By DAN ARMONAITIS
As Dirty Grass Soul prepares to host its New Year’s Eve Festival on Tuesday, Dec. 31 at Grassy Pond Arena in Gaffney, it’s worth noting that the wildly entertaining alt-country band recently returned home from its first-ever international gig.
Dirty Grass Soul was a part of Country Cruising, a six-night Caribbean cruise that, among others, also featured such high-profile artists as Ronnie Milsap, Trace Adkins, Neal McCoy, Montgomery Gentry and Little Texas.
“It was a lot of guys I grew up listening to, so it was cool to be a part of it,” said Kevin Dedmon, who founded Dirty Grass Soul in 2011. “It was definitely one of the highlights of the year.
“And after we got back (home), we got invited to be a part of it again next year. Charlie Daniels is one of the headliners next year, so I’m really looking forward to that. Being a fiddle player myself, he’s always been one of my musical heroes.”
In other words, this is an exciting time for Dirty Grass Soul, which will be joined for its New Year’s Eve Festival by the Tyler Hatley Band, Justin Clyde Williams, Lecretia & ThunderRoad, Colt Brandi and CJ Patterson.
Referring to festivals in general, Dedmon said, “That’s my favorite type of environment. Obviously, it’s always nice to play shows when it’s just your own band, but when you get to have all your buddies there playing the show with you and you’re getting to sit in on each other’s set and all the fans are getting to hear stuff they wouldn’t normally get to hear, it takes the show to another level.”
While camping, including electrical hook-ups, will be available, Dedmon is quick to point out that the music will actually be played indoors.
“Grassy Pond Arena is a pretty killer facility,” Dedmon said. “It’s an agricultural and rodeo arena by normal standards — that’s normally what they do there — so this is actually the first concert that they’ve had. We’re going to have a big ol’ time out there, and it should be a great show.”
In addition to Dedmon, who sings lead vocals and plays fiddle and guitar, Dirty Grass Soul includes fellow founding member Lance Watson on bass and mandolin, along with Tommy Smith on electric guitar, Kris Dedmon on banjo, Glenn Miller on pedal steel and Jared Miller on vocals and percussion. All but the latter two members, who hail from Inman, are based in the Shelby, N.C., area.
“I grew up on a cattle farm in Shelby — my brother (Kris) and I both did,” Dedmon said. “So any kind of music I do, whether it be rock ‘n’ roll or whatever, I feel like once you hear me sing it and put lyrics to it, it comes across as country because that’s kind of who I am as a person and it comes through in the songs.
“But we like everything. We love bluegrass music, and we love rock ‘n’ roll. I mean, we’ll go from a Black Sabbath to an Earl Scruggs song. And I grew up playing in church, so we’ll throw in some gospel music as well.”
Anyone who has attended the Plum Hollow Festival or Moonshiners Reunion in recent years is sure to be familiar with Dirty Grass Soul. The band has become a fixture at those events, which are held annually at the late Barney Barnwell’s farm in rural Spartanburg County.
“Man, I absolutely love Upstate South Carolina,” Dedmon said. “It’s probably my favorite place to play as far as crowds. I just think the crowd involvement and the energy from the crowd down there is great.
“I’m a North Carolinian but I’m proud to be attached to the Upstate music scene in some way, and I really enjoy it.”
Aside from the Caribbean cruise, Dedmon said other highlights for Dirty Grass Soul in 2019 included getting to perform as part of grand opening celebrations for new amphitheaters in Forest City, N.C., and Gaffney, and traveling to New Hampshire to play at a big motorcycle rally.
As for 2020, the band plans to release some new music that they’ve already recorded while continuing to build its fan base.
“We’re primarily a regional band right now,” Dedmon said. “We’ve played some outside the Carolinas, but we’re really looking to start expanding beyond the Southeast on a regular basis as far as touring goes.”