Earhart Music Festival June 20-21 in Bristol

Bluegrass.

Ignorance relegates it to one pile. One sound. Reality proves otherwise.
Take The Grascals and The Steeldrivers. Hear both decidedly different bands during the Earhart Music Festival in Bristol, Tenn. on June 20 and 21, respectively.

Established in 2004, The Grascals launched to prominence as Dolly Parton’s touring band during her foray into bluegrass in 2004.

“Before every show she would say, ‘Remember guys, let’s have fun with it. If it’s not fun then it’s work, and that’s a four-letter word,’ ” said Terry Eldredge of the Grascals, by phone Tuesday from his home in Nashville, Tenn. “We have fun.”

Since then, the six-man band of bluegrass veterans have issued two critically acclaimed albums. They won IBMA’s Entertainer of the Year in 2006 and 2007. And they have a new album, the breathtaking “Keep on Walkin,’” due on July 15.

The Grascals succeed with a sound steeped in tradition. Yet, they do not drown in convention.

“What we do on every song is that if it takes a steel guitar or piano or drums, then that’s what we’ll do,” Eldredge said.

However, The Grascals’ manage to retain their decidedly bluegrass sound. They are bluegrass. And yet they are more, too.

“I think of us as grass country,” Eldredge said. “Our roots are planted in bluegrass, but we reach over into country. Like on our cover of ‘Rollin’ In My Sweet Baby’s Arms,’ I think it sounds like Flatt & Scruggs meets Buck Owens.”
Potent, baby.

Likewise, The Steeldrivers own a sound that starts in bluegrass while stretching out to encompass other sounds, too. They dip into blues, jazz and include slivers of rock into their style.

“We’ve been described as rhythm and bluegrass and bluesgrass, but I think it’s all got a traditional sound to it,” said Mike Fleming of The Steeldrivers. “But it is different. It is unique.”

Formed last year and led by music veterans Mike Henderson (chief songwriter, mandolin), lead vocalist Chris Stapleton, banjoist Richard Bailey, fiddler Tammy Rogers and bassist Fleming, the band issued its debut album about six months ago to a wave of favorable press. But not just any press.
“I see people at our shows that you might not see at a bluegrass festival,” Fleming said Tuesday from his home in Nashville. “We’ve really noticed it after an article on us in the Wall Street Journal.”

That’s nothing new for bluegrass bands. Flatt & Scruggs were written about in the New York Times in the 1950s. However, bluegrass was ignorantly viewed by the Times as the music of hicks in those days. Not now.

Listen to The Steeldrivers’ stunning self-titled album. Themes are not of the lovey-dovey variety. Stark. Dark. Love. Loss. Murder. God. Life.

“A lot of the songs are about traditional subjects, like with ‘Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey,’ ” Fleming said. “They’re songs about when bad things happen to good people. Mike Henderson calls it uneasy listening.”

Translated, bluegrass that steers wide of the safe and staid. Flip a coin – The Grascals or The Steeldrivers – either way fans win. Bluegrass wins.

Regardless of style, they offer the soundtrack of life.

“Boy, I like that. That’s it,” Eldredge said. “That’s the perfect description.”

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .

IF YOU GO
What: 2nd Annual Earhart Music Festival
When: June 20-21
Where: Earhart Campground, Volunteer Parkway, Bristol, Tenn.
Tickets: June 20, $25; June 21, $30; two-day ticket, $45; children ages 12 and under admitted free
Info: (423) 764-4406 or (423) 538-9421
Web: http://www.earhartmusicfestival.com
Also: http://www.grascals.com
And: http://www.steeldrivers.net

SCHEDULE
—June 20, 3:30 p.m.: Wires and Wood, Jan Smith, Old Line Skiffle Combo, Tony Holt and The Wildwood Valley Boys, and The Grascals

—June 21, 11 a.m.: Tennessee Skyline, Old Line Skiffle Combo, Bluegrass Addiction, Mark Johnson and Emory Lester, The Charlie Sizemore Band, Kenny and Amanda Smith, The Steeldrivers and Red Stick Ramblers

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .