add to that, the three of us, I think, have pretty similar work ethics. It’s not just, “Oh, well, this is all free and easy and breezy.” I think part of the reason that it feels easy is that we put a similar amount of effort into it. Really showing up for each other, energetically giving each other the attention and the love. A lot of these songs start out as conversations, like Sara said, just that shared energy.

SW: I think it’s important to note that, yes, it’s magic and it works. We are so compatible. But part of that work ethic that Jarosz was talking about is staying at the table and not giving up on something completely. Maybe putting something aside and coming back to it later while you work on something else.

I love working with with these two who, if something’s not right, if any one of us isn’t completely excited about something or feels confused about the direction of a song or lyric, we all are very willing to stay at the table until things come together, until we’re all happy, or it’s really clicking on all sides. I think working and staying with it while it’s not working is what makes those beautiful moments [happen] when things are all yesses and when we are in flow. It shows the magic, because it doesn’t always happen but we were able to work through it in a way that’s crucial, I think, for ultimately getting something that we’re really proud of.

AO: It also gives a really unique sense of ownership over all of the material in this band, for each of us. I feel like when we finish a song and when we finish this album, we really can listen to the entire thing and be like, “Yep, I stand behind it” – at least that’s how I feel. Like, “I stand behind all the decisions, and I fully support how every single song turned out. And I really feel like this is our thing, and it’s not just one person’s thing.”

Sarah Jarosz mentions there’s something “beautiful” about having “Ancient Light” start the album, because it’s “addressing the heavier themes of the album in a way that’s more a celebration of life rather than grieving what’s been lost.” Yet,“Wild and Clear and Blue” was the first song written for the project and it establishes your shared embrace of generational connection as the inspired theme. These two songs feel like they could be fraternal twins of introductory tracks. To that end, how was the process of deciding track sequence, particularly given how it can significantly affect the trajectory of an album and how it’s received?

SW: We were at Outlier Studio, listening back to a couple of things and one of us started writing, maybe it was Jarosz, a sequence. We were passing this little paper back and forth. I still have this paper that has like, three separate sequences that we were considering as initial ideas. I think that it ended up somewhere close to what we came to, that first day of writing sequences, because it is so, so important. One thing that I really love, that I think we all really love, starting with “Ancient Light,” [it’s] a little bit more produced. It’s one of the more produced songs on the album or, it’s in the more produced half of the album. We wanted people to hear that. Going to “Wild and Clear and Blue” afterwards, it felt like we were letting people come back to a sound that felt more like the live shows we did on the last tour and more like the first album. It was a nice way of connecting the projects, I think. But we really wanted to have an arc, in terms of the content, and to consider all those things that then make an album feel more like a unit than a series of segmented songs.

SJ: I feel like sometimes making records, I have a sense much earlier on of what should be where, but I feel like this one it took until that last day or so to have this feeling of the arc. But, with that being said, I feel like a lot of us were saying, “Oh, ‘Ancient Light,’ it’s kind of an obvious opener for setting the stage.”

AO: I think also the opening lyric of “Ancient Light,” to me, is the biggest reason why I love that the song opens the record. “Better get out of the way/ Gonna figure out what I’m gonna say/ It’s been a long time coming…” – I just love that idea, that it has been seven years since our last record. Maybe it’s too on the nose, but I think it’s a great opening to bring people in, to sort of invite people back into our world.

You talk about a sense of unspoken synergy but conversely, how much would you say you lean into individual qualities of your writing that make each of your styles memorable?

SJ: I’m not sure that there’s a whole lot of conscious effort going into thinking, “How would each of us represent our own style?” I think that just largely happens naturally. At the end of the day, we’re trying to incorporate musical and lyrical decisions that make us stoked, that get us excited.

When we’re writing, it’s just the three of us. So I think we’re trying to utilize musical tools. That sounds really sterile, but [we’re trying] to make it interesting within the confines of just three people. And then, kind of figuring out, “How do you make a song come alive?”

This album totally feels so, so deeply visual. I feel like we were more tapped into that with this record than with the first. Utilizing those [visual ideas] in a way throughout the songwriting process that make us have a chill moment or maybe a moment where you’re moved to tears, or just doing the thing that gets you excited about the song.

Family, motherhood, and sisterhood make up prominent undercurrents of the album, but especially the latter. As you’ve formed these different bonds and have related to one another in these different ways over the years, how have these identities impacted your shared experience as a group, especially while working on Wild and Clear and Blue?

AO: Two of us are mothers and Sarah Jarosz is not a mother at this point in her life, but I think what’s been really beautiful about this record and about the themes that you brought up – the themes of sisterhood, motherhood, and the themes of being an only daughter – something that I’ve loved to point out to people is that Sarah Jarosz is an only daughter and Sara Watkins and I both have only daughters. When I was listening to this album for the first time with my daughter Ivy Jo, she was listening to it and when the song “Only Daughter” came on she said, “Mommy, is this about me?” It makes me almost cry, retelling that story, because in many ways, yes, it’s this universal experience that our daughters share with our dear friend and bandmate as an only daughter and I love that sort of circle of being.

We’re at different points in our lives within this band. Over the last several years, there’s been a lot of things that we’ve experienced – like huge life events since our last album came out. I lost my father. Sarah Jarosz got married. There have been many big moments that we’ve walked through alongside one another and I think those experiences have definitely shaped who we are, who we were when we went into the studio, and who we continue to be.

SJ: As this band has evolved and grown, those kind of shared family moments have absolutely drawn us closer as a band and allowed the music to reach this deeper level. I think one of my favorite memories as a band was actually in 2018 at Telluride, when all of our families were there. I think it was the only time when everyone was in the same place. Just getting on stage and seeing my parents, all of our parents and children, it was incredibly special and kind of rare. I feel like it has inevitably affected the music in a truly beautiful and full circle way.

In “Sisters of the Night Watch,” the verses mention things about personal sinfulness, being forced to crawl in the mud on your knees, and running into ghosts, with respite from all these things only being found in sisterhood. What inspired these particular images and personal trials?

