Tis’ the season for social media list-making. You might have seen Billboard’s Top 140 for Music Biz folks, perhaps even Time Magazine’s list, but after many hours of preparation, coordination and chatting with some of the coolest people in bluegrass and social media, I proudly present to you…
THE ROOTS MUSIC TWITTERATI 140
Many people don’t think bluegrass and roots music lives online, this is one more example proving that wrong. The list was compiled by a group of us who hang out on twitter and chat music all day, this fantastic band of social media marauders are:
Special Thanks to these Bluegrass Thought Leaders:
Anson Burtch (@aburtch)
Beebs (@beebles)
Devon Leger (@hearth_music)
Dustin Ogdin (@eartyme)
Emilee Warner (@warnerblaster)
Jamie Katz (@jmknc)
Jon Stone (@jwstone)
Jon Weisberger (@jonweisberger)
Now for the rest of the categories..
BLOGGERS/MUSIC LOVERS:
- @adamsheets08 Adam Sheets – Key tweeter, loves bluegrass and a whole array of other nonsense.
- @allisonhussey Allison Hussey – Writer for the Chapel Hill / Carrboro paper. Gets great interview with the bluegrass/Americana acts that roll through town
- @annkpowers Ann Powers – Writer for NPR, serious acoustic music fan.
- @commonfolkmusic April Wolfe – Creator/Curator of Common Folk Music.
- @TwangNation Baron Lane – News/Reviews and other goodies covering lots of Americana and bluegrass.
- @benjamin_shultz Ben Shultz – Old-time music blogger.
- @fratrain Bill Frater – Writer for Freight Train Boogie
- @caseyhenry Casey Henry – She’s awesome, just trust me – also banjo teacher.
- @ChrisMateer Chris Mateer – Creator/Curator of Uprooted Music Revue, great guy.
- @concertvault Concert Vault – Repping Wolfgang’s Vault appreciates good bluegrass, and streams some of the BEST concerts of the last ~60years. Master Curator.
- @songsillinois Craig Bonnell – Writer/Curator of folk-oriented blog Songs Illinois.
- @chavighurst Craig Havighurst – One of those guys you just have to read. Founder String Theory Media.
- @danschram Dan Schram – Fantastic soundman. If it’s good and comes through the area, he records it. BIG bluegrass fan, and his YouTube channel will melt your face.
- @naturalbeardy Dylan Macnab – Writer/Curator for Natural Beardy, a great folk music blog!
- @forfolkssake For Folk’s Sake – Fantastic folk blog.
- @DobroSwamp George Clark – Resonator enthusiast with an awesomne feed.
- @gregvandy Greg Vandy – Founder of American Standard Time.
- @thejeffreysmith Jeffrey Smith – Founder of Crash Ave, Manager of Ben Sollee etc., irreverent.
- @RightByHerRoots Jewly Hight – Aficionado in women in American Song. A book should be coming out soon.
- @Mando_Lines Jim Warren – Talks about bluegrass A LOT. Great reviews and whatnot.
- @thesessionspot Jon Goldmann – Little plug here: Runs the amazing bluegrass/culture blog you’re reading right now!
- @justinhendrix Justin Hendrix – Writer/Curator for the Bluegrass in NYC blog (the one I always wish I could write).
- @kimruehl Kim Ruehl – Edits No Depression, serious influencer, great taste, less filling.
- @KylaFairchild Kyla Fairchild – Publisher of No Depression.
- @selmerguy Michael John Simmons – Editor for Fretboard Journal, great publication that loves bluegrass.
- @Rocknrollsoapbx Paige – Blogger, mostly of music. She’s got taste.
- @TheRuckusBlog Rukus Blog – (some seriously good, though not always acoustic content. Always trust a handlebar mustache.
- @sarahbryan Sarah Bryan – old time music lover and folklorist – collects great old photos too.
- @therealdaytrotter Sean Moeller – Founder/Chief Curator of The Daytrotter sessions. Hugely influential, mostly indie, but some of the rawest, greatest sets. Addictive.
- @slowcoustic Slowcoustic Blog – Take it easy and take a look at this roots blog.
- @bluegrassTed Ted Lehmann – THE Ted Lehmann. Long-time blogger, friend of the community, listener and activist.
- @tomstonemayer Tom Mayer – mostly Editor and sometime old-time musician for The Flanks. Also plays some mean reggae and has an awesome music and book collection.
- @twangville Twangville – serious roots music blog.
- @uprootedmusic Uprooted Music Revue – content from one of my FAVORITE blogs (great folk/bluegrass music).
ARTISTS:
- @abigailwashburn Abigail Washburn – banjo player, folklorist, wife of Bela Fleck, speaks Chinese, writes great music.
- @odonovanaoife Aiofe O’Donovan – Brooklyn fiddler from Crooked Still.
- @Andyfalco Andy Falco – Guitar picker for those infamous stringdusters.
