Old Crow Medicine Show posted by octothorpe at 5:15 PM on February 13
Béla Fleck's solo albums are more strongly rooted in bluegrass than his work with the Flecktones, which is more jazz fusion. I recommend the two Bluegrass Sessions albums. posted by danb at 5:40 PM on February 13
Dolly Parton had a couple of bluegrass-y albums recently that are quite nice.
Cherryholmes is a bit "harder"/faster but quite good.
Steve Earle's album with the Del McCoury Band, The Mountain, was my first introduction to bluegrass, and remains a keeper.
Obviously, check out the soundtrack to O Brother Where Are Thou, if you haven't already. posted by libraryhead at 5:40 PM on February 13
Nickel Creek or Chris Thile's solo work is a good answer. There's a thriving roots/bluegrass scene in the Cambridge/Boston area with a dozen or so bands. Some of them, such as Juliana Hatfield have gone national. You can check out the Juliana Hatfield/Frank Smith album to see two more prominent examples. Check out the Resophonics on myspace for a group that stayed. Oh yeah, and Emmylou Harris or anyone who covers Townes Van Zandt is another place to look. posted by allen.spaulding at 5:44 PM on February 13
I just bought Lost in the Lonesome Pines by Jim Lauderdale & Ralph Stanley, and while it's more traditional than the "new grass" of say, Nickel Creek, I think I am liking it very much so far. posted by Devils Rancher at 5:48 PM on February 13
Chris Thile's solo work is a good answer.
Seconding this. The Deceiver is a very interesting album. posted by Devils Rancher at 5:49 PM on February 13
A little more folk/new grass than your example but still in the same ballpark: Langhorne Slim is phenomenal.
I also LOVE Jeremy Harple a fairly obscure Vermont muscian who deserves way more recognition than he gets. posted by Bango Skank at 6:19 PM on February 13
Not exactly what you asked for, but old school (or, old timey) bluegrass is absolutely wonderful. You might try The Stanley Brothers (and other Ralph Stanley records), Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin to name a few. posted by ae4rv at 6:47 PM on February 13
Nthing, more times than any one person can do, Crooked Still. posted by opsin at 7:16 PM on February 13
The Mammals are not touring at the moment but have recorded a few really great albums – anyone who likes Crooked Still (who I'd also recommend) should grab "Born Live" or "Evolver" immediately. You might also check out the solo/duo albums of Mammals members Michael Merenda and Ruth Ungar. You've probably already heard Gillian Welch, but she's another obvious possibility. posted by RogerB at 7:33 PM on February 13
Alison Krauss cites Tony Rice as a major influence. Solid bluegrass chops plus an openness to other styles. Closer to old Krauss than recent Krauss. posted by eritain at 7:47 PM on February 13
Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet. Sure, they may play a few songs where the lyrics are in Chinese, but they still kick ass. Also, Bela Fleck plays banjo with them, so it's even more awesome. posted by conradjones at 8:23 PM on February 13
Tony Trischka, Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor, Bela Fleck, Chris Thile, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, David Grisman, Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss all occupy a kind of weird venn diagram in my head. There are a bunch of good suggestions here; what I haven't seen is a suggestion about a process of finding out more, which is this: find something you like, and find out who's in the band. Then look up any of them who are in other bands or have solo projects or collaborations. Sample their stuff, and if you find something there you like, repeat the process. Eventually you start recognizing the names of session musicians who are likely to be used in the kind of music you're interested in, even if you can't quite define what exactly that kind of music is. (This is how I came to love Tony Levin, incidentally. I bought three completely different albums within the space of a week, all of which he played on, as I found out much later when I compared liner notes.) posted by hades at 8:37 PM on February 13
I'm with opsin and MonkeyToes on Crooked Still. Also,
I would recommend Steep Canyon Rangers among the current bluegrass crop, and among the older school Norman & Nancy Blake (especially this all-instrumental album)... posted by ornate insect at 9:50 PM on February 13
Another great album to explore is Rounder Records' 25 Years of Blue Grass. It has a lot of different artists so you can discover who you like. posted by Pants! at 3:48 AM on February 14
Seconding Abigail Washburn and Gillian Welch. Not actually bluegrass like AK&US, but very very good. posted by K.P. at 4:31 AM on February 14
What a fun question!
I know some bluegrass bands you've never heard of!
Joy Kills Sorrow (a Boston-based bluegrass band, try saying that 5x fast!). My cousin played with them for a while. Not sure they're still touring, which is a shame.
I'm pretty sure they're on MySpace as well.
Prison Love is a bluegrass band from Ireland. Mostly, when they sing, you can't hear the Irish accents. And then when they talk, the brogues come back.
Also- if you're looking for Christmas music in that vein- or any other, my collection is absurdly extensive, and extensively absurd. posted by SaharaRose at 5:21 AM on February 14
Thirding Gillian Welch. Not all of her stuff is bluegrass-based, but she is the awesome. Check out her performance of The Band's The Weight with Old Crow Medicine Show. posted by trip and a half at 6:18 AM on February 14 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure if they're bluegrass-y enough for you, but I'm going to see Mumford & Sons tonight. They're more on the folksy side of the musical spectrum. If that's okay, let me know & I can recommend a few more bands. posted by bibliophibianj at 6:21 AM on February 14
The band has broken up and the members gone on to other projects, but you can still find old CDs from Salamander Crossing posted by tdismukes at 7:09 AM on February 14
Seldom Scene are a really amazing group for a bunch of guys who do it as a side gig. Their recent album Scenechronized is excellent. posted by pmbuko at 8:19 AM on February 14
nthing Gillan Welch. Maybe try this song (so so lovely). posted by kitcat at 10:10 AM on February 14
Both a bit more on the old-time end of the spectrum, and very worth a listen:
Subscribe
Nickel Creek
Mindy Smith
Old Crow Medicine Show
posted by octothorpe at 5:15 PM on February 13