Steep Canyon Rangers Talk Celebrating 25 Years & Revisiting Musical Foundations on ‘Next Act’
Categoria: Musica
The group’s new album features collaborations with Steve Martin, Edie Brickell and Della Mae’s Celia Woodsmith.
Por Billboard | 22/05/2026
Nearly 25 years after issuing their debut album, bluegrass group Steep Canyon Rangers have become consistent hitmakers, tying Old Crow Medicine Show in 2024 for the most No. 1 albums on Billboard ’s Bluegrass Albums chart since the chart launched in 2002. The North Carolina-formed group’s Graham Sharp (banjo/vocals), Mike Guggino (mandolin/vocals), Nicky Sanders (fiddle/vocals), Mike Ashworth (drums/vocals/dobro/guitar), Barrett Smith (bass/vocals/guitar) and newest member, guitarist/vocalist Aaron Burdett, who joined in 2022, are known for a style that takes traditional bluegrass styles and infuses them with progressive arrangements. Yet, with their 15th studio album, Next Act , out today (May 22) on Yep Roc Records, the group keeps finding new ways to challenge themselves. “I’ve never sang a song besides [a song he wrote] on a record, and Aaron’s never had somebody sing one of his songs besides himself,” Steep Canyon Rangers founding member Sharp tells Billboard . “I sing Aaron’s ‘Stubborn Love’ on this [album]. It’s so natural for the writer to be the one to sing it, but we were sitting backstage one time, and someone was like, ‘This sounds like something Graham could sing.’ We’ve learned where we all fit in that cast of characters and who is best suited to tell what stories. It’s giving everybody not just a chance to show what they can do, but to have their own kind of story to tell.” In 2011, Steep Canyon Rangers and fellow songwriter-banjoist Steve Martin won the International Bluegrass Music Association’s entertainer of the year accolade. The new album features appearances from Martin, as well as singer-songwriter Edie Brickell and bluegrass group Della Mae’s Celia Woodsmith. Below, Billboard speaks with Sharp about the new album, memories from the Grammy-winning group’s 25 years in the spotlight and what’s ahead. When did you start writing for this project? It’s kind of a slow accumulation of songs in general. Aaron and I, we have to get way out ahead of it. This morning I’m working on songs for the next record, and we may not record for a year, but I need to do my work farther out. I’ve learned that I always seem to want people to, as soon as I write it, to learn the song, but I think it’s important to give everybody a moment to have their own first impression. Everybody kind of has their places to plug in. Ashworth and Barrett, I might have a song with good bones and we develop it from there. Whereas, Nicky, he’s best to get involved in the process the day you’re recording, because once you’ve got it to that point, he’ll hear little things and have ideas to give it that last touch. “Hard Luck Kid” has a lot of that vivid storytelling about a chance meeting with someone going through hard times. What do you remember about that incident that inspired it? As soon as I walked in, you could see that he had this hang dog look to him and he came up to me and started talking. He started telling me this story