Excerpts from GRAMMYs/May 16, 2025 – 02:46 pm/written by Crystal Larsen
The Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum expand the legacy with the 2025 inductee class of distinguished recordings that were recently inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame. Spanning generations and genres, the 2025 GRAMMY Hall Of Fame inducted recordings comprise timeless anthems and genre-defining albums that have left an indelible mark on music history, including J.D. Crowe and the New South — ‘J.D. Crowe And The New South’ (Rounder, 1975). Ricky Skaggs was a band member and played mandolin on this historic, ground breaking recording.
The Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum celebrated the 2025 GRAMMY Hall Of Fame inducted recordings at the 2nd Annual GRAMMY Hall Of Fame Gala, which took place on May 16 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. The Gala featured a full night of honored guests and one-of-a-kind tribute performances honoring the newly inducted recordings.
J.D. Crowe and the New South — ‘J.D. Crowe And The New South’ (Rounder, 1975)
Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, J.D. Crowe And The New South — widely known by its Rounder Records catalogue number 0044 — marked a historic change in bluegrass music. Banjo player J.D. Crowe, along with his bandmates Tony Rice (guitar), Jerry Douglas (dobro), Ricky Skaggs (mandolin), and Bobby Slone (fiddle), brought bluegrass into the modern era.
The follow-up to the group’s Bluegrass Evolution (1973), And The New South marked a sharp stylistic departure. While it still experimented with pedal steel, percussion and piano on tracks such as “You Are What I Am” and “Cryin’ Holy,” most of the album featured songs using traditional bluegrass instrumentation by singer/songwriters like Gordon Lightfoot, Utah Phillips and Rodney Crowell. And The New South is considered to have made a pivotal impact on the nature and direction of bluegrass music.
The track list features the first New South recordings of “Old Home Place,” “Some Old Day,” “10 Degrees and Colder,” “Cryin’ Holy,” and “Home Sweet Home Revisited.” At the time of the album’s release, Rounder Records had only been around for five years. The impact of And The New South helped put the small independent label on the map.
Formed in 1973, J.D. Crowe and the New South are considered one of the first progressive bluegrass bands as they incorporated rock and Nashville country influences into their sound. Crowe is also a modern master of the banjo — so much so that some banjos are made with what’s known as “Crowe spacing,” where the strings are farther apart on the bridge. In 2003, J.D. Crowe was inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. He was named Banjo Player of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 1971, 1994 and 2004. At the 1984 GRAMMYs, Crowe won the GRAMMY for Best Country Instrumental Performance for “Fireball.” Prior to forming the New South, Crowe was a member of the classic lineup of Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Mountain Boys while he was just a teenager. Crowe died in 2021 at 84.
In 2024 J.D. Crowe And The New South was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry. Now, the album’s induction into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame solidifies its place in music history.
Story link: https://www.grammy.com/news/listen-2025-grammy-hall-fame-inducted-recordings