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Bluegrass Underground
2011 - 2021 9.0 (2 votes) 10 Seasons
Official Website
Genres
Documentary
Networks
PBS
Created By
Todd Mayo

Bluegrass Underground

A little bit Bluegrass, a little bit underground.

Overview

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.

Seasons

Season 2 (2012)

No overview available.

12 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: The Civil Wars
2012-09-05

From multiple Grammy wins to The Hunger Games' soundtrack, 2012 is a breakout year for The Civil Wars. Intricately woven phrasing and airtight harmonies mark the minimalist duo's powerfully ballads and astonishingly frank songs on the paradoxical nature of love.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: Jerry Douglas
2012-09-12

The thirteen time Grammy winner plays the dobro with unprecedented speed and haunting lyricism. Douglas is one of Nashville's most in-demand session players and is a longtime featured member of Alison Krauss & Union Station.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Sarah Jarosz
2012-09-19

Singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz performs.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Jim Lauderdale
2012-09-26

Jim Lauderdale performs.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: David Mayfield Parade
2012-10-03

Raised on show business in a family band, David Mayfield made his name with award-winning progressive bluegrass group Cadillac Sky. The singer/guitarist mixes acoustic-alternative and cutting-edge Americana with great showmanship.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
2012-10-10

Singer/mandolinist Doyle Lawson and his band perform progressive bluegrass and compelling a cappella Gospel.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: Scott Miller & the Commonwealth
2012-10-17

Americana pioneer Miller and his band, the Commonwealth, perform songs with a bluegrass and edgy mountain tinge.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: The Timejumpers
2012-10-24

The Timejumpers, a western-swing band whose members include Vince Gill, perform.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 9: The Vespers
2012-10-31

The Vespers perform.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 10: The Del McCoury Band
2012-11-07

Grammy-winning singer/guitarist Del McCoury and his band perform the "High Lonesome" sound and also explore new musical frontiers.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 11: Vince Gill
2012-11-14

Country star and multiple Grammy winner Vince Gill, known for his razor-sharp instrumental skills, expressive tenor voice, richly varied songwriting, and superb choice of backup musicians, performs honky tonk ballads, bluegrass, and country rock.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 12: The Black Lillies
2012-11-21

The Black Lillies perform in the Sesaon 2 finale.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 4 (2014)

No overview available.

13 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Widespread Panic
2014-09-03

The Season 4 premiere features the successful jamband Widespread Panic who meld southern rock, blues-rock, funk and hard rock in a stellar performance.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: Steep Canyon Rangers
2014-09-10

Steep Canyon Rangers perform.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Dave Eggar With Amy Lee & Hammerstep
2014-09-17

Cellist Dave Eggar, singer Amy Lee (of Evanescence) and dance troupe Hammerstep perform.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
2014-09-24

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit perform.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: David Grisman FolkJazz Trio
2014-10-01

The David Grisman FolkJazz Trio perform.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Lucinda Williams
2014-10-08

Singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams performs.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: The Gibson Brothers
2014-10-15

The Gibson Brothers showcase their amazing harmonies and whip-crack musicianship.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: Davina & The Vagabonds
2014-10-22

The frontwoman and the band sing through multiple generations and genres of New Orleans grooves.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 9: Keller Williams With the Traveling McCourys
2014-10-29

The eclectic jazz, funk, reggae, alt-rock guitar virtuoso joins the stellar Traveling McCourys.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 10: Shovels & Rope
2014-11-05

Shovels & Rope perform.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 11: Hayes Carll
2014-11-12

Singer-songwriter Hayes Carll performs.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 12: Michael Martin Murphey
2014-11-19

The Grammy nominee stirs up his own particular stew of folk, country-rock, pop and Western music.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 13: Chip Taylor
2014-11-26

Singer-songwriter Chip Taylor, whose songs include "Wild Thing" and "Angel of the Morning," performs.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 6 poster
Season 6 (2016)

No overview available.

12 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Dave Rawlings Machine
2016-09-07

Savor the Underground debut of a group that personifies “Americana”: Guitarist-singer-songwriter Rawlings with Gillian Welch, Punch Brothers bassist Paul Kowert, fiddler Brittany Haas and former Old Crow Medicine Show guitarist Willie Watson.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: The Suffers
2016-09-14

Welcome these relative newcomers, a 10-piece band fresh out of Houston and fronted by the massive-voiced singer Kam Franklin and influenced by classic rock 'n' roll, country, Latin and southern hip-hop as much as Stax/Volt or Muscle Shoals era.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
2016-09-21

Join monster mandolinist (and chef) Frank Solivan and his band, Dirty Kitchen, whose sturdy matrix of bluegrass veined with jazz, blues, country and jam band delivers on their main rule: “No filler.”

