Welcome to Show 182 of the BluegrassToday Weekly Top 20 Countdown, coming to you from Sydney, Australia.

This week we’ve got an extra-special brand new #1 song, plus a chart absolutely bursting with movement — including six debut songs and six returning favourites making their way back into the Top 20.

We’ll also feature the Top 5 from the BluegrassToday Gospel Chart, and spotlight a great new song from Tina Adair, along with plenty of the best and latest bluegrass from today’s top artists.

Two solid hours of today’s most-played bluegrass music, straight from the BluegrassToday radio airplay chart.

Thanks for listening, and for supporting bluegrass radio around the world.

Countdown number 181 is in the books, with a busy and lively chart this week.

We’ve got two songs debuting on the countdown, along with nine returning favourites, based on the BluegrassToday airplay survey of the world’s most influential bluegrass DJs, conducted last week and published on Friday.

This week’s countdown features new and returning music from Billy Strings, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Trey Hensley, Milan Miller, Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, and many more — plus a strong showing from independent artists alongside major bluegrass labels.

🔹 Longest-running song this week:
Shelby Means’ Streets of Boulder, now 18 weeks on the chart and already a two-time #1.

🔹 Big movers:
Rebekah Speer jumps from #20 straight into the Top 10.
Several songs continue to dominate the upper reaches of the chart, spending most of their time in the Top Four.

🔹 This week’s #1 song:
Buddy Melton – Blue Skies
Now in its ninth week on the chart, this marks its second visit to the top spot.

To round out the show, we also feature the Top 5 songs from the BluegrassToday Gospel Chart, adding nearly twenty minutes of uplifting bluegrass gospel from Authentic Unlimited, Ashleigh Graham, Nick Chandler & Delivered, Eighteen Mile, and a tie at #1 between Pitney Meyer and Jeff Tolbert & Primitive Road.

Hosted by Mike Kear, from Sydney, Australia.
Thanks for listening — and we’ll do it all again next week.

This week’s BluegrassToday Weekly Top 20 Countdown is one of those charts that tells a bigger story.

We’ve got a returning number one, a long-awaited debut, and strong staying power across the board — with more than half the chart made up of songs that listeners and programmers keep coming back to. In fact, eleven tracks return to the countdown this week, proving that connection and longevity still count.

Along the way, we also take time to shine a light beyond the Top 20, with selections from the BluegrassToday Gospel and Grassicana charts — songs that broaden the picture of what’s resonating across bluegrass, Americana, and roots music right now.

From hard-driving tradition to thoughtful songwriting and gospel classics, this episode reflects the depth and diversity of today’s bluegrass world — all wrapped up in a chart shaped entirely by radio airplay.

Thanks for listening, and enjoy the music.
Cheers
Mike Kear
Windsor NSW Australia