Bluegrass artists

Who to know

Ranked by festivals still to come, then tour dates, then every booking we have on record.

• Greensky BluegrassBAD Day · Nov 2026Kalamazoo, Michigan string band playing bluegrass instrumentation with drum-free rock volume, stretching songs into long improvised jams around dobro and mandolin.
• Mountain Grass UnitMerleFest · Apr 2027Young Alabama pickers playing traditional bluegrass fast enough to satisfy a jam crowd, with flatpicking chops and festival stamina.
• Old Crow Medicine ShowMile 0 Fest · Jan 2027'Wagon Wheel' originators and old-time revivalists, a string band that plays with punk-rock urgency.
• Kitchen DwellersWinterWonderGrass · Mar 2027Montana 'galaxy grass' is bluegrass instrumentation pushed toward psychedelia and volume, jamgrass with actual gravitational pull.
• The Infamous StringdustersStrings & Sol · Dec 2026Progressive bluegrass played by a band happy to jam a traditional tune well past its natural length, with Grammy-winning chops and festival stamina.
• Sam BushStrings & Sol · Dec 2026The father of newgrass: five decades of mandolin revolution and still the most joyful player on any stage.
• Sierra FerrellGirls Just Wanna Weekend · Jan 2027West Virginia's gilded-age songbird: old-time, calypso, and honky-tonk swirled into something timeless, delivered in vintage lace and total command.
• Sierra HullStrings & Sol · Dec 2026A mandolin virtuoso since childhood, now writing songs that justify the technique, with a bluegrass pedigree stretched into something personal.
• BronwynWinterWonderGrass · Mar 2027Virginia fiddler and singer-songwriter in bluegrass and Americana, formerly of Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, with the 2024 album 'I Built a World.'
• Tray WellingtonWinterWonderGrass · Mar 2027Raleigh, North Carolina banjo player and bandleader pushing bluegrass past genre lines, a 2019 IBMA Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year.
• Trampled by TurtlesWinterWonderGrass · Mar 2027Duluth, Minnesota band playing fast, frenetic folk with bluegrass instruments, with 'Duluth' and 'Palomino' among their best-charting albums.
• Railroad EarthStrings & Sol · Dec 2026Jamgrass veterans with fiddle-driven Americana that stretches out live like a freight train taking a curve.
• The Brothers ComatoseWinterWonderGrass · Mar 2027San Francisco five-piece band mixing rock energy into bluegrass with three-part harmonies, with albums 'City Painted Gold' and 'Turning Up the Ground.'
• Leftover SalmonStrings & Sol · Dec 2026Colorado's original slamgrass band, three decades of bluegrass picking spliced with Cajun, zydeco and jam-band sprawl.
• Lindsay LouWinterWonderGrass · Mar 2027Nashville bluegrass singer and songwriter whose album 'Bluegrass Women' collects classics written by women across the genre's history.
• Big RichardUnder the Big Sky · Jul 2027All-women Colorado string quartet with conservatory chops and a bar-band mouth, playing ripping instrumentals, dark humor and songs that don't flinch.
• Chatham County LineMerleFest · Apr 2027Two decades of Raleigh bluegrass instrumentation put to work on songs that owe as much to Big Star as to Bill Monroe.
• Jim LauderdaleMerleFest · Apr 2027Grammy-winning North Carolina native and Americana's most prolific lifer, a songwriter's songwriter with dozens of albums and a long bluegrass streak alongside Ralph Stanley.
• Water TowerWinterWonderGrass · Mar 2027Los Angeles punk-rock bluegrass band that plays traditional bluegrass at breakneck speed and reworks punk songs for banjo and fiddle.
• The Travelin' McCourysOrange Blossom Revue · Dec 2026Del McCoury's sons Ronnie and Rob with their own Grammy-winning band: hard-driving bluegrass chops aimed at the jam scene's long stretches.
• Alison BrownMerleFest · Apr 2027A banjo player who arrived by way of jazz and a finance career, running a record label by day and rewriting what five strings do by night.
• The Jerry Douglas BandWinterWonderGrass · Mar 2027The greatest dobro player alive, full stop, with fourteen Grammys and counting.
• The Po' Ramblin' BoysMerleFest · Apr 2027Grammy-nominated East Tennessee band playing hard-charging traditional bluegrass with the road miles and the IBMA hardware to back up bandleader C.J. Lewandowski's claim that they live what they sing.
• Wyatt EllisBig Ears · Apr 2027Teenage mandolin prodigy mentored by the genre's living legends, playing instrumentals with a veteran's restraint.

