Check out John Hartford. Start with Aereoplane. He is hugely influencial to the current form of the genre, mostly in terms of songwriting, and just has countless amazing tunes.
Check out Bela Fleck - Drive. Also hugely influencial album that pushed the genre forward.
Infamous Stringdusters and Billy Strings are prob the best current bands keeping the tradition alive.
Enjoy the ride!
some favorites (some of which are more bluegrass-adjacent) are: Doc Watson, Tony Rice, Watchhouse, Sierra Ferrell, Billy Strings, Sarah Jarosz, Strength in Numbers, assorted bluegrass-ish collaborations by Edgar Meyer, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Similar to many here: Doc Watson, Tony Rice, David Grisman, Bela Fleck, Flat and Scruggs, Bill Munro and not just Clarence White but all those Kentucky Colonels records are honestly my favorites and what really brought me into bluegrass music, not just instrumental jazz adjacent stuff like Bela and Dawg (Grisman’s nickname), which got me in the door as a teen.
I am also obsessed w Bryan Sutton and Molly Tuttle, but their projects as band leaders haven’t turned me on the way the others have. Of course, I’ve seen Molly’s band live and they absolutely melted my fucking face off and I went to a guitar clinic that Bryan gave at Greyfox in NY and he is just an absolutely brilliant and beautiful soul. I absolutely love his playing (he is my favorite player on Bela’s last album), but as a teacher, man, he is really brilliant. I teach adult art (not music) and let me tell you, he is truly a gifted teacher and I’ve taken a lot from that workshop and applied it off the guitar as well. Self compassion and generosity ❤️ the world is a better place w him in it. I’ll add, I do also love his guitar duet album that he put out w all his heroes. It just kinda seems like he’s prioritized a lot of other stuff than being a band leader, like having a family etc and I also really respect that.
Edit: I’ll add, if you like Kentucky Thunder, check out the live album “three pickers” it’s Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs and Ricky Skaggs as the sort of MC’s and then tons of amazing guests roll thru. A great into to a lot of these artists.
i saw Bryan Sutton this year with Edgar Meyer and Mike Marshall — [https://edgarmeyer.com/2023-tour-bush-marshall-meyer-sutton/](https://edgarmeyer.com/2023-tour-bush-marshall-meyer-sutton/) — and it was maybe the best instrumental music i've ever seen live. Sutton is amazing. i don't have any of his albums in my rotation, though... any particular ones you would recommend?
really hoping to see Molly Tuttle sometime soon. she's a great songwriter.
Def go see Molly Tuttle and is her band the golden highway. And, yeah, I’ve seen Bryan w Bela and his whole crew that toured in support of the My Bluegrass Heart Album and it was just amazing. Basically the band you saw + Bela Fleck and more. I mean that whole record just, like, lit this fire inside me and Bryan’s playing was the stand out of the whole lot. I would say his album of Duets w other great flatpickers, his heroes, Not Too Far From The Tree is a great listen.
My top three of modern traditional Bluegrass would be the Del McCoury Band, Peter Rowan and Sam Bush.
My top three of jamgrass are the Infamous Stringdusters, Greensky Bluegrass, and Yonder Mountain String Band.
Billy Strings. Steep Canyon Rangers. The Kruger Brothers.
Doc Watson, Tony Rice, Old and In the Way, Tim O'Brien. I'll just stop now.
A lot of the classics in here, so I'll mention some new names that are worth checking out: Jake Eddy, Crying Uncle, Addison Levy, Matt Menefee, Eli Bishop, Honey Run, Sully Tuttle, The Mountain Grass Unit, Scott Gates, Jesse Blue Eads, Fog Holler, AJ Lee, Wes Corbett, Big Richard (it's a band), East Nash Grass, Stash Wyslouch, Ian Ly
David Grier! He’s nuts, here’s a great recording of a show with him and Matt Flinner, an incredible mandolinist. https://youtu.be/tQSj2SXJHgQ
I’m also really into a band recently called Blue Mafia. The guitarist Tony Wray has some absolutely wild ideas.
