Biography

For over 30 years, mandolinist Danny Roberts has been a steady presence in the heart of the bluegrass mainstream. He was a founding member of New Tradition, a prominent bluegrass gospel group that toured widely throughout the 1990s, released eight well-received albums and served as a “school of bluegrass” for musicians who went on to work with artists such as the Lonesome River Band, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage and the Special Consensus. Later, he helped to found The Grascals, the award-winning bluegrass sextet that quickly rose to the music’s top ranks when they earned the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Song and Emerging Artist of the Year awards in 2005 and its top Entertainer of the Year honors in 2006 and 2007; he continues to serve as the group’s mandolin player and senior member. “Small Town America” is his first solo release in nearly a decade, and shows Roberts speaking fully with his own musical voice.
________

It should really be no surprise that it’s been some eight years since mandolinist Danny Roberts, a founding member of bluegrass hitmakers, The Grascals, last went into the studio to record under his own name. After all, bluegrass is, almost by definition, made by a band, and for Roberts, that has always meant putting the group first. Still, as the years have gone by, the urge to speak fully with his own musical voice made itself increasingly felt, and the first single from a forthcoming solo album makes it clear that he’s got a lot to say — and not just with his mandolin.

With long-time colleague Tony Wray playing both guitar and banjo, and Grascals bandmate Adam Haynes on fiddle, Roberts takes center stage on “Small Town America,” writing the song himself and recounting its bittersweet memories and observations in a warmly intimate lead vocal, wrapped in harmonies from daughter — and Mountain Home Music Company label mate — Jaelee Roberts and wife Andrea Roberts, whose supportive bass work makes the music even more of a family affair. The result is a gentle, thoughtful — yet eminently singable — meditation built on Roberts’ own experience:

A man's good word is all he needs down at the corner store
And old men at the courthouse are greeting all the folks they know
Little kids stare through the window of the dime store on the square
And the ice cream at the drugstore, it's the best anywhere
….
Small town America, a way of life being left behind

“A few years ago,” notes Roberts, “I was driving back to Nashville from East Tennessee and decided to take the backroads instead of interstates. This drive brought me through several small towns, and it seemed that every square — what was once the heart and soul of the town — was now pretty much closed down, with boarded up windows, vacant buildings and no people around. As I drove on, it occurred to me that at the edge of every town with a shut-down town square there was a Walmart store with a full parking lot and bustling with people. That made me start thinking of the small town that I grew up in, and how busy the courthouse square was when I was a kid — but after the Walmart moved in, pretty much everything on the square shut down. ‘They say progress has to make a way, but when’s enough enough?’”

For fans with long memories, the new release will not only deliver its lyric message but serve as a welcome reminder of an aspect of Roberts’ musical personality that harkens back to his days with the popular group, New Tradition; for those who have found their way to the music more recently — and especially for those who have admired his supple, supportive mandolin playing with The Grascals — ”Small Town America” will be a welcome revelation, and serve notice that there’s a lot more yet to come.

About Danny Roberts
For over 30 years, mandolinist Danny Roberts has been a steady presence in the heart of the bluegrass mainstream. Born and raised in Leitchfield, Kentucky, he was a founding member of New Tradition, a prominent bluegrass gospel group that toured widely throughout the 1990s, released eight well-received albums (including two for Mountain Home Music Company) and served as a “school of bluegrass” for musicians who went on to work with artists such as the Lonesome River Band, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage and the Special Consensus. At the beginning of the century, Danny began working for Gibson Musical Instruments, eventually becoming head of its Mandolin Division and Nashville Plant and Repair Supervisor before starting his own repair service, Just Off The Bench. While still at Gibson, he helped to found The Grascals, the award-winning bluegrass sextet that quickly rose to the music’s top ranks when they earned the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Song and Emerging Artist of the Year awards in 2005 and its top Entertainer of the Year honors in 2006 and 2007; he continues to serve as the group’s mandolin player and senior member. Danny released his first solo album in 2004, and made his Mountain Home Music Company debut as a solo artist with 2014’s Nighthawk.