Tag: Laurie Lewis

Don’t Call Me Darlin’ Joins BGS Podcast Network

Posted on by Editor

The BGS team is excited to announce yet another addition to the BGS Podcast Network lineup for 2026, after Folk Files, The Other 22 Hours and the Working Songwriter came on board earlier this year. On October 19, 2026, a new podcast titled Don’t Call Me Darlin’ will join the BGS family. This makes the 16th show to partner with or be produced or distributed by the BGS Podcast Network. (Hear Episode One.)

Before social media, the women of bluegrass had a bright blue newsletter that showed up in the mailbox and said what no one would say out loud. In Don’t Call Me Darlin’, host Carolyn Kendrick and co-creator Tristan Scroggins hit the road to find the women Murphy Henry profiled decades ago, in a story about genre, identity, feminism, and the communities we built before the internet.

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What can our foremothers teach us about how to challenge the system? And when should we challenge our own expectations? In conversations with legends such as Alice Gerrard, Kristin Scott Benson, Laurie Lewis, Missy Raines, Alison Brown, Rhonda Vincent, Sierra Hull, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, and many more, our hosts learn how tradition can bring community together and how it can break it apart. Join Carolyn and Tristan on their road trip as they explore the paradoxical world of bluegrass: an American art form with American problems, strengths, and growing pains.

Don’t Call Me Darlin’ is based on the Women in Bluegrass newsletter that was published quarterly from 1994–2003 by Murphy Hicks Henry. More information about Murphy, including how to purchase her book Pretty Good for a Girl: Women in Bluegrass, can be found here.

Read the Women in Bluegrass digital archive, created by Tristan Scroggins
To help support the archive, consider making a tax-deductible donation

For more information on our hosts and their other ongoing projects, please visit:
Carolyn Kendrick
Tristan Scroggins
Follow Don’t Call Me Darlin’ on social media
Interested in sponsoring us? Contact BGS
Underwriting Inquiries

Don’t Call Me Darlin’: Lost Girl

Posted on by Cindy Howes

As a full-time musician living in Los Angeles, Carolyn Kendrick has a complicated relationship with bluegrass music. Despite years of experience and a deep connection to friendships formed in the community, Carolyn often thinks of herself as an outsider in the broader, male-dominated, and generally conservative genre. As life becomes more and more digitally saturated, the nostalgia-rich trappings and communal values of the bluegrass community speak to Carolyn as she finds herself yearning for a more grounded, unplugged time. She loves the music but is confused by how it fits into her sense of self.

She suddenly discovers that this internal friction is more common than expected when co-creator Tristan Scroggins shows her a collection of rare, feminist newsletters circulated in the ’90s by women who played bluegrass. These bright blue, hand stapled, self published newsletters contain nearly a decade of interviews, correspondence, and fellowship between women as they attempt to navigate and influence the genre.

As Carolyn explores these stories, it becomes clear that not only have women faced similar challenges since the music’s beginnings, but that previously gendered opportunities have gotten noticeably better in recent history. So why do the names and stories seem so unfamiliar? These questions lead down a rabbit hole as Carolyn and Tristan get in the car and drive to Virginia to interview Murphy Hicks Henry, the creator of the newsletter. Along the way they visit with friends, go to museums and festivals, interview friends, and re-interview the women from the newsletter to see what they think about the progress that has been made. All while recording to make this podcast.

Despite being a show about a newsletter about bluegrass, the show itself isn’t “about” bluegrass. It’s about community and what it means to be an insider. It’s about how tradition can bring us together but what happens to who gets left out. It’s about what we can learn from our elders and why we shouldn’t wait to ask them. It’s about women and their lives and what we can learn from them.

In this episode, you heard the voices of legends of bluegrass in the following order: Kathy Kallick, Missy Raines, Laurie Lewis, Maddie Witler, Murphy Henry, Dede Wyland , Lucy Singleton, Rhonda Vincent, Lisa Kay Howard, Sierra Hull, Kristin Scott Benson, Joselyn Skye, and Alison Brown.

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Don’t Call Me Darlin’ is based on the Women in Bluegrass newsletter that was published quarterly from 1994–2003 by Murphy Hicks Henry. More information about Murphy, including how to purchase her book Pretty Good for a Girl: Women in Bluegrass, can be found here.

Sources and citations for today’s episode.
Read the Women in Bluegrass digital archive, created by Tristan Scroggins
To help support the archive, consider making a tax-deductible donation

For more information on our hosts and their other ongoing projects, please visit:
Carolyn Kendrick
Tristan Scroggins
Follow Don’t Call Me Darlin’ on social media
Interested in sponsoring us? Contact BGS
Underwriting Inquiries

Photo Credit: Carolyn Kendrick

Lindsay Lou’s Bluegrass Women Features These Twenty Talents

Posted on by Editor

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

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

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

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

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

Laurie Lewis

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

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

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

Tatiana Hargreaves

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

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

Allison de Groot

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

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

Maddie Witler

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

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

Alison Brown

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

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

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

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

Hasee Ciaccio

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

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

Courtney Hartman

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

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

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

Gena Britt

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

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

AJ Lee

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

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

Wila Frank

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

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

Brittany Haas

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

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

Sally Van Meter

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

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

Sierra Hull

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

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

Bronwyn

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

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

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

Molly Tuttle

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

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

Emma Rose

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

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

Sarah Jarosz

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

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

Phoebe Hunt

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

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

Jenni Lyn Gardner

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

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

Aoife O’Donovan

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

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

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

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

When Harmonies Run Deep: An Essential Roots Music Tradition

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Since Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent began singing together as Dailey & Vincent in 2007, they have awed fans in many ways: through their musicality, their sincerity, and their professionalism. But most of all, it’s about their duet singing.

It’s the way their voices blend and weave, so closely it can be hard to distinguish one from another. It’s the way their so-tight harmonies set up a vibration that makes the world tilt a little bit when they reach the high notes. It’s the way we sigh after they stop singing, because all’s right with the world.

Although they aren’t related, Dailey & Vincent do the bluegrass phenomenon of a “brother duet” like nobody’s business. They capture the familial force that Grammy-winning bluegrass artist Laurie Lewis describes as delightfully “making the hair on our arms and legs stand up.”

With Dailey & Vincent as our Artist of the Month, we thought we would peek into the history and tradition of brother duets and other harmony-driven duos that led to this great contemporary partnership.

Two Brothers and Two Instruments

For bluegrass journalist, songwriter, performer, and teacher Jon Weisberger, the term “brother duet” refers to something very specific: “A brother duet is basically a guitar and a mandolin and two guys, and they could be brothers, like the Monroe Brothers or the Blue Sky Boys [Bill and Earl Bolick] or even the Delmore Brothers.”

But many of the early duos later added more musicians. “They became something else, in this sort of organic process … because they wanted to have a fuller sound and they wanted to be competitive on the radio…”

“This brother duet thing existed before bluegrass,” Weisberger continues, “and then it became part of bluegrass. Such that modern folks like Michael Daves and Chris Thile … are doing a lot of the original-style singing, with just two instruments. It says something about the vitality and the attractiveness of that style.”

Weisberger notes that Dailey & Vincent recorded Gillian Welch’s “By the Mark” with just their voices, a guitar, and a mandolin. There are many other similar examples in country, old-time, and other folk formats, but the style is still beloved – and common, thankfully! – in bluegrass today.

Brothers in Tone and Timing

For many, a brother duet has to do with the spine-tingling effect of very tight harmonies, in which every note matches up in every way. Laurie Lewis, who has taught harmony singing extensively and is known for her many duet recordings and performances, talks about it this way.

