Sunday, July 27th at 4:00 pm on the Rock n’ Kiss Stage at Coxe Avenue
Great musicians will always find a way to make good music, but for great musicians to make great music, they must find a bond – one that more often than not goes beyond the purely musical to the personal. For The Grascals, that bond has been forged at the intersection of personal friendships, shared professional resumes and an appreciation for the innovative mingling of bluegrass and country music that has been a hallmark of the Nashville scene for more than forty years. As their two Grammy®-nominated releases, The Grascals (2005) and Long List Of Heartaches (2006), prove, whether they’re digging into one of their original songs and instrumentals, reworking a bluegrass classic like “Will You Be Loving Another Man,” interpreting bluegrass-country songwriter Harley Allen’s award-winning “Me And John And Paul” or urging guest Steve Wariner on to a blistering guitar solo on his “Hoedown In Motown,” the Grascals’ rare musical empathy gives them an unerring ear for just the right touch to illuminate each offering’s deepest spirit.
Indeed, not only has that bond been strong enough to propel the sextet to the top of the bluegrass world—in a remarkable feat, they moved in just one year from winning the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Emerging Artist of the Year award (2005) to earning its top Entertainer of the Year honor in both (2006 and 2007), while scoring a Song of the Year trophy, entries in myriad critics’ “best of the year” lists and a set of personal appearances that would be the envy of almost any entertainer—but it’s allowed them to transcend the personnel changes that have been a feature of that world from the time of its creation. Welcoming new banjo player Aaron McDaris at the start of 2007, the Grascals are beginning a year that’s sure to be bring them even more success.
For those who know them, the quick emergence of the group came as no surprise, for these are musicians whose roots and crossed paths reach back over more than two decades in bluegrass ensembles like the Osborne Brothers, Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, the Sidemen and New Tradition. They trace, too, to Nashville’s larger musical community, where the Grascals have been able to draw on legends like Bobby Osborne, George Jones, the Jordanaires, Lloyd Green, Paul Craft and more for songs and for performances in the studio and on stage. Thanks to those experiences and those friendships, The Grascals embody a profound grasp of and familiarity with country and bluegrass tradition that made them a natural choice for Dolly Parton to turn to for recording and tour support not long after the group was created.
Terry Eldredge’s soulful vocals and easygoing stage presence have earned him not only the loyalty of bluegrass fans and the appreciation of fellow bluegrass musicians, but the admiration of a stunningly wide variety of entertainers who have witnessed him fronting the Sidemen at Nashville’s world-famous Station Inn. The Indiana native began his career with first-hand experience of the music of an earlier generation of country stars, playing bass with durable Opry stars Lonzo and Oscar. He joined the Osborne Brothers in 1988, soon switching to guitar and adding a powerful lead and low tenor voice to the Brothers’ legendary trios. At almost the same time, he and other young Nashville bandmembers created the Sidemen, establishing a regular Tuesday night gig at the Station Inn that continues to draw newcomers and stars alike. Eldredge took up the bass again when he joined Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time at the end of the 1990s, earning a 2003 IBMA nomination for Bass Player of the Year and contributing mightily to the ensemble’s success with dynamic tenor and lead vocals. During a hiatus from Lonesome Standard Time, he recorded and performed as a member of Dolly Parton’s Blue-niques. In addition to two solo albums for Pinecastle Records and albums by the Osborne Brothers, Cordle, Parton and the Sidemen, Terry’s recording credits include appearances on CDs by IBMA Hall of Honor members Benny Martin, Josh Graves and Chubby Wise, as well as young country star Dierks Bentley.
Few fiddle players have been seen – or heard – by more people than Jimmy Mattingly, thanks to a widely aired Dr Pepper commercial that featured him accompanying his long-time employer, country superstar Garth Brooks. A member of Brooks’ band from 1995 until his retirement from the road, Mattingly played before millions and appeared on three of Brooks’ multi-platinum albums – but despite his success as a country player, his first love has long been bluegrass music. Raised in Leitchfield, KY, Mattingly played in numerous fiddle contests as a youngster, culminating in a 1981 U.S. Grand Masters victory, then joined progressive bluegrass pioneers Spectrum in 1981, remaining with the group until its dissolution in the middle of the decade. After stints with the Forrester Sisters and Steve Wariner (with whom he recently recorded), he joined Dolly Parton’s band in 1989, recording and touring with the Country Music Hall of Famer until 1993. It was during a break in Parton’s touring schedule that he joined the Osborne Brothers, where he became friends with Terry Smith and with Terry Eldredge, who would join him again in Parton’s Blue-niques in 2002 (Jimmy’s fiddle playing is featured on her Live And Well CD and DVD as well as six other Parton albums). His smooth, expressive style and his facility in both country and bluegrass contexts made him a favorite fill-in with the Sidemen and a natural for The Grascals.
