The Dead South

Some bands treat bluegrass as a museum piece; the Dead South, a folk-bluegrass ensemble from Regina, Saskatchewan, treat it as a working tool. Built around banjo, mandolin, guitar and cello, their sound carries the rhythms of a hoedown while leaning on sharp, story-driven lyrics. The group began in 2012 when Nate Hilts and Danny Kenyon, fresh from a short-lived grunge project, decided to start a stomping bluegrass band, and Colton Crawford and Scott Pringle soon joined them.

Their 2013 five-song EP, The Ocean Went Mad and We Were to Blame, was self-released. Good Company followed in 2014 on the German label Devil Duck Records and sent the band on extensive touring across Canada and Europe. The breakthrough came with the single "In Hell, I'll Be in Good Company", whose YouTube video, released in October 2016, has passed 440 million views. Illusion and Doubt peaked at number five on the US Billboard Bluegrass chart and won a Juno Award for Traditional Roots Album of the Year in 2018. Sugar & Joy arrived in 2019, Served Live in 2020, the two-part Easy Listening for Jerks in 2022 and Chains & Stakes in 2024.