Steep Canyon Rangers record new album in Asheville, revisit roots

Steep Canyon Rangers recorded their new album, Next Act, in Asheville, a local session that landed as more than a music release. The band says the project is its 15th studio album, released May 22, 2026, and that it returns the group to the bluegrass foundation that first bound it together after more than two decades on the road.

The recording took place at Echo Mountain Recording in Asheville, adding another major session to the city’s music ledger at a time when Buncombe County is still balancing storm recovery with the everyday work of keeping artists employed. The album was recorded by Julian Dreyer and produced by Mike Ashworth with Steep Canyon Rangers, a sign that the band kept the work close to home rather than shipping it elsewhere.

That choice matters in Asheville, where a recording date can ripple beyond the studio walls. Echo Mountain describes itself as a premier destination recording studio, and the Rangers’ return there keeps attention on the local infrastructure that supports engineers, producers, session players and the live-music economy around town. In a city often discussed through the lens of roads, budgets and Helene recovery, a nationally known band choosing to make a record here says the creative economy is still producing, not merely rebuilding.

Next Act also widens the band’s reach beyond a simple nostalgia play. The record features guest appearances by Steve Martin, Edie Brickell and Celia Woodsmith of Della Mae, pairing the Rangers’ bluegrass core with musicians whose names carry weight well beyond Western North Carolina. The mix gives the album cross-generational appeal while keeping its roots firmly planted in Asheville.

The band’s own bio places Steep Canyon Rangers in Asheville and Brevard, and the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame lists the group among its 2017 inductees. That long local arc gives this release added weight: it is not a one-off project from tourists passing through, but a record from a band whose identity has been shaped here for years.

The Rangers have also remained visible in the region’s post-Helene cultural life, including a community concert in Asheville about eight months after the storm. Taken together, the new album and the return to Echo Mountain show a familiar Asheville pattern: even in a period defined by recovery, the music scene is still working, recording and sending new material back out into the world.