Bluegrass Underground — Season 9
A little bit Bluegrass, a little bit underground.
About this season
A musical adventure series emanating from The Caverns in Tennessee's majestic Cumberland Mountains. Celebrating the diversity of America’s musical heritage with artists from the full spectrum of genres: Bluegrass, yes but also Americana, Country, Soul, Blues, Rock N Roll, Gospel, Folk, and everything between.
Episodes (12)
1. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Aired 4 September 2019 • 30 min
Truly iconic, profoundly influential, and a catalyst for an entire movement in country rock and American roots music, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, continues to add to their legendary status. With multi-platinum and gold records, strings of Top 10 hits, multiple Grammy, IBMA, CMA Awards, the band's accolades continue to accumulate.
2. Amanda Shires
Aired 11 September 2019 • 30 min
Singer-songwriter and violinist, road warrior, and recently minted MFA in creative writing, Amanda Shires cuts her own genre blended roots-rock with fierce-sweet violin, soaring vocals and critically acclaimed compositions. Shires was Americana’s 2017 Emerging Artist of the Year and won for Best Americana Album with husband Jason Isbell’s band, The 400 Unit.
3. Keb' Mo'
Aired 18 September 2019 • 30 min
Nashville-based singer-songwriting bluesman and four-time Grammy Award winner, Keb’ Mo’ has been described as "a living link to the seminal Delta blues that traveled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America." A musical force defying typical genre labels, Mo’s post-modern blues style harkens many eras and genres, including folk, rock, jazz, pop and country.
4. Josh Ritter
Aired 25 September 2019 • 30 min
Ritter is a vocalist, musician, New York Times best-selling author, painter, and consummate live performer - a true artist. Best known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics, Josh Ritter is — two decades into a storied career — unafraid of growing, changing and constantly challenging then estimable, earlier versions of himself. Josh Ritter, it seems, may just be getting started.
5. Lucero
Aired 2 October 2019 • 30 min
Lucero’s first gig in Memphis was for a crowd of six. But for a band with a 20-year string of successes and aural iterations, who carried the alt-country torch back in the '90s and helped pave the way for “Americana,” Lucero have returned to what inspired them in the first place. They tour behind a streamlined sound honoring their seminal southern and rock influences.
6. Brothers Osborne
Aired 9 October 2019 • 30 min
Two talented boys from a working class Maryland family, the Brothers Osborne bring us a “twang-and-crunch,” equal parts country and rock into one of the freshest, most identifiable sounds to come out of Nashville in recent years. Five-time Grammy nominees, The Brothers Osborne reign as back-to-back ACM Vocal Duo of the Year Awards as well as the two-time CMA Vocal Duo of the Year.
7. Gregory Alan Isakov
Aired 16 October 2019 • 30 min
Isakov strikes a balance of space and instrumentation with precise arrangements and poignant lyrics.
8. Steve Earle and the Dukes
Aired 23 October 2019 • 30 min
Producer, author, actor and singer-songwriter Steve Earle is master musician and writer's writer.
9. Lauren Morrow
Aired 30 October 2019 • 30 min
Lauren Morrow showcases her broad vocal range and sweet Georgia drawl in her unique songs.
10. Glen Hansard
Aired 6 November 2019 • 30 min
Glen Hansard brings the heart and soul of the Irish backed by a powerful Folk-Rock horn band.
11. The Devil Makes Three
Aired 13 November 2019 • 30 min
The trio evokes songs from some bygone era, rooted in folk, delta blues, and reckless rock.
12. Mandy Barnett
Aired 20 November 2019 • 30 min
Mandy Barnett has a keen interpretative sense and a powerful style rooted in Country and Pop.