“It’s easy for brother duets or sisters to blend, because they grew up pronouncing all their words the same way, because they’re from the same place and the same family,” Lewis explains. “So, they’ve got a big leg up that way.

“The shape of a vowel is the most important thing to get right when you’re trying to blend with somebody. And consonants, you know, when you start or end the note. It’s placement, as well – where you place the tone: is it forward in your face? Is it back in your throat, or somewhere in between?”

Members of family bands and sibling duets often have the same vocal timbre – “high and lonesome,” in some cases, or deeper and more mellow in others. But, Lewis said, the brother effect can work even with singers whose voices have different qualities.

“Take Carter and Ralph Stanley, who sang so beautifully together and had really different voices. Carter’s was smooth,” she points out, while Ralph always had that rougher mountain quality.

Insights From Singing Brothers

Eric Gibson remembers when he and his brother Leigh first got the harmony buzz as teenagers. “We were working in the calf barn and I’d been listening to Jim & Jesse sing ‘Are You Missing Me?’ … I started singing it, and Leigh was maybe 10 or 15 feet away from me, when he hits the tenor. And I looked at him, and I just felt it, like, ‘What did we just do?’”

The Gibson Brothers have won national awards for vocal recordings, for songwriting, and for gospel albums. They both love using a horse racing analogy to achieve the brother duet sound. Leigh notes that in many duets and other harmony forms, the lead singer is out front, in volume and style. In contrast, Eric quotes Tim Austin as saying, “Your brother duet is like two racehorses. There’s not a lead horse out there with the harmony back here. They’re both fighting for position.”

Like horse racing, it takes discipline, and keeping the harmonies tight. “You have to stay on the straight and narrow.” The tenor singer has to follow the lead singer, and neither can add too much individual style.

Leigh adds, “You have to give some of yourself. If I wanted to throw our vocal thing into chaos, I’d start singing for myself rather than for the two of us.”

“It’s about really listening and even watching your duet partner,” he says, “how they’re shaping words, how they’re closing off a vocal sound, if it’s happening quickly or it’s a slow close off of that vowel sound.

“Listen and pay attention. I think that’s the best advice I could give anybody.”

Brothers by Birth

For a beautiful collection of brother duets drawn from some of the best and least-known brothers, visit the Gibsons Brothers’ 2015 album, Brotherhood. The liner notes are an engaging mini-history of brother harmonies.

Here are just a few of the other brothers who set the stage for the duets we hear today – and popularized or debuted many of the songs we still sing and love.

The Monroe Brothers

Let’s start with the Monroe Brothers. Bill, the father of bluegrass, began performing with his brothers Birch and Charlie (the uncles of bluegrass?) in the 1920s. Birch left the group when the other two accepted an offer to host their own radio show. The very popular partnership of Charlie on guitar and Bill on mandolin only lasted four years, because they both wanted to be the boss. Charlie continued assembling bands with musicians like Lester Flatt, Ira Louvin, and Curly Seckler. As for Bill, he launched a new genre of music that bears the name of his home state and his band, the Blue Grass Boys.

The Delmore Brothers

Alton and Rabon, the Delmore Brothers, grew up in a tenant farming family in Alabama. Grounded in church music, the Delmores distinguished themselves with their versatile songwriting, leading to membership in the Grand Ole Opry in 1933, extensive touring with Arthur Fiddlin’ Smith, and later with Grandpa Jones and Merle Travis. They are acknowledged as pioneers across country, bluegrass, and rockabilly circles. Songs like “Blues, Stay Away From Me” and “Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar” remain standard bluegrass fare. Alton’s autobiography, Truth is Stranger Than Publicity, is a hoot and a half.

Blue Sky Boys

Bill and Earl Bolick first appeared on radio in 1935, when still in their early 20s. They later chose the name the Blue Sky Boys after Western North Carolina, Land of the Blue Skies. Steeped in gospel, their first recording, “Sunny Side of Life”/”Where the Soul Never Dies,” was such a big hit they earned the name “the New Hillbilly Kings.” They recorded 100 songs, both religious and secular, before joining the service. After the war they found they disliked newer music trends and they stopped playing entirely for a time when their label asked them to add electric guitar. The brothers played on and off, particularly at folk venues, until the late ’60s. Rounder Records pulled them out of retirement in 1975 for a bluegrass and folk tour.

The Lilly Brothers

Bea and Everett Lilly, the Lilly Brothers, performed on mandolin and guitar, influenced by the mountain music they heard in their home state of West Virginia. Their first local radio appearance was in 1938, and they later earned a spot on the venerated WWVA Jamboree. With Tex Logan and Don Stover – a configuration that would last 18 years – they moved to Boston, where they were welcomed in the folk scene. They are credited with bringing bluegrass to the Northeast, influencing musicians like Peter Rowan and Bill Keith. In Country Music: The Rough Guide, author Kurt Wolff quoted Bluegrass Hall of Fame inductee Joe Val as saying, “Those guys hit on like a bombshell. Nobody’d ever heard anything like that before.”

The Louvin Brothers

For many, the Louvin Brothers set the standard for brother duets. They began their duet career in the 1940s, continuing until 1963, when Charlie broke off from Ira for a solo career. Their harmonies were stunning, influenced by the shape note singing they grew up with, and their prolific writing and recordings left us with so many of the songs commonly heard in today’s bluegrass world. Their old-time religion permeated their work, as well as the life of the tormented Ira, who professed devotion while battling his demons. Emmylou Harris said, “There was something scary and washed in the blood about the sound of the Louvin Brothers.” The cover of their album Satan is Real is an apt visual representation of that thought. It is also the name of Charlie’s autobiography. Another great source is the Cocaine & Rhinestones episode on the Louvins.

Jim & Jesse

Jim & Jesse McReynolds from Colfax, Virginia are lauded as much for Jesse’s mandolin style as for their duet singing. Many of bluegrass’s most accomplished musicians passed through their band, the Virginia Boys, including Vassar Clements, Allen Shelton, Vic Jordon, Carl Jackson, and Glen Duncan. Their versions of songs like “Are You Missing Me” are mainstays of bluegrass jams, while they ventured into the folk rock world with “Paradise.” Jesse would later host a tribute to Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, too. Jim died in 2002 at age 75, ending what Wikipedia calls their 55 years performing together “the longest active professional brother duet in country music history.”

The Everly Brothers

Contemporary musicians from Graham Nash to Paul Simon have cited Don and Phil Everly’s duets as inspirational. Their harmonies were intricate, tight, and gorgeous. Coming from a country music background, they became hit pop stars, with “Bye Bye Love” in 1957. While many of their most popular songs were written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, the brothers were also prolific songwriters. They have been widely recognized by the music industry, from membership in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to a #33 ranking in Rolling Stone’s list of 100 greatest artists of all time. For an excellent review of their often tumultuous careers and relationships, pick up Blood Harmony: The Everly Brothers Story by Barry Mazor.

Sisters, Mothers and Daughters

Family bands featuring female singers have been popular for decades, even before the Carter Family blasted from radio stations in the 1930s. But sister duets have been less prominent than their brotherly counterparts. We can speculate that’s because, historically, women were less likely to venture out on their own, and because they were less welcome at the front and center of bluegrass and country.

But when these women stepped up, they truly shined.

The Whites

Sisters Sharon and Cheryl performed for decades with their father, Buck White, as the Whites. But it is their duet singing that ranks with the tightest and tingliest of any brother duo. Buck, a mandolinist and piano player, encouraged his daughters to take up music. The three recorded extensively beginning in 1972 and recorded “Keep on the Sunny Side” for the Grammy Award-winning O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. After Buck’s death in 2025, Sharon and Cheryl continue to perform, sometimes with Rosie, another sister, adding a high harmony. They have received highest honors in both the country and bluegrass fields, with more than 40 years as members of the Grand Ole Opry.

