During their short time together as a band, Rounder recording artists The Grascals have accomplished quite a bit. The Grascals are the reining International Bluegrass Music Association Entertainers of the Year, having been named the IBMA Emerging Artists of the Year in 2005. The group made its Grand Ole Opry debut in February 2005 and has made several appearances since then. Last year’s Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America Instrumental Group of the Year is up for that honor again, as well as five other SPBGMA Bluegrass Awards on Feb. 4. The edgy but tradition-minded sextet’s August 2006 release, Long List of Heartaches, like its eponymous 2005 debut album, has been nominated for a GRAMMY Award, with the awards telecast set for Feb. 11. On Feb. 12, The Gracals join country crooner Dierks Bentley in performing “Prodigal Son’s Prayer” on The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
“I am so proud of The Grascals,” says Dolly Parton, with whom the group toured as both opening act and back-up band in 2004-2005. “They are one of the best bluegrass bands I’ve ever heard. They are all so very talented as vocalists and instrumentalists.”
Asked to describe how it feels to have accomplished so much and earned such accolades over such a short period of time, Danny Roberts, The Grascals’ mandolinist, said, “Needless to say, it’s just incredible…it’s unbelievable and it’s awesome at the same time. We really couldn’t have scripted it out any better.” Speaking backstage at the Hilton New York following a showcase at the Association of Performing Arts Presenters 50th Annual Members Conference, Roberts noted that "Mainly, we put this thing together as a group of friends."
Roberts’ interest in music took root in Leitchfield, Kentucky, southwest of Louisville, where he grew up on a farm near bandmate Jimmy Mattingly and initially took up guitar to back him up.
Roberts co-founded, recorded and toured for nearly 20 years with a bluegrass/gospel group known as New Tradition that dissolved in 2000. Roberts, SPBGMA’s 2006 Mandolin Performer of the Year, worked for Gibson Musical Instruments, gave mandolin workshops, toured and recorded with others, and released his own solo recording, Mandolin Orchard, before reuniting with Mattingly in The Grascals in 2004.
Although bluegrass music remains his passion, Mattingly is a fine fiddler whom millions of TV viewers may recall from a widely viewed Dr. Pepper commercial that featured him accompanying country superstar Garth Brooks, in whose band he served from 1995 until his retirement from the road. Earlier in his career, Mattingly played for a few years with the progressive bluegrass outfit Spectrum and had stints with the Forrester Sisters and Steve Wariner. He recorded and toured with Dolly Parton’s band from 1989-1993.
“She [Parton] found out about the band [The Grascals] and wanted to hear the project,” recalled Mattingly. “She loved it and took us in. We played on her Those Were the Days record and helped her get the arrangements together.”
Speaking for his bandmates – who also include Terry Eldredge and Jamie Johnson on lead and harmony vocals and guitar, Terry Smith on bass and harmony vocals, and newcomer Aaron McDaris on banjo — Mattingly continued, “We’ve done what we thought we needed to do to get where we’re at. We’ve always had goals. We’ve always tried to have a vision – an idea of what we’re really trying to accomplish – and really have locked down on that.”
The Grascals was launched in 2003 by a group of veteran bluegrass sidemen, several of whom’s paths crossed while playing for the Osborne Brothers, as well as Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, and others. Unlike these ensembles, however, The Grascals veer toward the edgier side of bluegrass. The group’s repertoire blends traditional bluegrass with strains of hard country, original songs and instrumentals with reworkings of bluegrass classics and deft reinterpretations of country numbers — all the while exhibiting the solid musicianship, tight vocal harmonies and high lonesome singing style long associated with bluegrass.
“It’s exciting that everything we’ve so far thought we needed to do has worked,” said Mattingly. “We’re trying to expand this music some, not change it but get it places where it generally doesn’t go.” For example, the band has opened shows for leading country act Brooks & Dunn — including a sold-out show at New York’s Irving Plaza during the “Country Takes New York” festivities in the run-up to the 39th Annual Country Music Association Awards in November 2005.
“A lot of the best players are playing bluegrass, but they starve to death – not having the places to play,” maintains Mattingly. “One of our big flags to carry is trying to expand the music.” Echoing his sentiments, Roberts said, “We’re expanding the horizons [of bluegrass], without diluting it. We hope to keep expanding the music into new venues, while continuing to play bluegrass festivals.”
Professing to really enjoy being part of The Grascals, Mattingly concludes our interview by saying: “It’s fun. It’s exciting. It’s a really neat thing because we’re all friends. It works real easy; it works effortlessly. We do all the business together and we still talk; that’s real amazing.” So are these guys. Check ‘em out.
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