It looks like it is over or under watered. the leaves are stressed, so the roots are in trouble. I had this happen with a raspberry bush, the same cultivar was next to it and it looked fine. I think it needed more water, it looks ok now. But it made little sense as the same plant was 2 feet away and was fine!
I grow currants too, and so far they are fine. I have a couple old ones, but mostly new ones.
What kind of light does it get? It needs partial shade to full sun. Full shade is not good. You being in 8b full sun might be too much? I'm in 6A and grow them on the east and west sides of house, so they get partial sun, not a full day. They look great!

Thanks for the reply. I grow them on the east side of the house between my house and the neighbor's house with clear sky above. They get direct sun from around 11am till 3pm so I thought that would be an OK amount.

A red one nearby (4ft) has started new growth on the existing canes and a new one popping out of the ground.

They should all be getting the same amount of water but I'll check.

Sounds like Sun is just right. Maybe just some extended transplant shock? Don't give up on them yet.

Hmm, could be underwatering. I planted them this spring and they initially developed well. But since a month or more they stopped growing and have looked like this. I'll give them more water over the next couple of weeks and I hope they come back.

Nick

It's possible one area drains better, or the needs of the cultivar are less than other cultivars. I'm still not sure why one raspberry plant among three of the same cultivars in a row looked bad. It has recovered now, but the first leaves never recovered, new growth looks good though.
Even though you planted in the spring the roots never took off. When plants are in pots one needs to break up root ball, if just planted from pot to ground the roots might keep growing in a circular direction making them weak, even girdling itself. They can recover, but an option is to dig them out and spread remaining roots out, Even cutting them to go down if need be.

I planted them as bare-root. Not sure what to do right now. We're having some hot weather and I'm afraid that disturbing them further will only do harm. The leaves have been like that for the past month or so and I don't see them worsening. I might dig them up again when they go dormant in the winter.

Thanks again.

Nick

If bare root, roots should be good. Only potted plants could have root tangle problems. Don't dig it up.