SW: A lot of this song is about getting through the wilderness that is life and finding your respite, finding your people, or your place – even if it’s not a final destination and just along the way. I think that could take any form in someone’s life. But it does feel sometimes like we’re crawling through the mud in life, making very little progress, like everything is just wilderness around you, and you’re trying to make sense of it all. I think we’ve all felt like that at various times and are just looking for a moment or a day, where you feel safe. It could just be emotionally safe or it might just be some rest – just a break from feeling like everything is hard. I think it’s trying to find those people and trying to find that thing that makes you feel like you can rest for a little bit and you’ll be okay.

SJ: This also feels slightly related to “Only Daughter” in a way, at least for me, this idea of “Sisters of the Night Watch” that was sort of emerging in the writing process. For me, I am an only child and daughter and this band is the closest thing I’ve felt to having sisters, something we talked about a lot. I believe Aoife’s beautiful statement about our shared deep connection with our families is so amazing in this band. But also, your chosen family, as you go through life and who you walk and processes and choose to do life with, I feel like we’re this band of sisters, but then it can be so much more than that as well.

Much the same way you connected with particular artists and songs that your families shared with you in the past, what do you hope that younger generations and generations yet-to-come will connect with through this album?

AO: I hope that people will listen to Wild and Clear and Blue and be able to see themselves in these songs. This album is such a journey – I hate to use the word because it’s so overused – but it really is. There are so many songs, even when you guys are talking about the lyrics of “Sisters of the Night Watch” and crawling through the dried out river on your knees, that song is a journey. It’s one character on that journey. “Find My Way to You” is maybe a different character on the same on the same journey, but maybe experiencing it from a different perspective. Even in “Ancient Light,” you’re trying to get to that clearing and you’re trying to say that when you get there, you’re not going to put up a fight.

It’s sort of like, what is the end goal here? I think that listening to that, people who are young, old, people who are yet to come, I hope that this album does stand the test of time and that people can pick it up in an apocalyptic world, put it on, and be able to relate to it.


Find more of our Artist of the Month content on I’m With Her here.

Photo Credit: Alysse Gafkjen

Artist of the Month: I’m With Her

Do you remember the human being you were in 2017? When the “first” North American total solar eclipse of the 2000s criss-crossed the United States, stunning millions of sky-gazers? Do you remember how dissimilar life felt then? When you look back, do your memories contain the same person you are now, or is there a vast difference between who you were then and who you are today?

In 2017, I’m With Her – an iconic assemblage of award winning roots musicians Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, and Sara Watkins – were already a band, but a tangible group identity had yet to fully coalesce – and external viewers, listeners or fans or industry professionals, couldn’t tell if this was a temporary “supergroup” or something greater and long-lasting. Yes, they first collaborated as a trio in 2014 at Telluride Bluegrass Festival and their chemistry, musically and otherwise, was immediately palpable. They wrote, toured, and released music together in 2015, 2016, and 2017, appearing on Prairie Home Companion, Live From Here, and festival and venue stages all across the country and around the world. “Crossing Muddy Waters,” a John Hiatt cover and their first release together under the “I’m With Her” moniker, was released in ’15; “Little Lies” followed in ’17. Then, their acoustic cover of Adele’s “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)” performed live with Paul Kowert on tour with Punch Brothers became a smash viral hit later that same year, barely a month after the moon then blocked out the sun.

By all measures, I’m With Her were a very different group 8 to 10 years ago. Neither Watkins nor O’Donovan were yet mothers. The trio had not yet been nominated for a GRAMMY (“Call My Name” would snag a gramophone for Best American Roots Song in 2020). They wouldn’t put out their debut album, See You Around, until 2018. Yet today, on the precipice of what is somehow only their sophomore album, Wild and Clear and Blue (out May 9 on Rounder Records), whether deliberately looking back or relying solely on one’s memories and recollections, it might seem like I’m With Her has always had this outsized presence and impact in bluegrass, folk, and Americana.

Auspiciously, the celestial and grounded, fantastic and natural Wild and Clear and Blue was tracked in New York State coincidentally during/under the more recent total solar eclipse of 2024. The track of that heavenly alignment almost directly crossed the studio where the trio were crafting the new album with producer Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman, the National). Leave it to the stars, the universe, and these three otherworldly musicians to convene to build yet another masterwork under such an unlikely omen as an eclipse. The results are truly magical. O’Donovan, Jarosz, and Watkins are already writers and pickers who draw heavily on the natural world, the earth, and their own bodies, hearts, and minds not only as intellectual tools, but also as biological beings to fashion their particular style of roots music. It’s difficult not to see how the ’24 eclipse – along with their journeys together over the last decade – greatly informed this new collection.

Solidarity, women uplifting women, motherhood and family, communion with the world around them, connection to nature, challenging the painful realities of our current day-to-day, and – perhaps above all – convivial, heartfelt fun run through Wild and Clear and Blue like shimmering, cosmic rays of light. Where their past releases together have been quite stark and stripped down, often utilizing only as many voices and instruments as the trio themselves could wield in realtime, Wild and Clear and Blue is expansive, confident, and bold. Are these the same humans who first began creating together only just over a decade ago?

Of course not. None of us are the same beings we were back then. Certainly not I’m With Her. They’re GRAMMY winners now, all three married and beginning families, O’Donovan and Watkins by now veteran moms. They’ve had multiple eras together as a band and multiple solo releases unto themselves, individually, too in the meantime. The miles have sped away underneath their feet as they code switch between being an ensemble and being individual artists – while racking up accolades, awards, and listeners as a collective and separately, too. They’re seen alongside other so-called supergroups like boygenius, Bonny Light Horseman, and more; not as novelties or accessories to the “real” artistry of their constituent work unto themselves, but as a sum greater than their parts. Rightfully so!

