Thursday, March 18, 2010

Nashville's Grascals enjoy their work

ED NOTE - The Grascals are at Pittsburgh's Thunderbird Cafe this Saturday 3/20.





Band brings bluegrass-country sound to Owens on Friday


The Grascals are, from left: Danny Roberts, Jamie Johnson, Kristin Scott Benson, Jeremy Abshire, Terry Eldredge, and Terry Smith.


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By TAHREE LANE
BLADE STAFF WRITER

When they seize the stage tomorrow night, the Grascals will show Toledo how much fun six talented friends can have with their high-energy bluegrass/country blend.

"People who love the music they're playing and who love each other. Joking and laughing," says Terry Eldredge, guitarist and lead singer for the award-rich Grascals.

"That's one thing Dolly [Parton] told us backstage, 'Remember boys, have fun with it, because if it's not fun, it's work, and work is a four-letter word.'•"

The Grascals will perform at 8 p.m. tomorrow in the Center for Fine and Performing Arts at Owens Community College.

Known for tight, three-part harmonies, The Grascals, aged 27 to 48, played the Grand Ole Opry 23 times last year (they also played last week) and gave 120 concerts on the road. They were named 2010's best bluegrass band by the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America, and entertainer of the year in 2006 and 2007 by the International Bluegrass Music Association.

And it was none other than Dolly Parton who gave these skilled Nashville musicians a boost in 2004.
"It just happened we were all kind of unemployed at the same time, so why not start a band?" Eldredge said last week in a telephone interview.

He and some of the current band members knew each other from years of making Nashville's brightest stars sound great in concert and on recordings. They'd worked for the likes of Parton, Garth Brooks, the Osborne Brothers, Brooks & Dunn, and Steve Wariner.

Seventeen years ago, he and bassist Terry Smith assembled The Sidemen for a standing Tuesday night gig at Nashville's legendary Station Inn.

"We were all sidemen in other bands," Eldredge says. More...

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