After 25 Years, Steep Canyon Rangers Prove Bluegrass Isn't About Standing Still

Most bands that last a quarter-century are playing it safe. They know what works, they know what their audience paid good money to hear, and they’re content to deliver the same recipe album after album. Steep Canyon Rangers could’ve done exactly that. Instead, with Next Act out today on Yep Roc Records, they’re reminding everyone why reinvention matters more than repetition.

The North Carolina-formed group has spent nearly 25 years building one of modern bluegrass’s most impressive résumés. Graham Sharp, Mike Guggino, Nicky Sanders, Mike Ashworth, and Barrett Smith have become consistent hitmakers, tying Old Crow Medicine Show in 2024 for the most No. 1 albums on Billboard’s Bluegrass Albums chart since the chart launched in 2002. That’s staggering dominance. But here’s where it gets interesting: they’re not resting on those wins. Instead, they’ve expanded their lineup and their creative ambitions yet again.

The addition of guitarist and vocalist Aaron Burdett in 2022 didn’t just add another voice to the mix—it fundamentally shifted how the band thinks about storytelling. Sharp reveals that on Next Act, he’s singing“Stubborn Love,”a song Burdett wrote. It’s a small choice that carries real weight. Sharp has never sung someone else’s song on a record before. As he tells it, the decision came from a moment backstage when someone suggested the track sounded like something he could sing. That kind of ensemble thinking—where ego takes a backseat to what the song actually needs—is what separates bands that coast from bands that grow.

The album pairs that collaborative spirit with some heavyweight guests. Steve Martin, who collaborated with the Rangers on their 2011 International Bluegrass Music Association entertainer of the year award, returns here. So do singer-songwriter Edie Brickell and Della Mae’s Celia Woodsmith. But this isn’t about collecting names for the marquee. Sharp’s approach to songwriting reveals why. He’s drawn inspiration from a chance encounter with a struggling young man for“Hard Luck Kid,”and from conversations with his 90-year-old uncle about family history during the Great Depression and World War II for“Heart’s the Only Compass.”These aren’t surface-level narratives. They’re the kind of songs that require trust—from the listener and from your bandmates.

What makes this milestone moment resonate is Sharp’s clarity about what success actually means at this stage. Yes, winning a Grammy would be nice, especially for bandmates who weren’t part of the group when they won theirs. But his real ambition? Simpler and more honest:“I want to keep making good art and making good music.”He’s hit the goals he set out to achieve. Now it’s just about the work itself. In a landscape where chasing the next achievement can consume a band’s entire identity, that’s a refreshingly grounded perspective—and it shows in the music.

Twenty-five years in, Steep Canyon Rangers understand something fundamental that most artists take decades to learn, if they ever do: the only way to honor where you’ve been is to keep challenging where you’re going.