Justin Hiltner

Nashville

Associate Editor and Digital Brand Director at The Bluegrass Situation

Birds, bois, banjo, Black liberation = queer liberation. You know why I'm not as active here anymore. Find me elsewhere:

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Articles

The SteelDrivers Celebrate 20 Years, Usher in New Chapter With 'Outrun'

1 week ago | thebluegrasssituation.com | Justin Hiltner

With four lead vocalists, seven studio albums, one GRAMMY Award to their name, and countless fans won over, The SteelDrivers have been one of this century’s most consistent and trailblazing bluegrass bands. That longevity can be credited to three things – the strength of their catalog of all-original songs, their collective precision picking, and the family atmosphere the band has cultivated together since forming in 2005.
You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Jade Jackson, Wyatt Ellis, and More

1 week ago | thebluegrasssituation.com | Justin Hiltner

Bidding farewell to May already? It seems impossible, but somehow we’ve quickly reached our final collection of premieres and new music for the month. You Gotta Hear This!We’ve got bluegrass to get you moving this week, with North Carolina’s Balsam Range kicking us off with a dark and gritty story song of a shipwreck and the sea, “The Pacific,” their latest single dropping today.
Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert Let Their Music "Be What It Wants to Be"

1 week ago | thebluegrasssituation.com | Justin Hiltner

Volume 4 is a beginning and end for Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert. It’s a beginning in that it’s the duo’s newest release, which means new songs, a new tour cycle, and a new round of interviews. It’s an end – “the end of an era,” as they put it – for Dead Reckoning Records, the label Kane and his bandmates in The Dead Reckoners launched 30 years ago.
Basic Folk: Anaïs Mitchell (Reissue)

1 week ago | thebluegrasssituation.com | Justin Hiltner

(Editor’s Note: Welcome to our Reissue series! For the next several weeks, Basic Folk is digging back into the archives and reposting some of our favorite episodes alongside new introductions commenting on what it’s like to listen back. Enjoy!)Listening back, I feel like this 2018 interview with Anaïs Mitchell holds up. Originally published on January 10, 2019, Hadestown was about to debut on Broadway, the pandemic was still over a year away, and we were young and full of autumn.
Violinist and Singer-Songwriter Anne Harris "Brings Things Up a Level" with New Album

1 week ago | thebluegrasssituation.com | Justin Hiltner

Anne Harris is having a moment. Though many people (this writer included) are just finding out about this Midwestern violin virtuoso this year, she has been making records since 2001. With her new album, I Feel It Once Again (released May 9), Harris decided, in her words, to “bring things up a level.”Not only is the disc getting rave reviews, it marks the first ever violin commission in America between two Black women – Harris and luthier Amanda Ewing.
BGS 5+5: Adam Chaffins

1 week ago | thebluegrasssituation.com | Justin Hiltner

Artist: Adam Chaffins Hometown: Louisa, Kentucky Latest Album: Trailer Trash EP (released May 16, 2025) Personal Nicknames: “Chaffins”Genre is dead (long live genre!), but how would you describe the genres and styles your music inhabits? I’ve considered myself a multi-genre artist from the beginning. While I feel confident identifying as a country artist, that label doesn’t capture the full range of my influences.
This Faux Paws Playlist Includes 'No Bad Ideas'

1 week ago | thebluegrasssituation.com | Justin Hiltner

Growing up with access to all of recorded music, it’s hard to imagine not enjoying a wide range of styles. When we all met around fifteen years ago, it was fun to see where our backgrounds overlapped and where they didn’t. Eventually, after lots of road testing, we ended up with some kind of sound to our band that is pretty unique. Our new album, No Bad Ideas, is an expression of that. It’s all over the place, but somehow not.
You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Brothers Comatose, Caitlin Canty, and More

2 weeks ago | thebluegrasssituation.com | Justin Hiltner

Your weekly dose of brand new roots music is here – You Gotta Hear This!Our West Coast friends, The Brothers Comatose, kick us off this week with their new single, “Golden Grass.” The title track for their upcoming album, it’s a loping bluegrass number that pays tribute to the special regional string band styles and genre-bending of their home state, California.
Solitary Refinement: Kassi Valazza No Longer Knows Nothing

2 weeks ago | thebluegrasssituation.com | Justin Hiltner

Ever since she was a child in Arizona, Kassi Valazza has battled crippling stage fright. While that fear has lingered in the years that have followed, on her journeys touring, and living in Portland, then New Orleans, and (soon) Nashville, she’s been able to conquer it with intention, introspection, and consistency. “I need to be alone for at least 10 minutes before I go out [on stage] so I can relax and do my breathing exercises,” Valazza tells Good Country.
Basic Folk: Morgan Toney

2 weeks ago | thebluegrasssituation.com | Justin Hiltner

Circles have played a huge role in fiddler and singer Morgan Toney‘s life thus far: from drum circles, to talking circles, to the Earth itself (a circle!). In our Basic Folk conversation, Morgan talks about his L’nu (also known as Mi’kmaq) heritage and growing up on what’s now called Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where his ancestors have lived since time immemorial. He elaborates on the significance of the terms ‘Mi’kmaq’ and ‘Nu,’ explaining the shift in terminology among his people.