5:30 PM
6:35 PM
7:55 PM
9:15 PM
12:00 PM
1:00 PM
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
4:20 PM
5:40 PM
7:00 PM
8:40 PM
The NEW DISMEMBERED TENNESSEANS continue the legacy of Chattanooga's original bluegrass band, founded by fiddler Fletcher Bright in 1945. Their new energy honors the band's musical past and carries it into the future.
How did East Nash Grass follow up their 2024 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) award for Best New Artist? By earning a nomination for Entertainer of the Year, IBMA’s highest honor, in 2025, and celebrating fiddler Maddie Denton’s win as Fiddler of the Year. In short, East Nash Grass have quickly established themselves as the fresh new face of Nashville’s storied bluegrass tradition, a supergroup of rising stars: Grand Master Fiddle champion Denton is joined by banjo player Cory Walker (banjo player on the five-time nominated “Carter & Cleveland” album this year, among numerous accolades), 2022 IBMA Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year Harry Clark, and new guitar player Frank Rische. This is an all-star band that harkens back to the sort of talent collected in the original Blue Grass Boys and a powerhouse leader of the next generation in bluegrass excellence.
Rolling Stone had them among the “best of what we saw” at RockyGrass in 2025, praising their “rowdy set of high-octane bluegrass numbers,” and noting, “The group itself is a rapidly-rising force on the national touring scene.”
And “rowdy” is right. They are far more than just a group of impressive instrumental technicians, building on night after night of three-set gigs on Nashville’s East Side, playing tiny stages for the love of it between tours backing bigger acts. It’s a hard-forged bond that translates into an infectious on-stage energy that audiences can’t seem to get enough of.
With their new release, “All God’s Children” (Mountain Fever, August 22, 2025), they show a depth and feel, too, that goes well beyond the traditional bluegrass fair, with nods to Gypsy jazz and East Village folk, and eye toward moving bluegrass forward and keeping it from being too mired in the past. If East Nash Grass isn’t the future of the genre it’s only because they’re already among its leading lights.
Dan Tyminski was six years old when his parents began taking him to fiddle contests, square dances, and bluegrass festivals across New England. For a young musician who would later become one of the biggest names in modern-day bluegrass, those early experiences were life changing.
"Watching live music always spoke to me much louder than sitting in front of my record player," he remembers. "I loved it. Wherever music was being played, I wanted to go watch. Years later, I still feel that way."
Throughout his 30+ year career, Tyminski has left his mark in every corner of modern music. His voice famously accompanies George Clooney’s performance of the Stanley Brothers’ classic song, “I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow,” in the film, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? and his vocal collaboration with Swedish DJ Avicii on the song “Hey Brother” was a global smash, having been streamed more than a billion times to date. His diverse solo projects and years of work with Alison Krauss and Union Station have yielded troves of award-winning music.
In recent years, Tyminski’s live shows with the Dan Tyminski Band have become bluegrass fan favorites and are regularly on the must-see lists among music fans of any genre.
With his newest album release – the Grammy-nominated 2024 concert album Dan Tyminski: Live From The Ryman – he captures the magic of those live shows, while also proving that he still has the same passion for live music as he did when he was growing up.
From a source deep, abundant, and pure the river flows. It’s there on the map, marking place and time. Yet, the river changes as it remains a constant, carving away at the edges, making new pathways, gaining strength as it progresses forward. The Travelin’ McCourys are that river.
The McCoury brothers—Ronnie (mandolin) and Rob (banjo)—were born into the bluegrass tradition. Talk about a source abundant and pure: their father, Del, is among the most influential and successful musicians in the history of the genre. Years on the road with Dad in the Del McCoury Band honed their knife-edge chops and encouraged the duo to imagine how traditional bluegrass could cut innovative pathways into 21st century music.
“If you put your mind, your skills, and your ability to it, I think you can make just about anything work on bluegrass instruments,” says Ronnie. “That’s a really fun part of this—figuring the new stuff out and surprising the audience.”
