http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/117534-best-bluegrass-of-2009

PopMatters
Best Bluegrass Albums of 2009
December 10, 2009
By Steve Leftridge and Juli Thanki

For bluegrass fans, 2009 was a great year for music, a bad year for frugality. Though we’re only listing the Top Ten, there are many excellent artists and albums worthy of an honorable mention, including Donna Ulisse’s Walk This Mountain Down, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver’s Lonely Street, Don’t Turn Your Back by Dale Ann Bradley, and Alicia Nugent’s Hillbilly Goddess just barely missing the Top Ten. Don’t forget solid releases from the Del McCoury Band, the Emmit Nershi Band, Rhonda Vincent, and Dry Branch Fire Squad. And with several teen and 20-somethings releasing exciting and innovative music (Jeremy Garrett, Chris Pandolfi, and Sarah Jarosz, among others), it seems safe to say that the future of bluegrass is in good hands.

SAM BUSH

2.) Newgrass king Sam Bush, after a decade of watching jamgrass noodlers take his progressive trailblazing further into left field, pulled back this year with his most traditional set in a decade. Slammin’ Sammy still offers plenty of what makes him a legend: whirling-dervish mandolin solos (“Blue Mountain”) and nostalgic Telluride Transcendentalism (“Circles Around Me”). But mostly Sam favors old-fashioned, high-lonesome ballads like “Midnight on the Storm” and hotfooting cookers like “Roll on Buddy, Roll On”, both duets with Del McCoury. And on “Whisper My Name”, Sam trades off with banjoist Scott Vestal and guitarist Stephen Mougin on some of the most blistering bluegrass breaks of the year, proving that Sam has circled around in still-peak form with material strong enough to keep summer festival crowds spinning for years to come. [Steve Leftridge]