The longstanding tradition of bluegrass music in the United States is as ever-changing as the remote rivers the artists sing about in their songs. You just need to know where to look. That being said, there is a wide array of individual musicians and collective bands who embody the bluegrass genre, though are often tagged with different genres like Americana, contemporary folk, or country. Regardless, bluegrass is bluegrass no matter what label is slapped on its packaging.
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Bluegrass is creeping its way into contemporary folk and country music in the way artists reinterpret, transform, and take one of America’s oldest genres on a journey of complete metamorphosis. Despite popular opinion, change is the true nature of bluegrass music, as songs are often improvised, rewritten, and remastered in nearly every rendition of a song or technique.
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Thus, in the spirit of redefining the bluegrass genre in the public eye, here are three artists post-2010 who are masterfully promoting the memorialized genre with the utmost creativity and nuance.
Billy Strings
One of the many measures of what makes a good artist in any medium is their ability to take pre-existing art, completely re-package it and make their own while paying homage to where it came from. A treacherous feat to say the least. One artist seemingly doing this with ease is the 30-year-old Michigan-born picker, Billy Strings.
Even though the artist toils in other genres such as country, roots rock, and jam band, his primary musical influence is bluegrass. Pieces that display Strings’ expertise within the genre are songs like “Dust In a Baggie,” “Meet Me At the Creek,” and the entirety of the 2019 album Home. What separates Strings from other bluegrass artists is his ability to seamlessly meld the old and the new, as he implements elements of psychedelic rock and EDM in a lot of his music all while staying true to the original sound of bluegrass. Watch Strings’ original version of “Dust In a Baggie” below.
Sturgill Simpson
Even though he is predominantly known for his country hits “You Can Have the Crown” and “Long White Line,” Sturgill Simpson makes this list predominantly due to one album: Cuttin’ Grass: Vol. 1-The Butcher Shoppe Sessions. Much like Strings, Simpson doesn’t shy away from the challenge of intertwining progressive musical styles with indigenous bluegrass tropes. This can be heard in songs like “Railroad of Sin” and “I Don’t Mind,” as both convey how Simpson bends genre familiarities to create something incredibly new, raw, and exciting.
Despite the fact that Simpson can put together flawlessly original musical arrangements, another facet of his musical talents that lands him a spot on this list is his generational songwriting talent filled with layered one-liners that obtain wisdom of the highest degree. Lines like the most outlaw thing I’ve ever done was give a good woman a ring and Mommas gonna wash it all away/ she thinks mercy’s overrated, mimic and exemplify the literary sentiments of the highway, self-loathing, and thought of home that are often embedded within bluegrass lyrics. Needless to say, it’s a shame that Simpson retired from music in 2021, because we could all use a lot more of what he has to offer both in music and in life. Listen and watch one of Simpson’s bluegrass performances below.
Trampled by Turtles
The one and only collective group to make this list are Minnesota-born bluegrass band, Trampled by Turtles. Often coined as folk, Trampled by Turtles is undeniably a bluegrass band that encompasses nearly every element of traditional bluegrass with a modern spin in the utmost capacity. The most recent album that conveys this practice is 2022 project Alpenglow. Tracks such as “Burlesque Desert Window,” “A Lifetime to Find,” “Starting Over,” and “All the Good Times Are Gone” showcase how the Turtles integrated indie music components in traditionalist bluegrass paradigms.
Furthermore, the Turtles leverage modern producing technology to amplify and alter their harmonizations in order to stay true to the quintessential bluegrass technique all while supplying listeners with something almost more folkloric than bluegrass’ original method of harmonization. Another facet of the Turtles’ music that loosely redefines the genre in subtle ways is how they often oscillate the pace of the tempos, which gives the bluegrass tone of heavy improvisation. All in all, Trampled By Turtles are an essential bluegrass band of the post-2010 era. Watch a live performance of the band’s below.
Photo Credit: Alysse Gafkjen / Sacks & Co.
