Grass Cats

Location: R.A. Fountain

from our promo for this concert

With their recent CD Home to Carolina a current top ten bluegrass hit, the Grass Cats come to Fountain on Saturday night for a concert of “bluegrass with drive.”

Their hit CD has also produced two singles that are currently in Bluegrass Unlimited‘s top 30. Both songs, “Pill or Potion” and the title track, were written by lead singer and mandolin picker Russell Johnson.

“Russ has that classic high lonesome voice that defines bluegrass for a lot of folks,” said Alex Albright, Fountain General Store proprietor. “This is an excellent band with a high-energy show.”

Home to Carolina, the band’s sixth CD, is #7 on the March best-seller charts in Bluegrass Unlimited. In giving it a 4-star rating, Jack Bernhardt of the News & Observer noted that it is “steeped in the Cats’ trademark blend of soaring vocals, lush harmonies and innovative musicianship.” It’s an album,” he concludes, that “merits national attention and could well enhance the state’s reputation as home to some of the world’s best bluegrass.”

Performing in Fountain annually is like a homecoming for Snow Hill’s Chris Hill, who plays fiddle. Also in the band are Tim Woodall on banjo and vocals and a couple of newcomers: Lloyd Herring on bass and vocals and Steven Martin of Burlington on guitar and lead vocals.

Hill was a member of Al Batten’s Bluegrass Reunion for 6 years and has performed on stage with Ralph Stanley, Mac Wiseman, and the Lewis Family. Woodall, who lives in Cary, is co-host of WQDR’s Pinecone Bluegrass Show. Herring, of Clinton, is the band’s newest and youngest member. Martin was for 6 years a member of the award-winning Churchmen, for whom he wrote “Get Onboard,” which hit #1 on bluegrass gospel charts.

Tags: bluegrass, bluegrass gospel, Concert, original, tradtional bluegrass