The Grascals are among the stars selected to perform during the 44th Annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon.

This television stalwart, which raises money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, will air on affiliate stations all over the US starting on Sunday, September 6. The show runs for 21 consecutive hours, broadcast from the Southpoint Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The Grascals are scheduled to appear on the Telethon twice on Monday, September 7: at 6:00 a.m. (EDT) and again at 9:00 a.m. (EDT) with Bradley Walker.

You can find a list of affiliate stations on the MDA web site.

September is a busy month for The Grascals. They fly in to Las Vegas for the Telethon, and then just a few days later head to Athens, Greece!brad

The music video for Bradley Walker’s A Little Change has been running on CMT and GAC for the past two weeks, and came in at #1 in the CMT Pure 12 Pack Countdown for the week of November 21.

We had a chance to discuss the song and its video rendering with Bradley, and it turns out that it is one that touched him deeply – and is especially relevant during this week when those of us in the US take time out to reflect and give thanks for our good fortune.

“It touches on something that has probably happened to most folks these days, and how we could all stand to live our lives a little bit better. We’re all guilty of only seeing what’s on the outside sometimes, and not always taking the time to see someone’s real heart. What they’re really made of. The video just brings that all to life even more. When Mr. Jack pulls out that Bible, looks up and gives that big smile, it’s over!  We should all realize how blessed we really are, and where those blessings come from.”

If you’ve not had a chance to watch the video, here it is.

Bradley explained a bit about how the song came to be included on his most recent CD, Highway Of Dreams.

“A Little Change was written by Carl Jackson, Mike Ward, and Jared Ashley. I had good timing on my side, because Carl and I were picking songs for Highway of Dreams not long after it was written. When I heard the song, the first time with Carl just playing acoustic guitar and singing it for me, its message struck a deep chord with me, and I knew it would do the same for anyone else who heard it. When we were tracking this tune in the studio, it sort of took on its own little feel ‚Äì different than I think we’d even imagined it would be, and we knew right away we had something extra special.” (more…)

As a young man just gaining an interest in bluegrass music, the bluegrass festival was almost heaven for me. One of the first festivals I can remember attending was at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. I grew up there in Missouri so it seems natural I would have fond memories of this festival. This is where I first encountered the mandolin playing of Danny Roberts, the flatpicking of John Chapman, and the thrill of excitement of being at a bluegrass festival.

Silver Dollar City has hosted a bluegrass festival since 1975. Back then it was called the Mountain Folks Music Festival. Over the years the festival has changed names and dates more than once. Four years ago it became Silver Dollar City’s Bluegrass & BBQ Festival. The festival is a long running one, starting on May 10 and continuing through June 1, 2008. During these 23 days, the park will be running a total of nine stages throughout each day, with over 60 bluegrass bands performing. Each performance is scheduled at 30 minutes and during the course of the festival there will be in excess of 1000 sets.

I had the chance to speak with D.A. Callaway, the festival coordinator, and he shared some interesting details about the event. With that many stages running for this length of time, the technical staff will be working hard. Callaway tells me they have 25 full time technical staff to run sound and lighting during the festival. The park hours are 9:30 AM to 7 PM each day. The shows begin in the morning and continue throughout the day.

Silver Dollar City is a large theme park that attracts a lot of tourists, but Callaway assures me that of the 10,000 attendees the park will average each day of the festival, 40-50% of them are there for the music. These are fans that might not be at the park if it wasn’t for the festival. Those are great numbers to contemplate on both sides of that equation. 4-5K people per day in attendance specifically to hear bluegrass music is a great turn out. But 5-6K people each day who aren’t there for the music, will surely hear it as they enjoy the other offerings of the park. Perhaps a few new bluegrass fans will be born next month in Branson!

With 60+ bands performing I was curious how artists are selected for inclusion in the festival. (more…)

Bradley Walker will be the guest on this week’s edition of Studio Special on XM Satellite Radio’s Bluegrass Junction. Bradley and his band (David Babb – bass, Dustin Benson – guitar, Jenny Gardner – mandolin, Patton Wages – guitar) will join host Kyle Cantrell for an hour of discussion and live music starting this morning (4/18) at 8:00 a.m. (EDT).

Kyle is especially psyched about this week’s show, as it will mark the 50th airing of Studio Special since he came on board at XM.

Bradley’s show will run six times over the next week, starting with this morning’s debut. Here’s the run down (all times EDT).