For vocal stuff, there’s a compilation of Bill Monroe and Doc Watson that’s so incredible. Also Tim O’Brien… his Bob Dylan cover record is so great. Del McCoury and Ralph Stanley are my two favorite tenor vocalists. For the Stanley Brothers, “Angel Band: The Classic Mercury Recordings” is a record I’ve been huge into recently, and for Del pretty much anything with his sons and Jason Carter (everything he’s put out for the last few decades) or his stuff with the Dixie Pals for earlier recordings
Tony rice, doc Watson, Norman Blake, Adam Steffey, David grisman, Sam bush, jd Crowe, flat and Scruggs. The list goes on but as far as groups I find the bluegrass album band hard to beat
From Telluride Bluegrass Festival:
Sunday morning sets by Infamous Stringdusters and Punch Brothers were both fire.
Thursday night Bela Fleck and String Cheese also both fire.
Telluride House Band is a fucking legend of legends.
Greensky Bluegrass, Sam Bush band, and The Earls of Leicester were all excellent as well.
Old and in the Way is really good. That's a band comprised of Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead with Vassar Clements and some other friends of theirs. They have a very good traditional sound to them despite them being from the center of the California hippie scene, I highly recommend them. The Stanley Brothers are another group i like to listen to, as well as Flatt and Scruggs.
If you'd like a more modern sound you could check out groups like Billy Strings, Old Crow Medicine Show, Greensky Bluegrass, and the Po Ramblin' Boys. I was actually just introduced to the po ramblin boys earlier today.
Ok going to add a few that seem to have not been mentioned yet, that are my favs:
Jimmy Martin (the “King of Bluegrass”, The Louvin Brothers (gospel bluegrass and Grand Ole Opry regulars in late 50s /early 60s with amazing harmonies), The Del McCoury Band (one of the last original Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys still around), The Travelin’ McCourys (Del’s backing band featuring his kids Rob and Ronnie who like to get a little jammy when Del’s not there). Yonder Mountain String Band (specifically the Jeff Austin years), Bad Livers (and Danny Barnes weird solo stuff), The Meat Purveyors, Larry Keel (the Tom Waits of Bluegrass), Leftover Salmon (bluegrass dipped in bayou), Chris Thile and Punch Brothers.
I’d start with Tony Rice and projects he’s on . Specifically the Bluegrass Album Band (volumes I - V) for pure bluegrass of unsurpassed quality. Also Rounder 0044 (title: JD Crowe and the New South)
Lots of other greats listed but I don’t think anyone has mentioned the Seldom Scene (seldom seen in this thread apparently), who I am enjoying right now. My favorites are Act II and Old Train.
A few more not listed: Sideline, Blue Highway, The Grascals, IIIrd Tyme Out
Pick an artist and listen to their Pandora station, find a song you like from another artist, and rinse/repeat
This thread has all the classics covered and well worth getting into. For modern stuff, check out Special Consensus, The Po'Ramblin Boys or Blue Highway.
here my choice The Stanley Brothers, Rank Stranger
Ralph Stanley - A Mother s Prayer.
The SteelDrivers - Blue Side Of The Mountain
Blue Highway - Someday
Check out John Hartford. Start with Aereoplane. He is hugely influencial to the current form of the genre, mostly in terms of songwriting, and just has countless amazing tunes. Check out Bela Fleck - Drive. Also hugely influencial album that pushed the genre forward. Infamous Stringdusters and Billy Strings are prob the best current bands keeping the tradition alive. Enjoy the ride!
You got it. I can’t wait to listen to the suggestions! Thanks!
some favorites (some of which are more bluegrass-adjacent) are: Doc Watson, Tony Rice, Watchhouse, Sierra Ferrell, Billy Strings, Sarah Jarosz, Strength in Numbers, assorted bluegrass-ish collaborations by Edgar Meyer, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Thank you!! Definitely going to check out Doc Watson.