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Hurray for the Riff Raff
2016-09-28

Hurray for the Riff Raff - with Alynda Lee Segarra, who hopped freight trains across America before settling in sultry New Orleans - promises to turn the Volcano Room into the French Quarter with a high-energy, funky, folky N'Awlins groove.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Mac McAnally
2016-10-05

Enjoy a set by this Mississippi-raised musical force of nature-a Grammy winner, eight-time CMA Musician of the Year, soulful singer, hit songwriter and Muscle Shoals session musician who boasts a following of fans devoted to the art of the song.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: JJ Grey & MoFro
2016-10-12

Described as a mash-up of jam band, blues, funk, soul and Southern rock, the songs of JJ Grey, the "North Florida sage and soul-bent swamp rocker," reflect the area around Jacksonville, where he was raised.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: The Cox Family
2016-10-19

Hear the Cox family, who contributed several songs to the soundtrack of O Brother, Where Art Thou?-the best-selling roots music album of all time. They returned to the national music scene recently with their first album in almost 20 years.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: The Lone Bellow
2016-10-26

As his wife recovered from an accident that nearly paralyzed her, The Lone Bellow was born as a creative outlet for singer Zach Williams. Now a thriving part of Brooklyn’s Americana scene, The Lone Bellow Roots-folk-rock trio was recently nominated for Americana Duo/Group Of The Year.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 9: Drivin' N Cryin'
2016-11-02

Rolling Stone magazine explained veteran rockers DNC thusly, “Crunching hard rock is the Drivin’ part. Brittle country-ish balladry.” Hailing from Atlanta, GA, Kevn Kinney and Drivin’ N Cryin’ have for 30 years offered die-hard fans a blend that arcs from intimate acoustic folk to soaring (and searing) guitar-laden southern rock.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 10: Sierra Hull
2016-11-09

The Tennessee mandolin prodigy is all grown up and comes to Bluegrass Underground fresh from releasing her third solo album, the jaw-dropping, Bela Fleck-produced Weighted Mind. Of her, Fleck notes, “She plays the mandolin with a degree of refined elegance and freedom that few have achieved… Her vocals and songwriting matured to the level of her virtuosity.”

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 11: St. Paul & the Broken Bones
2016-11-16

Seemingly born fully formed in 2012, this Birmingham, Alabama Soul band’s career hit the ground as big and strong as their sweat-soaked, seven-piece Soul-Funk sound, earning major raves from major media, including Paste magazine, Garden and Gun, Southern Living, Rolling Stone and NPR.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 12: Jason & The Scorchers
2016-11-23

Led by Illinois native Jason Ringenberg, the Scorchers crashed out of Nashville and began smashing down the walls between genres with their own brawling brand of country-rock almost 35 years ago. As trailblazers for the cowpunk and alt-rock bands that would follow, Jason and the Scorchers have received the Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 7 poster
Season 7 (2017)

No overview available.

12 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: The Mavericks
2017-09-06

Enjoy the irresistible Cuban groove of the genre-leaping Grammy-winners fronted by the transcendent vocals of Raul Malo. The band has won awards from the Academy of Country Music, the Country Music Association and the Americana Music Association.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: Chris Robinson Brotherhood
2017-09-13

Listen to the group variously described as blues-rock, jamband and acid-Americana. Rolling Stone described their sound as “electrifying…boast[ing] a vintage rock vibe that’s at once quirky, trippy, soulful and downright magnetic.”

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Russell Moore and Illrd Tyme Out
2017-09-20

Hear a Georgia-born, internationally acclaimed band that defines the drive and precision of top shelf bluegrass. Celebrating their 25th anniversary, the group is a top pick on Amazon.com and a favorite of discerning bluegrass fans everywhere.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Kasey Chambers
2017-09-27

Tune in for a set from a singer-songwriter who traveled from the Land Down Under to Tennessee’s “Show Down Under.” From a well-known producing/performing musical family, Chambers is one of Australia's most successful and celebrated country artists.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives
2017-10-04

Don’t miss this performance by the five-time Grammy-winner. With a bio that boasts stints with Lester Flatt and Johnny Cash, Stuart is unsurpassed as a rhinestone showman and folk philosopher who has proudly remained to country.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Parker Millsap
2017-10-11