How lucky are we to be witnesses to that growth, to each of these women’s ceaseless commitment to challenging themselves – and their communities – to move forward, to crest that next mountain, to sculpt that as-yet-undiscovered song from shapeless musical clay? How lucky are we that these three women bathed in the ancient, timeless light of a solar eclipse and alchemized their experiences into this resplendent album?

The path of this incredible trio, unlike the planets in the sky, has been anything but linear – or concentric, or predictable. Still, there’s endless insight and so much joy to be gained from inhabiting this intersection, the confluence of so many occurrences: the trajectory of the group; the track of a total solar eclipse; the Wild and Clear and Blue writing and recording sessions; the terrifying and shocking burning of our planet; the rapid return of abject fascism in this country; the consideration of how to be artists – family members, mothers, community builders – amid all of these realities. It’s a bewildering intersection, but one we’ve all become undoubtedly familiar with since 2014… since 2016…  since the sun disappeared in 2017 and 2024.

Wild and Clear and Blue is a soundtrack for togetherness. For being present. For capturing the infinitesimal moments that make life what it is. It’s no surprise I’m With Her were able to create such an awe-inspiring and heartening second album with these celestial (and terrestrial) ingredients. It’s impeccable roots music made for bathing in the ancient light, for standing at the fault line, for staring into the wild and clear and blue with courage, with love, and with songs.

I’m With Her, for the very first time, are our Artist of the Month! Dive into our Essentials Playlist below and make sure to spend time with our exclusive interview with Jarosz, O’Donovan, and Watkins on the making of the project. Plus, Watkins is a guest on Basic Folk talking about the album this month, as well – and you can listen to archive episodes with Jarosz and O’Donovan, too.

And, we’ll be dipping back into the BGS archives for all things I’m With Her throughout the month of May! Each of the trio’s members have been featured as AOTM individually and/or in other groups and we have plenty of playlists, articles, interviews, and even Sitch Sessions to return to featuring their supreme talents. Buckle up for a transcendental Artist of the Month celebration.


Photo Credit: Alysse Gafkjen

Béla Fleck’s Stunning Solo GRAMMYs Performance of “Rhapsody in Blue”

Every year, the GRAMMY Awards bring us bigger, brighter, and more jaw-dropping stage performances. (Think Chappell Roan atop a gigantic pink pony this year, or Billie Eilish performing amidst an indoor recreation of the Southern California hills.) But the GRAMMYs stage also hosts dozens of more intimate performances during its annual awards show and premiere ceremony, like “Rhapsody in Blue” by prolific banjoist and composer Béla Fleck. (Watch an official clip from the premiere ceremony broadcast here.) With nothing but his banjo to accompany him, Fleck brings a stunning liveliness to this over-100-year-old tune originally composed in 1924 by George Gershwin.

It’s not often that we get to see such straightforward and understated performances at major awards shows like the GRAMMYs. Fleck isn’t accompanied by anyone else on stage at the premiere ceremony. It’s just him and his banjo atop a stool, with a single instrument mic for sound. Even so, the whole arena is silent and enraptured for his performance. As he plays, Fleck seems completely present with the music, following its many twists and turns combining jazz, classical, and ragtime elements.

You’ll probably recognize “Rhapsody in Blue” (it would be hard not to), as it’s been featured in everything from The Simpsons to Baz Luhrman’s 2013 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald was famously a fan of the song). Fleck’s performance is anything but tired, redundant, or stale. Instead, the tune feels entirely alive and refreshing, a welcome acoustic interlude amidst the day’s fanfare. We can’t help but think Gerswhin would approve. As Fleck finishes, the GRAMMY winner gives a grateful nod and a humble smile, as he holds his banjo up on his knee.

Fleck is one of the most-nominated artists in GRAMMY history, with 47 total nominations to date and 18 wins – including his most recent win this year for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for his 2024 release with Chick Corea, Remembrance. After checking out the behind-the-scenes video of “Rhapsody in Blue” (above) shot by renowned bassist Leland Sklar from his position waiting behind Fleck on stage with the house band, we highly recommend heading over to the GRAMMYs page to watch the official video of Béla Fleck’s performance.


See the entire list of this year’s Country & American Roots Music GRAMMY winners here.

Ed’s Picks – Country to Love

Editor’s Note: Each issue of Good Country, our co-founder Ed Helms will share a handful of good country artists, albums, and songs direct from his own earphones in Ed’s Picks.

Sabrina Carpenter

Stop everything!! Sabrina Carpenter’s deluxe edition of Short n’ Sweet released today, featuring Dolly Parton herself on a new version of “Please Please Please” – and, thank you!


Olivia Ellen Lloyd

An honest, down to earth country singer-songwriter from West Virginia, the self-sufficient Olivia Ellen Lloyd will release her lovely new honky-tonkin’ album, Do It Myself, in March.


Kacey Musgraves

“The Architect” as Best Country Song? Another one the GRAMMYs got right this year. Even if you never stopped listening, it’s the perfect time to return to this Good Country track.

Find more Kacey Musgraves on Good Country here.


TopHouse

Indie folk with string band bones from Montana (via Nashville), we’re excited for TopHouse’s new EP, Practice – and that they’ll play our stage at Bourbon & Beyond later this year.


Cristina Vane

Hundreds of thousands of fans adore the blues, bluegrass, Americana, and country combinations of Cristina Vane and her slide guitar. Her latest, Hear My Call, is out next week.


Sunny War

Our BGS Artist of the Month, Sunny War brings together fingerpicking, blues, punk – and so much more. Her newest, Armageddon in a Summer Dress, is timely, fierce, and excellent.

Dive into our Artist of the Month coverage on BGS.


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Photo Credits: Sabrina Carpenter, Short n’ Sweet; Olivia Ellen Lloyd by Aaron May; Kacey Musgraves by Kelly Christine Sutton; TopHouse courtesy of the artist; Cristina Vane courtesy of the artist; Sunny War by Joshua Black Wilkins.

