The GrooveGrass Boyz.html



The Groovegrass Boyz were an American musical group which played a mix of bluegrass and funk. The group was founded as a side project by record producer and session musician Scott Rouse in 1997, after he began experimenting with dance mixes of bluegrass and country songs, eventually applying the term "groovegrass" to his mix of music. He then moved to Nashville, Tennessee and joined several other country musicians and funk bass guitarist Bootsy Collins, releasing a country version of Los del Río's "Macarena" and two albums. The country cover of "Macarena" charted on both the Hot Country Songs charts and the Bubbling Under Hot 100, and was the group's most successful single.

History

Rouse, a session musician from Boston, Massachusetts, first came up with the idea of "groovegrass" in the mid 1990s when he began experimenting with dance mixes of bluegrass songs such as "Deep River Blues". His mixes became popular at local clubs, eventually leading to one disc jockey terming the blend of music "groovegrass".¹

Rouse then moved to Nashville, Tennessee at the request of musician Doc Watson, a friend of his . Rouse's first major-label cut came when Warner Bros. Records released his own remix of John Anderson's 1983 Number One single "Swingin'". This remix was not released, however, at Anderson's request, although it became a popular bootleg recording.¹ It was followed by an EP comprising a remix of "Rocky Top", which went on to sell more than 100,000 copies throughout the United States.¹ Rouse also remixed some of comedian Jeff Foxworthy's trademark "You might be a redneck if…" jokes into a dance track called the "Redneck Stomp",² one of several similar musical tracks included on Foxworthy's Crank It Up: The Music Album.

Soon afterward, he recruited several other musicians, including members of Del McCoury's band, funk bass guitarist Bootsy Collins, and bluegrass multi-instrumentalist Jerry Douglas, to perform as The GrooveGrass Boyz.³ They saw their most successful release in late 1996-early 1997, when they put out a country version of the "Macarena", a song made popular in 1996 by Spanish duo Los del Río.¹ The GrooveGrass Boyz' version, released on the Imprint Records label,² peaked at #70 on the Hot Country Songs charts⁴ and #7 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100. It was followed in 1998 by a full album on the Reprise Records label. This album prodcuced no chart singles, however, and the group broke up shortly afterward.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References