Traditional bluegrass music is typified by fast, hard-edged, virtuosic picking and intense singing. It’s always been a very male genre — no matter how high the voices, the sound has usually been aggressively macho. Unsurprisingly, in recent decades new voices and new sounds have emerged in response, and a growing number of them have been women’s voices singing in a very different style. While the music made by Kristen Grainger and her band True North is not exactly bluegrass, it’s closely bluegrass-adjacent — but it’s also different in very significant ways. Grainger’s voice is clear but gentle; her bandmates contribute harmonies that are tight but silky. The songs draw on bluegrass tradition (note in particular the high-lonesome harmonies on “Memories and Moments”) but take its elements in entirely new directions without ever seeming aggressively experimental. Highly recommended.

CD Hotlist