Sierra Ferrell, Beyoncé, Many More Roots Musicians Win at 67th GRAMMY Awards

Yesterday, the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards show was held in Los Angeles, handing out dozens of awards across the primetime broadcast and premiere ceremony while highlighting the city’s ongoing response to last month’s extreme wildfires, which displaced hundreds of musicians, artists, industry professionals, and creatives. The marquee event was kicked off by Dawes – whose sibling frontmen, Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith, had homes, their studio, and countless instruments and equipment destroyed in the blazes. They performed a moving rendition of “I Love L.A.” with a host of special guests.

Throughout the show, audience members were encouraged to support MusiCares Fire Relief, a collaborative fundraiser launched by the Recording Academy and MusiCares in partnership with Direct Relief, the California Community Foundation, and the Pasadena Community Foundation to help expand wildfire relief efforts across the broader Los Angeles community. Despite the somber shadow cast by the disaster over LA and its creative community, the show was convivial, joyous, and restorative – and included more than a few show-stopping and jaw-dropping moments.

As usual, the crème de la crème of roots musicians could be found across both the pre-telecast and primetime awards, scooping up golden gramophones in seemingly endless varieties of categories. The evening’s big winners in the Country & American Roots Music categories included superstar Beyoncé, who finally picked up her first Album of the Year win, as well as becoming the first Black woman to ever win Best Country Album. She also won the trophy for Best Country Duo Performance with Miley Cyrus for “II Most Wanted,” bringing her GRAMMY Awards totals to 99 nominations and 35 wins – the most wins of any recipient in the history of the awards.

Sierra Ferrell, a West Virginia native and firebrand bluegrass and country starlet quickly on the rise these past handful of years, was indisputably the day’s other big winner, scoring in each of the four categories in which she was nominated. She quickly followed her very first GRAMMY win with three more, landing awards for Best Americana Album, Best American Roots Performance, Best Americana Performance, and Best American Roots Song – an honor she shares with her co-writer, musician, songwriter, and vocalist Melody Walker (Front Country, BERTHA: Grateful Drag).

The award for Best Bluegrass Album was yet again snatched by the world’s premier flatpicker, Billy Strings, for Live Vol. 1, logging his second win at the GRAMMYs after seven nominations over the last five years.

Pop phenom Chappell Roan won Best New Artist, Kacey Musgraves took home Best Country Song for “The Architect,” Chris Stapleton racked up his 11th GRAMMY win for Best Country Solo Performance, and Woodland, the latest album by Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, was recognized as Best Folk Album. Chick Corea won a posthumous award – Best Jazz Instrumental Album – for Remembrance, a duo project helmed by banjoist Béla Fleck that was released in honor of his hero, friend, and collaborator.

The GRAMMYs yet again demonstrate that the impact of bluegrass, folk, Americana, and country on the mainstream music industry cannot be overstated. Congratulations to all of the winners and nominees for the 67th GRAMMY Awards!

Give now to support MusiCares Fire Relief here and find out many more ways to support LA as it recovers from the devastating wildfires here. Find the full list of Country & American Roots Music winners below, including several additional related categories boasting roots music nominees and winners.

(Winners denoted in BOLD)

Best Country Solo Performance

“16 CARRIAGES” – Beyoncé
“I Am Not Okay” – Jelly Roll
“The Architect” – Kacey Musgraves
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey
“It Takes A Woman” – Chris Stapleton

Best Country Duo/Group Performance

“Cowboys Cry Too” – Kelsea Ballerini with Noah Kahan
“II MOST WANTED” – Beyoncé featuring Miley Cyrus
“Break Mine” – Brothers Osborne
“Bigger Houses” – Dan + Shay
“I Had Some Help” – Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen

Best Country Song

“The Architect” – Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves & Josh Osborne, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves)
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Chibueze Collins Obinna, Nevin Sastry & Mark Williams, songwriters (Shaboozey)
“I Am Not Okay” – Casey Brown, Jason DeFord, Ashley Gorley & Taylor Phillips, songwriters (Jelly Roll)
“I Had Some Help” – Louis Bell, Ashley Gorley, Hoskins, Austin Post, Ernest Smith, Ryan Vojtesak, Morgan Wallen & Chandler Paul Walters, songwriters (Post Malone Featuring Morgan Wallen)
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM”– Brian Bates, Beyoncé, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Beyoncé)

Best Country Album

COWBOY CARTER – Beyoncé
F-1 Trillion – Post Malone
Deeper Well – Kacey Musgraves
Higher – Chris Stapleton
Whirlwind – Lainey Wilson

Best American Roots Performance

“Blame It On Eve” – Shemekia Copeland
“Nothing In Rambling” – The Fabulous Thunderbirds featuring Bonnie Raitt, Keb’ Mo’, Taj Mahal, & Mick Fleetwood
“Lighthouse” – Sierra Ferrell
“The Ballad Of Sally Anne” – Rhiannon Giddens

Best Americana Performance

“YA YA” – Beyoncé
“Subtitles” – Madison Cunningham
“Don’t Do Me Good” – Madi Diaz featuring Kacey Musgraves
“American Dreaming” – Sierra Ferrell
“Runaway Train” – Sarah Jarosz
“Empty Trainload Of Sky” – Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

Best American Roots Song

“Ahead Of The Game” – Mark Knopfler, songwriter (Mark Knopfler)
“All In Good Time” – Sam Beam, songwriter (Iron & Wine featuring Fiona Apple)
“All My Friends” – Aoife O’Donovan, songwriter (Aoife O’Donovan)
“American Dreaming” – Sierra Ferrell & Melody Walker, songwriters (Sierra Ferrell)
“Blame It On Eve” – John Hahn & Will Kimbrough, songwriters (Shemekia Copeland)

Best Americana Album

The Other Side – T Bone Burnett
$10 Cowboy – Charley Crockett
Trail Of Flowers – Sierra Ferrell
Polaroid Lovers – Sarah Jarosz
No One Gets Out Alive – Maggie Rose
Tigers Blood – Waxahatchee

