Article Contributed by IVPR
Published on 2026-08-14
Drawing from one of America’s most timeless song catalogs, widely beloved vocalist and guitarist Lindsay Lou has brought to life a collection of tunes penned by oft-overlooked female songwriters on her new album, Bluegrass Women, out today via Work Of Bart Records and Soundly Music.
With the ten-song collection, Lou set out not only to highlight today’s world-class crop of female pickers and singers, but to show the world that there’s always been a place for women in the ever-expanding genre. “Just like having pickers like Molly Tuttle and Sierra Hull out there showing little girls that there is a place for them now in bluegrass, I want to show where there always has been,” says Lou.
Co-produced by Lou and Shani Gandhi, the credits list of Bluegrass Women is comprised of multiple International Bluegrass Music Association Award-winners, GRAMMY Award-winners, Americana Music Award-winners, fellow perennial festival favorites, and trailblazing legends—the aforementioned Tuttle and Hull included—but its cohesive arrangements never overpower the song or its singer. Granted, it would take a lot to outshine Lou’s soulful vocal delivery.
“Some of these songs I sang for many years before realizing they were penned by a wife/mother/female artist,” says Lou. “As a woman, it’s easy to feel like an outsider, or like you don’t belong, in a genre where there is a noticeable lack of representation of women among the forebears. To know that women’s voices made it into the traditional songs feels like a quiet win, and I want to draw more attention to it.”
In exciting news for fans of Lou and acoustic music in general, the entire process of recording Bluegrass Women is being released as a four-part docuseries. The first episode explores “All I’ve Ever Loved Was You” with legends Laurie Lewis and Allison Brown, along with “I Only Exist” featuring Bronwyn, AJ Lee, Courtney Hartman and more.
Stream or purchase Bluegrass Women in its entirety today. Lou is performing today at Green Mountain Bluegrass Festival in Manchester, Vermont, before heading to Grimey’s New & Preloved Music in Nashville on August 19 for an in-store performance and signing, and then to Billy Strings’s Ionia Freak Fair on August 28-29.
Bluegrass Women In The News:
“An all-star album that brings together many of the women who have mastered string-band instruments…Their harmony makes its own implicit statement of solidarity.” — New York Times
“Times are different now, and with projects like Bluegrass Women, Lou has paved the way for another generation to come.” — Tennessean
“The album boasts a star-studded rotating lineup of incredible women.” — The Bluegrass Situation
“Forging a major cultural imprint.” — Nashville Scene
“Every song on Bluegrass Women sparkles with pure harmonies and shimmering instrumentation.” — Folk Alley
Bluegrass Women Tracklist:
All I Ever Loved Was You
Like A River
High On A Mountain
I Only Exist
I’ve Endured
Jubilee
Won’t You Come And Sing For Me
CC Rider
Freight Train
Your Lone Journey
Catch Lindsay Lou On Tour:
August 14 — Manchester, VT — Green Mountain Bluegrass Festival
August 28-29 — Ionia, MI — Ionia Freak Fair
September 4 — Snowshoe, WV — Ballhooter Festival
September 6 — Mill Spring, NC — Earl Scruggs Music Festival
September 25 — Salida, CO — Smalltown Gathering
October 1 — Traverse City, MI — Milliken Auditorium
October 2 — Three Oaks, MI — The Acorn
October 3 — Grand Rapids, MI — The Big Room
October 4 — Ann Arbor, MI — The Ark
October 9-11 — Pelham, TN — CaveFest
October 23 — Chattanooga, TN — IBMA World of Bluegrass
November 19 — Denver, CO — Newman Center for Performing Arts
January 28 — San Francisco, CA — The Fillmore*
January 29 — San Francisco, CA — The Fillmore*
January 30 — San Francisco, CA — The Fillmore*
*supporting The California Honeydrops
About Lindsay Lou:
Lindsay Lou is commonly dubbed the Queen of any festivals she plays. You’re likely to see her sitting in with other bands and curating All Stars sets in addition to playing her own music. Her roots are in Michigan, where she started making records, including the artist-defining Ionia, and touring worldwide with The Flatbellys and The Sweet Water Warblers.
Since making Nashville her home, she’s toured with her folk/rock Queen of Time Band and acoustic/harmony-driven Honey Moon Trio and has celebrated records like Southland, Queen of Time, and most recently Bluegrass Women, a ten-song album of bluegrass classics that were penned by women over the course of the genre’s history. The Bluegrass Women project honors women in a predominantly male-fronted genre while featuring bands made up entirely of some of the best women and pickers in the scene today.
She’s a bringer-together-of-people and a purveyor of buttery, sweet, meaningful experience. In whatever ensemble she chooses to deliver her sound, you hear the common thread of her love for traditional music and authentic new songs inspired by it.
