Grascals stay a cut above in bluegrass
As the old saw goes, the members of the bluegrass group the Grascals had to work for years to become overnight sensations.
In just a little over four years, the Nashville-based six-piece string band has become one of bluegrass' top-tier ensembles, winning a slew of awards and becoming a first-call group whenever a country artist wants to add a little of that high lonesome sound. But behind the group's rapid rise is the long slog through the trenches of Nashville's music industry.
Members of the Grascals gave up their day jobs as country music sidemen in Nashville to become one of the hottest bands in bluegrass music.
More Music News 
Share and Enjoy 
Before joining together in late 2003, the band's six original players were all well-traveled Nashville sidemen with résumés that included work with the cream of country music, including Keith Urban, Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton. In their off time, however, they congregated at Music City's Station Inn, a venue famous for showcasing acoustic and bluegrass music.
"We all had a web of friendships in different bands as sidemen," says guitarist/vocalist Jamie Johnson, a veteran of the Wildwood Valley Boys and Gail Davis' band whose Tuesday night jam sessions at the Station Inn with a group called the Sidemen were the direct antecedent of the Grascals.
"Basically (the band) was side guys who played in bigger bands that came down there to sing lead and stuff like that, which we didn't get to do in our day jobs playing backup," he said.
At the urging of former fiddler Jimmy Mattingly, Johnson and guitarist/vocalist Terry Eldredge put together a group of their favorite players, including bassist/vocalist Terry Smith, banjo player Dave Talbot, and mandolin player Danny Roberts, and dubbed them the Grascals.
After hastily recording a demo, the fledgling band signed a deal with Rounder Records, a coup for any new group. But that accomplishment was topped a short time later when the Grascals were tapped by Dolly Parton to be her backing band and opening act.
"She gave us a huge head start as a band," says Johnson. "The exposure she gave us was immeasurable. We played her concerts and all her television appearances. We went from playing clubs with 100 or 200 people to crowds of 15,000 or 20,000 a night."
Mindful that the Grascals wanted to go out on their own, Parton let the band go after a year and half, but she gave them a departing gift, singing on the band's cover of "Viva Las Vegas" on their 2005 eponymous debut.
Since then, the band has released two more albums: 2006's star-studded Long List of Heartaches and last year's Keep On Walkin', the group's highest-charting effort to date, which features a guest appearance by country star Vince Gill.
The group has also undergone several personnel changes, including the departures of original members Mattingly (replaced following the Keep On Walkin' sessions by Jeremy Abshire) and Talbot, whose replacement Aaron McDaris just left to make room for the first "Grascalette," International Bluegrass Music Awards' Banjo Player of the Year Kristin Scott Benson.
The revolving players have hardly slowed down the Grascals' artistic momentum. After winning awards for Song of the Year and Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2005 International Bluegrass Music Awards, the band has racked up an impressive 14 bluegrass awards, including back-to-back IBMA Entertainer of the Year awards. The group has also earned two Grammy nominations.
"On the business end of it, (awards) mean a lot," says Johnson, admitting that they can help move CDs and put people in seats. "But for us personally, it means just as much just to be nominated. That means we're at the top of our game along with some other great bands, and people think enough of us to put us in that top five. And that's the goal, to be in that top five."
The Grascals seem poised to stay in that top flight for 2009. In February, the group begins work on its fourth album, and the new year already finds them collaborating with country music legends, including Charlie Daniels, Hank Williams, Jr., and recent Kennedy Center Honors recipient George Jones, who is cutting an entire record with the band.
"We're still very busy and, thank goodness, respected by folks in the industry," says Johnson. "I think that gives us the sign that we're doing OK."
The Lucy Opry presents the Grascals
8 p.m. Saturday at the Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center, 3663 Appling Rd. in Bartlett. Tickets: $20, available at the BPACC box office; 385-6440. For more information, go to bpacc.org or lucyopry.com.
Comments
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.