Best Bluegrass Album

I Built A World – Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Songs Of Love And Life – The Del McCoury Band
No Fear – Sister Sadie
Live Vol. 1 – Billy Strings
Earl Jam – Tony Trischka
Dan Tyminski: Live From The Ryman – Dan Tyminski

Best Traditional Blues Album

Hill Country Love – Cedric Burnside
Struck Down – The Fabulous Thunderbirds
One Guitar Woman – Sue Foley
Sam’s Place – Little Feat
Swingin’ Live At The Church In Tulsa – The Taj Mahal Sextet

Best Contemporary Blues Album

Blues Deluxe Vol. 2 – Joe Bonamassa
Blame It On Eve – Shemekia Copeland
Friendlytown – Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour
Mileage – Ruthie Foster
The Fury – Antonio Vergara

Best Folk Album

American Patchwork Quartet – American Patchwork Quartet
Weird Faith – Madi Diaz
Bright Future – Adrianne Lenker
All My Friends – Aoife O’Donovan
Woodland – Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

Best Regional Roots Music Album

25 Back To My Roots – Sean Ardoin And Kreole Rock And Soul
Live At The 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & The Golden Eagles featuring J’Wan Boudreaux
Live At The 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – New Breed Brass Band featuring Trombone Shorty
Kuini – Kalani Pe’a
Stories From The Battlefield – The Rumble Featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr.

Best Roots Gospel Album

The Gospel Sessions, Vol 2 – Authentic Unlimited
The Gospel According To Mark – Mark D. Conklin
Rhapsody – The Harlem Gospel Travelers
Church – Cory Henry
Loving You – The Nelons

Best Jazz Performance

“Walk With Me, Lord (SOUND | SPIRIT)” – The Baylor Project
“Phoenix Reimagined (Live)” – Lakecia Benjamin featuring Randy Brecker, Jeff “Tain” Watts & John Scofield
“Juno” – Chick Corea & Béla Fleck
“Twinkle Twinkle Little Me” – Samara Joy featuring Sullivan Fortner
“Little Fears” – Dan Pugach Big Band featuring Nicole Zuraitis & Troy Roberts

Best Jazz Instrumental Album

Owl Song – Ambrose Akinmusire featuring Bill Frisell & Herlin Riley
Beyond This Place – Kenny Barron featuring Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Johnathan Blake, Immanuel Wilkins & Steve Nelson
Phoenix Reimagined (Live) – Lakecia Benjamin
Remembrance – Chick Corea & Béla Fleck
Solo Game – Sullivan Fortner

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album

À Fleur De Peau – Cyrille Aimée
Visions – Norah Jones
Good Together – Lake Street Dive
Impossible Dream – Aaron Lazar
Christmas Wish – Gregory Porter

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album

Plot Armor – Taylor Eigsti
Rhapsody In Blue – Béla Fleck
Orchestras (Live) – Bill Frisell featuring Alexander Hanson, Brussels Philharmonic, Rudy Royston & Thomas Morgan
Mark – Mark Guiliana
Speak To Me – Julian Lage

Best Instrumental Composition

“At Last” – Shelton G. Berg, composer (Shelly Berg)
“Communion” – Christopher Zuar, composer (Christopher Zuar Orchestra)
“I Swear, I Really Wanted To Make A “Rap” Album But
This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time” – André 3000, Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau & Carlos Niño, composers (André 3000)
“Remembrance” – Chick Corea, composer (Chick Corea & Béla Fleck)
“Strands” – Pascal Le Boeuf, composer (Akropolis Reed Quintet, Pascal Le Boeuf & Christian Euman)

Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella

“Baby Elephant Walk” – Encore, Michael League, arranger (Snarky Puppy)
“Bridge Over Troubled Water” – Jacob Collier, Tori Kelly & John Legend, arrangers (Jacob Collier Featuring John Legend & Tori Kelly)
“Rhapsody In Blue(Grass)” – Béla Fleck & Ferde Grofé, arrangers (Béla Fleck featuring Michael Cleveland, Sierra Hull, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz & Bryan Sutton)
“Rose Without The Thorns” – Erin Bentlage, Alexander Lloyd Blake, Scott Hoying, A.J. Sealy & Amanda Taylor, arrangers (Scott Hoying featuring säje & Tonality)
“Silent Night” – Erin Bentlage, Sara Gazarek, Johnaye Kendrick & Amanda Taylor, arrangers (säje)

Notable General Field Categories:

Record Of The Year

“Now And Then” – The Beatles
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” – Beyoncé
“Espresso” – Sabrina Carpenter
“360” – Charli XCX
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” – Billie Eilish
“Not Like Us” – Kendrick Lamar
“Good Luck, Babe!” – Chappell Roan
“Fortnight” – Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone

Album Of The Year

New Blue Sun – André 3000
COWBOY CARTER – Beyoncé
Short n’ Sweet – Sabrina Carpenter
BRAT – Charli XCX
Djesse Vol. 4 – Jacob Collier
HIT ME HARD AND SOFT – Billie Eilish
Chappell Roan The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess – Chappell Roan
THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT – Taylor Swift

Song Of The Year

“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Chibueze Collins Obinna, Nevin Sastry & Mark Williams, songwriters (Shaboozey)
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” – Billie Eilish O’Connell & FINNEAS, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
“Die With A Smile” – Dernst Emile II, James Fauntleroy, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars)
“Fortnight” – Jack Antonoff, Austin Post & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone)
“Good Luck, Babe!” – Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, Daniel Nigro & Justin Tranter, songwriters (Chappell Roan)
“Not Like Us” – Kendrick Lamar, songwriter (Kendrick Lamar)
“Please Please Please” – Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff & Sabrina Carpenter, songwriters (Sabrina Carpenter)
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” – Brian Bates, Beyoncé, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Beyoncé)

Best New Artist

Benson Boone
Sabrina Carpenter
Doechii
Khruangbin
RAYE
Chappell Roan
Shaboozey
Teddy Swims


Lead image: Screenshot from GRAMMYs pre-telecast.