- @AprilVerch April Verch – Hell of a fiddler.
- @belafleckbanjo Bela Fleck – The maestro of the five-string. Just started tweeting, so make him feel welcome.
- @brittfiddle Brittany Haas – Great Fiddler.
- @brucemolsky Bruce Molsky – Master of old-time, writer of songs that “sound old”, folklorist, jokester, can play just about anything.
- @BryanD28Sutton Bryan Sutton – Just started tweeting, but a mighty fine tweeter and swell guitar picker.
- @_ccds Carolina Chocolate Drops – Yes, those Carolina Chocolate Drops.
- @caseydriessen Casey Driessen – One of the universe’s coolest fiddlers. Mostly show dates, but also stuff from his killer newsletter.
- @chathamcoline Chatham County Line – One of the best modern bluegrass bands out there, but their talent is more potent then their tweets.
- @ChrisJonesGrass Chris Jones – Sirius XM personality, frontman for Chris Jones and the Night Drivers.
- @chrispandolfi Chris Pandolfi – Banjoist from The Infamous Stringdusters. Prolific tweeter, insightful dude, generally excitable.
- @crittereldridge Chris Eldridge – Fantastic guitar picker from The Punch Brothers.
- @christhile Chris Thile – We talk about this mandolin badass all the time. Brooklyn resident, often lucid hashtags on Twitter, oh and I said mandolin badass, right?
- @ThileDaves Chris Thile / Michael Daves – I sure hope they keep this up. Best duo in the universe.
- @coreydimario Corey Dimario – Blogger, double-bass player for Crooked Still, and bus driver.
- @crookedstill Crooked Still – Great NE old time outlet, some of the best covers out there, and some serious chops (especially vocally). All around awesome.
- @dehlialow Dehlia Low – Bluegrass/Old-time band out of western North Carolina. Amazing songwriting.
- @delmccouryband Del McCoury Band – I can’t help it. The most awarded band in bluegrass.
- @FarewellDrifter Farewell Drifters – One of the best vocal bluegrass bands right now.
- @franksolivan Frank Solivan – Bomb bluegrass artist, one of Devon’s favorites.
- @gabewitcher Gabe Witcher – Fiddler for the Punch Brothers.
- @grantbigsmokey Grant Johnson – Nashville insider, multi-instrumentalist, really nice dude.
- @stringdusters Infamous String Dusters – One of the tightest young bands out there, but really let ‘er rip at shows. Fantastic.
- @JayandMolly Jay Ungar – Civil War enthusiast, folklorist and the guy who wrote “Ashokan Farewell”.
- @jeffersonhamer Jefferson Hamer – NYC Folkie. Really tapped into the scene, great tweets, nice guy.
- @Jeffreyaustin10 Jeff Austin – Mandolin for Yonder Mountain, food lover, melody wrangler.
- @JoeNewberry Joe Newberry – NC multiinstrumentalist, wry humor, knows damn near everyone.
- @jaymestone Jayme Stone – Banjo maestro. Influences from all over, ethnomusicologist wet dream, plays with some amazing folks.
- @joekwon80 Joe Kwan – Cello player for the Avett Brothers and serious foodie.
- @kristinand Kristin Andreasson – Local NYC fiddler who plays with some of the best. Self-proclaimed Vagabond.
- @lauracortese Laura Cortese – Smoking Fiddler from MA who plays in BK a ton. Always great to have her.
- @Mandolin_Orange Mandolin Orange – One of our little twitter community’s favorite act right now.
- @MattBruer Matt Bruer – Banjoist for The Get Down Boys out of LA.
- @mattflinner Matt Flinner – Mandolin badass.
- @Megafaun Megafaun – Progressive old-time band (love the paradox there).
- @fiddlestar Megan Lynch – Educator (the best kind).
- @TheNewHip Missy Raines and the New Hip
- @TheNewFamiliars The New Familiars
- @noampikelny Noam Pikelny – Banjoist for The Punch Brothers. Receiver of awards, cynic of many.
- @PlowRootsMusic Plow-Roots Music – San Diego fellas with an ear for the old school.
- @PunchBrothers Punch Brothers – Best way to keep up on one of the most awesomely hard-to-describe outlets out there.
- @RadioRamblers Radio Ramblers – Some good ol’ Ohio boys.
- @raynagellert Rayna Gellert – Fantastic fiddler, banjoist in private, cohort of Ms. Washburn.
- @sarahjarosz Sarah Jarosz – Young mandolinist (mostly) with a a great release out, and a highly-anticipated one on the way in May. Has a ridiculously awesome career ahead of her and makes us all feel old.
- @SaraWatkins Sara Watkins – former Fiddler for Nickel Creek. Crazy talented, still playing a bunch.
- @sav1028 Sav Sankaran – Bass player for Dixie Bee-Liner, hockey fan. Great tweeter.