Kate & Anna McGarrigle

Kate and Anna McGarrigle were acclaimed Canadian folk singers and songwriters. Often passing the melody back and forth, it could be difficult to tell when one voice ended and the other began. Their harmonies were delicious. Linda Ronstadt had a big hit with the McGarrigles’ song “Heart Like a Wheel,” and Maria Muldaur, Emmylou Harris, and Judy Collins also covered their songs. Kate died in 2010.

The Judds

This mother/daughter duo certainly had the blood-harmony duet thing going big time with perfectly executed, soaring vocals. In a Cinderella-like story line, Naomi and her daughter Wynonna went from living on welfare to auditioning (in terror, as they described it) before a room full of recording executives – who signed them immediately. Within two years of the 1983 audition, they recorded the first of eight consecutive number one singles and received their first of five Grammys. Their family story is both fractious and inspiring.

More Essential Duets

Nowadays, it often seems the most common examples of high quality duet singing come from non-siblings, from chosen family, from lifelong musical partners. Turns out “blood harmony” is possible without the biological ties. (But of course it is.) Some of the best examples of the form are singers unrelated to each other.

Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard

Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard presented a side of duet singing that was at once sweet and gutsy. Although from very different geographic and social backgrounds, the pair came together through the Baltimore folk community in the 1970s. They sang with intense sincerity, performing older and traditional tunes and presenting Dickens’ heart-rending (and sometimes snarky) originals to the world. They were some of the first women to front a bluegrass act and are widely acknowledged as inspiring groundbreakers.

Ricky Skaggs & Tony Rice

In 1980, Ricky Skaggs and Tony Rice released what has become an iconic duet recording, Skaggs & Rice. Its content draws on traditional and pre-bluegrass tunes recorded by earlier brother duets. In fact, Weisberger points out, the album cover illustration, featuring the two men in uncomfortable-looking suits, is modeled after a Lilly Brothers photo. Skaggs and Rice taught us how two voices with starkly different qualities could blend, with sibling-like effect.

Ricky Skaggs & Keith Whitley

Skaggs and his wife, Sharon White, both sing in a high range, blending beautifully and adding intensity to everything they sing. And with his piercing tenor, Skaggs has the ability to create a brother sound with just about anyone. His partnership with Keith Whitley was equally natural, as they started singing together as teenagers in Kentucky. They began touring with the Stanley Brothers when they were both 16. In essence, they grew up together, as did their vocal blend.

Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum

Laurie Lewis is another who can turn any duet into sibling-style harmonies. She and Tom Rozum have sung together for decades. Lewis said that in addition to working hard on their timing and pronunciation (the word “yours” was once problematic), they have the advantage of remarkably similar vocal ranges for a male and female. When they are both “in the head voice, you can really hear the tension in our voices,” an exciting aspect of their duets, she said.

Laurie Lewis & Kathie Kallick

Since the earliest configuration of Good Ol’ Persons, Lewis and Kathy Kallick have sung together, including producing two duet albums. Lewis said, “We have really different timbres to our voices. But we sometimes get confused as to who was singing which part on our old recordings. ‘Wait, is that me or is that Kathy?’” Lewis’ duet album, And Laurie Lewis, showcases her skill in joining voices with so many of her old friends.

The Johnson Mountain Boys’ Dudley Connell and David McLaughlin

Eric Gibson remembered terrific harmony singing by Dudley Connell and David McLaughlin in the Johnson Mountain Boys days. That revered group won the very first IBMA Award for Album of the Year (for At the Old Schoolhouse) and were inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2020. And since his days in the Johnson Mountain Boys, Connell has shown he, too, raises any duo to the level of glorious sibling sounds. Some examples are with bandmate Lou Reid in the Seldom Scene and his two duet albums with Don Rigsby.

Emmylou Harris & … Almost Everyone

The Gibsons both mentioned Emmylou Harris’ stunning ability to create tension and beauty in sibling duet style with so many. Examples range from her earliest recordings with Gram Parsons through all her singing partners in her band, including Ricky Skaggs and Rodney Crowell, and when she introduced a young country audience to the material of the Louvin Brothers on recordings such as “If I Could Only Win Your Love,” “When I Stop Dreaming,” and “Every Time You Leave.” Her 1990 duet album pairs her with male singers. In 1999, after the success of the Trio albums with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, she and Ronstadt recorded Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions, showing off the perfection of two beautiful singers who love to sing together.

Dailey & Vincent

Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent both grew up performing in family bands. Jamie started singing with his family at age 3, and by age 12 had mastered bass and banjo. For nine years, he sang lead vocals with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, a band noted for their excellent voices and superb harmonies.

An article in Entertainment News said the Vincent children “were practically raised on harmony” from their youngest days in the Sally Mountain Show. For nine years, Vincent sang the baritone parts with Ricky Skaggs’ Kentucky Thunder. The two men’s early training, the discipline gained from playing with exceptional band leaders, plus their perfect-for-bluegrass voices created a glorious blend of heartfelt harmony and musical excellence.

Their first album, released in 2008, was met with a flurry of enthusiasm. It earned the duo six IBMA Awards – including Album of the Year – plus two other nominations that year. They have continued to receive dozens of awards from bluegrass, country, and gospel organizations, as well as three Grammy nominations as a duo and two wins between them during their time with other acts. Their 10th album, A Beautiful Life, was released earlier this year.

Explore more of our Artist of the Month content on Dailey & Vincent here. Enjoy even more bluegrass duos here and country duos here.

Lead Image: The Louvin Brothers from Pictorial Press.

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Lindsay Lou, Rising Appalachia, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Another week, another roundup of excellent new roots music for you to enjoy! You Gotta Hear This…

To get us started, JM Clifford premieres a performance video for “Hard Luck Man,” a contemplative song inspired by his experiences walking the streets of New York City, encountering veterans panhandling and down on their luck. It’s a song of compassion built around his observations and the idea that no one should be invisible or alone. Then, we go to Chicago, where singer-songwriter Elizabeth Moen reckons with another kind of man, “Renaissance Man” – or, as she puts it, the proverbial “fuckboy.” Anger, justice, and comeuppance ooze out of the acoustic-yet-rockin’ track. You can watch a new music video for the song below.

In bluegrass, Lindsay Lou has announced a brand new album, Bluegrass Women, celebrating the vibrant and supremely talented community of women that surround her in music. The first single from the album (which will release next month) is “All I Ever Loved Was You,” a beloved song in the bluegrass canon written by Ricky Skaggs’ mother. Tatiana Hargreaves, Laurie Lewis, Maddie Witler, Alison Brown, and Hasee Ciaccio join Lou on the track; the album boasts a star-studded rotating lineup of incredible women. Plus, Jaelee Roberts of Middle Tennessee has a new bluegrass single out today, “Memories On The Moon.” She first heard the track at a song swap at a bluegrass songwriting camp. Immediately impressed, she knew she had to record it. You’ll also immediately see why.

Rounding us out, Asheville-based folk and Americana group Rising Appalachia unveil a new track and video, “Chance at Wholesome.” Picking up on the thread laid down by Elizabeth Moen, Rising Appalachia also take big-talking men to task. As Leah Song puts it for BGS, “This is for the man who shows up all talk and no action.” Watch the brand new video below as you look ahead to their fall album, Trade My Troubles, out in October.

It’s all right here on BGS, and we hope you enjoy. You Gotta Hear This!

