ITMB Ep 59: The Future of Bluegrass & Acoustic Music, & the Hot Young Bands you Need to Check Out
Episode 59 of Inside the Musician’s Brain is all about the future of the bluegrass/acoustic scene, and the hot up-and-comers who are taking the music in new directions. In the intro of E59 I talk about all the growth and evolution taking place on the acoustic music scene and everything that has changed in the 20 years since The Stringdusters have been out there doing it. It was a different world when we started out! As the music grows, there are more and more bands to check out. My guests on E59 are Clay Street Unit and Mountain Grass Unit, two bands that are high on the list of young bands to watch. Give a listen to Ep 59 for more about these two excellent bands.
But the list of notable up-and-coming bands is long, and I really wanted to shine a light on some of these younger, newer acts. So I put a post up on my instagram account (@tradplus) asking some help figuring out who should be on the list, and the response was huge! Some of these artists were on my radar, some were not (they are now!), but I went through every post and checked out every band and put together a list that is at least a great starting place if you are trying to take the pulse of acoustic music and hear who’s carrying the torch. I loved this process, and discovered just how much more is actually going on than I was aware of! I’m sure there are others that should be on here, so feel free to leave a comment and let me know who I’m missing. The criteria are pretty simple - newer acts that haven’t been around forever, playing acoustic based music, and taking it to the people (some shows or meaningful on-line presence is a must). The good news is, bluegrass and acoustic music is thriving! Here are a bunch of bands that are a part of that story that are worth checking out:
And here are a few more late submissions that didn’t make the episode but should have: