Album Review – Sister Sadie’s “All Will Be Well”

Bluegrass (#520) and Traditional Country (#510 ) on the Country DDS.

Tracing the shared legacies of traditional country and bluegrass until they intertwine and sing together in a sweet harmony, Sister Sadie’s All Will Be Well is a 2025 album not to be overlooked or trifled with. If you’re on the trail for an inspired listen, stellar songwriting, top-shelf instrumentation, and something that satisfies the craving for two versions of roots music instead of just one, this is a top title for the year.

Sister Sadie has already mastered the realm of bluegrass in many respects. The all-woman pickin’ and singin’ collective was originally formed in 2012 on a whim to play a one-off gig at Nashville’s legendary Station Inn. It’s gone on to win the IBMA’s Entertainer of the Year in 2020, amassed three wins for Vocal Group of the Year (2019-2021), not to mention numerous wins and nominations for the respective members over the years.

But if you query a country fan about this outfit, you might get back, “Sister Who?” Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, and some others have burst into the greater consciousness beyond bluegrass. But staying true to the bluegrass discipline means Sister Sadie hasn’t veered much outside of bluegrass conversations. With All Will be Well, they should have everybody talking.

How to stay loyal to bluegrass, but expand the sound and audience, and take the music to new places has been the ever-present challenge to ‘grassers ever since Bill Monroe founded this stuff. For Sister Sadie, the answer on their latest album is to work with some of the people they respect in traditional country to make a bluegrass/country hybrid that doesn’t abandon their bluegrass roots, yet is still able to fulfill the appetite of country audiences.

Not since the landmark album Home from the [Dixie] Chicks in 2002 have we heard this kind of acoustic/electric, bluegrass/country hybrid that also places such and emphasis on the importance of songs. Sister Sadie has always made their mark by centering the feminine perspective. Now they bring some needed reinforcements to the women of country with these compelling stories and songs that speak to a woman’s experience in life, but universal sentiments.

You come for the instrumentation and music, which in this instance is bolstered at times with traditional country sounds like the steel guitar of Russ Pahl. But you stay for the songs with contributions from country songwriter Erin Enderlin and others. But of course it’s founding members Deanie Richardson (fiddle) and Gena Britt (banjo), along with newer members Jaelee Roberts (guitar), Dani Flowers (guitar), Rainey Miatke (mandolin), and Katie Blomarz-Kimball (bass) that make Sister Sadie an all-star outfit without any outside help.

Songs like “Make Me Stay or Make Me Go,” “Do What You Want,” and “Prodigal Daughter” come with all the depth, feels, and sonic body you want from the songs of your favorite country albums. But with songs like “All Will Be Well” and “This Is Me (You’re Not Talking To),” you get those elemental bluegrass moments that satisfy the other cravings in your roots music palette. And with every song you feel like it was cut directly from inspiration irrespective of the sound.

To some it may not seem like a courageous leap of faith, or an innovative project from Sister Sadie to release an album with some drums, steel guitar, and traditional country sensibility. This is what the group’s country fans have been wanting for years, knowing they could pull it off. But in the conventional bluegrass realm, it is a brave, if not risky move. That risk is rewarded in the results of All Will Be Well, making it one of the better titles in country and bluegrass in 2025.

8.3/10

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Stream/Purchase All Will Be Well