On tour now

21 Bluegrass artists with dates on sale, soonest first. From Ticketmaster, refreshed daily.

• Kitchen DwellersNext: Nov 13 · Madison, WI7 dates →
• Mountain Grass UnitNext: Nov 13 · Brooklyn, NY10 dates →
• Railroad EarthNext: Nov 13 · Bozeman, MT8 dates →
• The Brothers ComatoseNext: Nov 13 · Fort Collins, CO7 dates →
• Dailey & VincentNext: Nov 18 · Shipshewana, IN4 dates →
• Greensky BluegrassNext: Nov 18 · Red Bank, NJ25 dates →
• Jim LauderdaleNext: Nov 19 · Portland, OR1 date →
• Steep Canyon RangersNext: Nov 21 · Flagstaff, AZ6 dates →
• Leftover SalmonNext: Nov 27 · Boulder, CO3 dates →
• The Seldom SceneNext: Nov 27 · Alexandria, VA3 dates →
• Fireside CollectiveNext: Dec 4 · Washington, DC2 dates →
• Water TowerNext: Dec 4 · Garden Grove, CA1 date →
• Old Crow Medicine ShowNext: Dec 7 · Ridgefield, CT9 dates →
• Molly TuttleNext: Dec 12 · Dallas, TX6 dates →
• The Infamous StringdustersNext: Dec 30 · Boulder, CO2 dates →
• The Travelin' McCourysNext: Jan 15 · Denver, CO1 date →
• Lindsay LouNext: Jan 28 · San Francisco, CA3 dates →
• Trampled by TurtlesNext: Jan 30 · Madison, WI16 dates →
• Big RichardNext: Feb 5 · Bozeman, MT2 dates →
• Chatham County LineNext: Feb 12 · Decatur, GA2 dates →
• Sam BushNext: Feb 26 · Scottsdale, AZ2 dates →

Playing festivals next

Every festival still to come with Bluegrass artists on the bill, soonest first. The Bluegrass festival guide ranks them by how deep they book.

• BAD Day 2026November 14, 2026 · Brooklyn Arts District, Wilmington, NCGreensky Bluegrass
• Orange Blossom Revue 2026December 4–5, 2026 · Lake Wales, FLThe Travelin' McCourys, Remedy Tree
• Strings & Sol 2026December 9–13, 2026 · Sapphire Resort & Spa, Puerto Morelos, MexicoGreensky Bluegrass, The Infamous Stringdusters, Sam Bush, Sierra Hull, Railroad Earth, Leftover Salmon
• Girls Just Wanna Weekend 2027January 14–18, 2027 · Barceló Maya Resort, Riviera Maya, MexicoSierra Ferrell
• Mile 0 Fest 2027January 26–30, 2027 · Key West, FLOld Crow Medicine Show
• WinterWonderGrass 2027March 5–7, 2027 · Steamboat Springs, COKitchen Dwellers, Bronwyn, Tray Wellington, Trampled by Turtles, The Brothers Comatose, Lindsay Lou, Water Tower, The Jerry Douglas Band
• Big Ears 2027April 1–4, 2027 · Downtown Knoxville, TNSierra Hull, Bronwyn, Wyatt Ellis
• Two Step Inn 2027April 17–18, 2027 · Georgetown, TXOld Crow Medicine Show
• MerleFest 2027April 29 – May 2, 2027 · Wilkes Community College, Wilkesboro, NCMountain Grass Unit, Sam Bush, Tray Wellington, Chatham County Line, Jim Lauderdale, Alison Brown, The Po' Ramblin' Boys, Del McCoury @ 88 - a MerleFest “Delebration”, Jack Lawrence, Josh Goforth, Laura Boosinger, Pete Wernick, Peter Rowan & The Walls of Time Band, T. Michael Coleman, The Earls of Leicester, The Knackered Ramblers, The Waybacks, Tony Williamson, Wayne Henderson
• Zootown 2027June 18–19, 2027 · Missoula Fairgrounds, Missoula, MTKitchen Dwellers, Sierra Ferrell
• State Fayre 2027June 18–20, 2027 · Hylands Park, Chelmsford, UKMountain Grass Unit
• Under the Big Sky 2027July 16–18, 2027 · Whitefish, MTThe Infamous Stringdusters, Big Richard

Most headline slots

The names printed in the biggest type, trusted to send everyone home.

1. 1Old Crow Medicine Show2'Wagon Wheel' originators and old-time revivalists, a string band that plays with punk-rock urgency.

