EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally appeared in the Spring 2025 edition of No Depression and we're sharing it in honor of the new vinyl reissue of J.D. Crowe & The New South's self-titled album, released today. And please consider supporting No Depression with a membership to keep our roots music journalism going.
There is no other lodestar in bluegrass music quite like J.D. Crowe & The New South. The album’s reputation has grown steadily over the last 50 years, enough so that it’s now known simply by its Rounder Records catalog number, 0044. Whether it’s said as “oh-oh-forty-four,” “oh-oh-four-four,” or even “double-aught forty-four,” the effect that those four digits have had on decades of bluegrass listeners and musicians is immense. The album serves as a historical ledger of some of bluegrass’ most virtuosic playing and exemplary harmonies, and it marked a clear transition to a new generation of bluegrass talents including Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, and of course, J.D. Crowe.
Its official legacy has become more formalized in the last few years. In 2023, the album was voted “Favorite Album of All-Time” by readers by Bluegrass Unlimited. (The magazine’s editors noted that “J.D. Crowe and the New South (Rounder 0044) won all-time favorite album by a wide margin — almost as many votes were cast for J.D.’s album as all of the other top five albums combined.”) And last year, the Library of Congress added it into the National Recording Registry, one of the few complete bluegrass albums to be included in the archive.
