For Grateful Web readers hungry for a new autumn adventure, let us point your compass toward Indiana—where the picking is sweet, the camping is easy, and the roots run deep. The First City Music Festival, returning September 25-27, 2025, in Vincennes, Indiana, has quietly grown into one of the Midwest’s most authentic, family friendly, and welcoming gatherings for fans of bluegrass, Americana, and folk-fusion sounds.

I do not typically attend music festivals two years in a row. As a journalist who reviews festivals, I usually choose different ones each season, circling back only every few years to see how promoters have improved things. Yet over the Fourth of July weekend, I found myself once again at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park for the Grassfire Festival—barely a year since my last visit.

From her early songwriting days in a Wyoming dorm room to sharing stages with bluegrass maestras like Molly Tuttle, Shelby Means has carved out a path that blends deep-rooted influences with an adventurous artistic spirit. Now, with the release of her debut solo material, Shelby Means is embracing a musical journey uniquely her own—a journey defined by heartfelt storytelling, meaningful collaborations, and genuine authenticity.

For its third year, Annapolis Baygrass Music Festival returns to its beachfront location at Sandy Point State Park along the Chesapeake Bay in Annapolis, Maryland, on Saturday and Sunday, September 20-21, 2025. People from all over the region and across North America celebrate in this picturesque destination while listening to the finest music rooted in progressive bluegrass, improvisational jam, and American roots music.

Sunshine, songs and six strings filled the mountain air of the 2025 WinterWonderGrass Music Festival this past weekend in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Now in its twelve year, WWG has grown from its humble parking lot beginnings to a multi-state, multi-genre, world-class music festival and music fan destination. WWG is special for so many people largely from its grassroots community vibe and stunning locations.

Today, GRAMMY and IBMA Award winning bluegrass bassist Shelby Means has released her solo debut, a traditional, burning original song, "Streets of Boulder." Previewed by The Bluegrass Situation, the track is full of heartbreak, longing, and the propulsive magnetic energy Means has become known for as an instrumentalist, songwriter, and vocalist across her lauded career in roots music. STREAM HERE. 

Bluegrass bassist and GRAMMY Award winner Shelby Means (Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway; Sally & George) has announced her first ever solo single, “Streets of Boulder,” releasing on February 14, 2025.

With the third installment, Let the World In, Forecast offers a compelling exploration of time and connection, challenging us to view life not as a linear progression but as an ever-expanding continuum. The album unfolds like a lush, instrumental narrative, drawing listeners into vivid, almost cinematic landscapes—sunlight filtering through trees, warm tides rolling ashore, and the hum of unseen life beneath the soil.

Jerry Garcia's impact on bluegrass music will be on full display for the next two years at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in Owensboro, Kentucky. The exhibit, called Jerry Garcia: A Bluegrass Journey, opened on March 28, 2024, with a historic weekend of music, panel discussions, documentary screenings, and other festivities honoring the late Garcia's career.

Switching buses from Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway, Kyle Tuttle is now embarking on a solo journey with his latest album, Labor of Lust. This 11-track achievement pays homage to the jamgrass lore built on the shoulders of jamgrass giants like Leftover Salmon and Yonder Mountain String Band. Kyle Tuttle has traversed the miles while maintaining his studio musician status in Nashville.