...doubtless there be all sorts of old-timey recommendations, but Emmylou Harris's "Roses On The Snow" will do as a starter for ten.

Then get a decent compilation of Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs.

Rough rule of thumb : no drums !

..Creek.

If you want to stay up to date then I would highly recommend the Chatham Co Line you even get the opportunity to go and see them live which, good though Flatt & Scruggs were, is a problem these days! As a Kentuckian, quite a lot of Sid Griffin's stuff is bluegrass as well which is well worth a listen.

But I just love the Moody Bluegrass project!

....The Be Good Tanyas are a favourite of mine. It's not 100mph playing though if that's what you're looking for. Just modern songs that sound like they're 100 years old.

"The Mountain" is Steve Earle's bluegrass album. He wrote all the songs and recorded it with The Del McCoury Band. Great stuff!

The soundtrack to the film "O Brother Where Art Thou?" is excellent and can picked up on Amazon for buttons.

You can't go wrong.

New Favorite in particular.

Shouldn't Bill Monroe be in there somewhere?

The Old Crow Medicine Show.

...Marty Stuart & The Fabulous Superlatives Live At the Ryman...

But what looks to be the best bet at the moment is a 2CD 50 track anthology called The Essential Bluegrass Anthology; it's £2.98 at Amazon.

It's old school but it's great...

The easiest way into Bill Monroe is The Essential Collection...

Incidentally - Nickel Creek: the Yes of bluegrass. What we actually want is the Sex Pistols of bluegrass...

Here are three artists which float my boat....

The Del McCoury Band - 1952 Vincent Black Lightning.

Laurie Lewis - Tall Pines.

Toadsuck Symphony - Here Comes The Sun.

from the seventies. Including the great Garcia, Rowan, Clements and Grisman.

I watched the Down From The Mountain documentary about the music in Oh Brother Where Art Thou, and I discovered John Hartford. I recommend Aero-plain. Excellent album.