Bluegrass is in an interesting spot in 2022. Young artists with strong songwriting chops and broad appeal—looking at you, Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle—have seen bluegrass’s popularity creeping into the mainstream to a degree not seen since the early 2000s when Alison Krauss and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” ruled the airwaves. That rising tide has lifted a lot of ships, and many other artists rose to the occasion this year with fantastic new releases. Dan Tyminski released an EP in tribute to Tony Rice, who passed away in late 2020; the Punch Brothers tipped their hat to Tony too with “Hell on Church Street”, a track-for-track cover of “Church Street Blues”. Perennial favorites like the Gibson Brothers, Becky Buller, Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen, and more also released fantastic albums and singles this year. Hear all of those and more on this list highlighting the best new bluegrass of 2022!