JM Clifford, “Hard Luck Man”

Artist: J.M. Clifford
Hometown: Allendale, New Jersey
Song: “Hard Luck Man”
Album: Things That We Can’t Change
Release Date: July 10, 2026 (video); October 16, 2026 (album)

In Their Words: “I’m an elementary school teacher in Brooklyn. I do a lot of my songwriting before my first class of the day. One morning I sat down to write and the lines, ‘Light a candle for the hard luck man/ Left his mind in the mountains of Afghanistan’ popped into my head. It felt like the rest of the song wrote itself. Living in New York City, I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen a person on the street holding up a sign that says, ‘Veteran. Please help.’ These days, it seems like we can’t agree on much, but taking care of our veterans should be something we can all get behind.” – JM Clifford

Lindsay Lou, “All I Ever Loved Was You”

Artist: Lindsay Lou
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “All I Ever Loved Was You”
Album: Bluegrass Women
Release Date: July 10, 2026 (single); August 14, 2026 (album)

In Their Words: “Written by Dorothy Skaggs, mother of Ricky Skaggs. I’ll never forget hearing Ricky and Keith Whitley sing this duet while playing in Ralph Stanley’s band. The harmonies and tenderness of it blew me away. Like many of these songs, I sang it for years before I knew who wrote it. I recall one time in particular singing it with Billy [Strings] in the kitchen at a party. Neither of us had an instrument in hand and there weren’t any around, so we just sang it. It’s such a strong harmony song it stands on its own powerfully.

“There’s nothing lacking in the instrumentation though on the Bluegrass Women arrangement of this track! The twin fiddles and harmonies by Tatiana Hargreaves and Laurie Lewis (cross-generational iconic players and women in bluegrass) and a strong groove held down by Hasee Ciaccio on bass and Maddie Witler on mandolin, give it a feeling like being in an old-time honky-tonk dancing with your darlin’. Add Alison Brown on banjo for a classic, rolling, poppy bluegrass sound and I’m not sure what more a song like this could want. When I reached out to Ricky to comment on his mama as a songwriter, he clarified that his parents had a very loving relationship, but she hit on a real good one anyway when she came up with the lyrics for ‘All I Ever Loved Was You.'” – Lindsay Lou

Track Credits:
Lindsay Lou – Guitar, vocal
Tatiana Hargreaves – Fiddle, harmony vocals
Laurie Lewis – Fiddle, harmony vocals
Maddie Witler – Mandolin
Alison Brown – Banjo
Hasee Ciaccio – Bass

Elizabeth Moen, “Renaissance Man”

Artist: Elizabeth Moen
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Song: “Renaissance Man”
Album: Fields on Fire
Release Date: July 10, 2026 (video)

In Their Words: “I wanted to write something that I’d hope people would want to sing along to real loud in the car. It’s fun, cheeky, and a song to heed the warning of or find solace in after a bad situationship. Good luck out there this summer! It’s the Renaissance Man’s (or woman’s or person’s) prime season I fear!

“This character song is written in the perspective of the many individuals who inspired it. Though the epidemic of f*ckboy is not constricted to the confines of Chicago’s city limits, there seemed to be, especially in my 20s, a considerable amount of them in town. The one time they admitted the truth was when they’d say, ‘I’m a bad idea for you, really.’ Lesson learned that if someone says that to you, run.” – Elizabeth Moen

Track Credits:
Elizabeth Moen – Nylon-string guitar, lead vocal
Tristan Huygen – Electric guitar
Gus Martini – Bass
Spencer Tweedy – Drums
Gus Martini – Background vocal

Video Credits:
Alexa Viscius – Photographer
Grace Coudal – Assistant photographer
Anika Ladero – Stylist
Kelsey Denvir – Assistant stylist
Grace Makuch – Graphic design

Rising Appalachia, “Chance at Wholesome”

Artist: Rising Appalachia
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Chance at Wholesome”
Album: Trade My Troubles
Release Date: July 10, 2026 (single/video); October 2, 2026 (album)

In Their Words: “This is for the man who shows up all talk and no action. Says you are his queen and then buckles his knees once the chase is over. The one who speaks the game, but doesn’t have the backbone to show up and do the work. For the man that still sees a woman as a second-class citizen. For the narcissists, the broken poets, the dreary addicts who will gladly drag you down with them before they will lift you up and see you shine. Oh the wounded masculine (and thank God they aren’t all wounded). This one is for you.

“Heartbreak is timeless and we have all danced its messy dance. Shattered and stoic. Unkempt and wildly alive. The battered soul doing its best to revive after the storm comes through. I fell in love with a man who was a weathervane in a tornado – a broken man who toted his scars as trophies and would rather spin into patterns of harm than simply lean into care; a chaos worshipper at the altar; mercurial and magical in his fire and poetry. What else can we do but turn the page and sing?” – Leah Song

Video Credit: Earthbased Media

Jaelee Roberts, “Memories On The Moon”

Artist: Jaelee Roberts
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Memories On The Moon”
Label: Mountain Home Music Company
Release Date: July 10, 2026

In Their Words: “‘Memories On The Moon’ is honestly one of my favorite songs that I’ve ever recorded. Last year, I was at Donna Ulisse and Jerry Salley’s songwriters’ workshop – all of us sitting in a circle sharing songs – when ‘Memories On The Moon’ co-writers Keith Barncastle and Rebekah Speer played a song demo (sung by third co-writer, Billy Droze) through a little speaker in the room. From the very first listen, I knew I had to record it. I didn’t know when I’d get the chance, but I remember looking at them and saying, ‘I want this song.’

“The lyrics hit me immediately. What makes this song so special to me is how deeply personal, yet universal, it feels. It was originally written from the perspective of losing a partner and learning how to live with that kind of heartbreak and absence. But I think it can also speak to anyone who’s experienced loss in any form – a breakup, distance, change, or simply missing someone you love. To me, that’s what makes a truly great song: when people can hear it and find pieces of their own story inside of it.

“When we got into the studio, it honestly felt like magic. Tony Wray on acoustic guitar, Alan Bartram on bass, Justin Moses on mandolin and Dobro, and Ron Stewart on banjo brought so much heart and depth to the track. Zack Arnold added harmony vocals that elevated everything even further – his voice and ideas were truly the finishing touch. I have fallen completely in love with this recording, and I’m beyond grateful that I got to be the one to bring this song to life and share it with all of you. I truly hope that it touches your hearts the way that is has mine.” – Jaelee Roberts

Track Credits:
Jaelee Roberts – Lead vocal
Ron Stewart – Banjo
Tony Wray – Guitar
Alan Bartram – Upright bass
Justin Moses – Resonator guitar, mandolin
Zack Arnold – Harmony vocal

Photo Credit: Lindsay Lou by Sawyer Gieseke; Rising Appalachia courtesy of the artist.

Roots Songs All About Mental Health

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but for those with lived experience, every day is about mental health awareness. During the most difficult times, many creators and listeners turn to music. It’s where we connect through lyrics and melodies that express the things we so often cannot, will not, dare not say.

The intersection of music and mental health is nothing new. Long before memes and catchphrases about “break the stigma,” Hank Williams did just that with “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” Years later, Porter Wagoner exposed the ugly unspoken truth about “The Rubber Room.” 

Thankfully, through incremental steps, times have changed – although not enough – in terms of media portrayal and public discourse. With great courage, more and more artists are coming forward about their struggles. Dozens of artists and musicians have spoken openly with BGS and Good Country about how mental health challenges move them to create songs and albums that make us all feel a little bit less alone. (Scroll to find our playlist of roots songs all about mental health below.)

Artists and bands like Becky Buller, Courtney Marie Andrews, Sister Sadie, and Tenille Townes give us glimpses at how mental health and self-care inform their creative processes and how they craft their songs, albums, and sets. Groups like Southern Avenue and the Band Loula – who make music built on the sonic and storytelling traditions of the South – subvert regional expectations about what’s “allowed” to be spoken about in the light of day with their approaches to infusing mental health awareness into their songs. Still more conversations with artists like Fruit Bats, Cole Chaney, Emily Scott Robinson, and Chely Wright reinforce that mental health in roots music isn’t a fad or passing trend, it’s an intentional through line. Songwriting and roots music are perfect vehicles for this sort of vulnerability and these once forbidden topics.