The newest member of the band, fiddler Christian Ward, joined after Jason Carter moved on to pursue a solo career. Bassist Alan Bartram, and Cody Kilby on guitar, they assembled a group that could take what they had in their DNA, the traditions they learned and heard, and push the music forward. In fact, the band became the only group to have each of its members recognized with an International Bluegrass Music Association Award for their instrument at least once. There were peers, too, that could see bluegrass as both historic and progressive. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Allman Brothers Band, improv-rock kings Phish, and jamband contemporary Keller Williams were just a few that formed a mutual admiration society with the ensemble.
The band played the Allman’s Wanee Festival and guitarist Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam—an annual holiday homecoming of Southern music. An early-years jam with the Lee Boys was hailed by many as the highlight of the evening, and with the video catching fire online, earned a legion of new, young fans of their supercharged combination of sacred steel, R&B, and bluegrass. There were unforgettable collaborations with country smash Dierks Bentley, onstage magic jamming with titans String Cheese Incident and Phish, cutting an album with Keller (Pick), and creating the Grateful Ball—a tribute concert-turned-tour bridging bluegrass with the iconic music of the Grateful Dead.
“That’s something that’s part of us being who we are,” says Ronnie. “It comes, too, with us plugging in. It gets louder, for sure. We can’t be another version of our dad’s band. It wouldn’t make any sense for us to do that.”
Their concerts became can’t-miss events, whether headlining historic venues or as festival favorites, drawing the love and respect of a growing fanbase craving their eclectic repertoire. At the 2016 edition of DelFest, an annual gathering of the genre’s best aptly named for the McCoury patriarch, the band delivered the take-away highlight. Rolling Stone called it “a sublime combination of rock and bluegrass, contemporary and classic, old and young. The best set of the festival…” The river was going new places, getting stronger. It was time to re-draw the map.
“We’ve tried to pick songs we think people are going to enjoy,” says Ronnie. “Something we learned from our dad is that a good song is a good song. It can be done in any way.”
So arrives the long-awaited, self-titled debut album from the quintet. A brilliantly executed set overflowing with inventive style, stellar musicianship, and, of course, plenty of burnin’ grass, the 14-song collection is a true culmination of their decades-long journey. From the headwaters of Bill Monroe and the waves of Jerry Garcia to a sound both rooted and revolutionary, soulful and transcending that belongs only to the Travelin’ McCourys.
“The album definitely shows what we’ve evolved into as a band. And it’s a pretty good representation of what’s happening with the whole genre,” says Rob. “The old bluegrass material is something I love but it’s been done many times. We’re forging ahead with our own sound. That’s what you have to do to make it all work.”
Randy Steele is a singer-songwriter and banjo player from Chattanooga, Tennessee, whose music bridges the road between bluegrass grit and introspective folk storytelling. A retired career firefighter who turned to banjo for solace, Steele's songs range from hard-driving character narratives to raw personal confessions, earning accolades like the Independent Music Award for Bluegrass Song of the Year Mobile Soon') and semifinalist placements at the Kerrville Folk Festival, New Song LEAF festival and American Songwriter Magazine Song of the Year (`Age of Ben'). His solo performances—praised for "masterful storytelling" (Outdoor Chattanooga) and "modern lyrical sensibilities" (Americana UK)—deliver high-energy charisma and emotional depth, making every show he does memorable. Steele independently releases music, including his latest single 'Cheers to Rob', and tours nationally both solo and with his bluegrass band High Cold Wind.
Bluegrass band Big Richard makes music for the 21st century’s twisted cultural unease. Their latest album Pet, is a fierce, provocative, rejoinder to what troubles them and the world right now, which was recorded live to tape in order to capture the fervor of their live shows.
“Big Richard is so much about our energetic delivery, and so I think it's been really important for us as a group to figure out how to do that for a record,” says mandolin and guitar player Bonnie Sims.
