The GrooveGrass Boyz were an American musical group that played a mix of bluegrass, funk, and

freestyle music Freestyle music, also called Latin freestyle or Latin hip-hop ''( sic)'' is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the New York metropolitan area and Philadelphia, primarily among Hispanic Americans and Italian Americans in the 1980s. ...

. The group was founded as a side project by record producer and session musician Scott Rouse in 1987, 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 Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, and joined several other country musicians and funk bass guitarist Bootsy Collins, releasing a country version of

Los del Río Los del Río (, "Those from the River"), also known as The Del Rios, are a Spanish Latin pop and dance duo which was formed in 1962 by Antonio Romero Monge (17 February 1948) and Rafael Ruiz Perdigones (10 November 1947). They are best known fo ...

's "

Macarena "Macarena" is a dance song by Spanish pop duo Los del Río, about a woman of the same name. The song uses a type of clave rhythm. Originally appearing on the 1993 album '' A mí me gusta'', a subsequent remix by Miami-based producers The Bays ...

" and two albums. The country cover of "Macarena" charted on both the Hot Country Songs charts and the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

, and was the group's only chart entry.

History

Rouse, a session musician from Boston, Massachusetts, first came up with the idea of GrooveGrass in the mid-1980s when he began experimenting with dance mixes of bluegrass songs such as

Alton Delmore Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia *Alton National Park, Queensland *Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario * Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealand, ...

's "Deep River Blues". His mixes became popular at local clubs, eventually leading to one disc jockey terming the blend of music "groovegrass". Rouse then moved to

, at the request of his friend, musician

Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. W ...

. Rouse's first country remix was for

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

It was a remix of John Anderson's 1983 Number One single " Swingin'." At Anderson's request, Warner never released the cut, although it became a popular bootleg recording. It was followed by an EP remix of "

Rocky Top "Rocky Top" is an American country and bluegrass song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant in 1967 and first recorded by the Osborne Brothers later that same year. The song, which is a city dweller's lamentation over the loss of a simpler a ...

", which was released and went on to sell more than 100,000 copies in the United States. Rouse also produced comedian Jeff Foxworthy's trademark "You might be a redneck if…" single he named called the "Redneck Stomp", one of several similar musical tracks included on Foxworthy's '' Crank It Up: The Music Album''. Soon afterward, Rouse recruited several other musicians, including members of

Del McCoury Delano Floyd McCoury (born February 1, 1939) is an American bluegrass musician. As leader of the Del McCoury Band, he plays guitar and sings lead vocals along with his two sons, Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury, who play mandolin and banjo resp ...

's band, funk bass guitarist Bootsy Collins, and bluegrass multi-instrumentalist

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin "Jerry" Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. Career In addition to his fourteen solo recordings, Douglas has played on more than 1,600 albums. As a sideman, he h ...

, to perform as the GrooveGrass Boyz. They saw their most successful release in late 1996, when they put out a country version of the "

", a song made popular earlier that year by Spanish duo

. The GrooveGrass Boyz' version, released on Imprint Records, peaked at No. 70 on the Hot Country Songs charts and No. 7 on the

. The single sold over 100,000 copies. It was followed in 1997 by a self-released album, and in 1998 by another album on Reprise Records. These included

Mac Wiseman Malcolm Bell Wiseman (May 23, 1925 – February 24, 2019) was an American bluegrass and country singer. Early life He was born on May 23, 1925, in Crimora, Virginia. He attended school in New Hope, Virginia, and graduated from high school the ...

Bernie Leadon Bernie Leadon (pronounced ''led-un''; born July 19, 1947) is an American singer, musician, songwriter and founding member of the Eagles, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Prior to the Eagles, he was a member ...

, and other notable artists. Neither album produced any chart single.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:GrooveGrass Boyz American country music groups American bluegrass music groups Reprise Records artists Musical groups established in 1987 Imprint Records artists