The proliferation of YouTube and democratization of music videos in the 2000s and 2010s opened up new dimensions for artists, giving them more formats in which to express themselves, depict their work, and consider mental health. Additionally, of course, it offers live performances that go beyond anything a studio recording can capture.

“I Think It’s Going to Rain Today” – Randy Newman

Randy Newman’s masterpiece has been covered many times, and the internet is full of those recordings – as well as his. This performance, however, at his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, may very well surpass them all.

“God, Can You Hear Me?” – Dax

Dax is fearless in addressing the most difficult and “taboo” topics. “God, Can You Hear Me?” asks the unspoken question within the context of a subject that far too many people refuse to address: suicidal ideation. (Content warning: graphic.)

“Let the Circle Be Broken” – Sister Sadie

In genres predicated upon generational legacies and “handing down” tradition, Sister Sadie’s song of release, letting go, and stepping out from underneath the long shadow of generational traumas is more than powerful. By the same token, that it was written and is sung and performed by a band of all women makes it a truly transcendent message. Some circles are meant to remain unbroken, others must be demolished.

“Bench Seat” – Chase Rice

Chase Rice broke down walls and stereotypes and opened doors to discussions about suicide with this multiple-award-winning video. Country needed this. Country needs more of this. (Content warning: graphic.)

“Hurt” – Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash. Enough said.

“I’m Gonna Be the Wind” – Laurie Lewis

Bluegrass legend Laurie Lewis has penned many a fine song tackling issues of mental health, but this is the song for when you’re ready to stride out anew again. It’s a song of strength, resilience, of realizing that often one of the primary forces keeping us down is our own mindset. Tired of being a blade of grass, bent and bruised by the wind? Be the wind!

“Sunday Morning Coming Down” – The Highwaymen

Mickey Raphael described them as “like Mount Rushmore onstage” and called Kris Kristofferson “the Shakespeare of our time.” This is why.

“Will the Sun Ever Shine Again” – Bonnie Raitt

One of the best songs Bonnie Raitt has ever sung and released was recorded for the 2004 animated film Home on the Range. Devastating, endlessly relatable, but ultimately hopeful, the film cut of “Will the Sun Ever Shine Again” is hard to track down on streaming services and online, but it’s truly lovely. A gem of a soundtrack find from an often overlooked Disney children’s movie from the aughts.

“Alone Again (Naturally)” – Gilbert O’Sullivan

In 1971, Gilbert O’Sullivan bravely addressed loss, grief, heartbreak, loneliness, depression, suicidal thoughts, and questions of faith, wrapped them up in a lovely melody, set them to a catchy beat, and rode to the top of the charts with one of the most gutting, most accurate depictions of mental health challenges ever put to song. Decades and numerous cover versions later, stripped down to keyboard and guitar, his voice aged like fine wine, “Alone Again (Naturally)” remains poignantly accurate and relatable.

“Bad Mind” – Erin Rae

A song so perfect in its illustration of how we project and ascribe mental health, onto ourselves and others. We all may know, somewhere inside ourselves, that there is no such thing as a “Bad Mind,” but stigma and internalized expectations leave so many of us feeling broken and “incorrect.” Listening to Erin Rae sing this lovely, devastating song brings an immediate feeling of needing to reassure the singer that there really aren’t bad minds… and thereby the realization we should also apply that grace to ourselves.

Below, you’ll find our full playlist of nearly 8 hours of roots music created by the teams at BGS and Good Country that features some of the many excellent songs that address mental health. For Mental Health Awareness Month and beyond.

Photo Credit: (L to R) Cole Chaney by Anthony Simpkins; Sister Sadie courtesy of the artist; Dax by Annie Devine.

Additional curation and contributions by Shelby Williamson and Justin Hiltner.

Watch 4 Live Videos From the Carrboro Bluegrass Festival

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

In 2025, at their inaugural event, the Carrboro Bluegrass Festival attracted bluegrass fans from 13 states to an iconic venue, Cat’s Cradle, in the roots music rich area of North Carolina’s “Triangle.” Attendees enjoyed performances from artists like Jim Lauderdale, the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, Woody Platt & the Bluegrass Gentlemen, Brownyn Keith-Hynes, Graham Sharp & Friends, Max Wareham & the National Bluegrass Team, and more.

On May 23, 2026, the festival returns once again to the Cat’s Cradle Back Yard for their second annual edition of the tremendously successful event. Tickets are on sale now. This year, the lineup includes string band and bluegrass luminaries like Mason Via, Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands, Trenton Wagler and Eric Brubaker (of the Steel Wheels), Jon Stickley Trio, and more. And, for the first time in 2026, the Carrboro Bluegrass Festival is partnering with the UNC Bluegrass Initiative to support live bluegrass music in the greater Chapel Hill and Carrboro area. Plus, student members of the Carolina Bluegrass Band will open the festival.

As with all roots music events held in the fertile, artful lands of North Carolina, the very first Carrboro Bluegrass Festival wasn’t just about the performers, it was about the spirit of Carrboro itself. Connecting music, place, and communities together with intention and pride. Carrboro is full of great restaurants, shops, art, and community spaces – it’s no wonder the little town is referred to as “one of the most progressive communities in the South.”

To spotlight the town – and the music – last year the festival captured a series of exclusive, stripped-back performances at some of the town’s most historic landmarks. BGS has been proud to partner with Carrboro Bluegrass Festival since its inception, so while we look ahead to this year’s event, we’re sharing a series of four videos shot by the festival, the city of Carrboro, and the Orange County Visitor’s Bureau last year during the proceedings. Enjoy exclusive performances by Jim Lauderdale & the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, Woody Platt, and Max Wareham below.

Make your plans now to attend the Carrboro Bluegrass Festival at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina on May 23, 2026. Tickets available here.

Jim Lauderdale & the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys

Roots music renaissance man Jim Lauderdale has collaborated with hit bluegrass group the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys quite a bit over the last few years and together they’re releasing another album on April 24, 2026, entitled The Birds Know. (We recently premiered the lead single of that project, check it out here.) Last year during the Carrboro Bluegrass Festival, Lauderdale and the Boys performed “Long and Lonesome Letting Go” under an old, shady tree outside of Carrboro Town Hall, just down the street from Cat’s Cradle.

Max Wareham & the National Bluegrass Team

For our second video, Connecticut-based banjo player and singer-songwriter Max Wareham assembles his band, the National Bluegrass Team, just out front of the Cat’s Cradle to perform an original song, “Highway to Your Heart.” You may recognize Wareham from performing in Peter Rowan’s band or from his most recent album, DAGGOMIT!, released in 2025. His approach is modern but rooted deeply in traditional bluegrass, as you can tell from the energy and feel of the song.

Woody Platt & the Bluegrass Gentlemen

A godfather of bluegrass and jamgrass in North Carolina, Woody Platt brought his Bluegrass Gentlemen down from the mountains to Carrboro for last year’s festival. With them they carried along “Like the Rain Does,” the lead track off Platt’s 2024 solo release, Far Away With You. Its minor chords offer a melancholy tinge to match the rain falling in the song’s hook, but the energy and tempo of the track – especially in this live performance captured from the band’s green room trailer – give that cheery bluegrass sheen to the lyrics. Whether local, regional, or national acts the talent on display at the Carrboro Bluegrass Festival is first rate.

