The Grascals are seemingly impervious to the fashions and flavors of the moment. Finding meaningful financial success playing bluegrass music for 21st-century audiences demands a love for what you do, without a doubt, but likewise requires a level of talent that pushes you past fickle judgments and allows you to make a real impression on listeners. The Grascals aren’t playing disposable music. They are making music that depicts life’s myriad struggles but still manages to pay tribute to the fact we’re here at all. It ultimately has, even in its darkest moments, a redemptive heft that lifts you out of the gloom.
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“Tennessee Hound Dog” starts 20 off with storied classic bluegrass snatched out of near-obscurity. The Grascals’ cover of this Osborne Brothers chestnut isn’t revealing a transformative lost song that the years have unjustly buried, but they are resurrecting an improbably raucous yet affectionate love song. It’s a heartfelt ode to canine virtues delivered in an intelligent lyric laden with details. Boudleaux and Felice Bryant’s songwriting chops served the Osborne Brothers, a seminal bluegrass duo, and The Grascals find surprising life and vitality waiting to be unlocked in this 1969 hit.
“I Need a Night Off” is a little bit of a genre hybrid. Some will listen to this song and hear straightforward bluegrass, but the lyrics owe far more to classic Nashville country. They nonetheless pair together quite nicely. There is a danger with songs such as this that the band or artist’s efforts run off-road into the overwrought. However, the Grascals polish and measure the solo vocals, harmony singing, and instrumentation with superb instincts. “Georgia Pineywoods” is another Osborne Brothers cover emanating from the songwriting imaginations of the Bryants. It’s robust, popping with energy, and played with masterful attention to detail and feel.
“The First Step” is another five-star ballad. The Grascals are even more careful here to maximize the song’s dramatic possibilities and Jamie Harper’s fiddle contributions are particularly noteworthy. It highlights trio vocals that give Terry Smith and Jamie Johnson, in particular, a platform to shine brightly. “12thand Pine” is a skillful instrumental that doesn’t ever come off as filler. The song’s melodic virtues lock into 20’s overall scheme and will make you forget the missing singer fast. “Jenny” is another occasion for us to marvel at The Grascals’ collected vocal talents. The ensemble chemistry shared by Danny Roberts’ mandolin, Jamie Harper’s fiddle, and Kristin Scott Benson’s banjo commands your attention.
Stephen McWhirter’s “Come Jesus Come” brings the curtain down on 20 with enduring beauty. The craving for spiritual connection percolating throughout this piece will move all but the hardest of hearts and keen-eared listeners will appreciate how The Grascals can begin the release with such joviality, i.e. “Tennessee Hound Dog”, and end the collection riding such a reverential high. This mix of the old and new from the band isn’t quite a greatest hits collection but, instead, seems to be clearing the road ahead so the band can get on with the next 20 years. Long may they run.
Rachel Townsend