Editor’s Note: Since August 2012, Garret K. Woodward has held the position of arts and entertainment editor for The Smoky Mountain News. In December 2018, he also became a contributing writer for Rolling Stone.

Below are a handful of excerpts from my Rolling Stone travels this year covering some of the best albums of 2025, excursions that took me from Western North Carolina to Montana, Florida to Colorado, Tennessee to Utah and then some — always in search of all things beautiful and true, especially when it comes to the sacred, ancient act of live performance. 

Support live music. Support independent artists. Support local venues. For the more you do, the more these incredibly creative and intrinsic folks can do for you, musically and spiritually.

I’m With Her — “Wild and Clear and Blue”

I have approximately the time it takes for I’m With Her to pile into a sprinter van backstage at Colorado’s Telluride Bluegrass Festival and drive to their late-night show at the nearby Sheridan Opera House to conduct a fast-paced interview.

But, in truth, three and a half minutes of listening to songs like “Ancient Light,” “Year After Year,” or “Mother Eagle (Sing Me Alive)” is all you need to grasp the appeal of the supergroup trio. Their innate gifts for harmony, melody, and songwriting make their songs, especially those on the new album, “Wild and Clear and Blue,” all but irresistible.

“We’ve just lived so much life together, much more life together than we had on our first record,” the band’s Sarah Jarosz says. “This [album], we know what our sound is, and now what do we want to say?”

The seamless blend of ancient tones and soaring voices is what elevates I’m With Her, and “Wild and Clear and Blue,” in the roots-music world. The members are well-aware of their chemistry.

“People have passed on. New lives have come into this world. Families have grown,” Jarosz says. “And we’ve all kind of experienced that together. Just that richness of life and grief and all of the above — all of that fed these songs.”

Neal Francis — “Return to Zero”

Rising funk/soul sensation Neal Francis has just finished a raucous set at the Orange Peel in Asheville, and the charismatic yet introspective rocker wipes sweat from his face and grabs a seat backstage. The dressing room is purposely quiet and calm, with no one except his bandmates and a curious journalist present.

“More of a focus than ever is just taking care of myself,” Francis says. “Getting things out of the way that impede my mental health. I’m just stripping everything down to the studs right now and building it back.”

A sonic kaleidoscope of soaring funk, seductive soul and undulating rock, “Return to Zero” is signature Neal Francis — the 36-year-old is a mesmerizing presence coming through the speakers or across the stage. When he’s behind the microphone, Francis thinks of one of his heroes.

“That’s what makes Iggy Pop who he is. He’s just doing his thing as though nobody’s there,” Francis says. “Of course, responding to the crowd is part of it, if you’re lucky. But, no matter what, I’m going to have fun. I’m having the time of my life.”

Tony Joe White — “The Real Thang”

Today, [the late Tony Joe] White remains revered by a select group of music fans in the know, but it’s a segment that the singer’s son, Jody White, is determined to grow. [Recently], Jody oversaw a rerelease of “The Real Thang,” his dad’s 1980 album that featured songs like “Good-bye L.A.” and “Cowboy Singer.” And there’s more on the way.

“Everything that we put out is just another chapter of me spending more time understanding who he was during a certain period of life,” Jody White says. “When we worked together, he was like, ‘Jody, [music] is the most freedom I have ever had in my life. I know I can just make music and you’ll take care of the rest.’”

Even if “The Real Thang” didn’t land as an immediate hit upon its initial release, the album has become a cult classic of sound and scope — all of it powered by White’s notoriously gravelly rasp, his unique approach to the guitar, and plainspoken songwriting.

“He had so much soul, emotion, and feeling,” Jody says. “He was able to put that into words in a way that nobody else could.”

Sierra Hull — “A Tip Toe High Wire”

It’s early evening in Asheville and Sierra Hull, the singer, songwriter, and mandolin virtuoso, is standing in Studio A on the third floor of the Citizen Vinyl record-pressing plant in downtown.

Although the room is filled with state-of-the-art recording equipment, the space itself is sacred ground: In 1939, the “Father of Bluegrass,” mandolinist Bill Monroe, first introduced his new sound live on WWNC radio during the “Mountain Music Time” program — not long before he headed to Nashville to become a star on the Grand Ole Opry and forever change the course of American music.

“There’s a certain inspiration you get from just thinking about it,” Hull says. “His music has meant so much to me, both directly as a fan, and also in the shared culture of the bluegrass community. If he didn’t exist, I don’t think I’d be doing this.”

Rich in string-music sounds, [“A Tip Toe High Wire”] also includes elements of indie folk and pop. Hull says it’s all part of her journey in trying to find her version of bluegrass music. The album title nods to the fine line that Hull walks, keeping one foot in tradition and the other in the progressive quest.

“I really want to push my own boundaries of what I can do as a musician,” Hull says.