Billy Strings, Alison Krauss, and ‘O Brother’ Alumni Mark 25 Years of Hit Soundtrack

Billy Strings, Alison Krauss, and ‘O Brother’ Alumni Mark 25 Years of Hit Soundtrack The watershed roots-music album O Brother, Where Art Thou? , produced by T Bone Burnett, came to vivid life onstage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville By Chris Parton Chris Parton View all posts by Chris Parton March 1, 2026 It wasn’t Mississippi, but the muddy banks of the Cumberland River rang with the sound of a roots music revival on Saturday as the Grand Ole Opry celebrated 25 years of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. Featuring artists from the original motion picture like Alison Krauss and Dan Tyminski – plus Billy Strings , Emmylou Harris, Del McCoury, and many more across the roots and bluegrass spectrum – a sold-out crowd marked a watershed moment in American music, which, even after a quarter century, is still making waves. As the live broadcast began with Krauss and the Fairfield Four, it was clear that this would be no typical Opry program. Rather, it was a night dedicated to one of the most transformative recording projects of the modern era — born from a film about escaped convicts on a twisted treasure hunt in the Depression-era South, starring George Clooney. Today, the Coen Brothers’ film is credited with a traditional-music resurgence, which helped lead to the development of “Americana” itself . The O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack, originally released via the recently relaunched Lost Highway label, sparked “a renaissance of roots music, bringing bluegrass, gospel, blues, country and folk all back into the spotlight,” said Opry announcer Mike Terry, introducing the 5,226th Saturday night performance of the Grand Ole Opry. “And like the Opry has done now for over 100 years, tonight we’re going to be honoring the music, the legacy, and the timeless sounds of the American South.” Produced by T Bone Burnet, the soundtrack to that Oscar-winning 2000 film sold 8 million copies and spent 683 weeks on the Billboard 200, where it stayed at Number One for mont...