What is Newgrass?
Newgrass—also known as progressive bluegrass—is a modern, exploratory branch of American roots music that combines the acoustic virtuosity and ensemble interplay of traditional bluegrass with the harmonic sophistication of jazz, the rhythmic energy of rock, and the improvisational spirit of jam bands. The term “newgrass” originated in the 1970s, highlighting the words “new” and “bluegrass,” and in 2003, the Oxford English Dictionary listed “newgrass” as a new word.
The genre retains bluegrass’s core acoustic instrumentation—mandolin, five-string banjo, fiddle, acoustic guitar, and upright bass—but departs from traditional bluegrass, as the style fuses other genres, particularly americana, folk, jazz, rock, and other styles, with key features including non-traditional chord progressions, extended solos, non-traditional acoustic instruments, and/or electric instruments. Where traditional bluegrass adheres to strict conventions established by Bill Monroe in the 1940s, newgrass musicians treat those traditions as a foundation for creative exploration rather than rigid boundaries.
Origins & Lineage
Progressive bluegrass, also known as newgrass (a term attributed to New Grass Revival member Ebo Walker), is one of two major subgenres of bluegrass music. The movement’s seeds were planted as early as the 1960s, when banjoist Earl Scruggs of Flatt and Scruggs incorporated jazz-inspired banjo and bass duets and complex chord progressions that extended the genre’s original rigid, conservative structure, and in the late 1960s, Scruggs experimented on duets with saxophonist King Curtis and added songs by counterculture icon Bob Dylan to the group’s repertoire.
Newgrass coalesced in the United States at the turn of the 1970s as younger acoustic musicians, steeped in traditional bluegrass, embraced the energy of rock and the harmonic language of jazz. Landmark records and bands—John Hartford’s groundbreaking Aereo-Plain (1971), the formation of New Grass Revival (1971), and progressive outfits like The Seldom Scene and Country Gazette—signaled a shift toward drums, electric bass, contemporary songwriting, and improvisation. “Without John Hartford there would be no newgrass,” according to Sam Bush, one of the genre’s pioneering figures.
The band most responsible for establishing newgrass as a recognized movement was New Grass Revival, which formed in 1972 and released their debut album, The Arrival of the New Grass Revival, later in 1972 on Starday Records. New Grass Revival was an American progressive bluegrass band founded in 1971 and composed of Sam Bush, Courtney Johnson, Ebo Walker, Curtis Burch, Butch Robins, John Cowan, Béla Fleck, and Pat Flynn. Charles Samuel Bush is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. The State of Kentucky has designated him as “the father of newgrass music.”
The New Grass Revival bucked tradition, with long hair, informal clothing, and performances of songs from a variety of genres including music by Jerry Lee Lewis (“Great Balls of Fire”), the Beatles (“Get Back”; “I’m Down”), and Bob Marley (“One Love/People Get Ready”) plus protest songs (“One Tin Soldier”). The break from bluegrass tradition was not well received in some quarters—some thought it was not the way Bill Monroe meant for bluegrass to be played. Despite initial resistance, in 2020, the group were inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.
How It’s Practiced
Newgrass performances emphasize extended instrumental improvisation, with musicians taking turns soloing over chord progressions while the ensemble provides rhythmic and harmonic support—a practice borrowed from jazz. Typical newgrass ensembles keep the bluegrass core—mandolin, banjo, fiddle, acoustic guitar, and bass—while freely adding Dobro, percussion/drum set, piano, and occasional electric instruments. The style favors extended solos, odd meters, sophisticated harmonies, and reinterpretations of non-bluegrass repertoire alongside original songwriting. The spirit of newgrass is adventurous and improvisational: players stretch traditional forms, use complex chord colors and modal harmony, and treat arrangements as living frameworks for creative interplay.
