Given the ubiquity these days of performers whose acts seem to rely as much (or more) on technology as on talent, fans of genres like Americana can be forgiven for fretting that fretboards could soon wind up on the endangered species list.

Fortunately, there are still some up-and-coming artists who prefer manual tuning to Auto-Tune. And when they’re as gifted as young instrumentalists Sarah Jarosz and Sierra Hull, acoustic music’s future should remain in a solid state. Make that a very solid state, based on the evidence of each artist’s fine second album.

(Photos: Jarosz, left, Scott Simontacchi; Hull, right, Gregg Delman)