Barry Mazor at the Wall Street Journal has written a piece about the State of Bluegrass music in 2008.

Published today, the article asserts that

Since the music is the heart of the matter, there’s no better indication of the latest bluegrass trends than a look at the music honored by the IBMAs. Winners and significant new contenders

To that end, Mazor takes a look at some of the top recordings of the year as an example of the current trends in the music. He discusses the stylistic trednds as well as the lyrical content of the songs being written and recorded. He looks at CDs from Dailey and Vincent, Dale Ann Bradley, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, Andy Hall, The SteelDrivers, and Everett Lilly, as trend setters for this year.

Each CD receives a short, one or two paragraph, analysis of its content, with attention being given to the trend setting aspects Mazor identifies with each recording.

Agree with him or not, it’s an interesting way to assess the current state of the industry.

Here’s a currently working link. For non-subscribers that link is only temporary.