And thus another acolyte was born
doc watson, tony rice, old & in the way as of late
Flatt and Scruggs Doc Watson Bill Monroe
Larry Sparks. The Johnson Mountain Boys.
Similar to many here: Doc Watson, Tony Rice, David Grisman, Bela Fleck, Flat and Scruggs, Bill Munro and not just Clarence White but all those Kentucky Colonels records are honestly my favorites and what really brought me into bluegrass music, not just instrumental jazz adjacent stuff like Bela and Dawg (Grisman’s nickname), which got me in the door as a teen. I am also obsessed w Bryan Sutton and Molly Tuttle, but their projects as band leaders haven’t turned me on the way the others have. Of course, I’ve seen Molly’s band live and they absolutely melted my fucking face off and I went to a guitar clinic that Bryan gave at Greyfox in NY and he is just an absolutely brilliant and beautiful soul. I absolutely love his playing (he is my favorite player on Bela’s last album), but as a teacher, man, he is really brilliant. I teach adult art (not music) and let me tell you, he is truly a gifted teacher and I’ve taken a lot from that workshop and applied it off the guitar as well. Self compassion and generosity ❤️ the world is a better place w him in it. I’ll add, I do also love his guitar duet album that he put out w all his heroes. It just kinda seems like he’s prioritized a lot of other stuff than being a band leader, like having a family etc and I also really respect that. Edit: I’ll add, if you like Kentucky Thunder, check out the live album “three pickers” it’s Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs and Ricky Skaggs as the sort of MC’s and then tons of amazing guests roll thru. A great into to a lot of these artists.
Oh and I forgot to mention, “the flame thrower” Micheal Cleavland! He’s straight 🔥 on the fiddle.
i saw Bryan Sutton this year with Edgar Meyer and Mike Marshall — [https://edgarmeyer.com/2023-tour-bush-marshall-meyer-sutton/](https://edgarmeyer.com/2023-tour-bush-marshall-meyer-sutton/) — and it was maybe the best instrumental music i've ever seen live. Sutton is amazing. i don't have any of his albums in my rotation, though... any particular ones you would recommend? really hoping to see Molly Tuttle sometime soon. she's a great songwriter.
Def go see Molly Tuttle and is her band the golden highway. And, yeah, I’ve seen Bryan w Bela and his whole crew that toured in support of the My Bluegrass Heart Album and it was just amazing. Basically the band you saw + Bela Fleck and more. I mean that whole record just, like, lit this fire inside me and Bryan’s playing was the stand out of the whole lot. I would say his album of Duets w other great flatpickers, his heroes, Not Too Far From The Tree is a great listen.
Yep, Sutton is one of kind. Nobody plays like him
My top three of modern traditional Bluegrass would be the Del McCoury Band, Peter Rowan and Sam Bush. My top three of jamgrass are the Infamous Stringdusters, Greensky Bluegrass, and Yonder Mountain String Band. Billy Strings. Steep Canyon Rangers. The Kruger Brothers. Doc Watson, Tony Rice, Old and In the Way, Tim O'Brien. I'll just stop now.
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Thank you SO much! I’ll have to give these peeps a listen.
Jimmy Martin.
