This week’s countdown is extended slightly with a couple of bonus additions to make up the running time.

🌿 Bonus Track — From the Grassicana Chart

Many songs from the Grassicana chart also appear on the BluegrassToday Top 20 — but this one hasn’t yet crossed over.

Sierra Hull – “Truth Be Told”
From the album A Tip Toe High Wire
Written by Sierra Hull

✝️ BluegrassToday Gospel Chart — Top 4

#3 – Becky Buller
“The Outlaw” (feat. Becky Isaacs Bowman)
Written by Larry Norman
From Becky’s covers album Songs That Sing Me (Dark Shadow Records)

= #2 (tie) – New River Bluegrass
“The Lamb, The Lion And The King”
Written by Gerald Crabb (Sound Biscuit Records)

= #2 (tie) – Daryl Mosley
“I Can Pray”
Written by Daryl Mosley (Pinecastle Records)

#1 – Corrina Rose Logston Stephens (Rrinaco) — Debut
“Angels From The Realms Of Glory”
Written by Henry Thomas Smart
From the new project Rrinaco (Rebel Records)

Episode 175 – Week of December 29, 2025

This week’s BluegrassToday Weekly Top 20 Countdown reflects a very current and active bluegrass radio chart.

On this week’s show:

• A new number one song, completing a fast climb up the chart
  
  
• Four songs debuting on the countdown
  
  
• Six returning songs, back after time away
  
  
• The longest-running song has reached its 9th week on the chart
  
  

We also take time during the show to:

• Step aside from the countdown to feature Russell Moore, including a classic live performance from his years with IIIrd Tyme Out, before hearing him again in his current role with Alison Krauss & Union Station
  
  
• Look at interesting and unusual happenings on the BluegrassToday Weekly Gospel Chart, including a rare three-way tie for number one

This episode was produced in Sydney, Australia, and showcases the songs bluegrass radio is playing right now — from brand-new releases to established favourites.

Broadcast from Sydney, Australia — hosted by Mike Kear.

This week’s Countdown has a bit of everything — new chart debuts, strong movers, long-running favourites, and a couple of reflective moments along the way.

We include a short tribute to Joe Mullins, who is retiring from touring at Christmas. His latest single, “Lord I’m Thankful” (written by Larry Cordle and Larry Shell, released by Billy Blue Records), is almost certainly his final appearance on the BluegrassToday chart — a fitting and heartfelt way to mark the moment.

Part 1 ended up with a little spare time this week, which the tribute filled nicely, putting the segment just a few seconds over — exactly where I like it for pacing.

You’ll also hear the usual blend of stories, chart stats, and notes behind many of the songs.

If you enjoy the show, please tell a friend — and if your local station doesn’t carry the BluegrassToday Weekly Top 20 Countdown yet, feel free to give them a nudge. Stations can contact me directly for syndication details.

Thanks for listening, and enjoy this week’s Top 20.

This week: A fresh #1, two former chart-toppers returning, and an unusually busy debut week — eight new songs entering the Top 20.
We also heard four picks from the BluegrassToday Gospel and Grassicana charts during our mid-show feature.

🔥 New #1 This Week

Blue Highway – Is Now the Time
Written by Wayne Taylor & Beth Snapp • Down The Road Records
Up from #2 last week.

📥 Eight Debuts

Artists who had songs entering the chart this week:
Bryan Sutton & Sierra Hull,
Alison Brown and Steve Martin,
Burnett Sisters Band
David Parmley,
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys

🎧 Mid-Show Feature — Songs from Other BluegrassToday Charts
• Burnett Sisters Band – Lovesick Blues — #2 Grassicana
• Eighteen Mile – What Mercy Means — #3 Gospel
• Jeff Tolbert & Primitive Road – Heaven Is Waiting For Me — #4 Gospel
• Russ Carson – Father, Son & Holy Ghost — #4 Gospel (tied)

Welcome to this week’s BluegrassToday Weekly Top 20 Countdown, produced in Sydney, Australia, where we bring you the 20 most-played songs in bluegrass radio worldwide — as published each Friday night on BluegrassToday.com.

This week’s chart gives us strong climbers, powerful debuts, returning favourites, and a familiar face back at number one.

This Week’s Number 1

Congratulations to Trey Hensley — and to Pinecastle Records — as Can’t Outrun the Blues takes the #1 spot for the second week in a row, after spending two weeks at #2 earlier in its chart run.

