What makes a favorite? Is it the number of scratches in the disc, the number of times it’s been listened to, the number of days it stays on heavy rotation in the player?

In the old days, listeners waited anxiously for “album-release season,” during which a handful of full-time bands, working with three or four labels, released the new recordings they’d worked on that year.

Today’s endless stream of great bands and quality CDCDs knows no season. Projects are self-produced, self-released, and self-marketed by enterprising young bands and forward-thinking veterans, while old-guard labels like Rebel, Rounder, and Sugar Hill continue their traditions of excellence with redefined sound from established artists and broken ground from spectacular newcomers.

Read the Full Article in the print issue of Bluegrass Now, or call for a back issue.