Enjoy a performance by a singer-songwriter deemed one of Nashville’s hottest new country roots artists. Winner of Americana’s 2016 Album of the Year, Millsap performs on guitar, harmonica and slide guitar.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: Rhonda Vincent & The Rage
2017-10-18

Tune in for a performance by the “Queen of Bluegrass," who tours with her band, The Rage, earning accolades for her mastery of the progressive chord structures and multi-range, fast-paced vocals intrinsic to bluegrass.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: Conor Oberst
2017-10-25

Hear a set from a progressive singer/songwriter who has sung with numerous bands, including the Monsters of Folk supergroup. His songs of insight, detail and political awareness have earned him a large and devoted following.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 9: Don Bryant & The Bo-Keys
2017-11-01

The word “soul” has powerful resonance – musically, culturally and spiritually. No contemporary band embodies the power of Soul more than the Bo-Keys, made up of session musicians from historic Stax and Hi Records studio bands including drummer Howard Grimes, organist Archie “Hubby” Turner, singer Percy Wiggins, Grammy-nominated bassist Scott Bomar, and trumpeter Ben Cauley.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 10: Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors
2017-11-08

Hailing from the dual musical poles of Memphis and East Nashville, this band has toured extensively with such diverse artists as The Avett Brothers, Ryan Adams, Los Lobos, and Susan Tedeschi and now regularly sell out Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium. The band was first seen nationally on PBS’ series, Legends and Lyrics.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 11: The McCrary Sisters
2017-11-15

Nashville born and raised, the McCrary Sisters are the daughters of the late Rev. Sam McCrary, one-time preeminent leader of the Fairfield Four gospel quartet. Raised on harmony, these four siblings form one of the world’s premier gospel quartets in their own right.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 12: Blues Traveler
2017-11-22

This high energy, multi-genre band blasted out of Princeton, N.J. atop the furious harmonica riffs of frontman John Popper. Testing skills in blues, reggae, folk, hip-hop, soul, and southern rock, the band in the end emerged as key players among the growing and loyal Jamband audiences. The Grammy-winning band is also known for its Top 40 hits such as Hook and Run-Around.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 8 poster
Season 8 (2018)

Season 8 moves to a new location 40 miles south of the previous site, The Caverns at the foot of Monteagle Mountain in the hills of Grundy County, Tennessee near Pelham, Tennessee.

13 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Billy Strings
2018-09-05

Reaction to Billy Strings come in two varieties: “Who is this guy?” and “That kid can play!” Strings won IBMA 2016 Momentum Awards Instrumentalist of the Year (for guitar, banjo and mandolin) and was voted #1 in The Bluegrass Situation’s Top 16 of 16. Michigan-raised from a long line of players, Billy Strings is a phenomenon whose articulation and entire approach is totally authentic.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: Aaron Lee Tasjan
2018-09-12

With a distinct "indie folk grit," Berklee-trained Tasjan has always considered himself a songwriter first even as he built creds with glam-rockers New York Dolls, southern rockers Drivin’ N Cryin’, arena rockers Semi Precious Weapons and British rockers Alberta Cross. Imbued with wry wit, a sharp tongue and a lot of heart, his songs harken John Prine, Tom Petty, Guy Clark, and Steve Goodman, solidifying him as one of the most intriguing songwriters to emerge in some time.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: The Sam Bush Band
2018-09-19

Raised on a Kentucky farm, The Father of Newgrass and King of Telluride has long since established himself as roots royalty, soaking up honors such as an Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award, three Grammys, and multiple International Bluegrass Music Association trophies. After a lifetime of channeling energy toward jazz, folk, blues, reggae, country swing, and bluegrass, Bush still strives relentlessly to create something new.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Sweet Lizzy Project
2018-09-26

This gifted septet conquers every stage they play. Songs penned in English, Spanish and French have led to tours in Venezuela, Canada, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Russia, France, China and Portugal. Traditional Latin rhythms, Classical influences and American Roots-Rock sensibilities offer a fresh, truly singular approach perhaps best described as “Pan Americana.”