Bronwyn Keith-Hynes

Fiddler and singer-songwriter Bronwyn Keith-Hynes has been building an impressive résumé for herself, especially since departing Molly Tuttle’s Golden Highway. Her 2024 album, I Built A World, was nominated for a GRAMMY for Best Bluegrass Album and if you’ve not had a chance to catch her live touring band recently, you’re missing out. Her groups always boast the best and brightest of young bluegrass pickers – and her lineup at the Carrboro Bluegrass Festival last year was no exception. Backgrounded by a stunning Good for the Hive mural by Matt Willey on the side of the Carrboro Fire Station, Keith-Hynes and her band are certainly impressive as they render “Virginia Gal, She’s Up and Gone” for our final video captured at last year’s festival.

If you’re in the mood for even more excellent bluegrass served up in one of the cutest and most dynamic little towns in North Carolina, don’t miss the second Carrboro Bluegrass Festival on Saturday, May 23, 2026. More information here.

This content brought to you in partnership with the Carrboro Bluegrass Festival.

Basic Folk: Laurie Lewis

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

A foundational participant in the ’70s Bay Area bluegrass scene, Laurie Lewis knows the power of collaboration. She’s been a part of an ensemble in recent years that’s called Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands, with Laurie on fiddle, guitar, and vocals, Brandon Godman on fiddle, George Guthrie on banjo, and Hasee Ciaccio on bass. That group plays a huge part in her new album, O California!, a collection of songs that explore our own places in the natural world and in each other’s hearts. It also serves as a love letter to her home state. One standout track, the traditional “Fair and Tender Ladies,” is a duet with Ciaccio, which brings the song’s cautionary tale to life. In our Basic Folk conversation, Laurie talks about what it’s been like to learn traditional songs before actually catching their meaning, long after figuring out the tune.

LISTEN: APPLE • SPOTIFY • AMAZON • MP3

Lewis emphasizes the communal and collaborative nature that defines her musicianship. She recounts her early exposure to music played socially when her father and his friends gathered at their home to play classical music when she was young. She credits that experience with solidifying her decision to learn to play, so she could have as much fun as they did. Laurie also opens up about her path to finding independence from her father’s expectations and her eventual return to music through modern dance and folk tradition. She touches on her passion for nature, recounting transformative hiking experiences, and reveals her thoughts on collaboration and mentorship within the music community.

Additionally, Lewis reflects on the profound impact of losing her voice in 2021 and the emotional journey of rediscovering her musical identity. We wrap up our conversation talking about her friend Alice Gerrard, whom she covers on the new album. After we hung up, Laurie emailed me an addendum about Alice that I wanted to share: “I forgot to say, when you asked me about Alice Gerrard, that I also greatly admire her community involvement in the music she loves, as evidenced by her starting and running the Old Time Herald for so many years. She’s a remarkable person. Plus, she trained her dog to fetch a beer out of the fridge for her and then put the empty can in the recycling!” Incredible.

Want more? Check out our recent Cover Story interview with Laurie Lewis.

Photo Credit: Dawn Kish

Laurie Lewis’ O California!
Was Made With Open Ears
and Open Minds

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

It’s noon in the Bay Area, and singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer Laurie Lewis is sitting in her backyard on what she describes as “a beautiful sunny day.” She spent her morning pulling up oxalis, and now she’s painting a railing she purchased at Urban Ore.

“It’s a good handrail for our front steps and along the walkway for my partner, Tom,” she says, “so I’ve been sanding it, wiping it down, and painting it.” Later during this interview, she’ll continue pulling up weeds, noting, “It’s very liberating for me, getting my hands in the dirt. It feels really good.”

The reason for today’s call is Lewis’s new album, O California! Like its predecessors, it’s an emotional palette of songs – five originals, five traditionals, and a cover of close friend Alice Gerrard’s “Sweet South Anna River” – that blend the many genres influencing her work, from bluegrass to country, jazz, and even a hint of rock. O California! features the stellar musicianship and vocals that define Laurie Lewis and her band, The Right Hands: Brandon Godman (fiddle), Hasee Ciaccio (bass), and George Guthrie (banjo, guitar).

A two-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year and a two-time GRAMMY nominee, Lewis is no stranger to BGS readers, as she’s been featured many times. Dedicated fans are also deeply familiar with her longtime partner, mandolinist Tom Rozum, and his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. “He’s doing pretty well,” Lewis says. “He had spine surgery in November and he’s recovering very well from that. He had been living with intense sciatica pain for a year and a half, and the pain is gone, so that’s great.”

What would you like readers to know about O California!?

Laurie Lewis: Let’s see… all kinds of things. I wrote five of the songs on the album and they’re all over the map, so they’ll say, “She’s got a lot of different musical influences.” We’ve also drawn from the folk tradition and some great traditional songs and thrown that in the mix. It’s all done with the same four people and same four voices on beautiful acoustic instruments. Sonically, it’s really nice. You really hear the personalities of these particular four people working together. It’s what made me want to make the album.

This is album number 25 in your catalog. Artists often speak of albums as chapters in their lives. Which chapter is O California!?

This chapter is this band at this moment in time, these particular four people. I wanted to celebrate our working relationships together. It’s something that wouldn’t have happened at another time in my career, because I wasn’t working with these particular people for as long as I have been on this album. They are all on the previous album, but that was me calling all the shots. This is me settling in, listening to everybody, and trying to make a whole out of the four parts.

How did this approach make the creative process different?

Usually I come into a recording situation with more of an idea of what I want a song to sound like. This one, I came in with snippets and vague ideas for [the band] to have their way with it. We collaborated on arrangements and we listened to every idea. It’s not that I don’t listen to other people’s ideas at other times, but generally there might be more input than just three other people if I’m doing that.

I’m a collaborative artist. One of the reasons I play music is because it’s my best way of communicating in the world. And that is, for me, to an audience. But it’s also true for me to my bandmates and other musicians. It was fun to say, “We’re making a band album. This is what it’s going to be. We’re going to let people toss out songs.” “How does this sound?” “Oh yeah, great. Let’s do that.” It was, “How shall we do it?” “I’ve got an idea.” “How about if we do this?” It’s a very free and open feeling.

[The band are] all very open-eared and open-minded about the music. It doesn’t have to be the way Earl Scruggs did it, or the way Bill Monroe did it, or anything. It doesn’t have to fit into a neat bluegrass category. I’ve played with musicians in the past who have been more or less open, and all it takes is one more closed-off person to direct the band in a particular direction.

You’ve stated in the past, paraphrasing here, that writing is sometimes specific and sometimes spontaneous, sometimes it’s almost random, sometimes it’s unfinished. What was it this time, or was it some of each?

I’d say it was some of each. With the song “O California,” I was writing lyrics in the studio. I did a scratch vocal and changed the lyrics three times before I came home and overdubbed an actual vocal. That’s unusual for me, that it was in such an unformed state when I got into the studio, but it’s when we had the time and I knew the bones of it were good. Some vocal lines, some lyrics, just were not right yet, but I knew what it was about.

When did the songs start coming together as an obvious collection? Was there an intention in mind, a theme, when you all got together?

We started this project in a different way than I have other projects. We had little tours booked, so we would get together a day early before every tour, because we all live in different parts of the country. They would fly out here, we’d rehearse a song, get what we wanted down, figure it out, and then go on our tour and play it every night. We’d have a studio day booked on the day we got back from the tour, so we’d go in and record whatever we had worked out the week before and played on the tour. It was a fun way to approach a project and it spaced it out over a long period of time. It took close to a year.

When it’s spaced apart that way, how do you make it feel like a collection, rather than recording individual pieces of music?

