The Grascals, a bluegrass band, opened to an enthusiastic crowd at the Silver Center for the Arts’ Hanaway Theatre on March 27.
The group includes members Aaron McDaris on the banjo, Danny Roberts on mandolin, Terry Eldredge on vocals and guitar, Jamie Johnson also on vocals and guitar, Terry Smith on bass and Jimmy Mattingly on fiddle. The group began after they had all worked in different bands together throughout the years and formed friendships. They decided to give it a shot and began playing in 2004 at a club called “The Station Inn” in Nashville, Tennessee.
According to Jon Weisberger’s biography on The Grascals’ website, Grascals.com, “Their music both honors the past and forges into the future, bringing a breath of fresh, yet familiar air to a musical world that, all the evidence shows, just can’t get enough of it.” The evidence Weisberger refers to is the groups many accomplishments. They were awarded the “Entertainers of the year” award by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2006 and 2008.
The Grascals have also been nominated for two Grammy Awards and have a goal to win one eventually. Jamie Johnson chimed in saying “Playing at the Grand Ole Opry,” is what she considered to be the bands greatest achievement to date. She added, “At least for me, I mean what do you guys think?” Terry Eldredge and Terry Smith nodded their heads in agreement adding that their ultimate goal is to become members of the Opry. Located in Nashville, TN the Opry has been called the “Country’s most famous stage,” according to its website.
The Grascals arrived in Plymouth around 2p.m. on Thursday, and along with setting up for the show they met with some PSU guitar students and held a workshop, teaching the students the rhythm of bluegrass, “It was like a jam at your house,” Terry Eldredge said of the session.The Grascals opened the concert with a couple up-tempo numbers which got the audience clapping and hollering at the stage. After a brief introduction Jamie Johnson requested that the house lights be brought up so that veterans in the audience could be acknowledged, then they dedicated the song “Me and John and Paul,” a song about three boys who grow up together until Paul goes off to the Gulf war and dies saving another, to those members of the audience.
Jamie Johnson made the audience laugh, first about the amount of snow that has fallen here in New Hampshire, and then by joking, “We’d like to dedicate this next song to you, New Hampshire. It’s called Indiana.”
At intermission an audience member, Phil Browne, who lives in Campton and calls himself a bluegrass fan said of The Grascals’ performance, “They are talented musicians. Happy. That’s what it is, happy music. It just makes your grin. I guess that’s why they call it pickin’ and grinnin’ music.”