Ask pretty much anyone over, say, 35 to name the best pickers in roots music and their list would likely include the standards: Bryan Sutton, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, et al.
On her seventh studio album in 15 years, 'Stitch of the World,' singer/songwriter Tift Merritt has churned out another solid set of roots-infused tunes that reach backward, forward, and side to side.
Since bursting onto the pop-rock scene some 25 years ago with Toad the Wet Sprocket's third album, fear, Glen Phillips has established himself as one of the most heartfelt songwriters on the folk-rock block.
Most folks in the roots music world are very familiar with Sean Watkins, if not through his years as one-third of Nickel Creek (alongside Chris Thile and his sister Sara) or his ongoing Watkins Family Hour project, then certainly through his solo records.