Because it’s all us. It’s like an old friend – you can pick up the conversation right where it was. You haven’t changed your tone or your relationship with each other so drastically that it doesn’t fit together. It would be different if I were doing something like that over a year and just getting together with whoever I thought was the right person to play on a particular song. Then, the only thing that would hold it together would be my production values.

Do you still write ideas on notes, or have you tech-ed your way up to phone apps?

Oh, no. I write. I like to write with a good pen or a pencil on a piece of paper. I will make notes sometimes on voice memos, but mostly that’s it. I’m old-fashioned. I feel like there’s something that happens, the tactile feel of a writing utensil on the paper, that is easier for me to get a thought out than to sit at a keyboard. I’ve been known to still write letters, in fact.

We live in a world of texts, emojis, phone scrolling, and what’s being called “an epidemic of isolation.” Bluegrass is associated with festivals, musicians getting together and jamming, and community. Is this still true?

Oh, definitely. In fact, here in the Bay Area it’s having a real resurgence of community jamming culture. That’s always been at the basis of bluegrass. It’s what everybody wants to do – get together and let their instruments do the talking, let the songs do the talking. It’s a wonderful thing. I love it so much.

You mentor and teach at workshops and music camps, where you connect with younger and up-and-coming musicians. What do they want to know? What do they need to know?

One of the things that I try and impart to people is the importance of finding your own voice, because many young musicians have heroes they want to emulate. That’s how you learn, but at some point you have to find what you want to say with your voice and your instrument. That’s one of the things I try to emphasize and help people feel confident that they have something to say and their own way of saying it.

There is intergenerational connection at these camps and workshops, contrary to the ageism on both sides, that society seems to push: “What do those kids know?” or “What do those old people know?” What is your perspective?

There’s still a lot of that, but luckily there are enough people, young and old, paying attention and willing to listen to each other. It’s especially helpful when there are youth music camps and stuff like that, because then the kids have each other, but they also have their mentors there. They’re there because they want to learn, and it’s usually the older people who are teaching them, but then they get to be with their cohorts, their age group, and that helps a lot.

I certainly learned a lot from teaching at kids’ camps. When I first was asked to teach at a youth-oriented fiddle camp, I thought, “I can’t do that. I don’t know how to talk to kids. I don’t know anything about that stuff.” I said yes because I tend to say yes to things, and I found it to be so enlightening and so important in my life. It’s very enriching.

On a 2021 FolkWorks podcast, you talked about The Good Ol’ Persons playing a trade show luncheon years ago in front of a room full of drunk men. You described it as being “thrown to the wolves.” Many years later, how are we doing?

In terms of women musicians out in the world, there are so many more, and it is so great to see. And the technical abilities – you can’t fault it. You can put Molly Tuttle up against any guy. It’s been some huge steps forward in the time I have been in the music business, but it’s still very male-dominated from the top. It takes generations to change things like this, these ways of thinking, and now there’s a real cultural backlash happening and I don’t know how that’s going to play out. Women have made huge strides and maybe that’s just going to be taken away. Every generation has to fight the same fights, apparently.

Overall, how is bluegrass doing, to your eyes and ears?

That’s a really hard question for me to answer. Honestly, there’s a part of it that has gotten very entrenched in staying within a particular genre. I hear a lot of songs by people singing in a bluegrass style about bluegrass music, or their cabin home and I think it’s in danger of becoming a trope instead of a living, breathing art form.

Luckily, there are enough people out there creating in the art form and doing great stuff. There’s so much of everything happening all the time now that it’s going in all different directions at once. There’s good stuff and bad stuff, and it all depends on your point of view.

Who is making an important contribution, in your opinion?

I hear a few things now and again that I respond to and like a lot. I’m not very impressed with a lot of technical brilliance. I want to be made to laugh and cry, and if it doesn’t do one or the other or both, I’m not all that interested in it.

In terms of bands, Mighty Poplar can do it, and the duo Paper Wings, two young women, Emily Mann and Wila Frank, who I actually met at a fiddle camp when they were teenagers. They’re pretty wonderful. And I always like hearing what my old friends are coming up with in terms of songs and writing. I love hearing whatever 92-year-old Alice Gerrard is coming up with. She has a way of putting her finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the world and is pretty great.

In 1998, you recorded a song called “The Refugee.” Twenty-eight years later, here we are …

Oh, I know. I find it unfortunate that [that] song is still so incredibly relevant – or more relevant. I find it very unfortunate that song has not outlived its message. It’s terrible. I wrote it when Guatemala was in such bad shape, people were fleeing, and there was all this backlash. It’s an empathetic song. These days, empathy – there’s a whole movement, “empathy’s a bad thing.” It’s so crazy.

In a 2020 interview with BGS you said, “Music has a real way of being able to soothe and heal grief.” Could you talk about that healing power, not only as a songwriter, but also as a lover of music, a listener?

Oh, yeah, it’s true. I stand by that. There’s nothing like it. It’s such a direct conduit to the heart. A song can sneak in and express something for you that you had no words for. It can help you, as a songwriter, to figure out a way to express what you might be going through in a way that makes it universal. You put it out there in the world, everybody can feel it and relate to it, and it makes you feel a part of something greater than just your little dark cell that you might be stuck in, or your own personal grief.

It has helped me deal with things, with grief in my life, to be able to learn a song that makes me cry. Every time I hear it, I learn it, and it becomes part of me. It becomes part of my way of being able to express myself, or to write a song that every time I start trying to sing it, I’m in tears or something. You learn to work through your grief by embracing it musically. It’s an incremental way of dealing with things, and it’s really healing.

It’s a sense of support through the company of songs that speak to us.

Yeah. You are not alone. Especially with all the internet stuff, people spend a lot more time not with actual other humans, having conversations or whatever. To hear something, to listen and understand that other people are going through the same alienation or grief or loss, or whatever it is that you are experiencing, makes it easier to bear.

The French author Jean Giono, who wrote The Man Who Planted Trees – I wish I could find this quote – said in an essay that an artist’s duty is to express yourself for all the people who don’t have the words or the art to express themselves. It’s your duty in society, your job, to put it out there for everybody who can’t.

Photo Credit: Dawn Kish

You Gotta Hear This: The Lone Bellow, Laurie Lewis, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Ready for another batch of new songs and videos? Great! ‘Cause You Gotta Hear This.

It’s a roundup full of friendship and interpersonal connections this week. First up, Americana rockers Chamomile & Whiskey bring a new video for “Friends Are Falling Out.” In the vein of classic, folky alt-rock sounds, the track and video explore the fragility of relationships with a deep groove, distortion, and fiddle and banjo. But keep scrolling, as you’ll also find singer-songwriter Kim Moberg’s testament to the all-too-rare true friend with her new track, “I’ll Always Be A Friend.” The jangly modern folk number was born from Moberg’s desire to communicate to her old and new friends how important they are to her. The paeans to friendship continue with a new video from old-time/folk duo Paper Wings, who debuted their new single “Fumblin” earlier this week. It’s a double-guitar track about awkwardness, eagerness, and how we all stumble through life and through relationships.

There’s still more to enjoy elsewhere in our collection, too. Bluegrass icon Laurie Lewis has announced her upcoming 2026 album, O California! with a new video for “Look Down That Lonesome Road.” Lewis took the mournful ballad, wrote new verses, and set the lyric to a jammy, driving bluegrass tune that drips with her signature sounds. Plus, fiddler Andy Leftwich calls on his pal, guitarist Cody Kilby, to trade licks on a new original fiddle tune he’s just released called “Old Hickory.” You might never guess he first wrote the melody on guitar.