“We made the album all on tape and did it all in these single-shot performances,” cellist Joy Adams adds. “The collection of songs, we wanted to take our most hard driving, heavy hitting songs, we wanted to craft a banger set list. Like, if we had a 30-minute set, what would we put on there that says the most, and makes people feel the broadest bunch of feelings? And it was all these songs.”
Adams and Sims both studied music and toured and played extensively before (and outside of) joining Big Richard, as did the other members of the band: Adams has three degrees in cello, toured with Darol Anger and Nathaniel Rateliff, and has recorded for television and film (including the Queen’s Gambit); Sims, who grew up playing music with her family, has a degree in commercial music, with a vocal specialization in yodeling, toured and recorded extensively with her husband, Taylor Sims (including a platinum-certified record); fiddler Eve Panning, who also grew up playing with her family, studied violin performance and music education, taught orchestra, and played in bluegrass bands, including touring widely with classical group Barrage; and bassist Hazel Royer started out playing music with her dad Eric Royer in the Boston, MA folk and rock music scene, and studied at the Berklee College of Music.
Mason Via is an Appalachian troubadour who was born and bred in the Blue Ridge Mountains but now makes his home in Gator Country: Gainesville, FL. An alumnus of Old Crow Medicine Show, he earned a Grammy-nomination for his work on the band’s chart-topping Folk album, Jubilee. His new self titled album came out in April 2025 and debuted at #12 on Billboard Bluegrass Album chart. The song “Melt in the Sun” has gone to #1 on the Sirius XM Bluegrass show. Mason toured in 2025 with bluegrass stars like Sierra Hull, I’m With Her, and the Wood Brothers. His songwriting can also be seen on Grammy-winning & Grammy nominated albums by bluegrass icons, Molly Tuttle and Del McCoury. During his time in Nashville, TN he was praised by NPR as one of the top 10 artists thriving in Bluegrass music. Be ready for an exciting show full of high-octane bluegrass energy paired with emotionally gripping lyrics that will have you dancing and singing along by the end of the night.
For her third album, Rattlin’ Bones, Bronwyn, a Grammy-winning artist and two-time IBMA “Fiddle Player of the Year,” decided to purposely leave her comfort zone and dive headfirst into a new, unknown realm of musical possibility for the acclaimed artist — Songwriting.
“If I’m going to be an artist and a front person, I’m going to need my own material that fits the live show,” Bronwyn says. “It definitely felt like a very steep learning curve, and it’s been very humbling, but the songwriting piece has been sort of the next step for what I want to do.”
While her debut album, Fiddler’s Pastime (2020), was an instrumental offering showcasing Bronwyn’s fiddle skillset and prowess, it was the sophomore release, I Built A World (2024), that introduced the world to her singing style. And yet, with Rattlin’ Bones, it truly feels like Bronwyn has dug deep within to finally uncover and embrace her unique talents and sonic tones.
“In a lot of ways, life has settled for me, where I’ve gotten married and it feels like certain pieces have fallen into place,” Bronwyn says. “And that’s given me space to stir up more chaos in my life by deciding to start my own band.”
Formed in 2018, Appalachian Road Show has emerged as one of modern bluegrass and Americana music’s most compelling and authentic voices. Built around a shared commitment to preserving and celebrating the culture, stories, and spirit of Appalachia, the band combines elite musicianship, powerful songwriting, soaring harmonies, and deeply rooted storytelling into an unforgettable live experience.
The mission is simple: honor and tell the truth of the people and places that shaped Appalachian music, and carry that authenticity forward to a new generation.
Appalachian Road Show presents a musical journey through the peaks and valleys of Appalachia — from coalfields and churches to rail lines and front porches — exploring themes of faith, hardship, family, labor, love, loss, war, resilience, and heritage through songs that are timeless, human, and profoundly American.
More than a concert, it is a cultural experience.
Much like their sorrowful, purposeful melodies, the members of The Last Revel contain this thick thread of self, and of place, when it comes to the underlying trait in the sounds and scope of their intent, onstage and in the studio — survival mode.