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Tim O'Brien
2018-10-03

With multiple awards from both Grammy and IBMA, this singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist grew up singing in church and in school, becoming a lifelong devotee of Old Time and Bluegrass music. First touring nationally in the 1980’s with Colorado Bluegrass band Hot Rize, O’Brien’s range over original compositions and traditional arrangements.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Lettuce
2018-10-10

Formed in 1992, Lettuce was founded on a shared love of funk artists like Earth, Wind & Fire and Tower of Power. Lettuce brilliantly infuses their psychedelic/hip-hop sensibilities to bring a refreshing vitality to classic funk. Their tight sense of unity springs from a camaraderie that's only intensified over the lifespan of the band, deepening a sonic freedom with the infectious energy of an incendiary live show.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: Kathy Mattea
2018-10-17

With two Grammys and 15 Top 10 singles on the Billboard charts, Mattea is a storied Nashville singer/songwriter. A genuine storyteller drawing on Appalachian roots, hers are classics infused with Bluegrass, Gospel and Celtic influences. Mattea pulls an acoustic eclectic set in duo long-time collaborator Bill Cooley featuring new material mixed with her extensive and decades-deep archive.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: The Reverend Osagyefo Sekou
2018-10-24

Rev. Sekou's music offers a searing blend of North Mississippi Hill Country Music, Arkansas Delta Blues, Memphis Soul and Pentecostal steel guitar. AFROPUNK heralded the ”deep bone-marrow-level conviction” of his first album, which contained the single, “The Revolution Has Come.” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch dubbed the song as the new anthem for the modern Civil Rights movement.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 9: Turnpike Troubadours
2018-10-31

Borrowing their name from the Indian Nation Turnpike that connected the more obscure dots of the Sooner state where they cut their artistic teeth, the Troubadours have honed a rowdy, quick-witted sound that’s brought together folks of all stripes. With a raw-boned energy and a knack for capturing slices of life in vivid detail, the band has evolved from acoustic explorations of Townes Van Zandt and Jerry Jeff Walker to full-throttle roadhouse country twang-tinged with a certain punk attitude hanging over from the band’s early years.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 10: Mary Gauthier
2018-11-07

Hailing from New Orleans, Gauthier wrote her first song at the age of 35. Since, her extraordinarily confessional songs have garnered "New Artist of the Year" by The Americana Music Association and landed on Top 10 lists of the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Daily News, No Depression, and Billboard Magazine. Her latest release, "Rifles and Rosary Beads" ("Thirty Tigers"), includes songs co-written with and for wounded veterans, all co-written as part of Darden Smith's SongwritingWith:Soldiers program.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 11: Flatt Lonesome
2018-11-14

Debuting in 2013, this band is a musical force with Grand Ole Opry appearances, Billboard charting albums, and three top IBMA honors in 2016, Vocal Group, Song, Album of the Year, and Vocal Group for 2017. Digging into a well of emotion, expressive instrumentals, sophisticated writing and inventive arrangements, Flatt Lonesome continues to raise the bar of their own fiercely creative game.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 12: Brandi Carlile
2018-11-21

Self taught, Washington-raised and Grammy nominated for Americana Album of the Year, Carlile’s style has revolved around several genres, including pop, rock, alternative country, and folk with songs serving as personal stories of parents and childhood, of divorces and religion, of marriage and having children, and of love and of loss.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 13: Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper
2018-11-28

Ten-time IBMA Fiddler of the Year Award and one of the premier musicians of his generation. Originally trained in the classical Suzuki method, Cleveland’s blistering technical fluency pairs amazingly with Flamekeeper's tight harmonies and jaw dropping instrumental trades, finding balance between Bluegrass founding fathers and breaking new ground.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 9 poster
Season 9 (2019)

No overview available.

12 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
2019-09-04

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.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: Amanda Shires
2019-09-11

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.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Keb' Mo'
2019-09-18

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.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Josh Ritter
2019-09-25

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.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Lucero
2019-10-02

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.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Brothers Osborne
2019-10-09

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.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: Gregory Alan Isakov
2019-10-16

Isakov strikes a balance of space and instrumentation with precise arrangements and poignant lyrics.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: Steve Earle and the Dukes
2019-10-23

Producer, author, actor and singer-songwriter Steve Earle is master musician and writer's writer.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 9: Lauren Morrow
2019-10-30

Lauren Morrow showcases her broad vocal range and sweet Georgia drawl in her unique songs.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 10: Glen Hansard
2019-11-06

Glen Hansard brings the heart and soul of the Irish backed by a powerful Folk-Rock horn band.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 11: The Devil Makes Three
2019-11-13

The trio evokes songs from some bygone era, rooted in folk, delta blues, and reckless rock.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 12: Mandy Barnett
2019-11-20

Mandy Barnett has a keen interpretative sense and a powerful style rooted in Country and Pop.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 10 (2021)

This season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, each episode offers previous performances from two or more artists who have graced the underground stage over past seasons.

12 episodes

Videos

Bluegrass Underground PBS Arts Promo

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