See the Nominees for the 67th GRAMMY Awards

This morning, Friday, November 8, the Recording Academy announced the nominees for the 67th GRAMMY Awards, to be held in Los Angeles on February 2 at the Crypto.com Arena. Roots musicians can be found at all levels and across all fields of the buzzworthy awards, which are voted on by the vast Recording Academy membership of music makers, artists, and creatives.

Notably, Beyoncé, her groundbreaking country fusion album COWBOY CARTER, and its tracks can be found throughout the general field and American Roots categories, including landing nominations for Best Country Album, Best Country Song, Best Americana Performance, Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and more. Banjoist and composer Béla Fleck collected more than a handful of nominations for his work with Chick Corea – released posthumously – and Rhapsody in Blue, as well.

The Best Bluegrass Album category this year includes releases from Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, the Del McCoury Band, Sister Sadie, Billy Strings, Tony Trischka, and Dan Tyminski, making for an incredibly stout and superlative lineup.

From Kacey Musgraves to Shemekia Copeland, Aoife O’Donovan to Lake Street Dive, below we’ve collected all of the nominees in the Country & American Roots Music fields, plus we feature select categories from across the many fields, genres, and communities that also include roots musicians and our BGS friends and neighbors. Check out the list and mark your calendars for the 67th GRAMMY Awards, Sunday, February 2, 2025.

Best Country Solo Performance

“16 CARRIAGES” – Beyoncé
“I Am Not Okay” – Jelly Roll
“The Architect” – Kacey Musgraves
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey
“It Takes A Woman” – Chris Stapleton

Best Country Duo/Group Performance

“Cowboys Cry Too” – Kelsea Ballerini with Noah Kahan
“II MOST WANTED” – Beyoncé featuring Miley Cyrus
“Break Mine” – Brothers Osborne
“Bigger Houses” – Dan + Shay
“I Had Some Help” – Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen

Best Country Song

“The Architect” – Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves & Josh Osborne, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves)
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Chibueze Collins Obinna, Nevin Sastry & Mark Williams, songwriters (Shaboozey)
“I Am Not Okay” – Casey Brown, Jason DeFord, Ashley Gorley & Taylor Phillips, songwriters (Jelly Roll)
“I Had Some Help” – Louis Bell, Ashley Gorley, Hoskins, Austin Post, Ernest Smith, Ryan Vojtesak, Morgan Wallen & Chandler Paul Walters, songwriters (Post Malone Featuring Morgan Wallen)
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM”– Brian Bates, Beyoncé, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Beyoncé)

Best Country Album

COWBOY CARTER – Beyoncé
F-1 Trillion – Post Malone
Deeper Well – Kacey Musgraves
Higher – Chris Stapleton
Whirlwind – Lainey Wilson

Best American Roots Performance

“Blame It On Eve” – Shemekia Copeland
“Nothing In Rambling” – The Fabulous Thunderbirds featuring Bonnie Raitt, Keb’ Mo’, Taj Mahal, & Mick Fleetwood
“Lighthouse” – Sierra Ferrell
“The Ballad Of Sally Anne” – Rhiannon Giddens

Best Americana Performance

“YA YA” – Beyoncé
“Subtitles” – Madison Cunningham
“Don’t Do Me Good” – Madi Diaz featuring Kacey Musgraves
“American Dreaming” – Sierra Ferrell
“Runaway Train” – Sarah Jarosz
“Empty Trainload Of Sky” – Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

Best American Roots Song

“Ahead Of The Game” – Mark Knopfler, songwriter (Mark Knopfler)
“All In Good Time” – Sam Beam, songwriter (Iron & Wine featuring Fiona Apple)
“All My Friends” – Aoife O’Donovan, songwriter (Aoife O’Donovan)
“American Dreaming” – Sierra Ferrell & Melody Walker, songwriters (Sierra Ferrell)
“Blame It On Eve” – John Hahn & Will Kimbrough, songwriters (Shemekia Copeland)

Best Americana Album

The Other Side – T Bone Burnett
$10 Cowboy – Charley Crockett
Trail Of Flowers – Sierra Ferrell
Polaroid Lovers – Sarah Jarosz
No One Gets Out Alive – Maggie Rose
Tigers Blood – Waxahatchee

Best Bluegrass Album

I Built A World – Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Songs Of Love And Life – The Del McCoury Band
No Fear – Sister Sadie
Live Vol. 1 – Billy Strings
Earl Jam – Tony Trischka
Dan Tyminski: Live From The Ryman – Dan Tyminski

Best Traditional Blues Album

Hill Country Love – Cedric Burnside
Struck Down – The Fabulous Thunderbirds
One Guitar Woman – Sue Foley
Sam’s Place – Little Feat
Swingin’ Live At The Church In Tulsa – The Taj Mahal Sextet

Best Contemporary Blues Album

Blues Deluxe Vol. 2 – Joe Bonamassa
Blame It On Eve – Shemekia Copeland
Friendlytown – Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour
Mileage – Ruthie Foster
The Fury – Antonio Vergara

Best Folk Album

American Patchwork Quartet – American Patchwork Quartet
Weird Faith – Madi Diaz
Bright Future – Adrianne Lenker
All My Friends – Aoife O’Donovan
Woodland – Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

Best Regional Roots Music Album

25 Back To My Roots – Sean Ardoin And Kreole Rock And Soul
Live At The 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & The Golden Eagles featuring J’Wan Boudreaux
Live At The 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – New Breed Brass Band featuring Trombone Shorty
Kuini – Kalani Pe’a
Stories From The Battlefield – The Rumble Featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr.