“Honestly, I don’t know if we would’ve been able to do this career for as long as we have without persistence,” says guitarist Lee Henke. “By living in a challenging place, it’s deEinitely conditioned us to have a high tolerance for discomfort, a certain toughness to push ahead.”
That sentiment of tenacity and passion lies at the heart of The Last Revel’s latest album, Gone for Good. Produced by Trampled by Turtles lead singer Dave Simonett, the record is a multilayered ode to the life of an artist, life on the road, and what it means to be a human being in uncertain times.
“This is a step in our careers that feels like there’s no going back,” says banjoist Ryan Acker. “There’s a level of commitment now that, just a couple of years ago, we didn’t fathom we could take on. The boat is off the shore and you can’t see land anymore — we’re in it now.”
Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Americana/indie-folk outEit harkens to the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of what it means to pursue your dreams in real time. The foundation of which is conjured by a deep appreciation and genuine respect for the vast landscape and sometimes-harsh realities of what it means to emerge from the Midwest.
Rhonda Vincent is a firecracker of talent that powers one of the hottest bands in any genre of music today. From humble beginnings in the tiny town of Greentop, Missouri, Rhonda’s musical heritage traces back 5 generations of the Vincent family. Her dad would pick her up from school each day, and they would sing and play till dinner. After dinner, friends came over, and they would sing and play till bedtime. She began her professional music career singing in her family’s band The Sally Mountain Show. It was an immediate “on the job training,” as they had a TV show, radio show, and made their first recording when Rhonda was 5 years old. She picked up the mandolin at eight, the fiddle at twelve, and learned a valuable life lesson as a teenager performing with her family at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. While they were playing in the pouring rain to empty seats, and what they thought, no one listening -- a week later they received a call from Hal Durham, general manager of the Grand Ole Opry at the time, and who just happened to be listening with his family around the corner. Mr. Durham loved what he heard and invited the Vincent family to appear on the Opry.
Rhonda’s life of music evolved into a successful career in bluegrass music; after being discovered by Grand Ole Opry Star “Jim Ed Brown,” and later spending what she calls her musical college years recording for Giant Records; and learning about the music business from Nashville’s best like James Stroud, Jack McFadden, and Stan Barnett.
There was only one prize-winning teenager carrying stones big enough to say thanks, but no thanks to Roy Acuff. Only one son of Kentucky finding a light of inspiration from Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys and catching a fire from Bob Marley and The Wailers. Only one progressive hippie allying with like-minded conspirators, rolling out the New Grass revolution, and then leaving the genre's torch-bearing band behind as it reached its commercial peak.
There is only one consensus pick of peers and predecessors, of the traditionalists, the rebels, and the next gen devotees. Music's ultimate inside outsider. Or is it outside insider? There is only one Sam Bush.
On a Bowling Green, Kentucky cattle farm in the post-war 1950s, Bush grew up an only son, and with four sisters. His love of music came immediately, encouraged by his parents' record collection and, particularly, by his father Charlie, a fiddler, who organized local jams. Charlie envisioned his son someday a staff fiddler at the Grand Ole Opry, but a clear day's signal from Nashville brought to Bush's television screen a tow-headed boy named Ricky Skaggs playing mandolin with Flatt and Scruggs, and an epiphany for Bush. At 11, he purchased his first mandolin.
As a teen fiddler Bush was a three-time national champion in the junior division of the National Oldtime Fiddler's Contest. He recorded an instrumental album, Poor Richard's Almanac as a high school senior and in the spring of 1970 attended the Fiddlers Convention in Union Grove, NC. There he heard the New Deal String Band, taking notice of their rock-inspired brand of progressive bluegrass.
Acuff offered him a spot in his band. Bush politely turned down the country titan. It was not the music he wanted to play. He admired the grace of Flatt & Scruggs, loved Bill Monroe- even saw him perform at the Ryman- but he'd discovered electrified alternatives to tradition in the Osborne Brothers and manifest destiny in The Dillards.
