The New Bluegrass: Five Acts to Watch

It's been more than 60 years since Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass, unleashed the genre on the world with his Kentucky band the Blue Grass Boys. But a new crop of acts are paying tribute to the style, updating the old-time-and-country-music hybrid with contemporary rock and pop styles. Below are five acts to watch with commentary from bluegrass legends Del McCoury and Sam Bush:

O'Death

Sound: This Brooklyn-based quartet sound like a bunch of moonshine-fueled Appalachians set loose in a Bushwick warehouse party. On Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin — a rousing collection of manic, lo-fi punkgrass — the crew add a fierce backbeat (played with chains and scrap metal) to bluegrass' traditional banjos, fiddles and hollered vocals. "We're not traditionalists trying to recreate old-time music," says drummer David Rogers-Berry. "But folk music hasn't been exhausted in the way that rock music has. It has a lot of room to grow."

Story: The group initially met at SUNY-Purchase, where Regina Spektor and members of TV On the Radio were also students. While those classmates were getting into Sonic Youth and Fiona Apple, O'Death were seeking original Appalachian bluegrass masters like banjoist Dock Boggs. "His music is just as heavy as heavy metal," says Rogers-Berry. "We wanted to make music like that, playing folk-inspired music with the energy of punk rock."

Key Track: "Low Tide," a runaway tune that features toy-shop guitars and a monster, shuffling beat.

Expert Opinion: "Their approach to music is very theatrical," says Bush. "And I don't mean this to sound like a criticism, but they nail the excitement of bluegrass without the finesse. They remind me of this time when I saw the Ramones in Australia in 1980. I was one of the only few longhairs there and I thought I was just going to get the shit beat out of me. They've got a real punk-rock vibe to them."