Published: May 08, 2008 04:54 pm            

Bluegrass band 'The Grascals' to release new album July 15

New CD is first in 2 years from Bluegrass Entertainers of the Year

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — There are Hoosier touches to a new album by The Grascals due out in July.

The bluegrass group features former Indiana residents, including West Terre Haute native Terry Eldredge, Jimmy Mattingly (who spent boyhood years in Terre Haute) and southern Indiana native Jamie Johnson.

The Grascals, the reigning International Bluegrass Music Association Entertainers of the Year for the last two years, will release their third studio album for Rounder Records “Keep On Walkin’” on July 15.

The 12-song, self-produced album is the group’s first release in two years.

“After five years of singing together, and especially the last three years of extensive touring, we think we’ve really been able to define our sound on this record,” said Johnson, vocalist and guitarist.

“The whole process of doing this album, from finding songs, to arranging them, recording and mixing was relaxed and fun. We took our time so we could do things the way we wanted and treat each song with the care it deserved,” Johnson said.

The album opens with “Feeling Blue,” written by well-known bluegrass tunesmith Aubrey Holt, who first met Jamie Johnson when they were in the Boys From Indiana. Holt has become one of the band’s favorite writers, contributing three songs to this album. In addition to “Feeling Blue,” which is an original song with the feel of an old Jimmy Martin tune, Holt wrote “Sad Wind Sighs.” A classic lament disguised in an uptempo tune, the song features the incomparable voice of special guest Vince Gill. Holt also explores the lighter side of life in “Happy Go Lucky,” the song that The Grascals performed to open the 2007 IBMA Awards and have included in their live shows ever since.

Johnson also displays his songwriting skills on two songs — the moving title track about life’s journeys, which he co-wrote with veteran songwriter Charley Stefl; and “Indiana,” which he co-wrote with another of the band’s favorite writers, Harley Allen. The song perfectly captures the bittersweet yearning for the home of one’s youth. Allen also contributed “Remembering,” about the lingering effects of war.

Elsewhere, The Grascals put a new twist on Waylon Jennings’ “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line,” before Eldredge sings a heart-rending lead on “Choices,” a hit for his musical hero, George Jones. The Grascals’ version of the song was No. 1 in March and April on XM Bluegrass Junction Top 30 Tracks, and it has spent multiple weeks on the Count Down Yonder Weekly Top 17 Songs of SIRIUS Bluegrass.

In addition to Johnson, Eldredge handles guitar and vocals, Smith bass and vocals, and Danny Roberts on mandolin, “Keep on Walkin’” features Aaron McDaris playing banjo on his first album with The Grascals, and Jimmy Mattingly on fiddle.

        

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