You won’t want to miss “The Doldrums” from New York Americana string band The Mammals. They’ve just dropped an animated video for the track from their recent project, Touch Grass, Vol. 1. The song might just be a cure for its own namesake; it’s a perfect selection to take with us into the often doldrums-heavy winter months. Finally, don’t miss a brand new single from iconic folk trio The Lone Bellow. Today they announced their upcoming record, which will release in February 2026 and was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. “You Were Living” finds the band with an expansive, resplendent sound that certainly sounds like The Lone Bellow, but steeped in the Shoals.

There’s plenty to find and enjoy in our conglomeration of new music. Scroll on for more. You Gotta Hear This!

Chamomile & Whiskey, “Friends Are Falling Out”

Artist: Chamomile & Whiskey
Hometown: Charlottesville, Virginia
Song: “Friends Are Falling Out”
Release Date: November 19, 2025

In Their Words: “I wrote the line ‘that broken heart might just catch a break’ after meeting up with a friend of mine. She had regaled me with her latest story in a long line of bad relationships. I live in Charlottesville, which isn’t very big, and we’ve got plenty of small-town drama. The song kind of came out of some of that and the fragility of friendships. I finished writing it just before we celebrated 1,000 shows as a band.

“In preparation for the show, Marie and I did an in-studio performance at WNRN, a station we’ve long had a good relationship with. I thought it would be fun to try a brand new song. A few days later they told me that NPR Music had shared the video as their live song of the day. We felt like it must have some juice and we decided to record it ASAP. We all liked the mysterious, Southern Gothic aesthetic that we felt in the studio. Critter added the banjo on top of fiddles before laying down a glass slide part on the guitar. Marie and I grew up in Nelson County and that first Old Crow Medicine Show record, O.C.M.S., was huge in our circles and reminds me of driving around those beautiful backroads as a teenager. To have Critter put his signature sound on one of our songs was special and felt full circle.” – Koda Kerl

Track Credits:
Koda Kerl – Guitar, lead vocals, songwriter
Marie Borgman – Fiddle, backing vocals
Bobby St. Ours – Fiddle, backing vocals
Brian Gregory – Bass, backing vocals
Critter Fuqua – Banjo, slide guitar, backing vocals
Jesse Fiske – Baritone guitar, backing vocals
Drew Kimball – Electric guitar
Stuart Gunter – Drums

Video Credits: Directed by Johnny Saint Ours and Jenny Carhartt. Filmed at Dürty Nelly’s Pub 

Andy Leftwich, “Old Hickory”

Artist: Andy Leftwich
Hometown: Carthage, Tennessee
Song: “Old Hickory”
Release Date: November 21, 2025
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “Every once in a while, you sit down with your instrument, a melody just falls out, and within a few minutes you have a fun, catchy melody! This is exactly what happened to me with this song. Even though it’s a fiddle tune, I actually wrote it on my guitar. After a few small changes to the melody, I finally landed on something that flowed well under the fingers – not only for the fiddle, but the lead guitar part as well. I was honored to have my good friend, Cody Kilby, take the lead guitar on this one! It’s so much fun to play and was named after ‘Old Hickory,’ a town near where I live.” – Andy Leftwich

Track Credits:
Andy Leftwich – Fiddle, mandolin
Byron House – Upright bass
Cody Kilby – Acoustic guitar
Matt Menefee – Banjo

Laurie Lewis, “Look Down That Lonesome Road”

Artist: Laurie Lewis
Hometown: Berkeley, California
Song: “Look Down That Lonesome Road”
Album: O California!
Release Date: November 21, 2026 (single/video); February 13, 2026 (album)

In Their Words: “I have been playing around with this song since I heard Gaither Carlton sing it decades ago as a mournful ballad. I love it that way, but it seemed to me that sometimes parting needn’t be so sad, if you know you get to meet again (maybe at a festival next year). I started writing verses for it and when I got up to about eight or ten, I decided it was time to get serious. I love the loose arc of the story and the way the band responds to it. We winnowed down the verses to the essentials, leaving the others for the extended jam version.” – Laurie Lewis

Track Credits:
Laurie Lewis – Lead vocals, acoustic guitar
Brandon Godman – Fiddle
George Guthrie – Banjo, harmony vocal
Hasee Ciaccio – Double bass, harmony vocal

Video Credits: Produced and directed by Bria Light. Recorded at the Strawberry Music Festival in Grass Valley, CA.

The Lone Bellow, “You Were Leaving”

Artist: The Lone Bellow
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “You Were Leaving”
Album: What a Time to Be Alive
Release Date: November 21, 2025 (single); February 13, 2026 (album)
Label: Thirty Tigers

In Their Words: “‘You Were Leaving’ is a song about the fleeting, transient nature of life. For us, the song is deeply personal, but it also feels universal. It invites people to find their own story in it, what it means to say goodbye, and what stays with us long after the leaving.” – The Lone Bellow

The Mammals, “The Doldrums”

Artist: The Mammals
Hometown: West Hurley, New York
Song: “The Doldrums”
Album: Touch Grass, Vol 1
Release Date: November 1, 2025
Label: Humble Abode Music

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘The Doldrums’ during a stretch of isolation when joy felt out of reach and time moved so strangely. ‘Why do the good times go so fast? Why do the doldrums linger and last?’ We tend to remember the hardest part of the day when we lay down to sleep, but this song reminds me to appreciate every amazing moment. I’m grateful this recording sounds triumphant and energized – like an anthem to shake out of a low vibration and shine a bright light into the future. For all who listen, may music and friendship help carry you through the next windless day. The Mammals have your back.” – Ruth Ungar

Track Credits:
Ruth Ungar – Vocals, guitar, songwriter
Mike Merenda – Guitars, banjo, vocals
Brandon Morrison – Bass, vocals
Will Bryant – Keys, vocals
Tim Morrison – Drums

Video Credits: Animated and Directed by Anne Beal. 

Kim Moberg, “I’ll Always Be A Friend”

Artist: Kim Moberg
Hometown: Cape Cod, Massachusetts, the traditional territory of the Indigenous Nauset and Wampanoag Nations
Song: “I’ll Always Be A Friend”
Album: All That Really Matters
Release Date: January 30, 2026 (album)

In Their Words: “As an artist who grew up listening to the amazing singer-songwriters of the 1970s, Carole King’s ‘You’ve Got A Friend’ is embedded in my heart. I love that her song and its message about connection, support, and loyalty have endured all of these many years. I was a military ‘brat’ who attended 10 different schools in 12 years, so growing up I never lived in one place long enough to be part of a friend group or a clique. I was always ‘the new kid’ who was never included. The rare true friend meant more than gold to me.

“‘I’ll Always Be A Friend’ was born from my desire to share how important the friends in my life have been and how equally important the new friends I get to connect with through performing are to me. In these uncertain and trying times, community and friendship are paramount. (And Libra loyalty lives strong in this song!)” – Kim Moberg

Track Credits:
Kim Moberg – Lead vocal, acoustic guitar
Jon Evans – Bass, tenor guitar, drums, percussion, Fender Rhodes, harmony vocals

Paper Wings, “Fumblin”

Artist: Paper Wings
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Fumblin”
Release Date: November 18, 2025 (single/video)

In Their Words: “‘Fumblin’ is about friendship and watching one another stumble and fumble through the joys and trials of life. We wrote this one together in the backyard in a sort of trance state, describing scenes from our lives. It’s definitely a romanticization of awkwardness and our eagerness to connect as a species despite inevitable failure at times. We played double guitars on this one which we’ve been having fun doing lately. It’s the first track in the world of ours that I recorded and mixed in my studio in Nashville, so that’s quite exciting as well. We have a lot more music coming from this space, so look out!” – Wila Frank

Video Credits: Filmed by Sami Braman, edited by Wila Frank.

Photo Credit: The Lone Bellow by Debbie Ewing; Laurie Lewis and band by Dawn Kish.