The 30 Most Intriguing Musicians of 2025 (Part 1 of 3)

Join me on a voyage of music discovery

I’m excited to share my picks for the 30 most intriguing musicians of 2025. This is a journey of music discovery you won’t find elsewhere.

I’m doing this in three installments. Below are the first ten artists on my list—and (as always) I cover lots of ground.

Happy listening!

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Matteo Mancuso

“You’re killing us,” guitarist Al Di Meola said when he first heard Matteo Mancuso. “It would take two, three lifetimes to catch up with him.”

Steve Vai reached the same verdict: “I was pretty stunned when I heard Matteo…..It’s just a new level.” “I’ve never seen anything like it,” enthused Joe Bonamassa.

Sicilian guitarist Mancuso first got attention via a viral YouTube video. He was 17 at the time, but had already been playing professionally for five years. Yet he didn’t release a full studio album until 2023, around the time of his 25th birthday.

He’s still mostly a web video sensation, and his online performances are simple homemade affairs. But with those chops he doesn’t need a gig at Carnegie Hall for legitimacy—Mancuso is a full-fledged monster of the six strings.

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Muireann Bradley

Muireann Bradley is young enough to be a high school student. But don’t expect teen heartthrob pop from this musician—she sings and plays guitar as if pop music doesn’t exist.

This is authentic country folk music from the days before Edison invented recorded sound. No, I don’t believe in time travel, but hearing this young artist do her stuff is the next best thing.  

Bradley hails from County Donegal Ireland, so there’s a Celtic tinge here. But she can also project an understated bluesiness. So this music is as disruptive in its geographies as in its chronologies. 

How does a teenager pull all this off? I have no idea, but just the fact that this music exists makes me optimistic about songs to come.

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Thee Sacred Souls

Don’t be fooled by the name, this isn’t gospel music—but it still might leave you testifying to a higher power. These three souls from San Diego are purveyors of soul music, but of the purist and most impassioned kind.

Their grooves are retro, and typically linger midway between slow dance clinging and mid-tempo swinging. But the main attraction here is the smooth imploring of lead singer Josh Lane, who glides over those high notes with incomparable ease.