In my opinion, bluegrass will never be better than it was in the 1990s. Some of the best bands in the genre’s history produced their standout works during this decade: Tony Rice made Tony Rice Plays and Sings Bluegrass, the best bluegrass album of all time (that’s right I said it); Hot Rize produced Take It Home, arguably their magnum opus; and Ricky Skaggs made Ancient Tones — which set the standard for top-tier bluegrass going into the 2000s. At the same time, promising young upstarts like Chris Thile and future legends like Blue Highway released their freshman efforts this year. The 1990s is such a rich decade for bluegrass because, more than any other time in the genre’s history, it defined tradition in transition from old to new. Enjoy this hand-picked playlist of the best bluegrass from the 1990s!
