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THE GRASCALS
(Rounder)
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Their name’s a little cutesy and their songs can be heavy on lump-in-the-throat sentimentality, but these six veteran Nashville sidemen have minted a winning style of bluegrass that mixes mountain-music tradition with songwriting craftsmanship from Music Row. Which means that bassist and singer Terry Eldredge’s melodies flow lower and easier than the usual high-and-lonesome fare, and every chorus has a fat hook that makes tunes like the ode to friendship "Me and John and Paul" and the backwoods spiritual "Where I Come From" memorable. Given their considerable chops, the group’s temperance is surprising. They save it for numbers like "Bevans Lake Crossing," an instrumental that begins as a banjo reel and glides along through solos by fiddler Jimmy Mattingly and guitarist Danny Roberts. If you’ve seen any of Dolly Parton’s recent tours, you’ve seen these guys — or at least most of them, doubling as the opening act and the nucleus of her backing band. Parton returns the favor here on, of all things, a cover of Elvis Presley’s kitschy anthem "Viva Las Vegas." Her high, cheery voice boosts the song’s energy level, as does Mattingly’s virtuosic bowing. Although the Grascals do tour extensively on their own, it appears that New Englanders will have to wait until Labor Day weekend to catch them live, at the Thomas Point Beach bluegrass festival in Brunswick, Maine.
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