Shared Indiana roots and a love for the Osborne Brothers’ harmonies first sparked a friendship between Eldredge and Jamie Johnson, but when the latter moved to Nashville at the end of the 1990s, the two quickly discovered a vocal blend that rivals bluegrass’s greatest sibling harmonies. Though he helped to found the Wildwood Valley Boys at the beginning of the decade, Jamie first drew attention to his soaring tenor voice as a member of the Boys From Indiana, with whom he performed in the mid-1990s. Stints with local bluegrass and country bands followed before he returned to the Wildwood Valley Boys, making his recording debut on their I’m A Believer (2000). Following his move to Nashville, he began to find success as a songwriter – he co-wrote the title cut of Bobby Osborne’s Where I Come From (2002) – and as a singer, making his Opry debut as a member of Gail Davies’ band, joining the Sidemen in 2001, and contributing leads and harmonies to Bluegrass - The Little Grasscals: Nashville’s Superpickers. He has recorded with alternative country singer Trent Summar (on the Davies-produced Caught In The Webb), Ricky Van Shelton and hit songwriter Jerry Salley, and has enjoyed further songwriting success with cuts by The Grascals (including the title track to Long List of Heartaches), the Lonesome River Band and bluegrass-country singer/songwriter Ronnie Bowman.
Danny Roberts began playing guitar to back up his friend Jimmy Mattingly when the two were growing up on adjacent farms in Leitchfield, KY. Soon he was winning contests on his own as a guitarist and, eventually, mandolin player. In 1982 he co-founded the New Tradition, a dynamic, ground-breaking bluegrass/gospel group that toured the country for close to 20 years (the last ten on a full-time basis), recorded ten CDs, made “Seed Of Love,” the first bluegrass video to feature the banjo – it reached #1 on the TNN channel – appeared on the Grand Ole Opry, and helped to bring the bluegrass sound and gospel message to a new generation of fans. When the group dissolved in 2000, Danny went to work for Gibson Musical Instruments, where he rose to the position of plant manager at the company’s Original Acoustic Instruments luthiery. Still, he kept his hand in as a musician, giving workshops with mandolin colleagues like Sam Bush, Chris Thile and Bobby Osborne, making guest appearances with artists such as Marty Raybon, Larry Cordle and Melonie Cannon, and touring and recording with bluegrass/country veteran Ronnie Reno as a member of his band, the Reno Tradition, before reuniting with Mattingly in The Grascals in 2004. His solo recording, Mandolin Orchard, received extensive airplay and was touted by the Chicago Tribune as one of the Top 10 bluegrass releases of 2004. Roberts was also honored with the 2006 SPBGMA Award for Mandolin Performer of the Year.
Another veteran of the Osborne Brothers’ band, bassist Terry Smith grew up in North Carolina before moving to Nashville in his early teens. Beginning in a family band with his brother, Billy, and his parents – Hazel Smith, Terry’s mom, is a songwriter and renowned country music journalist – he graduated swiftly to stints with bluegrass and country legends Jimmy Martin, Wilma Lee Cooper and the Osborne Brothers. He also found time to pursue a separate career with his brother, recording a 1990 album for CBS that generated an early #1 video on CMT, following it with 1992’s Grass Section disc (made with friends and colleagues like Ronnie McCoury and Glen Duncan) and a 1996 Bill Monroe Tribute that included some of the Father Of Bluegrass’s last recorded appearances. In 1999, the brothers issued Voices Of The Mountain, with original songs that found a place in the repertoire of bluegrass favorites like the Del McCoury Band and the Lonesome River Band. Terry has worked as a staff songwriter for EMI and Major Bob Music, and recorded with Marty Raybon, Vern Gosdin, IBMA Hall of Honor member Kenny Baker and more. After a long tour of duty with Grand Ole Opry member Mike Snider, Terry joined The Grascals in 2004.
Aaron McDaris, who joined the group at the end of 2006, may have a briefer resume than his colleagues—moving from home state Missouri’s Second Exit, he joined Roberts in New Tradition in 1997, then went on to a six year stint with the Larry Stephenson Band—but his grasp of bluegrass greatness is no less profound. His playing has rarely been absent from the airwaves over the past decade, and his “stellar” (Bluegrass Unlimited) solo album, First Time Around (2005), prompted the Nashville Scene to call him one of the most “under-rated” banjo players on the circuit. In late 2006, McDaris joined with other young players, including Jim Van Cleve (Mountain Heart), to form the Mashville Brigade, a new generation counterpart to the Sidemen that has quickly won acclaim from knowledgeable Music City fans.
Though it is still—at least in bluegrass terms—a new group, the web of friendships, band memberships, recordings and personal appearances that binds The Grascals together has produced an ensemble of unsurpassed cohesion and focused artistic direction. Whether in the studio or on stage, their music both honors the past and forges into the future, bringing a breath of fresh, yet familiar air to a musical world that, all the evidence shows, just can’t get enough of it.
— Jon Weisberger