Best Roots Gospel Album

The Gospel Sessions, Vol 2 – Authentic Unlimited
The Gospel According To Mark – Mark D. Conklin
Rhapsody – The Harlem Gospel Travelers
Church – Cory Henry
Loving You – The Nelons

Best Jazz Performance

“Walk With Me, Lord (SOUND | SPIRIT)” – The Baylor Project
“Phoenix Reimagined (Live)” – Lakecia Benjamin featuring Randy Brecker, Jeff “Tain” Watts & John Scofield
“Juno” – Chick Corea & Béla Fleck
“Twinkle Twinkle Little Me” – Samara Joy featuring Sullivan Fortner
“Little Fears” – Dan Pugach Big Band featuring Nicole Zuraitis & Troy Roberts

Best Jazz Instrumental Album

Owl Song – Ambrose Akinmusire featuring Bill Frisell & Herlin Riley
Beyond This Place – Kenny Barron featuring Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Johnathan Blake, Immanuel Wilkins & Steve Nelson
Phoenix Reimagined (Live) – Lakecia Benjamin
Remembrance – Chick Corea & Béla Fleck
Solo Game – Sullivan Fortner

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album

À Fleur De Peau – Cyrille Aimée
Visions – Norah Jones
Good Together – Lake Street Dive
Impossible Dream – Aaron Lazar
Christmas Wish – Gregory Porter

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album

Plot Armor – Taylor Eigsti
Rhapsody In Blue – Béla Fleck
Orchestras (Live) – Bill Frisell featuring Alexander Hanson, Brussels Philharmonic, Rudy Royston & Thomas Morgan
Mark – Mark Guiliana
Speak To Me – Julian Lage

Best Instrumental Composition

“At Last” – Shelton G. Berg, composer (Shelly Berg)
“Communion” – Christopher Zuar, composer (Christopher Zuar Orchestra)
“I Swear, I Really Wanted To Make A “Rap” Album But
This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time” – André 3000, Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau & Carlos Niño, composers (André 3000)
“Remembrance” – Chick Corea, composer (Chick Corea & Béla Fleck)
“Strands” – Pascal Le Boeuf, composer (Akropolis Reed Quintet, Pascal Le Boeuf & Christian Euman)

Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella

“Baby Elephant Walk” – Encore, Michael League, arranger (Snarky Puppy)
“Bridge Over Troubled Water” – Jacob Collier, Tori Kelly & John Legend, arrangers (Jacob Collier Featuring John Legend & Tori Kelly)
“Rhapsody In Blue(Grass)” – Béla Fleck & Ferde Grofé, arrangers (Béla Fleck featuring Michael Cleveland, Sierra Hull, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz & Bryan Sutton)
“Rose Without The Thorns” – Erin Bentlage, Alexander Lloyd Blake, Scott Hoying, A.J. Sealy & Amanda Taylor, arrangers (Scott Hoying featuring säje & Tonality)
“Silent Night” – Erin Bentlage, Sara Gazarek, Johnaye Kendrick & Amanda Taylor, arrangers (säje)

General Field:

Record Of The Year

“Now And Then” – The Beatles
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” – Beyoncé
“Espresso” – Sabrina Carpenter
“360” – Charli XCX
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” – Billie Eilish
“Not Like Us” – Kendrick Lamar
“Good Luck, Babe!” – Chappell Roan
“Fortnight” – Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone

Album Of The Year

New Blue Sun – André 3000
COWBOY CARTER – Beyoncé
Short n’ Sweet – Sabrina Carpenter
BRAT – Charli XCX
Djesse Vol. 4 – Jacob Collier
HIT ME HARD AND SOFT – Billie Eilish
Chappell Roan The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess – Chappell Roan
THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT – Taylor Swift

Song Of The Year

“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Chibueze Collins Obinna, Nevin Sastry & Mark Williams, songwriters (Shaboozey)
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” – Billie Eilish O’Connell & FINNEAS, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
“Die With A Smile” – Dernst Emile II, James Fauntleroy, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars)
“Fortnight” – Jack Antonoff, Austin Post & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone)
“Good Luck, Babe!” – Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, Daniel Nigro & Justin Tranter, songwriters (Chappell Roan)
“Not Like Us” – Kendrick Lamar, songwriter (Kendrick Lamar)
“Please Please Please” – Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff & Sabrina Carpenter, songwriters (Sabrina Carpenter)
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” – Brian Bates, Beyoncé, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Beyoncé)

Best New Artist

Benson Boone
Sabrina Carpenter
Doechii
Khruangbin
RAYE
Chappell Roan
Shaboozey
Teddy Swims


Graphic courtesy of the Recording Academy.

Amythyst Kiah Enjoys Challenging Assumptions

Singer-songwriter Amythyst Kiah enjoys ignoring conventional wisdom and challenging notions she considers at best outdated and at worse reactionary and restrictive, regarding what music she should choose or what subjects she should address as an artist. But at the same time, she has never wanted anyone to label or pigeonhole her approach. Since 2010, Kiah has been steadily touring and recording, both solo and with other artists whose music also cuts across multiple thematic and idiomatic boundaries.

Kiah has a prominent, robust voice and is an outstanding guitarist and banjo player. A Chattanooga native and East Tennessee State University graduate, family and community ties are a major part of her life. Kiah’s father used to be her tour manager and she credits his influence (he also was a percussionist in a touring band during the ’70s) as well as that of her late mother (a vocalist in her hometown church choir) in shaping a performance style that is equal parts edgy and disciplined, adventurous but never chaotic or unruly.

After teaching herself to play guitar while attending a creative arts high school, Kiah would subsequently complete the Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies program at ETSU and join the school’s marquee old-time band. Her array of activities since 2010 have included releasing the LP Dig In (cut at the ETSU Recording lab in 2013); the five-song EP Chest of Glass (recorded in Johnson City in 2016); and the critically praised Wary + Strange. Wary + Strange was done in Nashville for Rounder and was finally released in 2021 after going through three different producers over a three-year period before finally settling on Tony Berg. It addressed a lot of things in Kiah’s life that were difficult, notably the loss of her mother to suicide.

