The Grascals top bluegrass chart
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 – The Grascals reached the top of the Billboard Bluegrass charts with "The Grascals & Friends - Country Classics with a Bluegrass Spin," displacing Dierks Bentley's "Up on the Ridge."
The Grascals' album also entered the Billboard Top Country Albums chart at 26, the Heatseekers chart at 2, the Independent chart at 15, the Billboard 200 at 113 and the Top Current Billboard 200 at 108. A portion of the proceeds will go to St. Jude's Hospital in Memphis.
"This is just icing on the cake ... like Cracker Barrel gravy on the biscuit," said bass player Terry Smith. He added, "The relationship has been so great thus far. Hopefully the sales and great partnership will continue in kind. Also, I wish Friday fish fry was seven days a week."
"This is something we've looked forward to for so long," said mandolin player Danny Roberts. "It's doing so well, so quickly. The added bonus of it benefiting St. Jude makes it all the better."
More news for The Grascals
CD reviews for The Grascals
Life Finds a Way
The Grascals' debut release with Mountain Home Music, "Life Finds A Way," couples the instrumental prowess that has become expected of them with heavier themes. The title implies a journey, and the sextet has had an interesting one. Since forming eight years ago, they have garnered multiple IBMA Entertainer of the Year awards and Grammy nominations.
The change from Rounder gave the group a renewed energy and new perspective as well as a new recording venue - their own studio. »»» |
Dance 'Til Your Stockings Are Hot and Ravelin'
The Grascals have been known for two things within the bluegrass genre, good music and being media savvy. Their new release, "Dance Til Your Stockings are Hot & Ravelin': A Tribute to the Music of The Andy Griffith Show," combines these two categories with mixed results. Supported by their sponsor Mayberry's Finest Brand Foods, the CD features songs known from the TV show, plus the sponsor theme song written by The Grascals.
This 7 song/15 minute CD can best be summed up this »»» |
The Grascals & Friends - Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin
Four impressive albums, chart-topping songs, Grammy nominations, and multiple International Bluegrass Music Association awards mark The Grascals as one of today's most successful bluegrass bands. "Country Classics with a Bluegrass Spin" has a big, bold country sound that is brightened by the inclusion of bluegrass trappings.
The lack of driving banjo throughout the recording may be of concern, and certainly any mountain ruggedness within The Grascals sound - and admittedly, they »»» |
Editorial: Walking the talk –
When names like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon and the Hag are invoked, you're talking hard core country. These are the touchstones of country , the guys who made country music what it was and still is (or maybe can be). When these folks would sing about being down-and-out and the rough-and-tumble, they knew of what they were singing about. Fast forward a few years to the country singers of today. »»»
Concert Review: Music City goes (Boston) Pop(s) –
On the face of it, the idea of top shelf country songwriters coming up from Nashville to play with the Boston Pops may seem incongruous. The idea of the venerable Boston institution and fixture on the July 4 scene, playing patriotic songs doesn't have all that much to do with country.
The idea isn't without precedent, of course.... »»»
Concert Review: O'Donovan goes home –
Aiofe O'Donovan had plenty of reason to be filled with good cheer. This was a hometown gig, after all, and only three days before the release of her first full-length solo debut, "Fossils."
Joking that the audience was filled with people she knew from high school and her parents' friends, O'Donovan made it clear that Boston... »»»
|
|
Country News Digest
 CST
 CST
Elsewhere in the news
Currently at the CST blogs
Some folks listening to Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison's new duet album, "Cheaters Game," may well exclaim, 'Well, it's about time!' after finally hearing these two talented country singer/songwriters recording music as a pair for the first time. Willis has built quite a following for her independently-minded feminine perspective, while Robison has written hits for the Dixie Chicks ( Travelin' Soldier) and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill ( Angry All the Time), as well as penning the ultimate Willie Nelson tribute, What Would Willie Do? and recording it as a solo act.
... »»»
Last fall, singer/songwriter Steve Forbert dropped the 14th studio album of his 35-year career, the impeccable "Over With You." Critics recognized the album as a return to the form Forbert displayed on his earliest works - 1978's stripped back and personal "Alive on Arrival" and 1979's more lushly produced and commercially accessible "Jackrabbit Slim" - but the fact is that Forbert has never strayed far from their basic folk/rock tenets.... »»»
Over the course of the past 20 years or so, Jim Lauderdale and Buddy Miller have both experienced a certain rise in their respective rootsy country profiles. Miller has become one of Nashville's hottest speed dial numbers, as an artist, a guitarist-for-hire (a role he has performed for Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris and Robert Plant, among others) and an intuitive producer (he's currently working with Executive Music Producer T Bone Burnett to provide the soundtrack for ABC's "Nashville" television series).... »»»
Still Fighting the War
Few artists exude pain in their voices the way Slaid Cleaves can, and there are moments during his strong new full-length, "Still Fighting the War," when he seems a little like the male equivalent to Lucinda Williams. With Rust Belt Fields, Cleaves speaks up for most anybody that's been laid low be America's recent recession, from those dealing with home foreclosure to the ones laid off from their jobs. »»» |
Southeastern
Given the fact that Jason Isbell opts for solo billing this time around, it might be assumed that last year's "Live From Alabama," recorded with the 400 Unit, was the band's swan song of sorts. That is, unless one considers the fact that drummer Chad Gamble and keyboardist Derry deBorja are still along for the ride, albeit sans the band billing. »»» |
|
