Bluegrass.
As country music’s pop phase continues, now is an ideal time to examine its family tree and highlight related genres poised for resurgence.
Tracing the genre’s lineage, one sound stands out as ready for a generational revival—bluegrass, perhaps even as an unexpected Billboard Hot 100 outlier.
Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” for example, fits within the bluesy, jazz-inspired Western swing tradition of bands like Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys or modern performers like Asleep at the Wheel.
But a decade after Wills and Ernest Tubb, Bill Monroe—a Kentucky-born mandolinist—and his Blue Grass Boys forever redefined the folk-to-country-leaning space.
Monroe’s rhythmic innovations—melding country, folk, blues, and jazz—were woven into rock and roll, both as extended instrumentals and radio-friendly songs. The sounds of Monroe, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, the Osborne Brothers, and the Stanley Brothers gained lasting appeal.
American bluegrass musicians Bill Monroe (left) and Ricky Skaggs performing at the reopening of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee on June 14, 1994. (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Getty Images)
Fifty years later, bluegrass endures. Marty Stuart, Ricky Skaggs, and Keith Whitley have become Hall of Famers, while Alison Krauss and Dan Tyminski’s contributions—especially in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"—remain significant.
The rise of streaming and live touring has helped keep bluegrass relevant in the mainstream.
It’s been sixty years since Flatt and Scruggs' "Ballad of Jed Clampett" became the theme for CBS' "The Beverly Hillbillies." Later, "Feudin’ Banjos" from "Deliverance" and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s "Mr. Bojangles" found mainstream success.
For artists like Billy Strings—multiple-time Americana Artist of the Year—streaming has brought wider recognition to bluegrass and other niche genres.
Bluegrass’s deep roots in rural and urban American communities further strengthen its ongoing influence.
By 2027, Strings will mark five years since his first Americana Artist of the Year win, and in 2026, Ella Langley is set for a major crossover between country and roots music.
Molly Tuttle and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes of Golden Highway, winners of the "Best Bluegrass Album" award for "City of Gold," with trophy, at the 66th Grammy Awards held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA, Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
With Strings and Langley’s careers overlapping, there’s an opportunity for a new movement rooted in a century-long tradition.
It easily could.
In 2023 and 2024, Molly Tuttle’s Golden Highway band won Bluegrass Album of the Year at the Grammys. Though the group has split, Tuttle, Shelby Means, and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (now known as Bronwyn) have all found solo success.
The 2026 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards further spotlight bluegrass’s mainstream crossover, with Artist of the Year nominees including Billy Strings, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Sister Sadie, East Nash Grass, and The Del McCoury Band.
Sister Sadie features Deanie Richardson, Gena Britt, Jaelee Roberts, Dani Flowers, Rainy Miatke, and Katie Blomarz-Kimball; Roberts is also up for New Artist of the Year. East Nash Grass and The Del McCoury Band—led by the legendary Del McCoury—round out the nominees.
If country music’s popularity continues, it’s the perfect time to look to related genres ready for broader recognition.
Don’t look any further than bluegrass.