Conceptually, Kiah’s growth as a vocalist and songwriter is evident from the opening moments of her brand new album, Still + Bright, to its concluding refrain. Whether it’s the extensive lyrical quest for spiritual and personal growth unveiled with vigor in “Play God and Destroy The World,” or the search for peace of mind discussed in “S P A C E,” Kiah’s powerful vocals and insightful lyrics reveal a portrait of an artist willing to acknowledge uncertainty, yet able to find a sense of belonging and salvation through taking the journey.

Musically, the production incorporates a host of sounds, everything from mandolins and fiddles to crisp, crackling guitar lines – plus memorable guest vocals like S.G. Goodman on “Play God” and Kiah’s consistently poignant, stirring lead vocals. The new album, her third solo project, was already generating lavish praise before its release. It will no doubt continue to garner critical support as well as possible mentions on numerous best-of-the-year lists for Americana, folk, and country releases.

Kiah also has her share of high profile covers and collaborations. The most notable among them include being featured vocalist on Moby’s 2021 single “Natural Blues” and doing a cover of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” in 2022. But perhaps the most celebrated was appearing along with Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell in the supergroup, Our Native Daughters. Sadly, despite being a pioneering all-Black women’s group, Our Native Daughters’ music hasn’t found its way onto the airwaves at urban contemporary radio. But their LP, Songs of Our Native Daughters, was a critical and commercial hit within the Americana and roots music community. Kiah’s composition on the album, “Black Myself,” earned a 2020 GRAMMY nomination for Best American Roots Song.

All this set the stage for Still + Bright. Kiah performed some of its songs during a visit to Nashville for Americanafest 2024; she will be returning to Music City for a highly anticipated appearance on the Grand Ole Opry on December 10. She spoke at length with BGS about her new LP, the recording process, touring, and her love for science fiction, among other things.

Congratulations on the response to Still + Bright.

Amythyst Kiah: Thanks so much. I really wanted to do some different things on this album, show another side in terms of my personality. It was very important for me to say and express certain emotions on Wary + Strange and say some things that needed to be said. I did some of that with Still + Bright, but I also wanted to do some lighter things, some fun things, present other aspects of my life, and reflect more humor, more joy. I’m very happy with how it turned out and the mix of things that we covered and presented.

How was the experience recording in Nashville and how much did having Butch Walker aboard as a producer affect the recording?

Butch was and is so wonderful. Whenever I’d suggest something to him he’d just say, “OK, let’s try it and see what happens.” He was so open to everything and at the same time he knew when to step in and say, “Why don’t you try it this way?” or “Why not add this element to it?” He was so much more like a good friend and buddy than just a hired gun-type producer. When I came to town for this most recent date and asked him about playing, he not only said sure, he showed up and joined right in. It’s been such a treat working with him, a great personal and professional experience.

You describe your sound as “Southern Gothic.” Have you found that the Americana format works for you in terms of getting the necessary promotion and exposure for your music?

It’s really the ideal format, because it does fit so many different styles and types of music. One of the real problems with radio now, especially commercial radio, is that everything is rigidly categorized. If you aren’t doing a very specific thing production-wise, the content and quality don’t matter. With Americana I’ve been welcome to do and try whatever I think fits and whatever I think I want to do musically. I can’t tell you how much creative freedom that gives you as a performer. You’re not writing to fit what someone else thinks might work. You’re free to have your music unfold and develop organically, the way that you hear it.

One thing that really annoys me is that there’s a sizable audience segment out there that very well might relate to your music if they got to hear it, but for a variety of reasons they won’t. Does the restrictiveness of marketing sometimes bother you?

I want to credit the people at Rounder with doing the best job that they can in terms of getting my music out to different and diverse audiences. All I’ll say about that issue is I’ve found that when people get a chance to hear my music and songs, they’ve been universally positive. That’s all that I can do as a performer is present them to the best of my ability. Certainly I’d love to get all types of listeners; I think Rounder works on that as well.

You’ve chosen to remain in Johnson City. How would you describe the music scene there and are there any thoughts about possibly making a move to Nashville?

There’s a lot more of a music scene here than you might think and a lot of that is due to the presence of the university. But there’s an active singer-songwriter scene here. There’s a jazz and blues scene. Certainly it’s not as large as some other places, but it works well for me. I’ve been able to do a lot of playing in clubs when I’m home and also do some songwriting and collaborations with other artists around town. I’m quite satisfied with being here. That doesn’t mean at some time down the line I might not think about coming to Nashville. I really enjoy recording and playing there. Of course from what I hear about the cost of living, that’s a concern. Right now I have no plans to make that move.

One of your non-musical passions is science fiction. Who are some of your favorites?

Interesting that you bring that up. I’m a fan of H.P. Lovecraft from the standpoint of his creativity in depicting horror and fantasy. Now I’ve certainly also become aware of the problematic areas and that gets into the whole discussion of, can you effectively separate the artist and their work from things in their character that are less than desirable, to put it mildly. Clearly, there are things in the Lovecraft legacy that are totally anathema to me, in terms of my identity and all the things I espouse and believe. Do I find some value and get some joy from his writing from a technical perspective? Yes.

Octavia Butler is someone I’m just now beginning to really do a serious examination of and I’m very intrigued and delighted by what I’m seeing so far, especially in regards to how she sees the future and issues of race, class and gender. The Matrix series remains a favorite of mine as well.

You’re about to get back on the road. Does touring still remain something that’s exciting or has the thrill faded with time?

No, as a performer the interaction with the live audience is what drives you and keeps you going. Now I won’t deny that there’s a grind aspect, when you’ve been on the road for several days in a row or for months. But the chance to see new places and play your music for fresh faces and new audiences is an invigorating challenge. It’s really what you get into songwriting and singing to do, much more so than the dollars and cents of it. While no one would deny that you’ve also got to take care of business, it’s the exhilaration of performing that’s the ultimate reason for writing songs and making music. You get a reaction from audiences that you can’t get in the studio.


Photo Credit: Photography by Kevin & King