Hilary Saunders

This month's Best of the Month playlist features roots musicians from all across No Depression's existence. Some of the earliest artists that No Depression originally covered — like Johnny Cash, Dave Alvin, and Del McCoury — sit alongside newer musicians like Spotlight artist Kaitlin Butts and the bluegrassers

EDITOR’S NOTE: Managing Editor Hilary Saunders’ letter, below, opens our Summer 2024 quarterly journal, featuring guest editor Béla Fleck, original cover art by Ian Felice of The Felice Brothers, and so much more. Buy the Summer 2024 issue in print or digitally here. Better yet, start a subscription with

The 77th annual Tony Awards took place last night, and unsuspecting TV audiences may have met a denim-clad troupe performing distinctly rootsy music on the recreation of a Broadway stage with some skepticism. But for musical theater fans, seeing the company of The Outsiders — with music co-written by

If you subscribe to No Depression in print (which you should), you know that the opening letter from the editor is called "Hello Stranger" after The Carter Family's song from 1937. Likewise, this month's playlist opens with a new version of the song by

Although the FreshGrass Festival is still relatively new to Bentonville, Arkansas — its fourth edition took place last weekend — many of the performers are old friends of the FreshGrass Foundation (No Depression’s nonprofit publisher). Singer-songwriter Aoife O’Donovan, who has played every FreshGrass in North Adams, Massachusetts, played Arkansas