Arden, North Carolina — From their earliest days as a band, The Grascals have never let an album go by without embracing a song or two from outside of the bluegrass box. From Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard to the Monkees, the Beatles and Elvis, they’ve turned each one into their own, emulating legendary bluegrass predecessors all the way back to Bill Monroe while delighting loyal fans and gaining new ones along the way.
For the next single from their latest Mountain Home project, Straighten The Curves, the sextet stays true both to that history and to the album’s road-friendly title with an inspired take on Eddie Rabbitt’s smash hit from 1980, “Drivin’ My Life Away.” Released just as Urban Cowboy was making its way into theaters, the song climbed to #1 on the country charts, but also reached #5 on Billboard’s Hot 100, making it familiar to millions.
Sung by the newest member, guitarist Chris Davis, the Grascals’ version keeps the steady, “windshield wiper” tempo and pop-tinged forward motion of the original, but blends it with the band’s signature bluegrass drive — and the combination is enough to make a listener wonder why there wasn’t a five-string banjo on the original.
“This is one of my favorite country songs from the 1980s,” says Davis. “I always wanted to cut it in a bluegrass band because it lends itself well. It’s upbeat, powerful, and tons of fun!”
“Drivin’ My Life Away” follows a string of earlier hits from Straighten The Curves, stretching from the title track back through “Calling Your Name,” “Haggard” — one of the top airplay songs for 2019 — and “Heartbreak Hall Of Fame,” which collectively spent spent some 37 weeks on the Bluegrass Today weekly chart.
Listen to “Drivin’ My Life Away” HERE.