Please don't stop reading this article once you realize it's a bluegrass group I'm talking about. Trust me, they're worth it.

In a recent thread related to contemporary bluegrass music, the artist Rising Appalachia came up, and I thought, "Hey, I go to Appalachian State University. Let's see what this group is all about." Rising Appalachia has proven to be one of my favorite musical discoveries.

Yes, bluegrass music isn't everyone's cup of sweet tea, but hear me out. Rising Appalachia is a tapestry of musical genres, instruments, and content, providing a little something different for every listener. This can be inferred just from their roots in Atlanta, Georgia; the Appalachia Mountains; and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Rising Appalachia has seven wonderful albums, one of which is a live album that came out in 2017. Each one is packed full of banjo, violin, unique percussion instruments, guitar, dancelike beats, occasional brass instruments, and the beautiful messages and voices of sisters Leah and Chloe. Some songs, such as their cover of "I'll Fly Away" from their album "Filthy Dirty South" and "Medicine" from their album "Wider Circles," even add in R&B and Latin elements (respectively) which mix wonderfully with their folk style.

While I'm here, I want to gush a little bit about their cover of "I'll Fly Away." As one of many North Carolina residents that learned to walk in church, there are some gospel songs that have stuck with me, and this was one of them. This song provides me with immense nostalgia, and their cover translates this gospel tune into a jam like I never thought possible.

On the same album, they do a cover of the gospel "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" that adds a New Orleans soul element to it. Rising Appalachia proves their versatility time and time again. The only downside to Leah and Chloe is learning that Stephanie Beatriz and Jessica Camacho are not their long lost sisters.

Rising Appalachia places their hope in music, and it shows through how they carry themselves as musicians. Along with doing all of their own managing, recording, and producing, "In 2015, Rising Appalachia founded the Slow Music Movement, to help maintain an independent musical spirit in the face of such a fast-paced world."

Along the same vein, Rising Appalachia is an admirable duo because, like a lot of things in the world, the music industry and the country/bluegrass genre are pretty sexist. There are a handful of well-known women in bluegrass, and if you asked anyone on the street to name a woman in the genre, they probably couldn't think of many other than Dolly Parton. Hearing a female duo as unique as Rising Appalachia is refreshing, inspiring, and just bad-ass.

Rising Appalachia is touring a few states and the United Kingdom this summer, so if you have the chance to see them, support live music! Otherwise, check them out on Spotify, YouTube, social media, and their website.