The Grascals “20” (LP)

The Grascals are as lively as ever. Their new release 20 marks the two-decade point in the band’s history, but it never feels or sounds like a summation. Instead, 20’s thirteen songs sound like the band is clearing the decks for the future.

All bluegrass fans should welcome this.

Over twenty years, The Grascals established themselves as one of the most unique, forward-thinking yet faithful, and inventive bluegrass acts ever. They’ve exhibited unquestionable fidelity to the genre while allowing delightfully restless creativity to reshape their stylistic possibilities. Reinvention isn’t anything new to them. They embrace tradition but aren’t content with the status quo. Two decades of The Grascals proves, time after time, that they are willing to test limits, push the envelope, and provide listeners with first-rate examples of what drew them into bluegrass music.

URL: https://grascals.com/

“Tennessee Hound Dog” amply shows their allegiance to the past. Bluegrass is in their blood, and they play with such focused intensity that the collected band performance during this song locks in so tight it sounds like a single aural animal, moving as one, rather than disparate parts blending to form the whole. “Some People Make It” changes things up. The songwriting hails from the blues tradition but naturally works well within a bluegrass context. Singing and vocal harmonies are, of course, one of the band’s chief strengths, and “Some People Make It” provides them with a chance to flex another side of their vocal skill.

The album’s burgeoning diversity further expands with “I Need a Night Off”. I didn’t know what to expect going into this song, perhaps a bitter reflection on working too hard, and The Grascals don’t disappoint. They turn the traditional meaning of the phrase on its end and craft it as a plea for forgetfulness, even temporary, soaked in booze, and bereft. They acquit themselves nicely with this entry in the classic country ballad tradition, albeit steeped in bluegrass.

“Reflection” ventures into more uncharted territory for this collection. It has a wide-open folk vibe adorned with reliable and familiar bluegrass motifs. The Grascals return to the love-haunted landscape of the earlier “I Need a Night Off” for another ballad, “The First Step”. This song adopts much stronger language than its predecessor, but the message fundamentally remains the same. The vocal phrasing does an excellent job of accentuating the moment’s dramatic qualities without ever overstating it.

“Jenny” is another album peak that comes late in the release. Pedal steel guitar punctuates this languid country crawl, and a quasi-duet style dominates the bulk of the vocals. It differs stylistically from its predecessors but never moves The Grascals outside their wheelhouse. 20 concludes with the deeply felt “Come Jesus Come”, and it’s a final nod to tradition delivered in a thoroughly modern context. This final gesture of beauty ends The Grascals’ new album the way that a single leaf falls from a tree in the fall – gossamer-like, gentle, and wafting through the air. It’s a moving ending to a fantastic album and shows that The Grascals have a lot more to say.

Mark Druery