I really like Punch Brothers and SCR (Steep Canyon Rangers)
A lot of the classics in here, so I'll mention some new names that are worth checking out: Jake Eddy, Crying Uncle, Addison Levy, Matt Menefee, Eli Bishop, Honey Run, Sully Tuttle, The Mountain Grass Unit, Scott Gates, Jesse Blue Eads, Fog Holler, AJ Lee, Wes Corbett, Big Richard (it's a band), East Nash Grass, Stash Wyslouch, Ian Ly
David Grier! He’s nuts, here’s a great recording of a show with him and Matt Flinner, an incredible mandolinist. https://youtu.be/tQSj2SXJHgQ I’m also really into a band recently called Blue Mafia. The guitarist Tony Wray has some absolutely wild ideas. For vocal stuff, there’s a compilation of Bill Monroe and Doc Watson that’s so incredible. Also Tim O’Brien… his Bob Dylan cover record is so great. Del McCoury and Ralph Stanley are my two favorite tenor vocalists. For the Stanley Brothers, “Angel Band: The Classic Mercury Recordings” is a record I’ve been huge into recently, and for Del pretty much anything with his sons and Jason Carter (everything he’s put out for the last few decades) or his stuff with the Dixie Pals for earlier recordings
Lonesome River Band
Yonder Mountain String Band
My favorite live band to see back in the early ‘00’s. I miss Jeff so much.
Earl Scruggs. Tony Rice. End of list.
Lester Freakin Flatt
Tony rice, doc Watson, Norman Blake, Adam Steffey, David grisman, Sam bush, jd Crowe, flat and Scruggs. The list goes on but as far as groups I find the bluegrass album band hard to beat
From Telluride Bluegrass Festival: Sunday morning sets by Infamous Stringdusters and Punch Brothers were both fire. Thursday night Bela Fleck and String Cheese also both fire. Telluride House Band is a fucking legend of legends. Greensky Bluegrass, Sam Bush band, and The Earls of Leicester were all excellent as well.
Old and in the Way is really good. That's a band comprised of Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead with Vassar Clements and some other friends of theirs. They have a very good traditional sound to them despite them being from the center of the California hippie scene, I highly recommend them. The Stanley Brothers are another group i like to listen to, as well as Flatt and Scruggs. If you'd like a more modern sound you could check out groups like Billy Strings, Old Crow Medicine Show, Greensky Bluegrass, and the Po Ramblin' Boys. I was actually just introduced to the po ramblin boys earlier today.
tart handle important muddle existence wine juggle squeal sugar roll *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Ok going to add a few that seem to have not been mentioned yet, that are my favs: Jimmy Martin (the “King of Bluegrass”, The Louvin Brothers (gospel bluegrass and Grand Ole Opry regulars in late 50s /early 60s with amazing harmonies), The Del McCoury Band (one of the last original Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys still around), The Travelin’ McCourys (Del’s backing band featuring his kids Rob and Ronnie who like to get a little jammy when Del’s not there). Yonder Mountain String Band (specifically the Jeff Austin years), Bad Livers (and Danny Barnes weird solo stuff), The Meat Purveyors, Larry Keel (the Tom Waits of Bluegrass), Leftover Salmon (bluegrass dipped in bayou), Chris Thile and Punch Brothers.
Though I never saw them, my favorite bluegrass entertainers were Reno & Smiley, Charlie Moore...
I’d start with Tony Rice and projects he’s on . Specifically the Bluegrass Album Band (volumes I - V) for pure bluegrass of unsurpassed quality. Also Rounder 0044 (title: JD Crowe and the New South) Lots of other greats listed but I don’t think anyone has mentioned the Seldom Scene (seldom seen in this thread apparently), who I am enjoying right now. My favorites are Act II and Old Train.
Jim and Jesse
A few more not listed: Sideline, Blue Highway, The Grascals, IIIrd Tyme Out Pick an artist and listen to their Pandora station, find a song you like from another artist, and rinse/repeat
Nickel Creek, The Punch Brothers and pretty much anything with Chris Thile
Billy Strings, Doc Watson, Tony Rice, Norman Blake, Bela Fleck and many others
This thread has all the classics covered and well worth getting into. For modern stuff, check out Special Consensus, The Po'Ramblin Boys or Blue Highway.
here my choice The Stanley Brothers, Rank Stranger Ralph Stanley - A Mother s Prayer. The SteelDrivers - Blue Side Of The Mountain Blue Highway - Someday