The Grascals and Friends Deliver Classic Country a la Bluegrass
If we choose where we live by the music we love, I’d have to choose between southeast Louisiana for the zydeco and Appalachia for the bluegrass. Before FCE and I moved to Appalachia, Hurricane Katrina chased us out of southeast Louisiana. Wouldn’t it be cool if the musical sounds of both areas were combined? Actually, I never thought they could be until I heard “Louisiana Saturday Night” as recorded by the Grascals on their latest, The Grascals and Friends: Country Classics with a Bluegrass Spin.
If you need an excuse to go to Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (as if the biscuits and meatloaf weren’t enough), you’ve got to go there to get The Grascals and Friends which releases January 10, 2011, exclusively at Cracker Barrel (or order through the website). Their friends include Brad Paisley (“Tiger by the Tail”), Dierks Bentley (“Folsom Prison Blues”), Dolly Parton (“The Pain of Loving You,” “I Am Strong”), Tom T. Hall (“The Year That Clayton Delaney Died”), Darryl Worley (“White Lightning”), Charlie Daniels (“The Devil Went Down to Georgia”), the Oak Ridge Boys (“Leavin’ Louisiana in Broad Daylight”), and Joe Nichols (“Mr. Bojangles”).
The Grascals and their friends are united on the disc’s bonus track, a reprise of “I Am Strong,” a song written by Jamie Johnson, Susanne Mumpower-Johnson, and Jenee Fleenor, inspired by a visit to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. (I defy you to watch the video without tearing up.) A portion of the proceeds from album sales will go to St. Jude’s. The Grascals also perform several songs without their friends: “Louisiana Saturday Night,” "Born to Boogie/All My Rowdy Friends Are Comin’ Over Tonight (Medley)", and “Cracker Barrel Swing.”
Continued on the next page
Follow Technorati