Craig Havighurst

I've been watching things grow more closely than ever this Spring, trying to slow the pace of this balmy season of transition.

Stepping away from a successful band and into a solo career is a tried-and-true pathway for many bluegrass stars, and few in recent years have said farewell to such a good gig but garnered so much acclaim and stature in return as mandolinist, singer and songwriter Darren Nicholson. The North Carolinian did 15 years as a founding member of Balsam Range, where he shared in a bunch of IBMA Awards, including two for Entertainers of the Year and two for Album of the Year. Then at the end of 2022, he made his departure official and launched with the album Wanderer in 2023. We've played a bunch of singles on the way to his newest release as a leader, Lonesome Trails And Tall Tales . On release week, we open with its luxurious waltzing lament, “I've Got No Tears Left To Cry.” Also this week, the first single from the upcoming album by another Carolinian, Laurelyn Dossett, the rising west-coast trio Sweet Sally, and a block of songs inspired by Amy Alvey's long journey to the Shetland Islands Folk Festival.

Alabama songwriter and singer Kashus Culpepper is the kind of artist that industry folks say has enjoyed a “meteoric rise.” But I object to that expression, because it's scientifically boneheaded.

The table was set on Thursday for this Fall's 25th annual Americana Honors and Awards with nominations across the awards' five categories.

The 2023 concerts where Billy Strings celebrated Doc Watson at 100 were historic for many reasons, but one tangible outcome was a young guy named Asher Brinson coming away determined to take his music to the next level. He's a 16-year-old, left-handed guitar picker, as well as a singer and songwriter, and he shines on his debut album Midnight Hurricane . He's earned the admiration of the bluegrass community, drawing on the talents of Cory Walker, Jason Carter, Sam Bush, Sierra Hull, and David Grier. Lindsay Lou joins in on the title cut in this week's show. And Brinson, a native of the North Carolina coast, knows hurricanes. He's one to watch and we're proud to welcome him to the Old Fashioned. Also this week, Jaelee Roberts has a clever new single, Ed Snodderly debuts a new album, and Concord teases a very welcome vinyl re-issue of the legendary Boone Creek debut from 1977.

A few days after he moved to Nashville in 2020 to make a future as a banjo player (as one does), Canada's Frank Evans found himself hanging out with

Nashville band Greenwood Rye has made some changes, adding fiddler Ruth Shumway for example, and moving their residency from the late Jane's Hideaway (we miss it terribly!) to the downtown hotel venue called the Countrypolitan. Guitarist and singer Shawn Spencer started the group just as the pandemic eased up, and the band has been a staple on the local scene ever since with its stacked harmonies, tight instrumentation and creative mix of originals and covers (Taylor Swift night was always popular). We've played songs from their debut album Hideaway in the past, but this week, they bring a wacky and hard-driving new single, co-written by Spencer and Mason Via. Vince Herman and Vickie Vaughn also lend their voices to this literal barn burner of a song. Also this week, we've got the first single from the first-ever instrumental Punch Brothers album, a teaser from the Susto Stringband's Vol. 2 album, and a brilliant new take on “East Virginia Blues” by the duo of Jed Clark and Nathan Beaumont.

Bluegrass is demanding music. Band leaders and featured artists have powerful and emotional voices with a lot of range.

Don Williams rarely gets namechecked in roll calls of larger-than-life country music heroes or outlaw legends, but fans of roots music should not sleep on the Gentle Giant and his legacy.

In her song “Enabling,” Tenille Townes presents two partners in a showdown over the deplorable behavior of what we presume to be the guy, who's “kicking