- @sierrahull Sierra Hull – Berkeley student with a record deal, so incredible.
- @steelstring Steel String Session – Forward thinking wonderfully backwards band.
- @steepcanyon Steep Canyon Rangers – Currently getting a lot of attention as Steve Martin’s band, but they were stars before, and will be afterwards. I love their music. Very awesome.. in a straightforward sort of way.
- @stephiecoleman Stephanie Coleman – great NYC fiddler, plays with Kristin sometimes.
- @stevemartintogo Steve Martin – Yea. That one. Plays banjo and tweets a lot. So great.
- @TimLee3 Tim Lee – Big tim roots & bluegrass lover.
- @tonytrischka Tony Trischka – sparse tweets from the man himself.
- @tbtduluth Trampled by Turtles – More “jamgrass”, but not the annoying kind.
- @YonderMountain Yonder Mountain String Band – Bluegrass on speed and pot.
ORGANIZATIONS:
- @AmericanaFest Americana Music Association
- @clubpassim Club Passim – Great folk venue in Cambridge, MA. Streams and whatnot too.
- @CompassRecords Compass Records – A bluegrass/folk institution.
- @IntlBluegrass The International Bleugrass Association (IBMA).
- @livebreathing Live Breathing – New site with some killer sessions. Dropped yesterday. Great guys working over there. Wonderful projects.
- @merlefest Merlefest – duh..
- @newportfolkfest Newport Folk Festival
- @NonesuchRecords Nonesuch Records (CCD, Punch, Chris Thile + Michael Daves, Low Anthem).
- @RebelBluegrass Rebel Records.
- @rounderrecords Rounder Records – one of bluegrass’s top labels, super awesome content. However, publicity department is like Fort Knox.
- @folkways Smithsonian Folkways – A spring of old time info, some of the best historical releases.
- @spps Steam Powered Preservation Society – Purveyors/Curators of simply awesome. Folklorist society affiliated with the venerable Tut Taylor.
- @sugarhillmusic Sugar Hill Records – Home of Sam Bush, etc.
NEWS OUTLETS/INFORMERS
- @Acousticananew AcoutiCana News Journal – A great publication for all things roots music and americana.
- @cyberpr Ariel Hyatt – Brooklyn’s beautiful, forward-thinking publicist. A real thought leader in the New Music Business. Always insightful.
- @bluegrass_blog Bluegrass Blog – In my humble opinion, easily the most organized and comprehensive source for online bluegrass news.
- @BluegrassBooksOnline Bluegrass Books – I know that you may not like reading, but they have great content on their twitter stream too
- @bluegrasjournal The Bluegrass Journal.
- @bluegrasslegacy Bluegrass Legacy – Just like it sounds.
- @bluegrassmuseum The Bluegrass Museum – Owensboro, KY. The institution, the history, the educational programs. All good things.
- @Cybergrass Bob Cherry – One of the best sources for bluegrass news. Great content, horrible layout.
- @CrashAvenue Crash Avenue – Great Nashvillian management and publicity firm for bands like The Farewell Drifters and Ben Sollee.
- @Dreamspiderweb Dream Spider Web – Big time publicist for bluegrass/americana acts like Donna the Buffalo and Larry Keel.
- @Flatpicking Flatpicking Guitar Magazine
- @folkalley Folk Alley – Big ol’ folk internet radio station.
- @folkalliance Folk Alliance
- @fbjournal Fretboard Journal – Just like it sounds. Publication about all things strung (or fretted). Tons of great folk and bluegrass content.
- @billboardglenn Glenn Peoples – Billboard editor/contributor, based in Nashville, super smart.
- @hickorywind Hickory Wind – Roots Music outlet out of NC.
- @Lefsetz Bob Lefsetz – One of the most lucid, outspoken influencers on music business, consumption and taste. Visceral feed of awesome insights.
- @mandolincafe Mandolin Cafe – THE place for mando news.
- @musiccityroots Music City Roots – Weekly radio show from Nashville; webcast; frequent bluegrass presenter.
- @musicfog – Music Fog – Serious Americana video site and blog.
- @nodepression No Depression – The print mag turned roots aggregator. Some of the top content on the interwebs.
- @nprmusic NPR Music – good for music discovery of all types, including folk/americana.
- @RootsAgency The Roots Agency
- @victorymusic Victory Music – Acoustic music mag repping the pacific Northwest.
- @wamubluegrass WAMU Bluegrass – one of the world’s best online/offline purveyors of great bluegrass music.
To save the trouble of checking out each person individually, we’ve compiled this master list for your convenient enjoyment.
Again, a special thanks to Anson, Beebs, Devon, Dustin, Emilee, Jamie, Jon Stone, Jon Weisberger for all your help and support.
If you should want to add folks to the list (that are human and worthy), suggest in the comments and we’ll consider adding it to the public list.
