Comments on: Can you suggest some bluegrass-based modern artists along the lines of Alison Krauss & Union Station?

Question: Can you suggest some bluegrass-based modern artists along the lines of Alison Krauss & Union Station?

jackypaper — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:08:25 -0800

Can you suggest some bluegrass-based modern artists along the lines of Alison Krauss & Union Station? Thanks!

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:15:54 -0800

Off the top of my head:

Nickel Creek

Mindy Smith

Old Crow Medicine Show

By: danb

danb — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:40:15 -0800

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.

By: libraryhead

libraryhead — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:40:19 -0800

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.

By: allen.spaulding

allen.spaulding — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:44:50 -0800

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.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:48:20 -0800

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.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:49:09 -0800

Chris Thile's solo work is a good answer.

Seconding this. The Deceiver is a very interesting album.

By: MonkeyToes

MonkeyToes — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:57:21 -0800

Tim O'Brien and Crooked Still.

By: Bango Skank

Bango Skank — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:19:50 -0800

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.

By: ae4rv

ae4rv — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:47:47 -0800

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.

By: kitcat

kitcat — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:59:55 -0800

a link to their video on youtube: The Be Good Tanyas

By: opsin

opsin — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:16:55 -0800

Nthing, more times than any one person can do, Crooked Still.

By: RogerB

RogerB — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:33:25 -0800

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.

By: eritain

eritain — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:47:58 -0800

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.

By: conradjones

conradjones — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:23:13 -0800

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.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:28:38 -0800

Gillian Welch?

By: TDIpod

TDIpod — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:31:06 -0800

Railroad Earth

By: hades

hades — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:37:30 -0800

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.)

By: ourroute

ourroute — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:52:22 -0800

I'm with opsin and MonkeyToes on Crooked Still. Also,

Railroad Earth

The Infamous Stringdusters

The Duhks

Drew Emmitt Band

Hackensaw Boys

The Biscuit Burners

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:50:30 -0800

I would recommend Steep Canyon Rangers among the current bluegrass crop, and among the older school Norman & Nancy Blake (especially this all-instrumental album)...

By: Pants!

Pants! — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 03:48:11 -0800

You'll love the Greencards and the Lost Pines.

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.

By: K.P.

K.P. — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 04:31:23 -0800

Seconding Abigail Washburn and Gillian Welch. Not actually bluegrass like AK&US, but very very good.

By: SaharaRose

SaharaRose — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 05:21:17 -0800

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.

By: trip and a half

trip and a half — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:18:48 -0800

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.

By: bibliophibianj

bibliophibianj — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:21:51 -0800

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.

By: tdismukes

tdismukes — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 07:09:01 -0800

The band has broken up and the members gone on to other projects, but you can still find old CDs from Salamander Crossing

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 08:19:16 -0800

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.

By: kitcat

kitcat — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:10:32 -0800

nthing Gillan Welch. Maybe try this song (so so lovely).

By: gingerbeer

gingerbeer — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 13:23:21 -0800

Both a bit more on the old-time end of the spectrum, and very worth a listen:

The Crooked Jades

Stairwell Sisters

You may want to check out some of the artists who played here or here (not all are bluegrass!)

By: LDL707

LDL707 — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:44:33 -0800

Rhonda Vincent's music is very similar to that of Alison Krauss--maybe a little more bluegrassy.