See the photo of a fresh-faced Sam Bush in his shiny blue high school graduation gown, circa 1970. Tufts of blonde hair breaking free of the borders of his squared cap, Bush is smiling, flanked by his proud parents. The next day he was gone, bound for Los Angeles. He got as far as his nerve would take him- Las Vegas- then doubled back to Bowling Green.
"I started working at the Holiday Inn as a busboy," Bush recalls. "Ebo Walker and Lonnie Peerce came in one night asking if I wanted to come to Louisville and play five nights a week with the Bluegrass Alliance. That was a big, ol' 'Hell yes, let's go.'"
Bush played guitar in the group, then began playing after recruiting guitarist Tony Rice to the fold. Following a fallout with Peerce in 1971, Bush and his Alliance mates- Walker, Courtney Johnson, and Curtis Burch- formed the New Grass Revival, issuing the band's debut, New Grass Revival. Walker left soon after, replaced temporarily by Butch Robins, with the quartet solidifying around the arrival of bassist John Cowan.
"There were already people that had deviated from Bill Monroe's style of bluegrass," Bush explains. "If anything, we were reviving a newgrass style that had already been started. Our kind of music tended to come from the idea of long jams and rock-&-roll songs."
Shunned by some traditionalists, New Grass Revival played bluegrass fests slotted in late-night sets for the "long-hairs and hippies." Quickly becoming a favorite of rock audiences, they garnered the attention of Leon Russell, one of the era's most popular artists. Russell hired New Grass as his supporting act on a massive tour in 1973 that put the band nightly in front of tens of thousands.
At tour's end, it was back to headlining six nights a week at an Indiana pizza joint. But, they were resilient, grinding it out on the road. And in 1975 the Revival first played Telluride, Colorado, forming a connection with the region and its fans that has prospered for 45 years.
Bush was the newgrass commando, incorporating a variety of genres into the repertoire. He discovered a sibling similarity with the reggae rhythms of Marley and The Wailers, and, accordingly, developed an ear-turning original style of mandolin playing. The group issued five albums in their first seven years, and in 1979 became Russell's backing band. By 1981, Johnson and Burch left the group, replaced by banjoist Bela Fleck and guitarist Pat Flynn.
A three-record contract with Capitol Records and a conscious turn to the country market took the Revival to new commercial heights. Bush survived a life-threatening bout with cancer, and returned to the group that'd become more popular than ever. They released chart-climbing singles, made videos, earned Grammy nominations, and, at their zenith, called it quits.
"We were on the verge of getting bigger," recalls Bush. "Or maybe we'd gone as far as we could. I'd spent 18 years in a four-piece partnership. I needed a break. But, I appreciated the 18 years we had."
Bush worked the next five years with Emmylou Harris' Nash Ramblers, then a stint with Lyle Lovett. He took home three-straight IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year awards, 1990-92, (and a fourth in 2007). In 1995 he reunited with Fleck, now a burgeoning superstar, and toured with the Flecktones, reigniting his penchant for improvisation. Then, finally, after a quarter-century of making music with New Grass Revival and collaborating with other bands, Sam Bush went solo.
He's released seven albums and a live DVD over the past two decades. In 2009, the Americana Music Association awarded Bush the Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist. Punch Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers, and Greensky Bluegrass are just a few present-day bluegrass vanguards among so many musicians he's influenced. His performances are annual highlights of the festival circuit, with Bush's joyous perennial appearances at the town's famed bluegrass fest earning him the title, "King of Telluride."
"With this band I have now I am free to try anything. Looking back at the last 50 years of playing newgrass, with the elements of jazz improvisation and rock-&-roll, jamming, playing with New Grass Revival, Leon, and Emmylou; it's a culmination of all of that," says Bush. "I can unapologetically stand onstage and feel I'm representing those songs well."