• The Grascals
• “Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin”
• Cracker Barrell Music

By Mary Jane Farmer, Scene In Town

Also see the video of “I Am Strong.”

Bluegrass fans will recognize the name “The Grascals” and classic-country music lovers will recognize the others on this CD to be released Monday.

The Grascals are a 6-piece bluegrass band which has made waves across the nation as a youthful, energetic and talented group. Now, they have released a CD of 12 country songs, a 13th if you count the reprise of one, and joining them were an unlikely variety of Nashville country showstoppers themselves. Unlikely, except that in Nashville, one can expect the unlikely. It did on “Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin.”

You’ve heard the songs before, at least most of them, such as “Folsom Prison Blues” and “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” Now, think of Dierks Bentley joining The Grascals on “Folsom Prison Blues” and Charlie Daniels swapping fiddle licks with The Grascals’ Jeremy Abshire on his classic song, or Brad Paisley dropping in to sing with them on “Tiger By The Tail,” and you get a drift of what this CD is all about.

Dolly Parton joins the bluegrass band on two songs, “Pain of Loving You” and “I Am Strong,” then her voice again graces that particular song, reprised at the end of the CD with just about everybody else joining in, then, too.

One of those voices heard on “I Am Strong” is that of a young cancer patient, Ansley McLaurin, The Grascals met on a visit to St. Jude’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. She grabbed their heart, as she did mine with her tiny yet strong voice on this song of hope, in which Stephen Seagal and Tom T. Hall also lift their voices.

Said “I Am Strong” songwriter Jamie Johnson, who sings vocals with The Grascals, “I am more proud of this work than anything I have created in my life.”

Brad Paisley, Darryl Worley, the Oak Ridge Boys, Joe Nichols, and Terri Clark are also heard here.

The only song that is straight The Grascals-performed is “White Lightning” and they also play a new composition, “The Cracker Barrel Swing.”

Guitars, bass, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, all acoustic and blended with strong vocals, capture the essence of both musical genres. Although bluegrass bands typically do not include drums, there’s a little soft-brush drum background on a few of these songs, just enough to take on that bit of country flavor. The arrangements are almost true to the originals, varying just enough to make the songs unique and fresh while keeping them pure country.

The CD will be available Jan. 10 at Cracker Barrel stores or on its website, www.crackerbarrel.com. A portion of each sale is being allocated to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

By Mary Jane Farmer

Scene In Town

Bluegrass fans will recognize the name “The Grascals” and classic-country music lovers will recognize the others on this CD to be released Monday.

The Grascals are a 6-piece bluegrass band which has made waves across the nation as a youthful, energetic and talented group. Now, they have released a CD of 12 country songs, a 13th if you count the reprise of one, and joining them were an unlikely variety of Nashville country showstoppers themselves. Unlikely, except that in Nashville, one can expect the unlikely. It did on “Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin.”

You’ve heard the songs before, at least most of them, such as “Folsom Prison Blues” and “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” Now, think of Dierks Bentley joining The Grascals on “Folsom Prison Blues” and Charlie Daniels swapping fiddle licks with The Grascals’ Jeremy Abshire on his classic song, or Brad Paisley dropping in to sing with them on “Tiger By The Tail,” and you get a drift of what this CD is all about.

Dolly Parton joins the bluegrass band on two songs, “Pain of Loving You” and “I Am Strong,” then her voice again graces that particular song, reprised at the end of the CD with just about everybody else joining in, then, too.

One of those voices heard on “I Am Strong” is that of a young cancer patient, Ansley McLaurin, The Grascals met on a visit to St. Jude’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. She grabbed their heart, as she did mine with her tiny yet strong voice on this song of hope, in which Stephen Seagal and Tom T. Hall also lift their voices.

Said “I Am Strong” songwriter Jamie Johnson, who sings vocals with The Grascals, “I am more proud of this work than anything I have created in my life.”

Brad Paisley, Darryl Worley, the Oak Ridge Boys, Joe Nichols, and Terri Clark are also heard here.

The only song that is straight The Grascals-performed is “White Lightning” and they also play a new composition, “The Cracker Barrel Swing.”

Guitars, bass, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, all acoustic and blended with strong vocals, capture the essence of both musical genres. Although bluegrass bands typically do not include drums, there’s a little soft-brush drum background on a few of these songs, just enough to take on that bit of country flavor. The arrangements are almost true to the originals, varying just enough to make the songs unique and fresh while keeping them pure country.

The CD will be available Jan. 10 at Cracker Barrel stores or on its website, www.crackerbarrel.com. A portion of each sale is being allocated to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.