Staff Writer
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
Vigo County native Terry Eldredge and his bandmates have done it again.
Eldredge’s band — Grammy nominees The Grascals — have been nominated for five 2010 International Bluegrass Music Association awards. They already have two IBMA Entertainers of the Year awards in their resume.
This year, they’re nominated for Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year for “The Famous Lefty Flynn’s”; Recorded Event of the Year for “I’m Blue, I’m Lonesome” with Hank Williams Jr.; Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year for “Blue Rock Slide”; reigning two-time Banjo Player of the Year, Kristin Scott Benson, is nominated again for the award
“The Grascals are now six years old and we’re still in the dance with the rest of the great bluegrass artists out there. We’re very honored for all our IBMA nominations received today. Special thanks to all the fans, radio and IBMA members for their vote,” Grascals guitarist-singer Jamie Johnson said Thursday, after the nominations were announced. “Thanks to the good Lord for letting us make the music that we love and continue to love — and will love for the rest of our career.”
Johnson shares lead vocalist duties with Eldredge, who grew up in western Vigo County before moving to Nashville after graduating from West Vigo High School.
Known as a genre-bending sextet, The Grascals borrowed The Monkees’ pop hit, “Last Train to Clarksville,” and “grassed it up” as the first radio single and video from their fourth album, “The Famous Lefty Flynn’s”, which currently sits at No. 1 on both the Bluegrass Unlimited and Bluegrass Music Profiles charts. They will continue to open dates this fall for the Hank Williams Jr.’s Rowdy Friends Tour, along with Jamey Johnson, Eric Church, Colt Ford, Gretchen Wilson and Sunny Sweeney.
The IBMA announcements were made Thursday morning at the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville, Tenn.; winners will be announced Sept. 30 during the IBMA Awards Show at the Ryman Auditorium.