The repertoire draws from diverse sources. Newgrass bands frequently cover rock, folk, jazz, and reggae songs, reimagining them through acoustic instrumentation. Song structures often expand to accommodate multiple solo sections, with performances that can stretch well beyond the three-minute format of traditional bluegrass recordings. Vocals range from traditional high lonesome harmonies to rhythm-and-blues inflected singing styles.
Live performance is central to newgrass culture. The genre’s association with jam bands means that concerts often feature spontaneous musical conversations between players, with set lists that shift nightly and improvisational sections that respond to the energy of each audience. This creates a participatory atmosphere where listeners become witnesses to unrepeatable musical moments.
Newgrass Today
Artists like Punch Brothers, Greensky Bluegrass, The Infamous Stringdusters, Molly Tuttle, and Billy Strings brought new levels of virtuosity, arranging sophistication, and popular appeal. Streaming-era visibility and cross-genre collaborations normalized pop and rock covers in a bluegrass context, while original material leaned into detailed arrangements, odd meters, and jazz-inflected harmony—all without losing the genre’s acoustic heart.
Newgrass has become a fixture at major music festivals. Festivals such as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival became hubs for the burgeoning movement. The genre has also spawned “jamgrass,” a closely related style that adopted jam-band improvisation, expanding song lengths and rhythmic palettes while retaining acoustic drive. Artists associated with this movement include Yonder Mountain String Band, Leftover Salmon, and Railroad Earth.
Contemporary newgrass artists perform at bluegrass festivals, rock venues, and dedicated roots music events. The music is taught at bluegrass camps, workshops, and music schools, where instructors focus on both traditional technique and improvisational skills. Online communities and forums allow players worldwide to share techniques, transcriptions, and recordings.
Common Misconceptions
Newgrass is not simply “bad bluegrass” or bluegrass played incorrectly. The early pioneers of newgrass were accomplished traditional players who made conscious artistic choices to expand the genre’s boundaries. Sam Bush won the National Fiddle Championship at age fifteen before co-founding New Grass Revival.
Newgrass is not exclusively electric or amplified. While some newgrass bands incorporate electric instruments and drums, many remain entirely acoustic, distinguishing themselves through repertoire choice, harmonic complexity, and improvisational approach rather than electrification.
Newgrass is not a complete break from tradition. “There were already people who had deviated from Bill Monroe’s style of bluegrass,” Bush explains. “If anything, we were reviving a newgrass style that had already been started. Our kind of music tended to come from the idea of long jams and rock-&-roll songs.” Newgrass musicians typically possess deep knowledge of and respect for traditional bluegrass even as they push against its constraints.
Newgrass and progressive bluegrass are generally synonymous. New Grass Revival began utilizing electric instrumentation alongside songs imported from other genres to great popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, and the term “newgrass” became synonymous with “progressive bluegrass.”
How to Begin
For listeners new to newgrass, begin with foundational recordings: John Hartford’s Aereo-Plain (1971), New Grass Revival’s Fly Through the Country (1976), and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones’ Flight of the Cosmic Hippo (1991) provide entry points spanning the genre’s evolution. Contemporary starting points include Billy Strings’ Home (2019) and Punch Brothers’ Who’s Feeling Young Now? (2012).
For players, attend a bluegrass jam session or workshop to learn the social protocols and melodic vocabulary of the tradition before branching into newgrass’s more experimental territory. Many bluegrass festivals offer instructional tracks alongside performances. Online platforms like ArtistWorks and TrueFire provide structured lessons in newgrass techniques for various instruments.
Seek out live performances at venues known for hosting acoustic and roots music. The improvisational nature of newgrass means that recordings, while valuable, capture only a fraction of the music’s vitality. Summer festivals—including Telluride Bluegrass Festival, RockyGrass, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, and ROMP Fest—offer immersive multi-day experiences with workshops, jams, and performances.
For those interested in the spiritual dimensions of improvisational music-making, newgrass offers a practice of deep listening, spontaneous co-creation, and the dissolution of ego that occurs when musicians surrender to collective flow states during extended jams.