Highlights From the Countdown

• Chosen Road arrive with a thoughtful debut at #7.
  
  
• Pitney Meyer return to the chart after 27 weeks away, landing at #6 with Trail of Tears.
  
  
• Benson keep their momentum with Bully of the Town holding strong at #3.
  
  
• Blue Highway’s Is Now the Time* continues climbing — now at #2 and possibly eyeing next week’s top spot.
  
  
• Alison Krauss & Union Station surge from #20 to #12 with Richmond on the James, a song that’s twice been to #1 earlier in its run and will celebrate six months on the countdown next week. (And yes — that’s Richmond, Virginia, on the James River… not the one just 10km up the road from Windsor!)
  
  

About the Countdown

Every song you hear on the program has earned its place through radio airplay around the world. The Countdown is compiled from bluegrass radio reporting and reflects what broadcasters everywhere are spinning week after week.

Thanks for Listening

Thank you for supporting bluegrass music — and for joining us for another week of the BluegrassToday Weekly Top 20 Countdown.
We’ll be back next week with all the new movement, new debuts, and maybe a new #1.

This week on the BluegrassToday Weekly Top 20 Countdown, I’m joined by one of the most respected broadcasters in bluegrass, Cindy Baucom, host of Knee Deep in Bluegrass and longtime MC of the main stage at MerleFest. Cindy brings her trademark warmth, insight, and good humour as we work our way through a busy chart:
one brand-new Number One, five debuts, and seven returning songs.

We talk about the artists, the songs, and a few personal stories along the way. Cindy shares some behind-the-scenes knowledge only she can offer, and we compare notes on life, broadcasting, and the bluegrass world today.

Because of podcast time constraints, some parts of our conversation had to be omitted from this public version — including a couple of extra stories and “Cindy picks” that didn’t quite fit the broadcast clock.
You can hear those extended segments on our Patreon page at:
👉 http://patreon.com/bttop20

If you enjoy the show, consider supporting us there — it helps keep the countdown going and gives you access to bonus audio, behind-the-scenes notes, and extra content from our guests.

Broadcast from Sydney, Australia.
Thanks for listening, and enjoy the music!

Broadcast from Sydney, Australia

This week’s countdown features a new Number 1, seven debuts, and eight returning favourites—plus a good-natured bit of chart confusion over two songs called “Working Man Blues.”

You’ll hear brand-new music from:

• Trey Hensley – “Can’t Outrun the Blues” (our highest debut)
  
  
• Jim Hurst – “I’m Leavin’”
  
  
• East Nash Grass – “Bend in the Road”
  
  
• Unspoken Tradition – “Refugee”
  …and many more.
  
  

Our oldest returning favourite this week is “Della Jane’s Heart” from Appalachian Road Show, making its 19th appearance on the chart.

The Gospel Spotlight features the top four songs from the Bluegrass Today Gospel Chart:

1. Nick Chandler & Delivered – “Follow the Leader”
   
   
2. Danny Paisley – “Two Old Church Pews”
   
   
3. David Parmley – “No Empty Chairs in Heaven”
   
   
4. Lincoln Mash & Heather Alley – “Master Carpenter”
   
   

Total show length: 1 hour 48 minutes of music, 108 minutes total.

Produced and hosted by Mike Kear
for Hawkesbury Radio, Sydney Australia
and syndicated worldwide.

This week’s chart is full of surprises — seven debuts, six returning songs, two ties (at #19 and #8), and a brand-new #1!

We even start the show in an unusual place: #27, where last week’s chart-topper took a record-breaking fall after ten weeks on the countdown.

Total music time: 81 minutes 31 seconds
Show length: 1 hour 48 minutes

Highlights:

• Jackson Harris debuts with “The Man I Want to Be.”
  
  
• Seth Mulder & Midnight Run return with their twelfth chart song in two years.
  
  
• New music from Brandon Lee Adams, Billy Strings, Jim Hurst, David Parmley, and Grasstime.
  
  
• Ties at #19 and #8 keep things lively.
  
  
• And Will Clark earns his first #1 with “A Different Kind of Lonesome.”
  
  

Featured Label Partners: Pinecastle • Mountain Fever • Billy Blue • Rebel • Turnberry • Rounder

Produced in: Sydney, Australia
Host: Mike Kear
Based on: The official Bluegrass Today Weekly Airplay Chart
Copyright © 2025 Hawkesbury Radio and Mike Kear. All rights reserved.