Most places played

Whose year reads like a world tour that happened to be made of festivals.

1. 1Sierra Ferrell5West Virginia's gilded-age songbird: old-time, calypso, and honky-tonk swirled into something timeless, delivered in vintage lace and total command.
2. 2Mountain Grass Unit4Young Alabama pickers playing traditional bluegrass fast enough to satisfy a jam crowd, with flatpicking chops and festival stamina.
3. 3Old Crow Medicine Show4'Wagon Wheel' originators and old-time revivalists, a string band that plays with punk-rock urgency.
4. 4Sierra Hull4A mandolin virtuoso since childhood, now writing songs that justify the technique, with a bluegrass pedigree stretched into something personal.
5. 5The Infamous Stringdusters4Progressive bluegrass played by a band happy to jam a traditional tune well past its natural length, with Grammy-winning chops and festival stamina.
6. 6Kitchen Dwellers3Montana 'galaxy grass' is bluegrass instrumentation pushed toward psychedelia and volume, jamgrass with actual gravitational pull.
7. 7Leftover Salmon3Colorado's original slamgrass band, three decades of bluegrass picking spliced with Cajun, zydeco and jam-band sprawl.
8. 8Alison Brown2A banjo player who arrived by way of jazz and a finance career, running a record label by day and rewriting what five strings do by night.
9. 9Bandits On The Run2Brooklyn trio that met busking in the subway: cello, guitar, accordion and found percussion under three-part harmonies, with an NPR Tiny Desk Contest nod for Love in the Underground.
10. 10Big Richard2All-women Colorado string quartet with conservatory chops and a bar-band mouth, playing ripping instrumentals, dark humor and songs that don't flinch.

Most favorited by readers

The Bluegrass artists people here actually listen to, booked or not.

1. 1Fireside CollectiveAsheville five-piece pushing string-band instrumentation toward progressive folk, with tight ensemble playing and a taste for the unexpected turn.
2. 2Old Crow Medicine Show'Wagon Wheel' originators and old-time revivalists, a string band that plays with punk-rock urgency.
3. 3Balsam RangeTwice IBMA's entertainer of the year, a Haywood County five-piece whose western North Carolina bluegrass stretches to symphony collaborations.
4. 4Steep Canyon RangersNorth Carolina's Grammy-winning bluegrass institution, as at home backing Steve Martin as headlining on their own.
5. 5The Tan & Sober GentlemenNorth Carolina band running Irish and Appalachian tune traditions through a punk-tempo string band, with fiddle, banjo, and a lot of shouting.

Most saved to a plan

The Bluegrass artists people are building a Saturday around.

1. 1Mountain Grass UnitYoung Alabama pickers playing traditional bluegrass fast enough to satisfy a jam crowd, with flatpicking chops and festival stamina.
2. 2Jon Stickley TrioInstrumental flatpicking pushed into jazz and surf territory by a trio with no singer to slow it down, giving acoustic velocity with a wink.
3. 3Liam Purcell & Cane Mill RoadHigh-country North Carolina band led by multi-instrumentalist Liam Purcell, tagged by No Depression as "the future of bluegrass," with innovation that doesn't abandon the form.
4. 4The Po' Ramblin' BoysGrammy-nominated East Tennessee band playing hard-charging traditional bluegrass with the road miles and the IBMA hardware to back up bandleader C.J. Lewandowski's claim that they live what they sing.
5. 5The Tan & Sober GentlemenNorth Carolina band running Irish and Appalachian tune traditions through a punk-tempo string band, with fiddle, banjo, and a lot of shouting.
6. 6Asheville Mountain BoysYoung western North Carolina band chasing the spirit rather than the surface of first-generation bluegrass, raw, driving and deliberately unsanitized.
7. 7Big RichardAll-women Colorado string quartet with conservatory chops and a bar-band mouth, playing ripping instrumentals, dark humor and songs that don't flinch.
8. 8Hank, Pattie & the CurrentBanjoist Hank Smith and fiddler Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw front a bluegrass band that folds Motown, jazz and classical phrasing into the traditional frame.
9. 9Jim LauderdaleGrammy-winning North Carolina native and Americana's most prolific lifer, a songwriter's songwriter with dozens of albums and a long bluegrass streak alongside Ralph Stanley.
10. 10The OnliesYoung Seattle-rooted string band who grew up playing together, giving old-time a fuller, denser and more propulsive sound than the form usually allows.

All 99 Bluegrass artists

Sized by how many of the festivals we track have booked each act.